At the council, Bishop Balthasar Limpo was a worthy representative of the fanatical king of Portugal, and dared use language against the pope which should have shown him clearly that he was no longer master in his own house. The bishop vehemently asked Paul III to sanction the Inquisition against relapsed new-Christians irrevocably, and censured his sympathy with them. He justly remarked:
"As Christians, and under Christian names, they leave Portugal by stealth, and take with them their children, whom they themselves have carried to be baptized. As soon as they reach Italy they give themselves out for Jews, live according to Jewish ordinances, and circumcise their children. This takes place under the eye of the pope and the papal see, within the walls of Rome and Bologna, and it happens because his Holiness has granted to heretics the privilege that in Ancona no one may molest them on account of their belief. Under these circumstances it is impossible for the king to grant them the right of free departure from the land. Perhaps his Holiness asks it in order that they may settle in his states as Jews, and the papal see derive advantage in that way. Instead of hindering the establishment of the Inquisition in Portugal, it should have been his Holiness' duty to have introduced it long since into his own dominions."
The pope could have given answer to such an harangue, had he possessed a clear conscience, and in very deed and truth preached Christianity as a religion of gentleness and humanity. But since he had need of blind fanaticism to keep up obstinate warfare with Protestantism, and on the outbreak of the war against the latter had issued the murderous bull ("Of the cross"), wherein Catholics, in the name of the vicar of Christ, were called upon to "smite the Protestants to death," he could make no reply when Limpo spoke. He was caught in his own trap. Yet, he tried to save one thing, the Marranos' free right of emigration from Portugal; on this condition he would give way to the Portuguese court. But new-Christians wishing to depart from the land would be required to give security that they would not emigrate to infidel countries, such as Turkey or Africa. To this also Bishop Limpo gave a convincing reply:
"Does it, then, make any difference whether these heretics take refuge under infidel governments, or come to Italy? At Ancona, Ferrara, or Venice, they are circumcised, and then go on to Turkey. They have papal privileges, forsooth, so that nobody dare ask them if peradventure they are Jews! They wear no distinguishing marks, and can go undisguised and free whithersoever they like, can observe their ceremonies, and attend their synagogues. Oh, how many attend these who were baptized in their youth in Portugal, or were condemned to death, or burnt in effigy! Give them free right of emigration, let them set foot in the land of the infidel, and they can openly confess themselves as Jews. The king will never allow, no theologian—do I say theologian?—no simple Christian could advise such a thing. Instead of his Holiness' exerting himself to insure the safety of the secret Jews, let him increase the number of Inquisitions in his own states, and punish not alone Lutheran heretics, but Jewish heretics also, who seek refuge and protection in Italy."
Yet another circumstance compelled Paul III to show a yielding disposition. Charles V, inspired thereto by his victory over the Protestants (April, 1547), sought to set himself above the papacy, and would have liked to see a new ritual established, agreeable to Protestants as well as to Catholics. This was tantamount to declaring war against the pope. The latter was, therefore, forced to break with the emperor, and that he might not stand unsupported against so powerful a foe, Portugal and the central Catholic states had to be won over to his side. To conciliate Portugal he sent thither a special commissary provided with bulls and briefs, wherein he partially sanctioned the Inquisition, though requesting that it be used with mildness. Above all, however, new-Christians accused of heresy and so-called relapse were not to be sentenced, for the present, but to be made answerable for their conduct in the future. Even then, for the first ten years, the property of relapsed heretics was not to be touched, but to descend to their heirs. He consented to the restriction of Marrano emigration, so strenuously insisted upon by the Portuguese court.
Prisons of the Inquisition at Lisbon, Evora, and other cities were thrown open in obedience to the pope's general absolution for new-Christians, and eighteen hundred set at liberty (July, 1548). Soon after this all the Marranos were called together, and forced to abjure their Judaizing tendencies. From that moment only were they recognized as complete Christians, and liable to be punished in case of heretical transgression. The pope, in a brief, desired the king to see that the tribunals deal mercifully even with the heretics, since they fulfilled Jewish observances only from habit. Thus, throughout his life, Pope Paul III took the part of the Marranos. Nevertheless, they fell victims to their tragic fate. It was cruel injustice to demand an open confession of Catholicism from them, when they protested against it with all their hearts, and then to punish them when detected in the performance of Jewish rites or ceremonies. On the other hand, the state could never allow a whole class of the population outwardly belonging to the church to be left in a certain sense free to hold the church in derision. Justice certainly demanded that the Marranos should have liberty of choice either to emigrate or confess themselves genuine members of the church. But, as the court acknowledged, their loss meant ruin to the state, for the Marranos of Jewish descent formed the most profitable class of the city population. Their capital and far-reaching business transactions increased the revenue, caused a general circulation of money, and made raw materials imported from the Indian and African colonies available. Without them the wealth of the whole country would be capital idly and unprofitably stored. Marranos were also the only artisans, and on them depended industrial prosperity. Plainly, the state could not afford to lose them, and, therefore, the king tried to turn them into good Christians by the terrors of the Inquisition, so as to keep a certain hold on the profit and utility of their presence. He labored in vain. Every year fresh victims perished at the stake; yet the survivors did not become more faithful believers. The Portuguese court, unlike the Spanish, never derived enjoyment from the Inquisition. Portuguese new-Christians, in spite of their confession, were not yet true Christians, on whom the penalty of heresy could legally, according to canonical laws, be inflicted by the Inquisition. After Paul's death, (November, 1549), Julius III was petitioned to give absolution to the Marranos. Even the succeeding popes, who favored reaction and persecution, allowed the Portuguese Inquisition to continue more as an accomplished fact than as a legal institution. Half a century later, a pope (Clement VIII) condemned the judicial murders of the Inquisition, and once more issued a general amnesty for condemned Marranos.
[CHAPTER XVI.]
STRIVINGS OF EASTERN JEWS FOR UNITY. SUFFERING IN THE WEST.
Efforts towards Unity—Jacob Berab proposes the Re-introduction of Rabbinical Ordination into Palestine—Successful Opposition of Levi ben Chabib—Joseph Karo—His Connection with Solomon Molcho and his Messianic Visions—Karo's Religious Code—Converts to Judaism at the Era of the Reformation—Expulsion of the Jews from Naples and Prague—Their Return to the latter Town—Dr. Eck—Martin Luther and the Jews—Moses Hamon—Jewish Histories by Joseph Cohen, the Ibn-Vergas, and Samuel Usque—Elegy of Samuel Usque—Reaction in the Catholic Church: Loyola establishes the Order of Jesuits—The Censorship of Books—Eliano Romano and Vittorio Eliano—Fresh Attacks on the Talmud—Paul IV and his anti-Jewish Bulls—Persecution of the Marranos by the Inquisition in Ancona—Joseph Nassi—The Levantine Jews—Expulsion of the Jews from Austria and Bohemia—Relations of Popes Pius IV and V to the Jews.