WEBVTT 1 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:23.000 Hello, then Welcome to Western Siev Episode two hundred and seventy nine. The 2 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:30.800 Inquisition structure and organization. From its very beginnings, Isabella and Ferdinand expected the 3 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:35.759 Inquisition to be under the control of the Spanish crown. This was a huge 4 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:41.000 change in policy compared to the medieval Inquisition, which was a papal institution. 5 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:48.399 Oddly, Pope Sixtus the Fourth decided to go along with this idea, indicating 6 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:52.479 just how far the power of the pope had fallen since the High Middle Ages. 7 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:59.840 Thus, the Inquisition was in every way an instrument of royal policy and 8 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:06.120 remained politically subject to the crown. The central organization of the new Inquisition was 9 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:15.239 a council called the Conseijo de la Suprema Eheneral Inquisition. Crucially, this council 10 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:23.519 was dominated by one of our remaining monastic orders, the Dominicans. The Dominicans 11 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:30.719 were generally opposed by the Jesuits, the other major monastic order to survive the 12 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:37.159 end of the Middle Ages. Often, writers seeking to get books published sought 13 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:42.519 to exploit this rivalry, and in fact, by the late seventeenth century, 14 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:49.040 the Jesuits, thanks to lobbying and politiking efforts, had become influential in the 15 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:57.000 Inquisition as well in terms of its overall structure. The new Inquisition was modeled 16 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:05.480 essentially on the Medieval Though this was a new institution, inquisitors in the fifteenth 17 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:09.680 century had to rely on the earlier model. There simply wasn't any other precedent 18 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:16.599 to follow, so inquisitors followed right down to the last detail the thirteenth century 19 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:23.159 practices for arrest, trial procedures, confiscations, and even recruitment of personnel. 20 00:02:24.599 --> 00:02:31.199 Oftentimes this is why, say, in the seventeenth century, the Inquisition both 21 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:40.120 looks and feels so anachronistic, so out of place. The Council of the 22 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:46.719 Inquisition, sometimes known for short as the Suprema, was presided over by the 23 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:53.319 Inquisitor General. All authority exercised by inquisitors was at one time held to be 24 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:59.199 direct delegation from the Pope, but later this was modified to the opinion that 25 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:05.639 it was the Visitor General himself who was actually delegating the papal powers. Though 26 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:08.759 he might be nominated by the Crown, only the Pope had the power in 27 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:15.400 the end to appoint him. With The Pope always followed the Spanish crown growth 28 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:20.599 of the Inquisitor General's power was modified by the increasing authority of the Suprema. 29 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:28.400 The relationship between the Suprema and the Inquisitor General was never satisfactorily settled, because 30 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:34.039 they usually acted in concert and neither disputed the other's supremacy, but there were 31 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:39.280 several occasions when the Council attempted to take an independent line. In the early 32 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:46.560 seventeenth century, the Suprema consisted of about six members. These usually met every 33 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:53.240 morning and three afternoons a week. The afternoon sessions, normally on legal business, 34 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:59.120 were attended by two members of the Council of Castile. Correspondence was divided 35 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:04.199 between two secretaries, one for Aragon and one for Castile. Members of the 36 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:11.599 Suprema were appointed by the King alone, and the Suprema usually issued orders without 37 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:16.920 need for any vote by the Inquisitor General. When divisions arose in the Council, 38 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:21.800 a decision was taken by majority vote, in which the vote of the 39 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:27.600 Inquisitor General didn't count for any more or any less than any other member. 40 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:33.839 The growth of the Suprema's authority led to greater centralization. This in turn made 41 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:41.639 the institution even easier for the Spanish crown to dominate. Remember, there were 42 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:47.920 huge legal and procedural differences between Castile and Aragon. The inquisition was the only 43 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:56.480 institution that spanned both with any real success. Now, the tribunals themselves, 44 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:00.800 those that actually tried people for heresy in the early days, were itinerant, 45 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:05.759 that is to say, they traveled much like how judges, maybe in colonial 46 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:14.800 America wrote the circuits. Each tribunal was to consist of two inquisitors, a 47 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:19.040 jurist and a theologian, or sometimes two jurists. There was also an assessor, 48 00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:26.319 a constable, a prosecutor, and all kinds of other necessary subordinates. 