On the 27th of April, 1567, he embarked, and on the 25th of May he arrived at Civita Vecchia, where the Spanish ambassador, and Paul Vislersio, nephew to the Pope and captain of his guards, received him, and on the 29th he arrived at Rome. Besides his servants and Avellaneda, he was accompanied by two counsellors of the Inquisition, Don Diego de Simancas, and Don Antonio Pazos; by Don Pedro Fernandez de Temiño, inquisitor of Callahorra, Don Jerome Ramirez, fiscal to the Supreme Council, Sebastian de Landeta and Alphonso de Castellon, secretaries to the Inquisition of Valladolid, and several familiars, who all travelled at the archbishop's expense. He had also with him Don Martin de Alpizcueta and Don Alonso Delgado, his advocates.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
END OF THE TRIAL OF CARRANZA.—HIS DEATH.
ON the arrival of Carranza at Rome, the Pope assigned to him the apartments occupied by the sovereign pontiffs in the Castle of St. Angelo: the size of these rooms allowed him to take exercise, and he enjoyed a view of the country. His health became better, and his strength returned; he was also allowed three more domestics. The Pope forbade any person to speak to him of his trial, and while it lasted he was not permitted to take the sacrament, or to say mass. In Spain he was not suffered to confess, but in Rome he was allowed to do so four times in a year.
Pius V. appointed sixteen consultors for the trial: these were Cardinals Reviva, Pacheco, Gambaya, and Chiesa; the Archbishop of Tarragona; the Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo; the Bishop of Pati in Sicily; the Bishop of Chefalu; Don Pedro Fernandez de Temiño, counsellor of the Spanish Inquisition; Fray Thomas Manrique, a Dominican; the Archbishop of St. Severin; the Bishop of St. Agatha; the Bishop of Arezzo; the Bishop of Fiesoli, and Doctor Artimo, auditor of the causes of the apostolical palace. The Pope also appointed the fiscal of the Supreme Council to the same office; two Italian secretaries, and the two who came from Spain. The rest of the year 1567, and part of the following, were employed in translating the trial into Italian.
The Canons of Toledo presented a letter to the Pope, entreating him to take into consideration the merit of the archbishop and his high rank, as well as the honour and consolation of their church, which had been deprived of its pastor for eight years, and soliciting him to show him as much favour as was compatible with religion and justice. This his Holiness promised to do, and expressed great satisfaction at the noble sentiments contained in the letter, and the tender interest the chapter displayed for the welfare of their pastor.
The works and MSS. of the archbishop remained in Spain; they were claimed and sent to Rome in 1570: this circumstance caused fresh delays. When the translation was finished, the fiscal required that no conferences of the consultors should take place unless the Pope was present, which prolonged the affair excessively, as his Holiness was often unable to attend. The fiscal also challenged Fray Thomas Manrique, because he was the friend of Carranza. The Pope then appointed Doctor Toledo, a Jesuit, but he was also challenged, because he was related to Don Antonio de Toledo, another friend of the archbishop.
Don Gomez Tellez Giron, governor of the archbishopric, dying at this time, the Chapter of Toledo wrote to the Pope a second time, expressing the utmost anxiety to see the trial terminated. His Holiness replied to this letter with peculiar graciousness, excusing himself on account of his numerous avocations, and the nature of the trial, and promising to hasten the conclusion, which he said he had already endeavoured to do.
When the writings were arranged, it was discovered that several sheets were missing; Pius V. therefore considering that it would be difficult to express in writing what he thought on this subject, sent John de Bedoya, agent of the Council of the Inquisition, into Spain, with a brief addressed to the king, requesting him to listen to the commission of John de Bedoya with his usual benevolence and goodness.
It is not known what Bedoya said to the king, but the trial informs us that he caused the papers concerning the trial to be sought for, and that some of these were given by the inquisitor-general to the king, to be sent to Rome: among these were found some qualifications and depositions, which were favourable to the archbishop. The persons who had concealed these documents were so blinded by passion, that they did not consider that they were cited in the papers which had been sent. Although his Holiness and Philip intended to transfer all the papers concerning Carranza, yet all the MS. copies of the Catechism, which were taken from the Marchioness d'Alcañices, and which had been used in the qualification of the work, and the duplicates and triplicates of the unprinted works, remitted by Alphonso de Castro, and Doctor Astete, were retained in Spain. This omission was not at first supposed to be occasioned by malevolence, since all the rest had been sent; but it was afterwards discovered that the papers were retained to be made use of on some other opportunity, which in fact occurred; and to give occasion for fresh delays if they were claimed by the Pope.
Pius V. prepared the definitive sentence; but he did not pronounce it until he knew the inclinations of Philip, whom he did not wish to offend. In his judgment he declared that the accusation of the fiscal was not proved, and acquitted the prelate. He commanded that the Catechism should be restored to the author, to be translated into Latin, and that he should insert the necessary corrections, and explain the censured propositions in a Catholic sense; secondly that the prohibition of that work should be held to be valid, until the explanations were furnished; that that of the explanation of St. John should remain, and that none of the manuscript works of Carranza should be printed or published, until he had made the necessary corrections.