A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 3

by Henry Charles Lea

The Inquisition thus restricted itself to the duty of condemnation. The prohibition might be total and the book be wholly suppressed, or partial, in which case its circulation was suspended donec corrigatur—until it should be expurgated of passages regarded as erroneous, misleading or offensive. For this duty it provided no machinery and did not profess to take the initiative. In the Edicts of Faith, it was made the duty of everyone to denounce whatever was contrary to the faith, and there were plenty of acute theologians and captious critics to whom it was an agreeable task to call attention to any word or sentence or proposition to which exception could be taken. The book was then submitted to calificadores, and their verdict, whether for suppression or expurgation, was submitted to the Suprema, or the book itself might be sent there for examination; in any case the decision rested with it and was communicated to the tribunals by an edict, which was read in all the churches and affixed to their portals, so that no one could plead ignorance. All who possessed the inculpated book were summoned, within a limited time, to surrender it for suppression, if it were prohibited, or for expurgation if objectionable passages were to be blotted out, and this under penalty of excommunication and fine, with threat of prosecution for persistent disobedience.[1291]

THE INDEX

Everything thus centred in the Suprema, whose action was required in even the most trivial matters, and its correspondence on these affairs was incessant. As condemnations and expurgations multiplied, it became impossible to trust the records of the tribunals or the memory of the faithful. Some authentic list or catalogue was required to aid inquisitors in their work, and to warn booksellers and readers, and thus gradually was developed the Index Librorum Prohibitorum or Expurgandorum, which has become one of the most efficient of instrumentalities for repressing the human intellect and aiding the forces of reaction. Henry VIII has the credit of setting the example, in a brief list of prohibited books, issued in 1526, although in the same year Charles V published in the Netherlands a plakaat naming half a dozen authors whose books were to be burnt. The earliest allusion that I have met to such a catalogue in Spain occurs in a letter of September, 1540, from the Suprema to Loazes, then Inquisitor of Barcelona, complaining of the inefficiency of the efforts to prevent the importation of prohibited books, which the Germans were using every means to disseminate, while merchants and booksellers felt no fear of the penalties imposed by the Inquisition. Greater activity and heavier punishment were necessary, for which instructions were enclosed, with a list of prohibited and suspected books, to which Loazes was to add his suggestions.[1292]

This was merely for use within the Inquisition. The first formal printed Index was compiled, in 1546, by the University of Louvain. A copy of this was sent, in 1547, to Inquisitor-general Valdés, at Seville, who forwarded it to the Suprema. This had it printed, with an Appendix containing the books prohibited in Spain, and sent it out, September 1st, to the tribunals, with some MS. additions of later prohibitions.[1293] This is the earliest Spanish Index, hitherto unknown, which has left no other trace, and it serves to mark the commencement of another duty undertaken by the Suprema, that of examining books for the purpose, without awaiting denunciations, for, in 1545 there is an order to pay Dr. Alvaro de Moscoso forty ducats for labor of this kind.[1294] Then, in 1550, the University of Louvain issued an enlarged list and this, by order of Charles V, was reprinted and circulated by the Inquisition in 1551, with its own additions, constituting what has been reckoned as the first Spanish Index.[1295]

The energies of the Suprema were now turned to the Scriptures. Vast numbers of Latin Bibles had been circulated, correct as to the text, but rendered insidiously dangerous by heretical notes and commentaries. Many of these were contained in the Index of 1551, and diligent search was made for others at Salamanca and Alcalá, and their errors were scrupulously noted. The results of these labors were communicated to the tribunals, with orders to examine all the Bibles seized under the Index of 1551; if among them were found editions not in the list enclosed, they were to be scrupulously examined by learned men and be sent to the Suprema, which would then determine what was to be done with the great accumulation of corrupt Bibles in the land. It concluded not to order a wholesale destruction and, in 1554, it issued the first Expurgatory Index, devoted to the Scriptures, specifying the edition and the passages to be borrado or blotted out; this was sent to the tribunals with orders for its publication everywhere. All the Bibles seized and all that might be brought in were to be expurgated and returned to their owners, with a certificate. After the expiration of the term of grace allowed, the most strenuous efforts were to be made to ascertain whether any prohibited or unexpurgated Bibles remained in the hands of individuals or institutions, the owners of which were to be punished with the utmost rigor.[1296]

