This right of the crown of Spain over the decisions of the Pope has been lately renewed by a law of Charles III.; yet the law has often been impotent against the enterprises, the decisions, and the briefs of the Popes.
Ferdinand named Don Louis Mercader inquisitor-general for the kingdom of Aragon, after the death of the Bishop of Vic. Mercader died in 1516, while the government was in the hands of Charles of Austria, the grandson of Ferdinand, who died in the same year, leaving no children by his second marriage.
Charles, his grandson, resided in Flanders, but he sent into Spain several men who enjoyed his confidence: amongst them were his governor, the Duke d'Ariscot, and Adrian de Florencio, who was Dean of Louvain, and born at Utrecht. As the two sovereignties of Castile and Aragon were now united, it appeared natural that there should be but one inquisitor-general for the monarchy, but Cisneros had too much penetration to omit this opportunity of recommending himself to the favorite, and, consequently, to the prince. Instead of demanding this union, he wrote to the king to represent that it appeared to him expedient to bestow the bishopric of Tortosa and the office of inquisitor-general of Aragon on the Dean of Louvain, and it was easy to obviate the difficulty of his being a foreigner by giving him letters of naturalization. This plan was executed; the double nomination was sent to Rome, and the Pope granted the bulls. Adrian took possession of Majorca on the 7th of February, 1517: this nomination was followed by one to the office of Cisneros, who died on the 6th of November following. Although he was elected Pope on the 9th of January, 1522, he continued in his office until the 10th of September in the following year, when he signed the bulls of his successor, Don Alphonso Manrique de Lara, Archbishop of Seville.
During the period that the Inquisition remained separate from that of Castile, it was often violently attacked, and more than once was on the point of being abolished, or at least subjected to a reform, which would have left it without the power of exciting terror. Ferdinand having assembled the Cortes of the kingdom at Monzon, in 1510, the deputies of the towns and cities loudly complained that the inquisitors abused their powers, not only in matters of faith, but in several points which were not in their jurisdiction. The deputies also represented, that they interfered in the regulation of the contributions, and that the taxes were shamefully diminished by the reductions which they made in the lists; that their authority had made them so bold and insolent, that they created themselves judges in all doubtful cases; and where their competence was denied, they had recourse to excommunication; that they oppressed the magistrates, who feared that they should be obliged to do public penance in an auto-da-fé; that this misfortune had already happened to the viceroys and governors of Barcelona, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia, and Sicily, and to several persons of high rank; in consequence, they entreated his Majesty to maintain the execution of the laws and statues of the kingdom of Aragon, and to oblige the officers of the Inquisition to confine themselves to matter of faith, and to pursue them according to the rules of common law, in giving them the publicity of criminal proceedings.
This representation of the Cortes acquainted the king with the disposition of the public; yet he avoided giving a direct reply, and said that it was impossible to decide upon so important an affair without having acquired a profound knowledge of facts; that he requested them to collect all that came to their knowledge, and to lay them before him in the first assembly. This took place in the same town, in 1512. The resolutions which were then adopted form a treaty between the sovereign and his people: it contains twenty-five articles, all tending to restrain the extent of the jurisdiction of the inquisitors.
It was there stated that they could not interfere in trials for bigamy and usury, unless the culprits had fallen into the crime of heresy in asserting that these offences were not sinful; nor in the proceedings instituted against blasphemers by other tribunals, unless the blasphemy was heretical: they were also prohibited from proceeding in a trial without the concurrence of the ordinaire diocesan: the inquisitor-general was likewise restrained from pronouncing judgment in cases of appeal without the consent of his counsellors; and that the execution of the sentence which had caused it should be delayed. No measures were taken for the publicity of the proceedings, or with regard to the confiscations; but it was agreed that the contracts and other engagements, signed by one who had the reputation of a good catholic, should be valid, although he should be afterwards proved to have been a heretic at the time of the transaction.
The king soon repented of having given his word to the Cortes; and, seconded by the intrigues of the inquisitors, he solicited and obtained a dispensation from his promise, on the 30th of April, 1513. One of the clauses of the dispensation reinstates the tribunals of the holy office in all the privileges which they had formerly possessed. This conduct of the king caused a general revolt; and he was obliged to request the Pope to confirm the regulations of the Cortes, and subject those who did not conform to them to the censure of the church. The Pope saw the necessity of compliance, and granted the bull in 1515.
CHAPTER XI.
AN ATTEMPT MADE BY THE CORTES OF CASTILE AND ARAGON TO REFORM THE INQUISITION.—OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS UNDER ADRIAN, FOURTH INQUISITOR-GENERAL.
THE Inquisition was never in so much danger as during the first year of the reign of Charles V. When the young monarch arrived in Spain, he was disposed to abolish the Inquisition, or at least to regulate the proceedings according to those of other tribunals. In 1518 a general assembly of the Cortes was held at Valladolid, when the representatives solicited that his highness would command the office of the holy Inquisition to conform to the rules of the canons and the common law. The Cortes likewise sent ten thousand pieces of gold to the chancellor Selvagio, and promised the same sum when the decree which they solicited should be put in execution. The king replied that he would take proper measures to remedy the evil of which they complained: in consequence, he engaged the Cortes to publish the abuses which had been introduced, and to indicate the means of abolishing them.
When the assembly at Valladolid had terminated their labours, Charles convoked the Cortes of Aragon at Saragossa, where he was accompanied by the chancellor Selvagio, who had prepared a royal ordinance, to be published according to the demand of the Cortes of Castile. It was composed of thirty-nine articles: the proceedings of the tribunal were regulated in it, with the ages, the rank, and salaries of the judges and subaltern officers.