A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 3

by Henry Charles Lea

VALENCIA

The missionary work thus impeded received an unlooked for impulse from the insurrection known as the Germanía or Brotherhood, which suddenly broke out in 1520. This was a revolt of the people against the oppression of the nobles which, in its peaceful beginning, won the approval of Charles and of his representative, Cardinal Adrian. It speedily developed into civil war, in which the nobles had the aid of their Moorish vassals; these formed a large portion of the forces with which the Duke of Segorbe won the victories of Oropesa and Almenara, early in July, 1521, and they constituted a third of the infantry, under the Viceroy Mendoza, in the disastrous rout of Gandía, July 25. To cripple the nobles, the leaders of the Germanía conceived the idea of baptizing by force the Moors, thus giving them the status of Christians and releasing them from vassalage.[942] Urgelles, the chief captain, mortally wounded at the siege of Játiva, which surrendered July 14th, was already busily engaged in compelling the baptism of the Moors in the places under his control; and his successor, Vicente Peris, who won the decisive victory of Gandía, adopted the same policy. Full particulars as to proceedings in the different towns and villages were obtained by a commission, formed in 1524 to ascertain whether the baptisms were voluntary or coerced, and the evidence in its report shows that bands of Agermanados traversed the territory between Valencia and Oliva, terrorizing the Moors and offering them the alternative of baptism or death. A few homicides punctuated their commands, and the helpless infidels flocked to the baptismal font for safety. Of course there was no pretence of instruction or of ascertaining what the neophytes knew of the religion thus imposed upon them; they were baptized by sprinkling them in batches and squads and, when holy water was not at hand, that from running streams was employed. The only redeeming feature in the evidence is the frequent allusion to friendly relations between Christians and Moors and to the refuge and protection willingly given to the terrified victims, showing how the antagonism of race was gradually subsiding and how its extinction might have been hopefully anticipated if matters had been allowed to develop naturally.[943]

Attempts were also made to convert the mosques into churches. In a few places they were consecrated; in some others only a paper picture of Christ or the Virgin was hung up, or attached to the door. Occasionally divine service was performed, which the neophytes attended with more or less regularity, but their adhesion to their new faith lasted only while the impression of terror continued. In some places they felt safe to recur to their old religion in three weeks, in others they remained nominally Christian for a few months, but everywhere, as soon as they felt the danger to be passed, they resumed their Moslem rites and worshipped in their mosques as before. In this, for the most part, they were encouraged by their lords, who assured them that the coercive baptism was invalid, and that they were free to revert to their faith. Others more prudently seized the opportunity to escape to Africa, and it was estimated that no less than five thousand houses were left vacant, inferring an emigration of some twenty-five thousand souls.[944]

The suppression of the Germanía, in 1522, enabled the Inquisition to commence action against those who had been brought under its jurisdiction by baptism. Inquisitor Churrucca of Valencia entertained no scruple as to the validity of the sacrament, but there was difficulty in the fact that the hurried proceedings had precluded the making of records that would identify individuals. When the officiating priests had made lists he demanded their surrender and, towards the close of 1523, he was busy in obtaining evidence from eye-witnesses. Some fragmentary documents show that he was partially successful, and that he was prosecuting those whom he could prove to be apostates, but there was no disposition to treat them harshly. It would appear, indeed, that Cardinal Adrian adopted a policy of toleration which, after his elevation to the papacy, enabled the advocates of the Moriscos to claim that they had the benefit of a dispensation.[945]

