The History of the Inquisition of Spain from the Time of its Establishment to the Reign of Ferdinand Part 35

The Canons of Toledo presented a letter to the Pope, entreating him to take into consideration the merit of the archbishop and his high rank, as well as the honour and consolation of their church, which had been deprived of its pastor for eight years, and soliciting him to show him as much favour as was compatible with religion and justice. This his Holiness promised to do, and expressed great satisfaction at the n.o.ble sentiments contained in the letter, and the tender interest the chapter displayed for the welfare of their pastor.

The works and MSS. of the archbishop remained in Spain; they were claimed and sent to Rome in 1570: this circ.u.mstance caused fresh delays.

When the translation was finished, the fiscal required that no conferences of the consultors should take place unless the Pope was present, which prolonged the affair excessively, as his Holiness was often unable to attend. The fiscal also challenged Fray Thomas Manrique, because he was the friend of Carranza. The Pope then appointed Doctor Toledo, a Jesuit, but he was also challenged, because he was related to Don Antonio de Toledo, another friend of the archbishop.

Don Gomez Tellez Giron, governor of the archbishopric, dying at this time, the Chapter of Toledo wrote to the Pope a second time, expressing the utmost anxiety to see the trial terminated. His Holiness replied to this letter with peculiar graciousness, excusing himself on account of his numerous avocations, and the nature of the trial, and promising to hasten the conclusion, which he said he had already endeavoured to do.

When the writings were arranged, it was discovered that several sheets were missing; Pius V. therefore considering that it would be difficult to express in writing what he thought on this subject, sent John de Bedoya, agent of the Council of the Inquisition, into Spain, with a brief addressed to the king, requesting him to listen to the commission of John de Bedoya with his usual benevolence and goodness.

It is not known what Bedoya said to the king, but the trial informs us that he caused the papers concerning the trial to be sought for, and that some of these were given by the inquisitor-general to the king, to be sent to Rome: among these were found some qualifications and depositions, which were favourable to the archbishop. The persons who had concealed these doc.u.ments were so blinded by pa.s.sion, that they did not consider that they were cited in the papers which had been sent.

Although his Holiness and Philip intended to transfer all the papers concerning Carranza, yet all the MS. copies of the Catechism, which were taken from the Marchioness d'Alcanices, and which had been used in the qualification of the work, and the duplicates and triplicates of the unprinted works, remitted by Alphonso de Castro, and Doctor Astete, were retained in Spain. This omission was not at first supposed to be occasioned by malevolence, since all the rest had been sent; but it was afterwards discovered that the papers were retained to be made use of on some other opportunity, which in fact occurred; and to give occasion for fresh delays if they were claimed by the Pope.

Pius V. prepared the definitive sentence; but he did not p.r.o.nounce it until he knew the inclinations of Philip, whom he did not wish to offend. In his judgment he declared that the accusation of the fiscal was not proved, and acquitted the prelate. He commanded that the _Catechism_ should be restored to the author, to be translated into Latin, and that he should insert the necessary corrections, and explain the censured propositions in a Catholic sense; secondly that the prohibition of that work should be held to be valid, until the explanations were furnished; that that of the _explanation of St. John_ should remain, and that none of the ma.n.u.script works of Carranza should be printed or published, until he had made the necessary corrections.

The Pope sent this sentence to the King of Spain, by Alessandro Casali, his chamberlain. He was persuaded that Philip would be pleased to see that he had acknowledged the innocence of Carranza, and that he would be satisfied with the measures taken to prevent the books from being dangerous. The Pope did not understand the character of Philip II., who considered himself as much dishonoured as the holy office, by the exoneration of Carranza. He wrote to his Holiness, to prove that it was impossible that the works of the prelate could contain so many of the errors of Luther, if he was not an heretic. He therefore requested the Pope to defer the judgment until the return of his chamberlain, to whom he would give important doc.u.ments proving the truth of his statement.

The king ordered a _Refutation of the Apology for the Catechism of Carranza, published by Alpizcueta and Delgado_, to be composed, and also another work by the Abbot of Alcala de Henares, under the t.i.tle of a _New Qualification of the Catechism of Carranza, and the Faith of its Author_. Philip sent these two writings to Rome, in 1572, by Casali.