49 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:31.600 The number of personnel grew rapidly throughout the centuries. By the end of the 50 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:38.920 sixteenth century, the major tribunals of the Iberian Peninsula had three inquisitors each. 51 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:46.439 Now, contrary to the image still somewhat current, the inquisitors of small minded 52 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:53.519 clerics and theologians fanatically dedicated to the extripication of heresy. In the sixteenth and 53 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:59.480 seventeenth centuries, inquisitors were nothing more than bureaucrats. Elite bureaucrats, sure, 54 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:04.360 but just bureaucrats. Nonetheless, because the Holy Office was a court. All 55 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:12.319 these administrators had to be trained lawyers, not fanatics. Perhaps the most surprising 56 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:17.360 aspect of the administration of the Inquisition was its totally inadequate funding. Though technically 57 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:25.079 a Spanish governmental agency, the Spanish monarchs left it defend for itself. The 58 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:30.879 Inquisition, in fact, never received a fixed source of revenue, so the 59 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:34.560 Inquisition had to finance itself, and that, my friends, very much dictated 60 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:41.480 how it operated. The incentive was to find people guilty so that you could 61 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:47.199 confiscate their wealth. As you can imagine, that relationship set a very bad 62 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:55.839 precedent. Not surprisingly, many Spaniards came to the conclusion that the Inquisition existed 63 00:06:55.879 --> 00:07:01.120 solely to rob people of their wealth. In fact, one resident of Quenca 64 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:06.399 lamented, quote, they were burnt only for the money they had. They 65 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:12.920 burned the well off because they have property. The others they leave alone end 66 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:18.360 quote. Some of this money went to the Spanish Crown, though determining exactly 67 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:27.439 how much is impossible. Still, by their very nature, confiscations and sequestrations 68 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:33.279 could never bring in reliable income. The vast majority of all those accused by 69 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:39.199 the Inquisition were people of a humble means, and the inquisitors would need to 70 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:45.120 have a regular annual turnover of hundreds of prisoners in order to get anything even 71 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:51.160 close to a substantial revenue windfalls. Like a couple of the Great Persecutions in 72 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:57.959 the sixteen eighties, those were exceptions to the rule. The normal picture would 73 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:01.680 have been of tribunals desperately trying to find income for the cost of administration, 74 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:11.600 prosecution, maintenance of prisoners, and increasingly expenses active faiths. The documentation is 75 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:18.120 full of complaints by local inquisitors that they cannot provide either for themselves or for 76 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:22.639 their prisoners. The regular state of deficit in the tribunals can be seen in 77 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:28.240 the statements of income and expenses for the years sixteen eighteen, sixteen seventy one 78 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:33.440 through seventy eight, and seventeen oh five. Income in Granada in sixteen eighteen, 79 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:39.679 for example, was three percent more than costs, but in sixteen seventy 80 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:46.159 one costs were actually three percent higher than income, and in fact, by 81 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:50.200 the time we get to seventeen oh five, the inquisition was running and the 82 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:58.639 red with twenty seven percent more costs than income. The figures leave no doubt 83 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:03.840 that the inquisition was often and in perilous financial straits. The most critical source 84 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:09.039 of income for the Inquisition was investment income, or as the sources referred to 85 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:16.080 it, zenus. Now that being said, even with this income, the 86 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:20.480 institution was never wealthy. The estates that it held at the end of the 87 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:26.000 eighteenth century, when the Inquisition finally came to an end, were of modest 88 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:33.960 value at best. Still, in fifteen seventy three, seventy four percent of 89 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.559 the Inquisition's income came from these sinsos, and in fifteen seventy six that number 90 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:46.480 had risen to eighty percent. It's really interesting that the crown never chose to 91 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:54.159 support an institution that it saw primarily as its tool, but that is the 92 00:09:54.200 --> 00:10:01.639 case regardless. Later historians came to regard the Inquisition as a secular rather than 93 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:09.759 ecclesiastical institution. They weren't wrong. The Suprema was a Spanish government council. 94 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:18.440 The Crown had absolute power to appoint and dismiss inquisitors everyone except the Inquisitor General. 95 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.759 So interestingly, at least from a superficial perspective, the Papacy was never 96 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:31.639 willing to concede this reality. The papacy went along continuing to confirm the Inquisition's 97 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:35.759 jurisdiction as though it had a lot of influence over the Body, which it 98 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:41.039 didn't, And for its part, the Inquisition seemed content to hedge its bet 99 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:48.879 and claim both royal and papal jurisdiction. Inevitably, as a result of its 100 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:56.559 secular nature, the Inquisition became involved in a series of political disputes. King 101 00:10:56.600 --> 00:11:01.240 Ferdinand endeavored it to use it as a political level as much as possible, 102 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:07.159 though it's arguable as to whether he honestly ever got anything out of it. 103 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:13.120 The biggest example would be Seesare Borgia. He tried to use the Inquisition to 104 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:20.080 prosecute Cesare, but his death and battle in fifteen oh seven removed our best 105 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:24.360 test case for just how much the Inquisition might have helped the King pursue his 106 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:31.559 political enemies. Now let's turn for a bit to how the Inquisition operated. 