It was an imposing assemblage to which the report was submitted, consisting of a reunion of the Councils of Castile, of Aragon, of the Inquisition, of Military Orders and of Indies, together with eminent theologians, and it was under the presidency of Manrique.
There evidently was not unanimity, for the discussion occupied twenty-two days, and some of the theologians, with Jaime Benet, the most eminent canonist of Spain at their head, denied the validity of the baptisms. Still, the inevitable conclusion was that, as the neophytes had made no resistance or complaint, they must adhere to the faith, willingly or unwillingly. On March 23, 1525, the emperor attended a meeting, in which Manrique announced to him the decision, which he confirmed and ordered measures to be taken for its enforcement. In pursuance of this a royal cédula on April 4th, after reciting the care bestowed on the question, and the unanimous conclusion reached, declared the baptized Moors to be Christians, and ordered their children to be baptized, while churches in which mass had been celebrated were not to be used as mosques.[955]
It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of this action on the fate of the Moriscos, for all that followed was its necessary consequence. Without loss of time an imposing inquisitorial commission was organized, with Gaspar de Avalos, Bishop of Guadix, at its head, and a retinue of counsellors and familiars. On May 10th they arrived at Valencia and, on Sunday the 14th, the bishop in a sermon ordered the publication of the royal cédula, with an edict granting thirty days within which apostates could return with security for life and property, after which they would forfeit both.[956] It could scarce have been intended to execute this atrocious threat, and no attempt seems to have been made to do so. The apostates were not easily distinguishable among their unbaptized brethren, among whom they constituted perhaps ten per cent., but the commissioners endeavored to identify them, travelling through the land, making out lists, and confirming all whom they could discover, as a preliminary to prosecuting the backsliders.[957] Their numbers suggested moderation, for which papal authority was requisite. It was obtained, for a brief of Clement VII, June 16, 1525, recites that Charles had applied to him for a remedy; the multitude of delinquents called for gentleness and clemency, wherefore they were to be prosecuted with a benignant asperity; those who should return to the light of truth, publicly abjure their errors and swear never to relapse, could be absolved without incurring the customary infamy and disabilities.[958]
Threats and promises availed little. The ten or fifteen thousand Moriscos, who had passed through the hands of the Agermanados, did not wait to experience the benignant asperity of the commission, but took refuge in the Sierra de Bernia, and the nobles, so far from attempting to dislodge them, favored them, in hopes that their resistance might lead Charles to abandon his purpose. He had been moved to indignation on hearing that the magistrates of Valencia had begged the commission not to ill-treat the Alfaquíes, as the prosperity of the land depended on the Moors, and he now rebuked the nobles, ordering them to go to their estates and teach their vassals to be good Christians. Preparations at length were made to attack the refugees of Bernia, who had held out from April until August; they surrendered under promise of immunity and were taken to Murla where they were absolved and kindly treated.[959]
The commission, wearied with its fruitless labors, was about to abandon the field, when it received a letter from Charles, stating that, as God had granted him the victory of Pavia, he could evince his gratitude in no way more effective than by compelling all the infidels in his dominions to submit to baptism; they were therefore ordered to remain and to undertake this new conversion, in conjunction with a fresh colleague, Fray Calcena, afterwards Bishop of Tortosa.[960] We have seen that, in preparation for this, he had, near the end of 1523 or in the early part of 1524, applied to Clement VII to absolve him from the oath taken in 1518 not to expel or make forced conversions, and Clement is said to have at first refused the request, declaring it to be scandalous.[961] The persistence of the ambassador, the Duke of Sesa, however prevailed over Clement’s scruples and the brief was issued, May 12, 1524, though for a time it was kept secret.
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It commenced by reciting the papal grief on learning that, in Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon, Charles had many Moorish subjects, with whom the faithful could not hold intercourse without danger, and who served as spies for their brethren in Africa. He was therefore exhorted to order the inquisitors to preach to them and, in case of obstinacy, he was to designate a term after which they should be expelled, under pain of perpetual slavery, to be rigorously enforced. The tithes, which they had never paid, should in future accrue to their lords, in recompense for the damage caused by the expulsion, under condition that the lords should supply the churches with what was requisite for divine service, while the revenues of the mosques should provide endowments for benefices. The fateful brief concluded by formally releasing Charles from his oath of 1518, absolving him from all penalties and censures for perjury, and granting him whatever dispensation was necessary for the due execution of the foregoing, and it further conferred on the inquisitors ample faculties to suppress opposition, notwithstanding all apostolical constitutions and all laws of the land.[962]
Charles was thus set free to work his will, in despite of oaths and of laws. Yet for eighteen months he held the brief without using it, waiting perhaps for the settlement of the question of baptism and for the agitation in Valencia to subside. At length, on September 13, 1525, he addressed letters to the nobles, informing them of his irrevocable resolve not to allow a Moor or an infidel to dwell in his dominions except as a slave; he recognized that expulsion would affect their interests, and consequently he urged them to go to their estates and co-operate with the commissioners in procuring the conversion and instruction of their vassals. Accompanying this was a brief letter to the Moors, informing them of the determination to which he had been inspired by Almighty God that His law should prevail throughout the land, and of his desire for their salvation, wherefore he exhorted and commanded them to submit to baptism; if they did so, they should have the liberties of Christians and good treatment; if they refused, he would find other means. The next day a proclamation was addressed to the Moors, emphatically repeating these threats and promises, and forbidding any interference with conversion or insults to converts, under penalty of five thousand florins and the royal wrath. The same day a letter to Queen Germaine tacitly admitted the futility of depriving the Moriscos of their religion without providing a substitute. He had learned, he said, that in many villages of the converts there were no priests to give instruction or to celebrate mass, and he ordered her to see that they were instructed and ministered to, thriftily adding that, in lands of royal jurisdiction, care must be taken to reserve the patronage of the new churches to the crown.[963]
The commissioners, armed with full powers as inquisitors, lost no time in announcing to the Moors the irrevocable resolve of the emperor, with a term of grace of eight days, after which they would execute the decrees. The frightened aljamas deputed twelve alfaquíes to supplicate of Charles the revocation of the edict. Queen Germaine granted them a safe-conduct, and they were received at court, carrying with them fifty thousand ducats to propitiate persons of importance and, although at the moment they accomplished nothing, eventually, as we shall see, they secured a Concordia which, as usual, was granted only to be violated.[964]
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