This convention was observed for some time; but in 1588 the inquisitors of Lisbon sent a requisition to those of Valladolid, to deliver up to them Gonzales Baez, who had been arrested at Medina del Campo: they replied that this demand could not be admitted, as it was contrary to the convention. The inquisitors of Portugal acknowledged the justice of this claim; but those of Spain, who in 1568 found themselves in the same situation, refused to conform to the measure, because they had at their head Cardinal Espinosa, who was all-powerful with Philip. The cardinal informed Don Henry that he had not ratified the convention, and that he considered it more proper that the prisoner should be given up to the tribunal which had instituted the trial. He requested Cardinal Henry to apply to both their sovereigns, and promised to propose to the King of Spain a measure which should be a general rule for all cases in future.
Don Henry commissioned Francis Pereira, the Portuguese ambassador at Madrid, to terminate this dispute with Cardinal Espinosa. While this affair was being negotiated, several Spaniards who had been condemned by the tribunal of Llerena to be burnt in effigy as contumacious, were arrested in Portugal by the inquisitors of Evora, who immediately demanded the writings of the trial according to the convention of 1544. The tribunal of Llerena replied that it was impossible not to follow the example of Cardinal Espinosa. Almost at the same time these inquisitors arrested some Portuguese who had escaped from their country. The Bishop of Portalegre, inquisitor of Evora, reclaimed the prisoners, but the tribunal refused to give them up, if the inhabitants of Albuquerque, who had been arrested by the Inquisition of Evora, were not returned. Cardinal Henry yielded to the Spanish Inquisition, but wrote to them on the 5th of December to address a formal requisition on this subject, while the Inquisition of Evora would do the same to Cardinal Espinosa. The Supreme Council consented to this arrangement, and the prisoners were exchanged.
The inquisitor-general, Don Henry, died in 1580. The crown of Portugal then descended to Philip II., as being the son of the Empress Isabella, the sister of John III., King of Portugal. As the office of grand-inquisitor was vacant, he wished to suppress it, and place Portugal under the dominion of that of Spain. He represented to the Pope that there would be more unity in the proceedings: but this attempt was unsuccessful, as he had only been acknowledged king, on condition that the crown should continue independent of that of Spain.
When the Duke of Braganza was proclaimed King of Portugal in the reign of Philip IV., Don Francis de Castro grand-inquisitor, and Don John de Vasconcellas, a member of the council of the Inquisition, remained faithful to the King of Spain. The new sovereign (who had taken the name of John IV.) wished to increase his party. Influenced by the advice of England, which had favoured the insurrection, he resolved to restore to the Jews the liberty which they enjoyed before the establishment of the Inquisition; but he was opposed by the two inquisitors above mentioned. The council even condemned a decision of the university of Paris, in which it was said that the king could appoint and consecrate bishops without bulls from Rome, if Pope Innocent X. refused to grant them. John IV. threatened the inquisitors with imprisonment, and even with death, but they were ready to suffer anything rather than consent to the emancipation of the Jews. Don Francis de Castro died, and it was necessary to appoint another inquisitor-general; but the bulls of confirmation were not less difficult to obtain than those for bishops, as the Popes, Urban VIII., Innocent X., and Alexander VII., avoided declaring in favour of either the King of Spain or the Duke of Braganza. At last Portugal triumphed over the efforts of Spain, and the Inquisitions of the two kingdoms seldom had any communication.
That I may not pass over any event tending to prove the attachment of Philip II. for the Inquisition, I shall here mention a project for a military order of the holy office, which would never have been conceived, if the partiality of the monarch for this tribunal had not been generally known.
Some fanatics thought to please him by founding a new military order under the name of St. Mary of the White Sword. The object of this institution was to defend the Catholic religion, the kingdom of Spain, its frontiers, and forts, from any invasion; to prevent the ingress of Jews, Moors, and heretics; and to execute any measures which the inquisitor might command. To be a member of this order it was necessary to produce proofs and witnesses that they descended neither from Jews, Moors, nor any Spaniard condemned and punished by the holy office; nobility was not necessary. The members of this association were independent of the jurisdiction of the bishops and civil authorities; they were all to take the field and fight in defence of the frontier towns, but they acknowledged no chief but the inquisitor-general.
This scheme was adopted by the provinces of Castile, Leon, the Asturias, Aragon, Navarre, Galicia, Guipuscoa, Alava, Biscay, Valencia, and Catalonia. The statutes of the order received the approbation of the inquisitor-general and the Supreme Council; the founders and the representatives of the metropolitan churches of Toledo, Seville, Santiago, Grenada, Tarragona, Saragossa, Valencia, and forty-eight noble families known for having never mixed their blood with that of the New Christians, addressed an humble supplication to the king to obtain the confirmation of them. They represented that the order of the White Sword offered the greatest advantages to Spain; that it would increase the army without any expense of public treasure; that its services would reform and ameliorate the morals of the people; lastly, that it would shed fresh lustre on the nobility of the kingdom.
Philip commissioned his Sovereign Council to examine the plan of this institution, which was likewise discussed in several assemblies appointed by his majesty. The opinions were various; but I shall make known that of a Spanish gentleman, as it deserves to be recorded.
Don Pedro Venegas, of Cordova, represented to the king, that the new order was not necessary, as the Inquisition had not found the want of it in the most difficult circumstances; that the bishops reformed the morals of the people as much as could be expected from human nature; that Spain had never wanted troops even when part of the Peninsula was occupied by enemies; that other military orders existed, who were obliged to obey their respective grand-masters; that these dignities were now possessed by the monarch in virtue of apostolical bulls; that the new establishment might one day attack the authority of the sovereign, if the inquisitor-general made a bad use of the troops at his disposal; that several similar instances had been known of the grand-masters of the orders above mentioned; that this institution would create two parties in the kingdom, that of the Old Christians and that of the New, and that the distinction granted to the first would cause murders and civil wars, and threaten the monarchy with ruin.
Philip II. thought seriously on what the grand-masters of the military orders had done, and being jealous of his authority, he was not disposed to place an army in the power of the inquisitor-general, who might follow their example; he therefore commanded that the proceedings should be suspended, and the interested persons informed that it had not been found necessary to create a new order.