107 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:37.519 The coming of the Inquisition to a town was in principle designed to cause fear. 108 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:45.480 In his commentary on the fourteenth century, Manuel of Emerek stated quote, 109 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:50.440 we must remember that the main purpose of the trial and execution is not to 110 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:54.480 save the soul of the accused, but to achieve public good and put fear 111 00:11:54.480 --> 00:12:01.360 into others end quote. The public activity of the whole The office was thus 112 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:05.399 based on the premise common too all policing systems that fear was the best deterrent. 113 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:11.519 When the inquisitors began operations in a district, they would first present their 114 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:18.399 credentials to the local church and secular authorities, then announce a Sunday or a 115 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:22.679 feast day when the residents would have to go to high Mass together with their 116 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:26.600 children and servants, to hear an edict read. At the end of the 117 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:33.320 sermon or the creed, the inquisitor or as representative would hold a crucifix in 118 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.559 front of the congregation and ask everyone to raise their right hand, cross themselves, 119 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:43.799 and repeat after him a solemn oath to support the Inquisition and its ministers. 120 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.639 Then he would proceed to read the edict. In the early years, 121 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:54.519 this took the form of an edict of grace, modeled on those of the 122 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:00.240 medieval Inquisition, which recited a list of heresies and invited those who wish to 123 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:09.080 discharge their consciences to come forward and denounce themselves or others if they came forward 124 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:13.039 within the quote period of grace end quote. This was usually thirty to forty 125 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:20.720 days, they would be reconciled to the Church without suffering serious penalties. Clearly, 126 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:31.240 this system was designed to encourage self denunciation. In the earlier period, 127 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:37.200 heresies were principally either listed as Judaic or Islamic, though more were added over 128 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:43.320 time. While the Inquisition itself was feared by the population, like all the 129 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:48.360 other tribunals throughout Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it depended principally on 130 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:56.320 collaboration to succeed. Hence, what most people seem to fear wasn't that they 131 00:13:56.360 --> 00:14:01.720 would be persecuted by the Inquisition, but that they would be denounced by their 132 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:09.039 friends and neighbors. Petty denunciations were the rule rather than the exception. Indeed, 133 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:16.440 for most the Inquisition became an easy way to settle old scores. The 134 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:22.399 fear of the Inquisition generated had its origins and social disharmony. Its records are 135 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:30.399 replete with instances in which neighbors denounced neighbors, friends denounced friends, and so 136 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:35.279 on and so forth. But there was a flip side to this coin in 137 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:41.480 places where there was less social discord, where the bonds of fellowship were stronger, 138 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:48.960 the Inquisition could not penetrate. In Catalonia, for example, the community 139 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:54.240 utterly rejected the Inquisition's invitation to turn on itself. Hence, in that very 140 00:14:54.279 --> 00:15:01.440 insular region of Spain, the Institution failed to propagate. As a result, 141 00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:07.440 even the inquisitors hated traveling on visitations. They often had to go into counties 142 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:13.000 where they were despised and the local authorities hostile. I wouldn't have wanted to 143 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:18.960 go on these trips either. Still, inquisitors spent about half their time traveling 144 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:22.519 on visitations. These were generally done out in the villages, where a few 145 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:30.720 trials ever took place. Nor were these visitations effective. The Inquisition simply did 146 00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:35.080 not have the resources to do them with enough frequency to make them potent expressions 147 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:41.120 of its power. It was easy for distant villagers to weather the occasional visitation 148 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:48.080 and simply move on with their lives. For as much vile as is often 149 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:52.879 heaped on the Inquisition, the men running it weren't fanatical idiots. They could 150 00:15:52.919 --> 00:16:00.279 and often did distinguish between true and false cases, and would reject those denunciations 151 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:04.919 made out of pure malice and without a grain of truth to them. Judicially. 152 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:10.879 Honestly, the inquisition was on par with the secular courts of the time. 153 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:15.399 It wasn't worse, and it wasn't more vicious. I suppose there was 154 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:22.840 one exception. Witnesses names were concealed in the inquisitional courts, and of course 155 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:30.559 this did increase the incentive for people to come forward. Before an arrest took 156 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.200 place, the evidence in the case was presented to a number of theologians who 157 00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:40.279 acted as consultants or assessors to determine whether the charges involved heresy. If they 158 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:45.159 decided that there was sufficient proof, the prosecutor actually called the fiscal drew up 159 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:48.440 a demand for the arrest of the accused, who was taken into custody. 