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

by Juan Antonio Llorente

CHAPTER XXI.
HISTORY OF TWO AUTOS-DA-FE, CELEBRATED AGAINST THE LUTHERANS IN THE CITY OF SEVILLE.

AN auto-da-fé was celebrated on the 24th of September, 1559, in the place of St. Francis, at Seville, not less remarkable for the rank of the condemned, than for the nature of their trials. Four bishops attended at it; the coadjutor of Seville, those of Largo and the Canaries, who happened to be in the city, and of Tarrazona, whom the king had authorized to reside at Seville as vice-inquisitor-general.

The inquisitors of the district of Seville were Don Michel del Carpio, Don Andres Gasco, and Don Francis Galdo; Don Juan de Obando represented the archbishop. I make this remark, to show that none of the judges were named Vargas, as the author of a romance entitled Cornelia Bororquia has asserted.

This auto-da-fé was celebrated before the royal court of justice, the chapter of the cathedral, some grandees of Spain, and a great number of titled persons and gentlemen; the Duchess of Bejar was present with several ladies, and an immense concourse of people. Twenty-one persons were relaxed, with an effigy of a contumacious person, and eighty persons condemned to penances, the greatest number of whom were Lutherans; I shall mention the most remarkable instances.

The effigy was that of Francis Zafra, the beneficed priest of the parish of St. Vincent of Seville, who was condemned as a Lutheran, but had made his escape. Gonzalez de Montes gives a long account of this man, which I found to be correct, on examining the papers of the holy office. He says that Francis Zafra was well versed in the Scriptures; for some time he succeeded in concealing his inclination to Lutheranism, and was employed by the inquisitors to qualify denounced propositions, and that he was thus enabled to save many persons from being condemned. He had received into his house one of the women called Beates, who (after obstinately supporting the new doctrines) became so much deranged, that he was obliged to confine and scourge her, to calm her violence. In 1555, this woman escaped, and denounced three hundred persons as Lutherans to the Inquisition: the inquisitors drew up a list of them; Francis Zafra was summoned, and although he was mentioned as one of the principal heretics, proved that they could not receive the evidence of a person whose mind was so much disordered[20]. As the holy office never neglected anything that could assist in discovering heresy, this list caused the conduct of many persons to be strictly observed, and more than eight hundred were arrested; Francis Zafra was one of the prisoners, but he contrived to escape, and was burnt in effigy as contumacious.

The first person I shall mention as condemned to relaxation, was Donna Isabella de Baena, a rich lady of Seville. Her house was razed to the ground for having served as a temple to the Lutherans.

I find, among the other victims at Seville, Don Juan Ponce de Leon, youngest son to the Count de Baylen; he was cousin-german to the Duke d'Arcos, and related to the Duchess de Bejar, who were both present at his auto-da-fé. He was condemned as an impenitent Lutheran: he at first denied the charges, but confessed during the torture: the inquisitors sent a priest, with whom he was well acquainted, to persuade him that it would be to his advantage if he confessed the truth. Ponce was deceived, and made the confession they required; but on discovering his mistake, the day before the auto-da-fé, he made one truly Lutheran, and treated the priest who attended him with contempt. Gonzalez de Montes pretends that he persisted in his sentiments, but he is mistaken, for Ponce confessed when he was fastened to the stake, and strangled before he was burnt.

Don Juan Gonzalez, a priest of Seville, and a celebrated preacher of Andalusia, embraced Mahometanism at twelve years of age, because his parents were Moors, but he was reconciled by the Inquisition. Some time after he was imprisoned as a Lutheran, but obstinately persisted in refusing to confess, even when tortured; affirming that his opinions were founded on the Holy Scriptures, and that, consequently, he could not be a heretic. This example was imitated by his two sisters, who suffered in the same auto-da-fé: When the gags were taken from their mouths, Don Juan told them to sing the 106th psalm. They died (say the Protestants) in the faith of Jesus Christ, and detesting the errors of the Papists.

Brother Garcia de Arias (surnamed the White Doctor, on account of the extreme whiteness of his hair) was a Jeronimite of the Convent of St. Isidore, at Seville; he was condemned as an impenitent Lutheran, and perished in the flames. He had professed the doctrines of Luther for several years, but his sentiments were known only to the principal partisans of the heresy, such as Vargas, Egidius, and Constantine: his prudence was so great, that he was looked upon as an orthodox theologian and of the greatest piety: he even carried his dissimulation so far as to profess to be an enemy to the Lutherans. He was several times employed to qualify heretical propositions, and appeared to be so devoted to the inquisitorial system, that though he was denounced several times, the inquisitors declared that the informers acted out of hatred to him. However, the informations were communicated to him, that he might be more cautious in his conversations with suspicious persons.

His conduct towards Gregorio Riuz ought to be recorded. Riuz was denounced for some explanations of doctrine in a sermon; being obliged to appear and defend his doctrine before theologians, he applied to his friend, the White Doctor, who wished to hear his exposition of the principles he intended for his defence, and the solutions he had prepared for the difficulties which he might meet with. When the assembly took place, the Inquisitors commissioned Arias to argue against Riuz, who was much surprised to see him at this conference, and still more so, when he heard him speak in such a manner, that the answers he had prepared were entirely useless. Riuz sunk under this attack, and the doctor Arias was severely reproached for his treachery by the Lutheran doctors, Vargas, Egidius, and Constantine.