Chumacero (Don Juan de). See the following Chapter.
Clavijo y Faxardo (Don Joseph de), principal director of the museum of natural history at Madrid, and a learned man, who had a great taste for science. The Inquisition of the Court tried him on the suspicion that he had adopted the antichristian principles of modern philosophy. He was confined to the city of Madrid, which was fortunate for him, as he thus preserved his honour and his office; he appeared privately before the tribunal, and was only condemned to private penances; he also made his abjuration, de levi, with closed doors, in the hall of the tribunal. It is true that the proofs against him were weak, and he gave to his propositions an air of Catholicism. He had lived for some time in Paris, where he had been intimate with Buffon and Voltaire. He edited a journal, called The Thinker. M. Langle, in his Travels in Spain, says, that this work is without merit; if this author judged truly, it would, perhaps, be the only truth in his book. Clavijo was appointed editor of the Mercury, by the government, he also published a translation of "Buffon's Natural History," with notes. As this book is written with great purity of style, and without gallicisms, it is an important acquisition to those who seek a work rich in the beauties of the Spanish language. The Count d'Aranda also gave him the direction of a company of tragic actors: Clavijo endeavoured to fulfil the intention of the minister, but religious fanaticism arrested the progress of the design.
Clement (Don Joseph), bishop of Barcelona. See the following Chapter.
Corpus Christi (Fray Mancio de), Dominican, doctor and professor of theology, in the university of Alcala de Henares. He was tried by the Inquisition of Valladolid for having given a favourable opinion of the Catechism of Carranza. On the 21st of February, 1559, he remitted those of the doctors of his university, who had carefully examined some propositions of a doubtful nature, and of which they acknowledged the orthodoxy. He escaped the dungeons, by retracting, at the request of Philip II. A brief of Gregory XIII. obliged him to restore the definitive sentence which he had passed on the Catechism and other works of Carranza, and in which he had condemned an hundred and thirty-one propositions of that prelate. On the 17th of October, 1559, he addressed a letter to the inquisitor-general, in which he asked pardon, and submitted to any penances which might be imposed on him.
Cruz (Father Louis de la), Dominican, disciple of Don Bartholomew Carranza de Miranda, a member of the college of St. Gregory, at Valladolid, and extremely well versed in doctrine and theology. He was imprisoned in the dungeons of the Inquisition at Valladolid, for being implicated in the affair of Cazalla and his companions. The quotations made by the friends of Cazalla from his works, created a suspicion that he was a Lutheran: it is true that he had held a regular correspondence with Carranza, and had given him his opinion of his Catechism. He was accused of having bribed the minister of the holy office to obtain information of his old master; but he vindicated himself by proving that he had acquired some knowledge of the affair, in his conversations with Melchior Cano, and with one of the condemned Lutherans whom he had exhorted. Fray Louis was arrested in the month of June, 1559, and on the 7th of August he drew up a writing of six pages, in which he made many confessions. He soon became subject to fits of insanity, owing to his anxious thoughts during his trial. In June, 1560, he was removed to the ecclesiastical prison of the bishop, that he might be taken care of. It was impossible to prove any of the charges against him, yet the Inquisition kept him in prison until Carranza was released. At last, after five years of captivity, he abjured, de levi, and was sentenced to a seclusion of a few years as a penance.
Cuesta (Don Andres de la). See Chapter 29.
Cuesta (Don Antonio de la), archdeacon of the cathedral of Avila. The Inquisition of Valladolid ordered him to be arrested in 1801, as suspected of Jansenism and heresy; but he fled to Paris, where he lived during the five years of his trial: it would have been much longer if government had not interposed, as will be seen in the following article.
Cuesta (Don Jerome de la), penitentiary canon of the cathedral of Avila. He was arrested for Jansenism, and heresy, while his brother Antonio was pursued, to whom he furnished the means of flight, at the expense of his own safety. He passed five years in the prisons of the Inquisition, and he would have been detained for a much longer time, but for the solicitations addressed to Charles IV., by persons of the highest rank, who obtained permission to cause the original writings of the trial to be laid before his majesty. Don Jerome proved that the prosecution of himself and his brother originated in the intrigues of Don Raphael de Muzquiz, bishop of Avila, and formerly confessor to the queen, and archbishop of Santiago, and of Don Vincent Soto de Valcarce, bishop of Valladolid. When the depositions of the witnesses were read to Don Jerome, his great penetration enabled him to recognise them, and he clearly proved their injustice. The archbishop of Santiago made many representations to the king against the two brothers, the Inquisitors of Valladolid, and some members of the Supreme Council; he did not even spare Don Ramon Joseph de Arce, archbishop of Saragossa, patriarch of the Indies, and inquisitor-general: he accused them all of partiality in favour of the two brothers, who were, besides, countrymen of the chief of the holy office. The tribunal of Valladolid pronounced Don Jerome innocent; the votes were divided in the council: the king then examined the writings, and declared, that, from the reports he had received, the two brothers were innocent of the crimes of which they were accused. He authorized Don Antonio to return to Spain, created him and his brother knights of the order of Charles III., and commanded the inquisitor-general to appoint them honorary inquisitors. Don Francisco de Salazar, bishop of Avila, (who in quality of Inquisitor of Valladolid, and member of the council, had taken a great part in this intrigue,) received an order from his majesty to reinstate the brothers in their stalls. This is one of the very rare instances, where the King of Spain took an active part in the affairs of the Inquisition, and one of the still more rare occurrences where innocence has triumphed.
Delgado (Don Francis), archbishop of Santiago. See Chapter 29.
Feyjoo (Benedict), Benedictine, born in the Asturias, and a distinguished literati. He was one of the first who restored good taste in Spain: the works which he has composed, have been enumerated by Don Juan Sempere y Guarinos in the Catalogue of the Authors who flourished during the Reign of Charles III. This learned man was denounced at the different tribunals of the Inquisition, as being suspected of the different heresies of the fifteenth century, and of that of the ancient Iconoclasts; most of his accusers were ignorant and prejudicial monks, of whom he had made enemies by the arguments in his Critical Theatre against false devotion, false miracles, and some superstitious customs. It was fortunate for the author that the council of the Inquisition was well acquainted with the purity of his principles and Catholicism. Although the progress of knowledge has been extremely slow in Spain, it must be confessed that it has even penetrated into the interior of the Holy House during the last part of the eighteenth century.