When he arrived, he found that his master, Pius V. was dead, and Gregory XIII., his successor, received the doc.u.ments, and joined them to the trial.

The death of Pius has been attributed to the agents of the Inquisition.

Such reports are not often worthy of credit, but there are letters on the subject in existence, which contain very bold expressions. One of them says, "The death of a man who showed himself so much attached to a Dominican monk, and who compromised by his discourse the honour of the Spanish Inquisition, ought not to be considered of much importance. It (the Inquisition) would be benefitted by the death of such a Pope."

Philip II. congratulated the new Pontiff on his accession, and at the same time requested him to suspend the judgment of the trial, until he had heard the opinions of four Spanish theologians, whom he intended to send to throw a new light on the affair: these doctors were, Don Francis Sancho, professor of theology at Salamanca; Fray Diego de Chabes, confessor to the king; Fray Juan Ochoa, and Fray Juan de la Fuente, masters of theology. Their censures were joined to the trial.

Philip II. perceiving the turn which the affair now took, made a last effort, and the counsellors of the Inquisition, in order to obtain a recantation of the favourable opinions emitted by respectable theologians before the arrest of Carranza, made use of terror and persuasion: the first by making them dread that they would be arrested as being suspected of professing the errors which they had approved; and the second, by offering them an honourable pretext for reforming their first judgment, in the discovery of the inedited works of Carranza, in which there were a greater number of propositions susceptible of an heretical interpretation.

The first who fell into the snare was a man truly respectable for his learning, his virtues, his birth, and many eminent qualities; but his great age, and his dread of the dungeons of the Inquisition, may be considered as an excuse for his weakness, as well as for that of the venerable Osius.

On the 30th of March, 1574, the archbishop qualified, as erroneous, seventy-five propositions of the same printed Catechism, which he had before p.r.o.nounced to be orthodox; he however added, that the errors were owing to the Castilian language in which the work was written, and that if it was published in Latin, it would be necessary to suppress, correct, or explain thirty-one propositions. The prelate also declared, that there were two hundred and ninety-two errors in the MSS., numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, and sixty-six in the explanations and sermons (of which a list has been given in a former part of this work), and from thence he concluded that the author was _violently suspected_ of heresy.

Serrano, the reporter of the Supreme Council, who had taken these works to the Archbishop of Grenada, returned full of triumph to Madrid. The Supreme Council, in a letter to the king, expresses great satisfaction on this account, and says, "It is absolutely necessary to send this qualification to Rome, because the activity with which the affair is proceeded in makes it likely that it will soon be concluded, and this measure is the more important as the opinion of the Archbishop of Grenada will have much influence." This letter was accompanied by a false estimate of the censures, plainly showing the animosity of the council towards Carranza.

Serrano then repaired to Don Francis Blanco, then Bishop of Malaga. This prelate, on the 29th of April, retracted the opinion he had given in 1558. He censured sixty-eight propositions of the Catechism, although he had formerly praised the work. Serrano immediately informed the council of it, and that the bishop had p.r.o.nounced Carranza to be _violently suspected_ of heresy. The Archbishopric of Santiago being vacant at this time, the king bestowed it on this prelate.

Don Francis Delgado followed his example, and censured three hundred and fifteen propositions. Don Francis Delgado obtained the see of Santiago, on the death of Blanco, but he did not live long enough to take possession of it.

The king did not send the opinions of the prelates to Rome, but wrote to the Pope, and told him that he was informed that the archbishops of Santiago and Grenada had many important things to reveal concerning Carranza, and that he hoped his holiness would command all that was necessary to be done on this occasion.

On the 7th of August in the same year, Gregory XIII. expedited a brief, in which he commissioned Don Gaspar de Quiroga, inquisitor-general, to receive the declarations of the prelates in the presence of a notary, and of witnesses, and to send them signed and sealed to Rome. A similar brief was sent on the 17th of October, to the Bishop of Jaen, the magistral canon of Toledo, and Professor Mancio. The inquisitor-general appointed commissioners, to whom he gave written instructions. They were directed to exact an oath to speak the truth and observe secrecy, to induce the prelates to declare that the change in their opinion was founded on a more strict examination of the work, and a knowledge of the other writings of the author; lastly, to make them state in a separate paper what they now thought of the works and faith of Carranza, and not to allow them to say that they did so in obedience to the king, as they had stated at first, but to declare that they acted according to the brief.