160 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:52.399 Such, at least were the rules that, in numerous cases arrest preceded the 161 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:57.600 examination, so that all the preliminary safeguards against wrongful arrest were dispensed with. 162 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:03.759 As a result, prisoners wound up sitting in inquisitorial jails without any charges ever 163 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:10.759 having been produced against them, making matters worse. Arrest was accompanied by the 164 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:15.319 immediate seizure of goods held by the accused prior to conviction. This could include 165 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:21.440 everything down to your pots pans, and in some cases we have documentation to 166 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:27.079 show the cutlery. The arrested person was immediately taken to the inquisition prison. 167 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:36.480 Inquisition prisons were actually better than secular ones, which explains why the populace preferred 168 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:41.680 them to royal prisons or even ordinary ecclesiastical ones. Still, I mean, 169 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.519 if you had your druthers, you didn't want to go to prison at all, 170 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:49.160 because prisoners were cut off from communication from the outside world and their accommodations 171 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:59.359 were often overcrowded. Insanity and suicide were regular consequences of such imprisonment. When 172 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:03.160 necessary, interrogations took place in the presence of a notary who recorded as much 173 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:10.119 as possible. Sadly, because the Inquisition was in this nasty habit of destroying 174 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:15.240 its records, we have little of these remaining today. The use of torture, 175 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.799 inherited from the medieval Inquisition was not considered an end in and of itself. 176 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:23.400 The Instructions of fifteen sixty one laid down no rules for its use, 177 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:29.640 but urged that its application should be according to quote the conscience and will of 178 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:36.039 the appointed judges. Following law, reason and good conscience, Inquisitors should take 179 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:41.680 great care that the sentence of torture is justified and follows precedent end quote. 180 00:18:42.039 --> 00:18:47.279 At a time when the use of torture was universal in European criminal courts, 181 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:53.119 the Spanish inquisition followed a policy of circumspection that makes it compare favorably with other 182 00:18:53.200 --> 00:19:00.480 institutions. Torture was normally used as a last resort and applies in only a 183 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:04.839 minority of cases. Often, the accused was merely placed in the sight of 184 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:11.799 the torture instruments to provoke a confession. Confessions gained under torture were never accepted 185 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:18.680 as valid because they had obviously been obtained by pressure. It was therefore essential 186 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:23.640 for the accused to ratify his confession the day after the ordeal. If he 187 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:30.480 refused to do this, a legal trick was involved, as the rules forbade 188 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:33.920 anyone to be tortured more than once. The end of every torture session was 189 00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:38.799 treated as a suspension, and a refusal to ratify the convention will be met 190 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:45.880 with a threat to continue the torture. Besides being compelled to confess their own 191 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:52.599 heresies, accused were often tortured to confess the crimes of others. Now, 192 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:56.279 of course, In statistical terms, it would be correct to say the torture 193 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:00.640 was used infrequently. Out of more than four or one hundred conversos tried by 194 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:07.599 one tribunal, only two were known to have been tortured. Torture was employed 195 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:14.680 exclusively to illicit punishment, and never used as a punishment. Physicians, interestingly, 196 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:18.799 were usually on hand in case of an emergency. The basic rule in 197 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:22.880 torture was that the accue should suffer no damage to life or limb. By 198 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:27.079 Church law, ecclesiastical tribunes could not kill, nor were they allowed to shed 199 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:33.720 blood. No distinctive tortures were used by the Inquisition. Those most often employed 200 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:40.720 were in common use in other secular and ecclesiastical tribunals, and any complaints of 201 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:47.160 novel tortures would certainly refer to rare exceptions. The three main ones were the 202 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:53.960 garachu, toka, and porto. The garadsha or pully involved being hung by 203 00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:57.920 the wrists from a pulley on the ceiling with heavy weights attached to the feet. 204 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.920 Accused was raised slowly and then suddenly allowed to fall with a jerk. 205 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:10.799 The effect was to stretch and perhaps dislocate arms and legs. The toka or 206 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.680 water torture was more complicated. The accused was tied down at a rack, 207 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:21.039 his mouth kept forcibly open, and a toca or linen cloth was put down 208 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:25.880 his throat to conduct water poured slowly from a jar. The severity of the 209 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:30.160 torture varied with the number of jars of water used. The porto, which 210 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:34.680 was the most common after the sixteenth century, involved being bound tightly on a 211 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:40.079 rack by chords which were passed around the body and limbs were controlled by the 212 00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:45.200 executioner, who tightened them by turns of the cords at the end. With 213 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:48.039 each turn, the chords bit into the body and traveled around the flesh. 