Although the prisoner was acquitted, he was not acquainted with the names of his denouncers and the witnesses. He rarely obtained a more public reparation than the liberty of returning to his house with a certificate of absolution.
Execution of the Sentence.
The nature of the punishments inflicted by the Inquisition has been already described; it is, therefore, only necessary to remark that the sentences were not communicated to the victims until the commencement of the execution, since the condemned were sent to the autos-da-fé, either to be reconciled or given over to secular justice; on leaving prison the familiars attired them in the san-benito, with a paper mitre on their heads, a cord round their necks, and a wax taper in their hands.
When the prisoner arrives at the place of execution, his sentence is read, and he is then reconciled or relaxed, which means, that he is condemned to be burnt by the justice of the king.
San-benito.
The San-benito was a species of scapulary, which only descended to the knees, that it might not be confounded with those worn by some monks: this motive also made the inquisitors prefer common woollen stuff of a yellow colour with red crosses for the San-benito. Such were the penitential habits in 1514, when Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros altered the common crosses for those of St. Andrew. The inquisitors afterwards had a different habit for each class of penitents.
Those who abjured as slightly suspected of heresy, wore the scapulary of yellow stuff without the cross. If he abjured as violently suspected, he wore half the cross; if he was a formal heretic, he wore it entire. There were also three different kinds of garments for those who were condemned to death. The first was for those who repented before they were sentenced. It was a simple yellow scapulary with a red cross, and a conical cap, denominated Caroza, which was formed of the same stuff as the San-benito, and decorated with similar crosses.
The second was destined for those who had been condemned to be burnt, but who had repented after their sentence, and before they were conducted to the autos-da-fé. The San-benito and the Caroza were made of the same stuff. On the lower part of the scapulary a bust was painted, in the midst of a fire, the flames of which were reversed, to show that the culprit was not to be burnt until he had been strangled. The Caroza was painted in the same manner.
The third was for those who were impenitent. It was similar to the others, with a bust, and the flames in the natural direction, to show that the person who wore it was to be burnt alive; grotesque figures of devils were also painted on the San-benito and Caroza.