A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 3

by Henry Charles Lea

FOREIGN HERETICS

With France, of course, relations were wholly different. When the Huguenot was grudgingly tolerated at home, he could expect no protection for his religion abroad, especially when, as in Spain, he could reside only by pretending Catholicism. The peace of the Pyrenees, November 7, 1659, merely provides, in article 5, that the vassals of each power shall have free ingress, residence and egress in the territories of the other, observing the laws and customs of the country.[1258] This did not, however, preclude reclamation in cases of special malfeasance, as when, in 1672, the French ambassador Villars complained of an outrage in Majorca. A French ship, arriving there from Barbary, September 6th, with a cargo of wheat, chanced to have as a passenger a Huguenot of position, M. de la Fent, governor of the Bastion de France, with a large sum of money. On learning this, the inquisitor arranged to seize him and embargo his property; he assembled a force and armed two vessels with which to take possession of the French ship, and he would have done so had not M. de la Fent prevailed upon the master to make sail. The queen-regent forwarded this to the Suprema, October 28th, for explanation, but it was not until November 19th that it replied, merely saying that the inquisitor of Majorca had reported, on September 21st, the arrival of a heretic and that, on October 3d, it had ordered him to take such action as comported with the service of the queen, the public peace, and the consideration due to the subjects of the French king, who were to be treated like the English and the Dutch.[1259]

As the attempt had failed, the Suprema made the best excuse it could, but with manifest equivocation, for the French heretic had not such treaty protection as the English. This was manifested, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, when it was thought that fugitive Huguenots might have settled in Spain. In 1687, the papal nuncio and the French ambassador called the attention of the inquisitor-general to the matter, suggesting that the Holy Office should not permit their residence. Carlos II seconded their representations, and issued a cédula, February 28th, ordering his officials to lend all necessary assistance to the Inquisition. The Suprema sent this to the tribunals and followed it, June 14th, with detailed instructions, ordering a general perquisition to be conducted through the parish priests throughout Spain. Each tribunal was to collect the results, investigate them and vote, reporting the vote to the Suprema. Extreme vigilance was enjoined and the Suprema was to be kept informed.[1260] Judging from such statistics of the period as are accessible, this proved to be a false alarm, leading to no results, but none the less it indicates the dread inspired by the prospect of the intrusion of foreign heretics. There seems to have been a similar scare, in 1698, when the Suprema instructed the tribunals to order all their commissioners to report whether, in their districts, there were any heretics, transient or resident, giving in detail the nationality, sect, occupation etc. of each one, and this without loss of time.[1261]

This policy continued. In 1784 similar lists were called for. The answer from Valencia showed how successful had been the exclusion of Protestants, and how precarious was the position of those who ventured to reside in Spain. The tribunal reported, August 29, 1785, that it had instructed its commissioners everywhere and, where there were no commissioners, satisfactory persons, to make this secret investigation, with the result that there were no Protestants in the kingdom of Valencia, except in the city, where there were two—Mons. Champane, a Frenchman and Dueclaux, whose nationality could not be ascertained. Both were Protestants, although it was difficult to verify the fact, on account of their extreme care in attending church and in accompanying the sacrament when it was carried to the sick.[1262]

FOREIGN HERETICS

With the outbreak of the French Revolution, the desire to exclude heretics extended itself to foreigners generally, with the view of completely isolating Spain. In 1791 a decree of Carlos IV required all foreigners to be registered; those who desired to be naturalized must be Catholics and take the necessary oath of allegiance; transient residents were compelled to take out licences in which, among other details, their religion was specified; they were not allowed to exercise any profession or art or craft, or to follow any retail trade, or even to be servants, and all engaged in such pursuits were given two months in which to leave the country.[1263] When, however, the peace of 1795 put an end to the disastrous war with the French Republic and aroused apprehension of an approaching rupture with England, there was a feverish desire to placate France, showing itself in a royal cédula of May 1, 1796, prohibiting all tribunals, including the Inquisition, from molesting Frenchmen on account of religion, but those only were to be recognized as Frenchmen who wore the tricolor cockade. When war broke out with England, a further advance was made; Carlos ordered his representatives abroad to assure all foreign powers that in Spain strangers enjoyed full liberty of conscience, and in August, 1797, he forbade the Inquisition to trouble foreigners about their faith.[1264] We may be permitted, however, to doubt the sincerity of this. When, in the same year, the attention of the Valencia tribunal was drawn to a German merchant named Johann Foch, who called himself a Protestant, it applied at once to the captain-general to know whether he held the licence authorizing his residence in Spain, not being a Catholic. It proceeded with the case but suspended it because of his marriage with Bernarda María Pellicer, a parishioner of Santo Tomás.[1265]

This liberality, whether genuine or not, was only a passing episode. A document of 1801 shows that the decree of 1791 was still in force, and that the Inquisition was relied upon to carry it into effect. It is a series of questions addressed by the Suprema to the tribunals, with the answers from Valencia, and explains itself.

Q. Whether, prior to the royal order of 1791, foreigners not Catholics were allowed to reside, in the cases provided by the treaties and, if they were not permitted, what measures were taken to ascertain whether they professed Calvinism?

A. In case of their not having the benefit of those treaties, as soon as the tribunal had knowledge of them, it made the requisite investigation and, on ascertaining it to be true, it notified them to quit the kingdom, if they had not special permission from the king.

Q. If investigation led to the belief that a stranger was Catholic and it was subsequently found that he was not, but that he did not speak ill of our religion, or cause scandal, or insult sacred objects, to what punishment was he condemned?