The situation, in fact, was perplexing. In Castile, enforced conversion had been universal, under threat of expulsion; all were constructively baptized and could legally be held to the consequences. In Valencia, however, the Germanía had occupied but a portion of the territory, and even there the work had been partial, and so irregularly executed that identification was impossible save in isolated cases. As soon as the pressure was removed all had reverted to their pristine belief, and the sovereign was under a solemn oath that no compulsion should be employed. The simplest solution that offered was to complete the work and to convert the whole Moorish population, after securing the assent of the nobles by conceding that their rights should not be affected, and that converts should not be permitted to change their domicile.[946] Missionaries were therefore sent to try the effect of persuasion, prominent among whom was Fray Antonio de Guevara. In a letter of May 22, 1524, he says that for three years he had labored at the task, doing nothing but dispute in the aljamas, preach in the Morerías and baptize in the houses.[947] Well-meant as was this effort, its success was not commensurate with its merits; the question refused to be solved, and the claims of the Inquisition to exercise jurisdiction over the so-called apostates inevitably provoked discussion as to the validity of enforced baptism, the degree of coercion by the Agermanados, and the sufficiency of the rite so irregularly performed.

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We have seen above (Vol. I, p. 41) that, when the Goths coerced their Jewish subjects to baptism, the fourth Council of Toledo enunciated the principle that, while the act was wrong, the baptism was indelible and the baptized must be forced to remain in the Church, a principle which became embodied in the canon law. Still there was a question as to the degree of coercion and Boniface VIII, while assuming to exempt those whose coercion was absolute, took care to define that the fear of death was not such coercion.[948] In the refinement of scholastic theology, two kinds of coercion were distinguished—conditional or interpretative and absolute; it was decided that coerced volition is still volition, and absolute coercion was reduced to the proposition that, if a man tied hand and foot were baptized while uttering protests, the rite would be invalid.[949] Such was the received practice of the Church, although a few schoolmen of high repute denied the validity of the sacrament under coercion, rather as an academical question, for the Church assumes consent and compels the so-called convert to the observance of the faith imposed on him.[950]

It was inevitable that the converts of the Germanía were to be held to their responsibilities as Christians. Charles V had already resolved on his policy and had applied to Clement VII to be released from his oath not to impose Christianity on the Moors, but the proceedings of Inquisitor Churrucca were exciting murmurs, and a decent show of preliminary investigation was advisable. Charles at first ordered this to be done by the Governor of Valencia in conjunction with the inquisitors and some theologians and jurists, but this was not a sufficiently authoritative body to justify the far-reaching measures in contemplation and Manrique suggested, January 23, 1524, the formation of a junta under his presidency, in view of the opposition of the nobles and gentry, who dreaded the loss accruing to them from the Christianization of their vassals.[951] That this was merely to save appearances is evident from the fact that, when Charles, on February 11th, gave orders for the assembling of the junta, he wrote on the same day to Germaine, Vice-queen of Valencia, instructing the inquisitors and vicar-general to take due action with the apostate Moriscos.[952] Nine days later, Manrique issued a commission to Churrucca and his assessor Andrés Palacio to make a complete investigation into all the circumstances of the conversion and backsliding of the Moriscos—a selection which indicates the foregone conclusion, as they had already committed themselves on all the questions involved. Two other commissioners—Martin Sánchez and Juan de Bas—were added to them when, in November, they started on their work, and meanwhile the inquisitors had been taking testimony on their own account.[953]

The investigation lasted only from November 4th to the 24th, as the commission moved from place to place, in the little district between Alcira and Denia. A hundred and twenty-eight witnesses were interrogated on a series of questions drawn up by Manrique and their evidence established beyond doubt that submission to baptism was under the influence of mortal terror. The report of the commission consisted simply of the testimony, as taken down by the secretary, but it was supplemented by a learned argument in scholastic form by the fiscal of the tribunal, Fernando Loazes, the future Archbishop of Valencia. In this he made no pretence that the baptism was voluntary. The violence he admitted to be a crime, for which the actors should be punished, but the effect was good and should be maintained; it was the way in which God evokes good out of evil. The Moors had been saved from perdition and from slavery to the demon and, as this was a public benefit, the converts must be compelled to adhere to the Catholic faith, and those who upheld them in apostasy must be prosecuted as fautors and defenders of heresy. All doctors agree that, when there is danger of infecting the faith, the prince can compel uniformity or can expel the unbelievers.[954]

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