Samaniego (Don Philip de), priest, archdeacon of Pampeluna, knight of the order of St. James, counsellor to the king, and chief secretary and interpreter of foreign languages. He was invited to attend the auto-da-fé of Don Paul Olavide, and was so alarmed that he voluntarily denounced himself. He presented a declaration, in which he confessed that he had read prohibited books, such as those of Voltaire, Mirabeau, Rousseau, Hobbes, Spinosa, Montesquieu, Bayle, d'Alembert, Diderot, and others; that from this course of reading he had fallen into a religious pyrrhonism; that having thought seriously on the subject, he had resolved to remain firmly attached to the Catholic faith, and that in consequence he had resolved to demand to be absolved from the censures ad cautelam. The tribunal ordered that he should confirm his declaration by taking an oath. They then obliged him to confess by what means he had obtained the books, whom he had received them from, and where they were at that time; with what persons he had conversed on the subject of religion, and revealed his opinions; what individuals had refuted or adopted them; who had appeared to be ignorant of the doctrine, or were acquainted with it; and lastly, how long he had known it himself: these declarations were the conditions on which he was to receive absolution. Samaniego wrote a declaration, in which almost all the learned men of the court were implicated. Some of these persons had been invited to the auto-da-fé of Don Paul Olavide.
Sardinia (the viceroy of) was excommunicated in 1498, and punished by the inquisitors for having lent assistance to the Archbishop of Cagliari in taking a criminal from the prisons of the holy office to those of the archbishopric.
Sesé (Don Joseph de), president of the royal Court of Appeal of the kingdom of Aragon. This magistrate wrote a work, in which he had collected many definitive sentences which had been pronounced in trials for competency; they were all favourable to the secular power. The author was the victim of his zeal; he was persecuted, and his work prohibited, but Philip IV. caused it to be revoked.
Solorzano (Don Juan de), member of the Sovereign Council of the Indies. He was the author of a work on Indian Politics, and several others of the same nature. They were written in the same spirit as those of Salgado; Solorzano and his works shared his fate.
Sotomayor (Don Guiterre de), knight commander of the order of Alcantara, brother of the Count de Benalcazar, and governor of the fortress of that name. See Benalcazar.
Terranova (the Marquis de). See Chapter 16.
Toledo (the royal judge of) was excommunicated, imprisoned, and received much ill treatment from the inquisitors in 1622, in a contest for jurisdiction.
Valdés (Don Antonio), member of the royal Council of Castile. He was excommunicated by the inquisitors in 1639, because he refused to exempt the familiars of the holy office who possess land, from paying a contribution.
Valencia (the viceroy of), captain-general, was obliged in 1488, to appear before the Supreme Council of the Inquisition, and ask pardon and absolution for having set at liberty a soldier who was detained in the prisons of the holy office. He had the mortification of being obliged to appear in a lesser auto-da-fé.
Vera (Don Juan-Antonio de). See Chapter 36.