Military and religious life in the Middle Ages and at the period of the Renaissance

by P. L. Jacob

Fig. 332.—Great Synagogue of Toledo (Third Century), restored at different periods, and consecrated for Catholic worship, under the name of Santa Maria Blanca, after the expulsion of the Jews in 1405: now used as a military storehouse.—After a Drawing by Don Manuel de Assas.

Louis IX. lost no time in taking measures to consolidate the results of this pacific arrangement. He addressed to all his subjects, in the dioceses of Narbonne, Cahors, Rodez, Agen, Arles, and Nîmes, a decree composed of ten clauses, by which it was sought to effect the repression of heresy with the help of the secular clergy. Any one who had been excommunicated for more than a year was to be compelled, by seizure of his goods, to return to the Church. The tithes, which had long been kept back, were re-established. The barons, the vassals, the large towns and royal bailiwicks were sworn to observe and execute this decree. Even the king’s brother, when he assumed possession of the country, took the same oath for himself and his subjects. The Inquisition soon appeared to be unnecessary in France, and, with the consent of the Holy See, it suspended its action in the countship of Toulouse in 1237.

In Spain, the Inquisition was royal rather than papal. If we would understand the part played by this remarkable tribunal, it must be remembered that Spain took seven centuries to conquer its independence against the Moors and the Jews. These latter, while feigning a readiness to be converted, none the less maintained their antipathy for the Christian religion and their hatred of the Christians. Thus, when Ferdinand and Isabella had the whole of Spain under their authority, they considered it necessary to establish religious unity, in order to preserve national unity, and the Moors and Jews were ordered to quit the country or abjure their creeds (Figs. 332 and 333). The two sovereigns, who looked at the question in a political light, had established in their dominions a special Inquisition placed under their immediate control. The popes protested at once against the pretension of the Catholic monarchs to themselves superintend the Inquisition, and, on the tribunal being formed, Pope Sixtus IV. recalled his legate from the Spanish Court, which latter in turn withdrew its ambassador from Rome. A reconciliation, however, was effected, and a bull legalising the Spanish Inquisition was granted; but Pope Sixtus IV. soon regretted what he had done when he came to know of its excesses. The Spanish sovereigns, upon the other hand, did all they could to prevent the appeals made by condemned heretics from being heard at the Court of Rome, while the popes were obliged to employ stratagem in order to protect the penitent heretics from the merciless severity of the Inquisition. Llorente tells us that on many occasions a great number of heretics received secret absolution by order of the pope, but he further adds that these papal amnesties were not always approved of by the Spanish government. Leo X. actually excommunicated the Inquisitors of Toledo, and Charles V., when he became emperor, pretended to lean in favour of the Lutheran reform in order to prevent Leo from interfering any further with the Spanish Inquisition. This Inquisition was assisted by three corporate bodies, namely, the Holy Hermandad, the Cruciata, and the Militia of Christ.

Fig. 333.—Interior of the Ancient Mosque at Cordova, now a Catholic Cathedral; built in the Eighth Century by Abderhaman I., and altered for Catholic worship after the conversion of the Moors; it is one of the largest and most splendid monuments of Moorish architecture.

The Holy Hermandad (a corruption of the Latin word germanitas, confraternity) was at first an association of police officers employed in the protection of the streets and highways. Originally established in the three royal residences of Toledo, Cuidad-Real, and Talavera, it eventually became a military force, whose chief mission was to put into execution the orders of the Inquisition.

The Cruciata, a society composed of archbishops, bishops, and other personages of mark, was entrusted, under various circumstances, with the task of seeing that the laws of the Church were obeyed and carried out amongst Catholics.

The Family of the Inquisition, or the Militia of Christ, created during the pontificate of Honorius III., and analogous to the Order of the Templars, placed its forces at the service of the Inquisitors, and its pious zeal earned for it the good opinion of Pope Gregory IX.

As we have already mentioned, it was in 1481, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, that the Inquisition, provided with a new code of regulations, acquired a formidable power. Chiefly intended to bring to trial the Jews and the Moors who had again relapsed into paganism, it was then that it got the name of The Holy Office, and was superintended by a grand inquisitor-general and a council, termed The Supreme, consisting of forty-five members. When the Holy Office had a heretic, or any one suspected of being one, arrested, its agents stripped the accused person of all he had about his person, and took a detailed inventory of his clothing and furniture, in order that they might be restored to him intact should he prove to be innocent. The money so seized, whether in gold or silver, belonged by right to the tribunal, and went to pay the costs of the procedure. These formalities over, the accused person was taken to prison.