214 00:21:49.480 --> 00:21:53.799 In all these tortures it was the rule to strip the accused first. Both 215 00:21:53.880 --> 00:22:00.160 men and women were stripped naked and left with minimal garments to cover themselves. 216 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:07.319 While the Inquisition did not usually subject the very old or very young to torture, 217 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:11.440 there were cases where that happened. In fact, there are some records 218 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:18.359 of women between the ages of seventy and ninety having been tortured. It was 219 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:22.960 also standard practice at the time to write down all the details of torture for 220 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:29.400 the record, although again we have lost many of these in terms of the 221 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:34.720 actual trial process. Since the Inquisition normally arrested subjects only after the evidence against 222 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:41.319 them seemed conclusive and had been approved, the accused was naturally presumed guilty from 223 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:45.960 the start, and it fell on him to prove his own innocence. The 224 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.519 sole task of the inquisition was to obtain from its prisoner an admission of guilt. 225 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:55.240 If in the process of inquiry it found that the evidence was false and 226 00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:00.960 the prisoner presumably innocent, he was immediately set free. The main task of 227 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:03.720 the tribunal, however, was to act not as a court of justice, 228 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:10.759 but as a disciplinary body called into existence to meet a national emergency. In 229 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:15.039 these circumstances, and considering the practice of the time, the courts of the 230 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:19.440 Inquisition were adequate for this task. Apart from the much hated insistence on the 231 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:25.519 secrecy of witnesses, in broad terms, they conformed to the principles of the 232 00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:32.160 courts of Castile. One of the peculiarities of the inquisitorial procedure, which brought 233 00:23:32.359 --> 00:23:37.400 hardship and suffering to many, was the refusal to divulge the reason for your 234 00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:41.240 arrest, so that prisoners went for days and months without knowing why they were 235 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:45.599 in the cells of the tribunal at all. Instead of accusing the prisoner, 236 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:52.359 the inquisitors would approach him and give three warnings over a period of weeks to 237 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:56.279 search his conscience, confess the truth, and trust to the mercy of the 238 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:03.160 inquisition. The third war n was accompanied by information that the prosecutor intended to 239 00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:07.359 present an accusation and that it would be wise to confess before the charges were 240 00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:12.279 laid bare. The effect of this enforced ignorance was to depress and break down 241 00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:18.000 a prisoner. If innocent, he would be bewildered about what to confess, 242 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:23.079 or else confess crimes the inquisition was not even accusing him of. If he 243 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:26.799 was guilty, he'd be left to wonder how much of the truth the inquisition 244 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:30.119 really knew, and whether it was a trick to force him to confess. 245 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:37.200 When after three warnings the prosecutor eventually read the articles of accusation, the accused 246 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:40.839 was required to answer charges on the spot, with no time or advocate to 247 00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:45.000 help him present his defense. Any reply made in these circumstances could hardly fail 248 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:51.920 to incriminate himself. Only after this was permission given to enlist legal help for 249 00:24:51.960 --> 00:24:56.680 the defense. One important concession made by the Spanish but not by the medieval 250 00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:03.240 Inquisition, was that the accused could have the services of an advocate. This 251 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:07.920 was written into the Instructions of fourteen eighty four and generally upheld. The later 252 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:11.519 modifications to the rules sometimes rendered the use of a lawyer farcical. In the 253 00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:17.279 early years, the accused could choose their lawyers freely, but the growing caution 254 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:22.599 of the Holy Office later confined the choice to special lawyers nominated by the tribunal, 255 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:29.039 so that by the mid sixteenth century the prisoner's advocates were recognized as officials 256 00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:36.680 of the Inquisition, dependent on and working with the inquisitors. This new class 257 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:41.480 of lawyers was obviously distrusted by some prisoners, for in fifteen fifty nine we 258 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:47.559 have a case of a prisoner in Valencia telling his cellmate quote, though the 259 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:51.039 inquisitor might give him an advocate, he would give him no one good, 260 00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:53.680 but a fellow would only do what the inquisition wanted, And if by chance 261 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:57.559 