These declarations were sent to Rome in December. Don Francis Blanco, who had only censured sixty-eight propositions of the Catechism on the first examination, now censured two hundred and seventy-three in the Catechism and pamphlets together, sixty-three of which he p.r.o.nounced to be heretical.

This extraordinary change was attributed by the prelates to a love of justice, to conscience, zeal for religion, and a wish to please G.o.d.

The declarations of five new witnesses of so much consequence, entirely changed the appearance of the trial. Gregory XIII. fell into the snare, which it was indeed difficult to avoid, since the intrigue which produced it was conducted by so powerful a sovereign as Philip, and so formidable and able a body as the Spanish Inquisition. Gregory had discovered the intrigues when at Madrid, and informed St. Pius V. that it would be impossible even for foreign judges to terminate the trial in an equitable manner in Spain; but he was far from supposing that the animosity of Carranza's enemies would be still more active at Rome.

The Pope loved justice, and thought he was obeying its dictates, in commanding, on the 14th of April, 1576, that the Archbishop of Toledo should abjure all heresies in general, and particularly the sixteen Lutheran propositions which he was _violently_ suspected of believing.

He was suspended for five years from performing his archiepiscopal duties, and condemned to be confined during that time in the dominican convent of Orvietta in Tuscany, and for the present in that of the Minerva at Rome, where some penances were also imposed, one of which was to visit in one day the seven churches of St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John de Lateran, Santa Croce of Jerusalem, St. Sebastian, St. Mary Major, and St. Laurence. The prohibition of the Catechism by the holy office was maintained.

The sixteen Lutheran propositions abjured by Carranza were the following:--

1. Works performed without the spirit, of whatever nature, are sins, and offend G.o.d.

2. Faith is the first and princ.i.p.al means of obtaining justification.

3. Man is formally justified by the justice of Jesus Christ; by that, Christ has merited for us.

4. No one can obtain the justice of Christ, except by firmly believing that he has obtained it.

5. Those who are in a state of mortal sin cannot comprehend the Holy Scriptures, or discern things relating to faith.

6. Natural reason is contrary to faith, in all that relates to religion.

7. The _germ_ of sin exists in baptized persons with the quality of sin.

8. True faith does not exist in the sinner when he has lost grace by sin.

9. Repentance is equal to baptism, and is equal to a new life.

10. Our Lord Jesus Christ has atoned for our sins in so efficacious and entire a manner, that no other atonement is required of us.

11. Faith without works is sufficient for salvation.

12. Jesus Christ was not a legislator, and it did not enter into his plan to give laws.

13. The actions and works of Saints can only serve for an example, but they cannot aid us in any way.

14. The use of holy images, and the veneration for the relics of Saints, are customs purely human.

15. The Church of the present age has not the same light, or an authority equal to the primitive Church.

16. The condition of the apostles and a religious life, do not differ from the common state of Christians.

The declarations of the witnesses do not prove that Carranza ever uttered any of these propositions, and from this censures we may perceive that he only advanced in writing some which led the censurers to suppose that he professed those and many others, since he was not obliged to abjure several hundred propositions which had been censured, or the seventy-two which were qualified as heretical. As it could not be proved that he had ever spoken or expressed in writing any of the sixteen propositions considered as Lutheran, I do not hesitate to say that this sentence cannot be approved by upright men.

The archbishop heard his sentence with humility, and was absolved _ad cautelam_; he performed ma.s.s on the four first days of the holy week, and on the 23rd of April he performed his penance of visiting the churches. He refused the letter which the Pope offered him, as a public testimony of his esteem and interest in his fate. He celebrated ma.s.s on another day in the church of St. John Lateran, for the last time in his life; he expired at three o'clock in the morning of the 2nd of May, 1576, aged seventy-two years, eighteen of which he had pa.s.sed in prison.

