The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II / Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia Thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &c. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts.

by Freiherr von Karl Ludwig Pöllnitz

I have been assured, that the Ambassadors Extraordinary of Kings are lodged three Days in the Pontifical Palace, during which they have the Honour to dine once with the Holy Father. If I continue here till the Arrival of the Duke of St. Aignan, the Ambassador of France, who is every

Day expected, I will give you an Account how he is received; for tho’ these Ceremonies are printed here, I shall be willing to have ocular Demonstration of the Things that I write to you.

Of all the public Functions at this Place, there is none more august, and more solemn, than the Procession with the Holy Sacrament, when ’tis carry’d by the Pope. Upon Corpus Christi Day, the Holy Father was placed in an Arm-chair, without a Back to it, with a Desk before him, upon which he laid the Pyx that contained the Holy Sacrament. His Cope, which was very long, and very wide, so cover’d the Desk and the Chair, that the Pope seemed to be kneeling. His Head was uncovered, and in this Posture he was carry’d by eight Men. In my whole Life, I never saw any thing more exemplary than the Countenance of the Pope during the Ceremony, his Face being the very Picture of Contrition and Devotion. The Procession set out from St. Peter’s Church, attended by all the Fraternities, the Monastic Orders, the Roman Nobility, the Conservators of Rome, the Governor of Rome, the Chapter of St. Peter, and all the Prelates and Bishops. Three Tiara’s, and as many Mitres, adorn’d with Pearls and Diamonds, were carry’d before the Holy Father. The Pope was environed with the hundred Swiss of his Guards, all in Armour, and by the Officers of his Chamber; and the Procession was clos’d by the Light-horse, and Cuirassiers on Horseback. The Colonnade of St. Peter, and the Streets, were hung with Tapestry, and cover’d with Canvas, to keep off the Heat of the Sun. As the Pope passed by the House where the Family of the Stuarts liv’d, he gave to those Princes the Blessing of the Holy Sacrament. The Holy Father’s Nieces were in a neighbouring House; but

they did not receive that Honour, it being reserved only for Sovereigns.

You seem, Sir, to be so much prejudiced against the holy Office of the Inquisition, that I must endeavour to convince you of the mistaken Notion, which, I presume to say, you have conceived upon that Head. Honest People have no more Reason to dread this Tribunal, than any of the other Courts of Justice. They tell a thousand Stories of it in our Part of the World, and especially among the Protestants, which are absolute Falsehoods. Be but an honest Man; speak of God and the Saints with all due Respect, or at least don’t offer to insult them; give no public Scandal; and you have nothing to fear from the Holy Office. To speak the Truth, will not a Man in all the Christian Countries, that is notoriously impious in Word or Deed, will he not be taken to Talk by the Consistories, and by the Law? I own, for my part, that I don’t see wherein that Barbarity, and that Inhumanity consists, which the Holy Office is charg’d with in Protestant Countries; on the contrary, it seems to me to be the mildest Tribunal in the World. Let me be guilty of the greatest Injuries to God and Religion, in Thought, Word or Deed; if I do but go and confess my Crimes to the Holy Office, and tell them I repent of my Wickedness and Folly, the Father Commissary will represent the Horror of my Sins to me, will exhort me, for the Salvation of my Soul, to behave and think better for the future, and at last will absolve me. Where now is that Protestant Tribunal, which is content with a voluntary Confession? Instead of absolving the Penitent, don’t they condemn him to Imprisonment, and bodily Pains?

For these sixteen Months that I have been at Rome, I have not heard of any one’s being arrested

by the Holy Office; on the contrary, I have seen Acts of Clemency perform’d by this Tribunal, so much run down, which perhaps the Consistory of Geneva would never have done. I had not long been here, but there came one Pallas, a Native of Toulon, and Captain in France, who brought a young Woman with him, whom he said he had ravish’d; he desir’d a License of the Vicar to marry her, which was granted. But some Months after, there comes a Woman, who appear’d to be the Wife of Pallas, and the Mother of the young Creature that he had but just married, and who was ready to lie in. Pallas, perceiving his Crime on the Brink of being detected, goes and reveals the whole to the Holy Office, which first gave him Protection for his Person, and in a few Days after acquitted him, injoining him at the same time to take his first Wife again. This Pallas dying not many Days after, his two Wives went to Law for their Jointure. I question now whether this Officer would have been acquitted by a Parliament of France.

The Congregation of the Holy Office was established by Pope Paul III. at the Solicitation of the Cardinal John Peter Caraffa, who afterwards, becoming Pope, by the Name of Paul IV. made a remarkable Addition to the Authority of this Tribunal. That Holy Pontiff, Pius V. reduced it to its present State. This Congregation consists of a dozen Cardinals, besides a Number of Prelates, and a great many Divines of different Orders, who are called Consultori & Qualificatori del Santo Officio. Among those are included a Conventual, the General of the Dominicans, the Master of the Sacred Palace, the Commissary of the Holy Office, the Fiscal, and the Assessor, which last must always be a secular Prelate. This Tribunal takes Cognizance of the Causes of Heresy,

and of such novel Opinions as are repugnant to the Soundness of the Catholic Faith; as also of Matters of Apostasy, Witchcraft, the Abuse of the Sacraments, and other wicked Actions; and it likewise takes Cognizance of prohibited Books. It sits twice a Week, viz. on Wednesdays in the Convent of Minerva, and on Thursdays in Presence of the Pope, who is the Head of it. The oldest Cardinal has the Title of Secretary of the Holy Office, and is the Keeper of its Seals. None but Cardinals can vote in it, and they admit of no Proposals but what they think proper.

The Palace of the Holy Office is close by St. Peter’s Church, and there live the Assessor, the Father Commissary, the Fiscal, the Notary, and other Officers. There also the Prisoners are kept, and there they are try’d, according as the Case requires. The Officers of the Holy Office acknowledge no other Judges in the first Instance, but the Assessor of the Tribunal whereof they are Members; and they appeal for the Definitive Sentence to the Cardinals who are Members of the Congregation.