he asked for an advocate or solicitor not of the Inquisition, they would not 262 00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:02.759 serve, for if they went contrary to the inquisitor's wishes, he would get 263 00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:06.480 up to some charge of false belief or want of respect and cast them into 264 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:11.200 prison. End quote. Now this does not mean that those advocates assigned as 265 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:15.720 defense didn't do their duty consciously, but they were of course hindered by the 266 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:22.359 restrictions of the tribunal and the subtle and dangerous task of defending the prisoner while 267 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:27.720 condemning his heresy. Some special cases exist where counsel were allowed of their own 268 00:26:27.799 --> 00:26:33.480 choice, but these were exceptions. When a prisoner was finally accused, he 269 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:36.720 was given a copy of the evidence against him in order to help him prepare 270 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:41.640 a defense. This publication of the evidence was by no means as helpful as 271 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:45.599 it might be today. In the first place, the names of all the 272 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:51.880 witnesses were stricken. Even more important, all evidence that might help identify witnesses 273 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:56.400 was stricken from the record. This meant the prisoner was also just deprived of 274 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:02.559 any details of the complete case against him. In this way, the inquisitors 275 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:07.160 were free to use his evidence information that had not been communicated to the accused. 276 00:27:07.319 --> 00:27:14.319 While this helped protect witnesses against identification and recrimination, it often crippled the 277 00:27:14.359 --> 00:27:19.279 defense. The accused had several avenues of defense. Short of proving the complete 278 00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:26.240 falsity of an accusation, He could call favorable witnesses disable hostile witnesses by proving 279 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:32.480 personal enmity or object to his judges. This was a last resort. Several 280 00:27:32.519 --> 00:27:36.519 extenuating circumstances, such as drunkenness and sanity, extreme youth, and so on 281 00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:40.880 and so forth, could also be pleaded. All these expedients were resorted to 282 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:45.160 regularly, but not always with equal success. In the great majority of trials 283 00:27:45.160 --> 00:27:49.799 before the Spanish Inquisition, the defense consisted solely in the resort to witnesses, 284 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:56.160 since this was the only way to get to unknown sources of evidence. Hence, 285 00:27:56.200 --> 00:28:00.880 for the accused to resort to favorable witnesses was a diet See proposition. 286 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:04.559 At best. A defendant's best chance was to undercut the credibility of a hostile 287 00:28:04.599 --> 00:28:11.720 witness. Accusations were often made more out of malice than religious zeal for the 288 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:17.319 truth. It wasn't hard in many cases for the defendant to show the financial 289 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:22.319 gain the accusers might hope to gain if they cooperated. Defendants might also call, 290 00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:26.000 as I said, for the judges to accuse themselves, but this was 291 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:30.119 extremely risky. If they did not, well, then you might as well 292 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:33.960 just confess. And given the almost complete lack of oversight, it should not 293 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:40.240 shock you that only rarely did one resort to this defense. Now, there 294 00:28:40.279 --> 00:28:42.440 was no such thing as a single trial in the period of the Inquisition. 295 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:48.279 Rather, over a period of time, the prosecution and defense would present evidence 296 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:55.240 and arguments until each side declared itself done. Then a quote unquote consultation was 297 00:28:55.279 --> 00:29:00.640 formed. These consisted of one of the inquisitors, one represents of the local 298 00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:04.720 bishop, and one theologian. Together they voted. If the inquisitor and the 299 00:29:04.759 --> 00:29:10.960 bishop's representative agreed, then the matter was decided. If not, more representatives 300 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:15.119 might be called in and another vote held. Of course, the obvious problem 301 00:29:15.160 --> 00:29:19.799 with all this was that the Inquisition was both judge, prosecution, and in 302 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:26.759 most cases defense, hence the high conviction rate. As a rule, tribunals 303 00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:32.160 did try to bring cases to trial quickly. It was expensive to keep people 304 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:36.880 locked up, but in some cases there was very little the inquisition could do. 305 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:41.519 In fifteen ninety in Lerna, for example, some prisoners had to wait 306 00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:48.079 seven years for a trial because of the sheer number of the denunciations. This 307 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:53.759 was not the Inquisition's fault per se, but it was another indication of why 308 00:29:53.799 --> 00:30:00.200 it's poor funding was a major issue for everyone. It is very difficult to 309 00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:06.319 say anything specific about the punishments meted out by the Inquisition with any degree of 310 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:11.799 certainty. For the first few years, nearly all the documentation of the Inquisition 311 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:18.000 no longer exists, beyond that records are incomplete at best. In the Tribunal 312 00:30:18.039 --> 00:30:23.079 of Valencia, an estimate for three thousand, seventy five of the trials between 313 00:30:23.079 --> 00:30:30.599 fifteen sixty six and sixteen oh nine suggests that they concluded as follows. Forty 314 00:30:30.599 --> 00:30:37.119 four percent of those were penanced, forty percent were reconciled, two percent absolved, 315 00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:42.960 nine percent were received suspended sentences, two zero point one percent were burnt 316 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:52.839 in effigy two percent were burnt in person. In Galesia between fifteen sixty and 317 00:30:52.920 --> 00:30:57.039 seventeen hundred, of two thy two hundred and three people, eighteen percent were 318 00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:03.279 absolved, sixty two percent were penanced, sixty one percent were reconciled, two 319 00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:08.359 percent were burnt in effigy, and less than one percent were burnt in person. 