The Pope being informed of his illness, on the 30th of April sent him a pontifical absolution and exemption of the penance imposed on him; the holy father did this for the consolation of Carranza, who in fact showed great satisfaction, and received extreme unction with tranquillity, and even with some demonstrations of joy.

He made his will in the presence of one of the secretaries of his trial, and appointed as his executors his faithful friend Don Antonio de Toledo; the doctors d'Alpizcueta and Delgado, who never forsook him; Don Juan de Navarra y Mendoza, chanter, dignitary, and canon of the cathedral of Toledo (he was the son of the Count de Lodosa, and descended in the direct male line from the kings of Navarre); Fray Ferdinand de San Ambrosio, his procurator, always faithful to his cause; and Fray Antonio d'Utrilla, a model of fidelity and affection, who voluntarily shared his captivity for eighteen years. He had not obtained the permission which was necessary for bishops, to make a will; but as the Popes at that time disposed of the revenues of the stewards.h.i.+ps, he approved and confirmed the pious arrangements of the archbishop.

On the 30th of April, after the prelate had received absolution, and before he p.r.o.nounced his act of faith, he made the following declaration in Latin, in the presence of the three secretaries, several Spaniards, and some Italians, speaking slowly and with a distinct utterance, that all present might hear him.

"Considering that I have been suspected of having fallen into the errors imputed to me, I think it my duty to make known my sentiments on this subject; it was for this purpose that I requested the attendance of the four secretaries who have been employed in my trial. I call, then, to witness the celestial court, and for my judge the sovereign Lord, whose sacrament I am about to receive, the angels who accompany him, whom I have always chosen as my intercessors; I swear by that Almighty G.o.d, by my approaching death, by the account I shall soon render up to G.o.d, that while I professed theology in my order, and afterwards when I wrote, taught, preached, and argued in Spain and Germany, Italy and England, I always intended to make the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ triumphant, and to combat heretics. His divine Majesty came to my a.s.sistance, since in England I converted several heretics to the Catholic faith; with the king's permission I caused the bodies of the greatest heretics of those times to be disinterred, and they were burnt, to secure the power of the Inquisition. The Catholics, as well as the heretics, have always given me the t.i.tle of _First Defender of the Faith_. I can truly affirm that I have always been one of the first to labour in this holy work, and have done many things concerning it by the order of the king my master. His majesty has been a witness of part of what I have a.s.serted. I have loved him, and I still love him truly; no son could have a greater affection for him than I have.

"I also declare, that in the whole course of my life I have never taught, preached, or maintained any heresy, or anything contrary to the true faith of the Roman Church; that I never fell into any of the errors of which I have been suspected, from having different meanings attributed to my words to what I gave them myself; I swear by all that I have already said, by that G.o.d to whom I have appealed as my judge, that the errors I have mentioned or those reported in my trial never entered into my mind; that I never had the least doubt of any of these points of doctrine; but on the contrary I have professed, written, taught, and preached the holy faith, with the same firmness as I now believe and profess it at the hour of my death.

"Nevertheless I acknowledge my sentence to be just, because it was p.r.o.nounced by the vicar of Christ; I have received and regarded it as such, because to the quality of vicar of Jesus Christ the person who p.r.o.nounced it joins the character of an upright and prudent judge. I pardon, at the hour of my death, as I have always done, all offences, of whatever nature, which have been committed against me; I also pardon those who have shown themselves against me in my trial; also those who have taken the smallest part in it. I have never felt any resentment against them; on the contrary, I have always recommended them to G.o.d; I do so at this moment, loving them with all my heart, and I promise that if I go to that place where I hope to be by the mercy of our Lord, that I will not ask any thing against them, but pray to G.o.d for all."

The corpse of the archbishop was deposited, on the 3rd of May, in the choir of the convent of _the Minerva_, between two cardinals of the family of Medicis. The Pope caused an inscription to be engraved on his tomb, in which he calls him a _man ill.u.s.trious by his doctrine and his sermons_. From this it appears probable that he did not consider his works full of heresies; but, perhaps, it was occasioned by the protestation of Carranza before his death. Solemn obsequies were performed at Rome; and those celebrated at Toledo, some time after, were still more magnificent.