A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 3

by Henry Charles Lea

What between the activity of the press, the widening knowledge of heretical literature, and the increasing sensitiveness of criticism, the work promised to be endless and preparations were soon under way for the preparation of a new Index. The labor proved to be no light one. The tribunals, the prelates and the universities were called upon for information; as this was received it was sent to Maestro Francisco Sancho, who selected from the University of Salamanca a junta to frame from these materials the new Index. Then Sancho left Salamanca and recommended as his successor his assistant Doctor Diego de Vera. The Suprema grew impatient and, in a letter of December 6, 1572, it charged the theologians of the university with the prosecution of the work; in view of its importance and the urgency of speedy completion, it was to be preferred to all other business and was to be pushed forward unremittingly.[1308] They doubtless labored conscientiously and disputed zealously, but the result was still far off. In 1574 we hear that the Index was expected to be completed shortly; in 1575, the Licenciado Velarde, in charge of the matter, was urged to complete it; in 1578 it was so far advanced that it was submitted to the Universities for their revision and in 1579 they were asked for their opinions on the general rules drawn up to accompany it.[1309] Still there was delay, for the outcome of this careful and prolonged labor was a vast increase over previous indexes, appearing in two volumes, known as the Indexes of Quiroga, the inquisitor-general. The first was an Index of prohibited books, issued in 1583, consisting mostly of the names of authors all of whose works were forbidden. This was followed, in 1584, by an Expurgatory Index—the first of its kind—giving the expurgations necessary to render current the works enumerated. A carta acordada of October 16th contained directions for the enforcement of its prescriptions. Although it had been published in the principal towns, it was to be published again, on a Sunday or feast-day, after convoking the people by proclamation, when it was to be read after the sermon in the same way as the Edict of Faith. The preacher was to announce that all persons having prohibited books were to deliver them at once to the tribunal, or to a person designated in each town; those having books to be expurgated could do so in their own houses, but within six months must submit them to the said persons for approval and signing, without which they would not be considered as expurgated. Obedience seems to have been slack; on June 13, 1585, the time limit was extended for four months; then successive prorogations followed and, in 1587, a further delay was accorded until the end of 1588.[1310]

The business was as interminable as the labors of the Danaïdes. Already, in 1586, the theological faculties of Salamanca, Alcalá and Valladolid were informed that omissions had been reported, and they were asked to assemble and consider what should be done. In 1594 we hear of preparations on foot for another Index and Doctor Neroni, Abbot of Alcalá was instructed to form a junta of doctors and masters competent for the work.[1311] Progress, however, was interrupted by the strife which arose between the Dominicans and the Jesuits over the propositions of Molina and the insoluble questions connected with sufficing and efficacious grace. The correspondence on the subject was continuous and voluminous; all the theologians of Spain, who were numerous and highly vocal, were involved in a prodigious uproar which monopolized the energies of the censorship. Even the Inquisition was powerless to restore peace between the raging factions and, in 1598, the strictest orders were sent to all the universities, forbidding debate or discussion on the subject and any allusion to it in lectures. Yet the tempest continued to growl and even in 1612 we find an edict concerning it.[1312]

THE INDEXES

Still the work was making progress, with enormous labor. We happen to learn that, in 1596, the tribunal of Murcia was instructed to confide to Dr. Arce and his brother the expurgation of Theodore Zwinger’s Theatrum Vitæ Humanæ, an enormous work, in eight folio volumes, published in Basle in 1565. How long they were engaged upon the task may be inferred from the fact that, in 1610, the tribunal was ordered to give to Padre Arce the copy of the book on which he had labored, and the result appears in thirty-eight pages of the Index, occupied by his expurgations.[1313] In 1605 we find commissions granted to sundry calificadores to take from the book-shops whatever books they needed for examination. A junta was formed, probably in 1608, the members of which received the liberal salary of a ducat a day and, in 1610, lists of books were sent to all the tribunals, with instructions to submit them to learned men for consideration.[1314] The expenditure was large for it was not until 1612 that the new Index, known by the name of Sandoval y Rojas, the inquisitor-general, saw the light. It was both a prohibitory and an expurgatory Index in one stout volume.