320 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:12.799 To be penanced was the least of the punishments imposed. Those who did 321 00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:19.200 penance had to quote abjure and quote their offenses spiritually. For a lesser offense, 322 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:23.839 the penitent swore to avoid his sin in the future, and if he 323 00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:30.359 swore again and committed it, any relapse made him liable for severe punishment on 324 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:36.759 the next occasion. Penitents were then condemned to physical penalties, sometimes also fine 325 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:44.000 banishment, or even the galleys. Reconciliation was in theory the return of the 326 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:49.119 sinner to the church after due spiritual penance had been performed. In practice, 327 00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:56.200 it was the most severe punishment the inquisition could inflict, short of being burnt 328 00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:02.240 all. The penalties were heavier in reconciliation. In addition to any physical punishment, 329 00:32:02.599 --> 00:32:07.319 accused persons could also be condemned to flogging, to long spells in prison, 330 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:13.960 or the galleys. In most cases, confiscation of goods occurred, so 331 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:16.519 that even if the prisoner escaped with a prison sentence of a few months, 332 00:32:17.079 --> 00:32:22.160 he came out of an orthodox Catholic but facing a life of being a beggar. 333 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:30.279 An additional rule frequently enforced was that anyone who committed a further offense after 334 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:35.839 reconciliation was to be treated as a relapsed heretic and would be burnt at the 335 00:32:35.880 --> 00:32:44.359 stake. Now, most of the punishments involved something that was called the san 336 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:50.640 benito, which is a corrupt form of older words sacho benito. It's a 337 00:32:50.839 --> 00:32:58.559 penitential garment used in the medieval Inquisition and ultimately taken over by the Spanish one. 338 00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:02.440 It was usually yellow with one or two diagonal crosses imposed on it. 339 00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:09.279 Penitents were condemned to wear the san benito as a mark of infamy for a 340 00:33:09.319 --> 00:33:15.319 period of a few months, or in some cases for life. Those who 341 00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:20.680 were to appear at the attau de fe or the acts of faith had to 342 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:24.880 wear a black san benito, on which there were painted flames and demons and 343 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:34.079 other interesting decorations. Anyone condemned to wearing the ordinary yellow san benito had to 344 00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:37.640 put an on whenever he or she went outside, a practice by no means 345 00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:43.920 popular in the first few years of the Inquisition. Now, the order to 346 00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:49.079 wear a san benito for life, though wasn't literal, it was ultimately and 347 00:33:49.319 --> 00:33:54.680 invariably commuted to a much shorter period at the discretion of the inquisitor. The 348 00:33:54.759 --> 00:34:00.920 chief criticism leveled at the time against these garments was less over the deliberate shame 349 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:05.079 they were meant to cast on their wearers, then on the policy of perpetuating 350 00:34:05.119 --> 00:34:09.000 infamy by hanging them up in the local church as a permanent record of the 351 00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:15.000 offense. The imprisonment decreed by the Inquisition could be for a short term of 352 00:34:15.079 --> 00:34:20.960 months and years, or even for life, the latter usually being classified as 353 00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:28.679 quote perpetual and irremissible end quote. Prison. Sentences then as now were not 354 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:36.000 literally observed. By the seventeenth century, perpetual prison normally signified a few months 355 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:42.039 and rarely involved imprisonment for more than three years, especially if the prisoner was 356 00:34:42.119 --> 00:34:49.880 repentant. A lifetime sentence was normally completed in ten years. Despite this, 357 00:34:50.440 --> 00:34:55.400 the Inquisition continued to decree perpetual sentences, probably because in canon law it was 358 00:34:55.559 --> 00:35:04.519 the custom to condemn heretics to life imprisonment. None of the sentences necessarily involved 359 00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:10.400 actual confinement in a prison. By the instructions of fourteen eighty eight, inquisitors 360 00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:15.480 could at their discretion confine a man to his own house or to some other 361 00:35:15.559 --> 00:35:22.320 institution, such as a monastery or hospital, with the result that many prisoners 362 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:30.280 served their sentences in moderate comfort. The main reason for this surprising concession was 363 00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:35.960 that the tribunals lacked the prison space because their cells were already full, and 364 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:39.800 it was also just too expensive to keep people in prison for lengthy periods of 365 00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:45.079 time. Remember what we're talking about, The inquisition is very much an unfunded 366 00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:54.039 mandate. Important prisoners normally underwent house arrest rather than imprisonment. Oddly, even 367 00:35:54.239 --> 00:36:00.000 when prison itself was the sentence, there was very much an open door policy. 368 00:36:00.119 --> 00:36:04.840 See, prisoners were free to go often during the day and go about 369 00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:07.840 their business. They just had to return to the I guess I'll keep calling 370 00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:14.760 it a prison at night. The galleys were a punishment unknown to the medieval 371 00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:20.320 Inquisition. These were devised by King Ferdinand, and there was a reason. 