GENERAL INSPECTION

It was evidently the books conveyed by Julian Hernández that furnished a fresh list sent to the tribunals, October 22, 1557, of works described as printed in Venice and brought from Flanders and Germany by a Spaniard to Seville. Edicts concerning them were to be published everywhere, the book-shops were to be sedulously searched and any one found in possession of them was to be punished with the greatest severity. This was followed, September 2, 1558, by an additional list of books ordered to be burnt.[1297] The Suprema was thus obtaining material for an independent Index. Paul IV had caused one to be compiled in 1557, which was printed and suppressed, to appear, in 1559, in an authentic form.[1298] The Spanish Inquisition, however, already asserted its independence of the Roman Holy Office in these matters; the excitement over the Lutherans of Valladolid and Seville suggested a comprehensive prohibition of heretic books; Valdés procured from the pope the necessary delegation of power and, in 1559, the first indigenous Index appeared. It was distributed to the tribunals with instructions that all books contained in it were to be called in; those of heretic authors were to be publicly burnt in the autos, and the rest carefully stored, making lists of them and of their owners, which were to be sent to the Suprema for its action. Books on the humanities and Catholic books with heretic notes, if the latter could be effaced, were to be returned to the owners; all anonymous books and books without imprint of place and printer and all books printed abroad since 1519 were to be seized and examined and, if found suspicious, were to be detained. The general clause in the Index, covering all books savoring of heresy, was explained to mean that everything not contained in it that was heretical or suspect was to be seized, and whenever there was doubt the Suprema was to be consulted.[1299]

The preparation of the Index had been a work of no little labor and perplexity. Among others, the learned Doctor Francisco Sancho had for some years been employed by the Suprema in examining and seizing books and, early in 1559, he wrote that he had a large number in his possession and that, in the course of his duties many doubts had arisen, which he set forth in a series of questions. One of these suggests the difficulty of censorship applied to a theology undergoing reconstruction at the Council of Trent, but which was assumed to have been unalterable from the beginning. Sancho calls attention to the clause in the edicts forbidding all books containing any thing against the faith and the Church and its observances. There are many books, he continues, containing such errors, as those of Richard of Armagh, Durandus, Caietano, the Master of Sentences, Origen, Theophylact, Tertullian, Lactantius, Lucian, Aristotle, Plato, Seneca and others, much used both in and out of the schools, and it is doubted whether they can be permitted under condition of noting the errors. The Suprema shrank from the absurdity of suppressing the works of the most eminent medieval theologians and the leading classics, and it graciously allowed their circulation until further orders.[1300]

The issue of the Index was followed by a vigorous search through all the book-shops and libraries of Spain. Examiners or revisors were appointed everywhere, with instructions to scrutinize all collections of books, whether in shops, monasteries, universities and private libraries, to detect not only those named in the Index but all others containing suspicious matter. All owners of books were commanded to submit them for examination, under penalty of excommunication and two hundred ducats. Not only the prohibited books but all regarded as suspicious were to be sent, together with information as to their owners, to the Suprema, which would do justice in the premises.[1301]

The examination of all the books accumulated in Spain was a formidable undertaking, but it was attempted to the discomfiture of all men of culture and learning, and the raising of innumerable questions which gave ample occupation to the Suprema. A specimen of this is found in the report of Fray Pedro de Quintanilla of Valladolid, concerning books in his hands belonging to Bartolomé de Robles, a prominent bookseller. Most of these, he says, are of Erasmus, such as the Adagia, Paraphrases and Anotaciones which are not prohibited, and he thinks may be returned to the owner, to which the response is that books of Erasmus not in the Index may be returned. Then there is Conrad Gesner de Piscibus et de Avibus, containing only the painted bird and fish, which he thinks may be returned, which is assented to. Then there is a book called Petrus Galatinus, containing a tract “De Arte Cabalistica;” if this were removed, some who have examined it say that the rest is good, to which the reply was to take out the cabalistic tract and return the book. Then there are other books, which have prologues or annotations by heretics, and he thinks that if the names of such authors were blotted out, the books might be returned, as to which he was told to specify the books.[1302] We can readily conceive the exasperation caused by this laborious and meddlesome trifling, and its repressive influence on the studies of the learned.