History of the Inquisition from Its Establishment Till the Present Time

by William Sime

Auto-da-fé celebrated at Seville in 1560—proceedings of the Inquisition during the reigns of Philip III. Philip IV. and Charles II.—M. Legal, the French commander, throws open the doors of the Inquisition, and liberates the prisoners—state of the Inquisition during the reigns of Ferdinand VI. Charles III. and Charles IV.—it is suppressed by Bonaparte—is re-established by Ferdinand VII.—persecuting spirit of the modern Inquisition.

Previous to giving any further account of individual persecutions by the Inquisition, we shall now resume the history of that tribunal in Spain. On the 22d of December 1560, a splendid auto-da-fé was celebrated at Seville, at which fourteen individuals were burnt in person, three in effigy, and thirty-four were subjected to various penances. [16] Several of the sufferers were Englishmen, whose only crime was that they possessed wealth. Under the pretext that they were guilty of heresy, their property was seized by the hands of the avaricious Inquisitors, and not a few of them were condemned to the flames. [17]

In 1561, the Inquisitor-general, Valdes, published a new code of laws, for the regulation of the different tribunals of the "Holy Office" throughout Spain. This code consisted of eighty-one articles, "which have been, till the present time, the laws by which the proceedings of the Inquisition have been regulated." [18]

From 1560 to 1570, one auto-da-fé, at least, was celebrated annually in every Inquisition throughout Spain, at which many adherents of the Reformation were consigned to the flames. Thirty individuals were burnt at Murcia in 1560, twenty-three in 1562, seventeen in 1563, and thirty-five in the two years following, besides many in effigy; and great numbers were condemned to different other punishments. Similar tragedies were acted in Toledo, Saragossa, Grenada, &c., where not a few of the victims who were sacrificed to the cruelty of this barbarous tribunal were the disciples of Luther and Calvin.

During the remaining years of Philip II. the power and insolence of the Inquisitors daily increased, and the kingdom of Spain literally groaned under their oppressive yoke. Philip III. who succeeded his father in 1598, was no less bigoted and superstitious. Having assembled the Cortes of the kingdom at Madrid, in 1607, the members of that assembly represented to their new sovereign, that in 1579 and 1586, they had required a reform of the abuses committed in the tribunal of the Inquisition, to put an end to the right which the Inquisitors had usurped, of taking cognizance of crimes not relating to heresy; that Philip II. had promised to do this, but died before he could perform it, and that in consequence they renewed the request. Philip replied, that he would take proper measures to satisfy the Cortes. In 1611, when he convoked the new Cortes, they made the same request, and received the same answer; but nothing was attempted, and the Inquisitors became daily more insolent, and filled their prisons with victims.

Philip IV. was equally averse to any reform in the court of Inquisition; on the contrary, he even permitted the Inquisitors to take cognizance of the offence of exporting copper money, and to dispose of a fourth of what fell into their hands. During the reign of this monarch, and that of Charles II. numerous autos-da-fé were annually celebrated throughout Spain; and many were the victims which were sacrificed to Inquisitorial cruelty in that blinded country, who, though "tried by fire," were found steadfast defenders of the truth, and eminent witnesses against the idolatries of Popery, and against that barbarous tribunal which for so many ages has shed the blood of the saints. [19]

On the death of Charles II. in 1700, and the accession of his uncle Philip V., a kind of civil war broke out in Spain, in consequence of the pretensions of the Archduke Charles of Austria. Among the troops employed by Philip, were about fourteen thousand auxiliaries provided by the King of France. This force was sent into Arragon, the inhabitants of which had declared for Charles. The people were soon overawed; and in their victorious career, the French came into possession of the city of Saragossa, in which there was a number of convents, and in particular one belonging to the Dominicans. M. de Legal, the French commander, found it necessary to levy a pretty heavy contribution, on the inhabitants, not excepting the convents. The Dominicans, all the friars of which were familiars of the Inquisition, excused themselves in a civil manner, saying that they had no money, and that if M. Legal insisted upon the demand of their part of the contribution, they could not pay him in any other way, than by sending him the silver images of the saints. These crafty friars imagined that the French commander would not presume to insist upon such a sacrifice, or if he did, that they would, by raising the cry of heresy against him, expose him to the vengeance of a blind and superstitious people. But M. Legal was indifferent alike to the destruction of the images, and to the rage both of the priests and people. He therefore informed the Dominicans, that the silver saints would answer his purpose equally the same as money. Perceiving the dilemma in which they had now placed themselves, the friars endeavoured to raise a mob, by carrying their images in solemn procession, dressed in black, and accompanied by lighted candles. Aware of their intention, M. Legal ordered out four companies of soldiers well armed, to receive the procession, so that the design of raising the people completely failed.

M. Legal immediately sent the images to the mint, which threw the friars into the greatest consternation, and they lost no time in making application to the Inquisition, to interpose its supreme power in order to save their idols from the furnace. With this request the Inquisitors speedily complied, by framing an instrument, excommunicating M. Legal, as having been guilty of sacrilege. This paper was put into the hands of the secretary of the holy office, who was ordered to go and read it to the French commander. Instead of expressing either displeasure or surprise, M. Legal took the paper from the secretary after hearing it read, and mildly said, "Pray tell your masters, the Inquisitors, that I will answer them to-morrow morning."

The Frenchman was as good as his word. Having caused his secretary to draw out a copy of the excommunication, with the simple alteration of inserting "the Holy Inquisitors," instead of his own name, he ordered him on the following morning to repair with it, accompanied by four regiments of soldiers, to the Inquisition, and having read it to the Inquisitors themselves, if they made the least noise, to turn them to the door, open all the prisons, and quarter two regiments in the sacred edifice. These orders were implicitly obeyed. Amazed and confounded to hear themselves excommunicated by a man who had no authority for it, the Inquisitors began to cry out against Legal as a heretic, and as having publicly insulted the Catholic faith. "Holy Inquisitors," replied the secretary, "the king wants this house to quarter his troops in; so walk out immediately." Having no alternative, the holy fathers were compelled to obey. The doors of all the prisons were thrown open, and four hundred prisoners set at liberty. Among these were sixty young women, who were found to be the private property of the three Inquisitors, whom they had unjustly taken from their fathers' homes in the city and neighbourhood!