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

by Juan Antonio Llorente

Inquisition of Logroño.

The Inquisition of Logroño was not less active in prosecuting heretics. An auto-da-fé was celebrated every year, composed of about twenty persons condemned for Judaism, and some others for different heresies, particularly Lutheranism; for after the time of Don Carlos de Seso, corregidor of Toro (who was arrested at Logroño, in 1558, and burnt in the following year at Valladolid), there were always some individuals to be found who professed his opinions, and succeeded in obtaining Lutheran books. The council which was informed of this circumstance, wrote to the inquisitors in 1568, enjoining them to redouble their vigilance in preventing the introduction of heretical books, and informed them, that Don Diego de Guzman, ambassador to England, had written that the Protestants of that country boasted that their doctrine was well received in Spain, particularly in Navarre, and that it was even preached there.

While the inquisitors of Logroño were preparing for the auto-da-fé of 1570, they had the mortification of being blamed for their conduct in two instances by the Supreme Council. One was in the case of Lope de Arguinaraz, and the other in that of Juan Floristan Maestuz, who were accused of Judaism. Arguinaraz denied the fact, was tortured, and then confessed having committed the actions, but asserted that he did not do them with the sentiments and belief that he was accused of. He ratified his confession some days after, and demanded reconciliation. The judges when they assembled to vote for the definitive sentence, resolved to refer the case to the Supreme Council, which pronounced that they had not sufficiently examined the accused on the sentiments and intentions which he entertained in committing the actions he had confessed, and commanded them to return to that stage of the trial, and vote according to the result. The inquisitors sent an account of the motives of their conduct, and gave notice that they should wait until the council had considered their observations, before they proceeded further. The reply to this message enjoined the inquisitors to execute the orders they had received immediately, and harshly reproached them for not having obeyed them in silence, and for having failed in their duty, in the interrogation, when they ought to have examined the accused on his doctrine.

In the other affair of Juan Floristan Maestuz, the council expressed its surprise, that the inquisitors did not examine the accused on some heretical propositions which were proved against him, though he refused to confess even during the torture; and above all, that the inquisitor, who had qualified the accused as negatively perjured, had voted for his reconciliation, since the constitutions of the holy office prohibited the reconciliation of those who persisted denying the charges proved against him. The reconciliation of the two prisoners took place in the auto-da-fé.

An auto-da-fé took place at Logroño, on the 14th of November, 1593, where forty-nine persons appeared; five were burnt in person, seven in effigy; the others were subjected to penances.

The custom of celebrating one general auto-da-fé every year was so well established, that when the inquisitors of Cuença, in 1558, gave up a man to secular justice in a particular auto-da-fé, it was doubted if the rules of the holy office permitted it; and though the council decided in the affirmative, the custom of reserving all the condemned persons for the general auto-da-fé prevailed, unless any very particular circumstance made it necessary to deviate from it.

Inquisition of Sardinia.

I have already stated, that Philip II. introduced the Spanish constitution into Sardinia, in 1562. Don Diego Calvo first began to put it into execution, but the novelty made so great an impression on the inhabitants, that they demanded that the tribunal should be visited. This commission was confided by the inquisitor-general to the licentiate, Martinez del Villar, who fulfilled it in 1567. He received so many complaints against the inquisitor Calvo, that he was recalled, and Martinez took his place; he, however, did not remain there long, but was succeeded by Don Alphonso de Lorca.

In 1575, an appeal was made to Rome against the tribunal of Sardinia, and Philip II. interposed in its defence. Don Francis Minuta, a Sardinian gentleman, had been subjected to a penance for bigamy, and condemned to serve for three years as a common soldier in the galleys of Spain, and without the liberty of going out of the Goletta, in Malta. He had not been there a month, before he contrived to escape, and returned to Sardinia; the inquisitor-general then ordered him to be again arrested, and doubled his punishment; Minuta was taken back to the Goletta, whence he escaped a second time, and fled to Rome. He represented to the Pope that he was not guilty of bigamy, and that the manner in which the inquisitor-general had treated him was unjust, since he had left the fort with the permission of the governor. Don Francis demanded, and obtained of the Pope, two briefs of commission: the first for the examination of the principal question, that of bigamy; the other to judge of the reasons which he advanced against the sentence, which prolonged his detention. In the interim, the inquisitor of Sardinia declared him a contumacious fugitive, and condemned him to eight years' labour in the galleys. The apostolical judge required the inquisitor to suspend the proceedings; he informed the inquisitor-general, who applied to the king, whose interference they had never requested in vain. Philip II. wrote to Don Juan de Zuñiga, his ambassador at Rome, to demand a revocation of the briefs of commission, and to obtain permission for the inquisitor of the island to continue the prosecution, or that it might at least be referred to the inquisitor-general, to whom the right of judging the cause belonged. The Pope revoked his bulls to please the King of Spain, and the unfortunate Don Francis Minuta experienced the fate which he might have expected; for, in cases of this nature, the inquisitor-general always delegates one of the members of the accused tribunal to be the examining judge, on pretence that they are in possession of the writings of the trial.

Don Andrea Minuta, brother to Don Francis, was also condemned to the same punishment for three years. He fled to Rome, and appealing to the Pope, obtained a brief of commission for a bishop of Sardinia. Philip II. made the same request to the Pope, and Andrea was treated in the same way as his brother.