The History of the Inquisition of Spain from the Time of its Establishment to the Reign of Ferdinand VII.

by Juan Antonio Llorente

The bishop, his son, gained the esteem of the Pope, who made him chief major-domo of the pontifical palace, and sent him as ambassador to Venice, in 1494. These marks of favour did not cause the inquisitors to relax in their zeal: they proceeded in their trial against Don Pedro, for heresy: his judges were the archbishop, the Governor of Rome, and two bishops, auditors of the apostolical palace. Don Pedro called one hundred and one witnesses for his defence; but unfortunately every one of them had something to advance against him, on different points. The judges made their report to the Pope, in a secret consistory, in 1498, who, with the cardinals, condemned the bishop to be deprived of his offices and benefices, to be degraded from his episcopal dignity, and reduced to the rank of a simple layman. He was confined in the Castle of Santangelo, where he died some time after.

Thomas de Torquemada, first inquisitor-general of Spain, died the 16th of November, 1498. The miseries which were the consequences of the system which he adopted, and recommended to his successors, justify the general hatred which followed him to the tomb, and compelled him to take precautions for his personal safety. Ferdinand and Isabella permitted him to use an escort of fifty familiars of the Inquisition on horseback, and two hundred others on foot, whenever he travelled. He also kept the horn of a unicorn on his table, which was supposed to discover and neutralize poisons. It is not surprising that many should have conspired against his life, when his cruel administration is considered: the Pope himself was alarmed at his barbarity, and the complaints which were made against him; and Torquemada was obliged to send his colleague, Antonio Badoja, three times to Rome, to defend him against the accusations of his enemies.

At last Alexander VI., weary of the continual clamours of which he was the object, resolved to deprive him of his dignity, but was deterred from so doing through consideration for the Court of Spain. He therefore expedited a brief in 1494, saying, that as Torquemada had arrived at a great age, and suffered from many infirmities, he had named four inquisitors-general, invested with the same powers which he possessed.

The familiars of the holy office, who were employed as the body-guard of the inquisitor-general, were the successors of the familiars of the Old Inquisition. They were commissioned to pursue the heretics, and persons suspected of heresy, to assist the officers of the tribunal in taking them to prison, and to do all that the inquisitors might require.

It has been shown that the Spaniards received the Inquisition with reluctance; but as they were obliged to endure it when once established, some prudent persons thought they should be more secure from the danger of incurring suspicion, if they appeared devoted to the cause, which was the reason why several illustrious gentlemen offered to become familiars of the holy office, and were admitted into the congregation of St. Peter. Their example was followed by the inferior classes, and encouraged by Ferdinand and Isabella, who bestowed several immunities and privileges on them.

CHAPTER IX.
OF THE PROCEDURE OF THE MODERN INQUISITION.

AFTER the death of the Inquisitor-general, Torquemada, Ferdinand and Isabella proposed Don Diego Deza, a Dominican, to the Pope, as his successor. Deza was Bishop of Jaen, and afterwards became Archbishop of Seville. The Pope signed his bulls of confirmation on the 1st of December, 1498, but limited his authority to the affairs of the kingdom of Castile. Deza was displeased at a restriction which did not exist in the bulls of his two colleagues, and refused to accept the nomination, until the Pope invested him with the same power over Aragon, in a bull, in 1499. The new inquisitor-general did not show less severity in the exercise of his office than his predecessor; but, before I enter on this part of the history, it is necessary to give some account of the mode of proceeding of the holy office, as it was the work of Torquemada, the effect of the laws which he formed, and properly belongs to his history.

The processes in the Inquisition began by a denunciation, or some other information, such as a discovery accidentally made before the tribunal in another trial. When the denunciation is signed, it takes the form of a declaration, in which the informer, after having sworn to the truth of his deposition, designates those persons whom he presumes, or believes, to have anything to depose against the accused person. These persons are then heard, and their depositions, with that of the first witness, form the summary of the information, or the preparatory instruction.

Inquest.

When the tribunal judged that the actions or words which were denounced were sufficient to warrant an inquiry to establish the proofs, the persons who had been cited as knowing the object of the declaration were examined, and were obliged to take an oath not to reveal the questions which were put to them. None of the witnesses were informed of the subject on which they were to make their depositions; they were only asked in general terms, if they had ever seen or heard anything which was, or appeared, contrary to the Catholic faith, or the rights of the Inquisition.