The next Index was issued under the authority of Inquisitor-general Zapata, in 1632, forming a large folio. Then, in 1640, another appeared in a still larger volume, known as the Index of Sotomayor. Sixty-seven years elapsed before the publication of another, in 1707, under Inquisitor-general Vidal Marin. Its preparation had been entrusted to Antonio Alvárez de la Puente and Fernando Gallego Calderon, the latter of whom died and the work was carried to completion by the former. It contained not only the list of Sotomayor and the works condemned or expurgated during the interval, but many others discovered by the industry of the compilers or by the revisors appointed by the various tribunals, under orders of May 31, 1706, to examine all book-shops and libraries.[1315] It occupied two folios of rather smaller size than the single one of its predecessor. The next Index was issued in 1747, under Inquisitor-general Prado y Cuesta, in one large folio. Its preparation had been committed to two Jesuits, without supervision, who abused their position by gratifying the interests of the Society of Jesus through including a large number of authors who had never been condemned, giving rise to a long debate, of which more hereafter.[1316]

EXPURGATION OF BOOKS AND LIBRARIES

Although this Index was thoroughly discredited, it was not until 1782 that the Suprema invited proposals for a new one. A memorial, apparently by a member of that body, in response to this, pointed out the inconvenience of the previous issues, with their constant growth, rendering them costly and difficult to consult. The writer suggested the Roman Index of Benedict XIV as a model—all the works to be gathered into one alphabet; the long lists of expurgations to be replaced with the Roman donec corrigatur and a reference to the edict denouncing them. Allusion was made to the many intricate and delicate questions involved, largely owing to the irreconcilable pretensions of the Roman and Spanish Inquisitions, and to the conflict between the royal prerogative and the papal claims. Thus he says that the Roman condemnations were not to be regarded unless they emanate from the Congregation of the Index (not the Roman Inquisition) or a papal brief, and even the Congregation prohibited many books meriting no theological censure, because they were adverse to the assumptions of the curia. Then there was the difficulty of preserving an impartial balance between the rights of the crown and the power of the Church, and of determining the numerous questions presented by many books—the circumspection necessary to distinguish between rights and claims, between exterior and interior discipline, and between discipline and dogma. In fact, the construction of an Index involved much beyond the mere definitions of theology, for it affected the large issues of national policy as well as the multitudinous interests of whole classes of society and religious organizations. As the writer said, the task was too great for any one man, however wise and learned; it could only be performed by a carefully selected junta.[1317] Most of these suggestions were adopted in the Indice Ultimo, which appeared in 1790, in a moderate-sized volume, easy of reference, although the absence of expurgations deprived the possessors of books requiring correction of the facilities afforded by the ponderous tomes of the older Indexes.

During the long intervals between the successive issues, the tribunals were expected to compile for themselves lists of the books condemned in the frequent edicts sent to them. In 1781 we find the Valencia tribunal taken to task for not knowing that a French translation of Robinson Crusoe had been prohibited by decree of January 16, 1756, and it was told that, if it had not kept such a list, it must seek for one in some tribunal that had done so.[1318] Booksellers likewise were expected to note all new prohibitions in the copies of the Indexes which they were required to keep, and a decree of 1627 instructed the tribunal to furnish to them copies of all edicts as they appeared, so that they could not plead ignorance and escape punishment.[1319]

As regards the performance of expurgation, so long as the published Index was merely prohibitive, it was necessary for the owner to deliver the book to the tribunal or to a commissioner to have the objectionable passages blotted out and some documents of 1563 and 1568 show this to be the practice.[1320] When the expurgatory Index of Quiroga appeared, in 1584, we have seen that owners were empowered to do this and that they were negligent, which perhaps explains why the privilege was subsequently withdrawn. It was difficult to enforce obedience and the duty was troublesome, leading to the expedient of licensing professional expurgators, who were authorized to do the work and give certificates of its due performance, with the condition that, when working in libraries, if they found prohibited books, they would seize and deliver them to the nearest commissioner.[1321] When books were delivered to the tribunals for expurgation, the habitual delays must have been exasperating. In 1688 we find Don Juan de la Torre, whose patience was exhausted, obtaining from the Suprema a letter to the Valencia tribunal ordering it to expurgate a book of his and deliver it to him.[1322]