372 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:25.719 King Ferdinand wanted a cheap source of labor for his navy without having to resort 373 00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:31.000 to open slavery. By the mid eighteenth century, the Inquisition had ceased using 374 00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:36.960 galley terms as sentences, as it had for the sake of argument the Spanish 375 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:42.559 crown. In secular courts, Interestingly, an accused might be sentenced to different 376 00:36:42.599 --> 00:36:49.159 punishments simultaneously. For example, one accused in Grenada in sixteen seventy two, 377 00:36:49.400 --> 00:36:53.320 was sentenced to four years banishment, six years in the galley, and one 378 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:59.719 hundred strokes of the lash. Unfortunately, based on the record, I couldn't 379 00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:04.440 tell if the first two punishments, the galleys and banishment, were consecutive or 380 00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:07.920 concurrent, that is, whether they were served simultaneously, or he was banished 381 00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:13.519 and then served six years in the galleys. Of course, the ultimate penalty 382 00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:16.800 was burning at the stake. The execution of heretics was by the fifteenth century 383 00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:23.159 such a common place event in Christendom that the Spanish Inquisition cannot be accused of 384 00:37:23.199 --> 00:37:30.239 any innovation. It had been the practice hallowed by the medieval Inquisition for the 385 00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:37.320 Church courts to condemn a heretic and then hand him over or quote unquote relax 386 00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:44.480 him to the secular authorities. These were then obliged to carry out the sentence 387 00:37:44.519 --> 00:37:49.239 of blood, which the Holy Office was forbidden by law to carry out. 388 00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:54.400 In all of this, there was no pretense that the Inquisition was not the 389 00:37:54.440 --> 00:38:01.239 body fully and directly responsible for the deaths that occurred. Two classes of people 390 00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:09.400 qualified for the stake, unrepentant heretics and relapsed heretics, The latter consisted of 391 00:38:09.440 --> 00:38:15.440 those who, after being pardoned a first time, had repeated the offense and 392 00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:22.599 were adjudged to have relapsed into heresy. Those who were sentenced did not always 393 00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:29.400 die at the stake. They were normally given the choice between repenting before the 394 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:36.400 Atta de fay reached its climax, in which case they were mercifully strangled when 395 00:38:36.440 --> 00:38:43.519 the flames were lit, or you could remain unrepentant, in which case you 396 00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:49.800 were burnt alive. The vast majority of those who were burned, in fact, 397 00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:54.679 were burnt in effigy only because they had either died before the act or 398 00:38:54.679 --> 00:39:00.199 the ata de fay, or because they had saved themselves by fleeing. In 399 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:06.440 the early years of the Inquisition. The large number of accused burnt in effigy 400 00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:15.000 testifies to the number of refugees escaping from the tribunal. The proportionately small number 401 00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:21.800 of executions is an effective argument against the legend of the blood thirsty Tribunal. 402 00:39:22.960 --> 00:39:28.280 Nothing certainly can efface the horror of the terrible first twenty or sore years, 403 00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:35.239 but it is far from clear that the Inquisition was the juggernaut of death that 404 00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:40.679 has oftentimes assumed it to be still, we do need to remember that while 405 00:39:40.719 --> 00:39:47.239 the overall death rate was low, it fell disproportionately on people of Jewish and 406 00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:54.280 Muslim origin. Executions probably had a minor impact on the population at large, 407 00:39:54.519 --> 00:40:02.000 but were a significant burden on the conversos. Most Europeans knew the Inquisition because 408 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:06.000 of the acts of faith, or, as they were called at the time, 409 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:12.119 Autos de fe. These were the public condemnation ceremonies that combined preaching, 410 00:40:12.320 --> 00:40:19.599 prayer, denunciations, verdicts and sentences. People flocked to see them. They 411 00:40:19.599 --> 00:40:27.960 were truly a novelty throughout Europe, truly uniquely Spanish. The Auto de Fey 412 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:32.239 in its heyday was an event without parallel Visitors from other countries would throng in 413 00:40:32.760 --> 00:40:37.840 when it was announced one would be held. The Auto de fe in sixteen 414 00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:43.639 ten at Lorengo attracted, according to an official of the Inquisition, thirty thousand 415 00:40:43.679 --> 00:40:49.960 people from countries like France, Aragon, Navarre, Basque Country and Castile. 416 00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:54.519 Since the town had only a population of four thousand, the number of visitors 417 00:40:54.559 --> 00:40:59.840 would have created a memorable and historic impression. Though the number is clearly exaggerated. 418 00:41:00.119 --> 00:41:05.440 The scene would invariably be set at the biggest square or public space available. 419 00:41:06.159 --> 00:41:09.760 The elaborate and impressive staging of the proceedings, depicted clearly in prints of 420 00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:14.800 the period, made for heavy expense, and because of this auto's de fe 421 00:41:14.920 --> 00:41:20.679 were not frequent. Their frequency depended entirely on the discretion of the individual tribunals 422 00:41:20.960 --> 00:41:25.360 and the availability of prisoners. When necessary, prisoners could be brought from the 423 00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:30.800 very ends of the peninsula. For the great sixteen eighty Auto in Madrid, 424 00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:37.119 Condemned were brought in from Galicia and Andalasia. When enough prisoners had accumulated to 425 00:41:37.159 --> 00:41:42.320 make the holding of an act of faith worthwhile, a date was fixed for 426 00:41:42.360 --> 00:41:46.039 the event, and the inquisitors informed the authorities of the municipality and the cathedral. 427 00:41:46.760 --> 00:41:52.480 One calendar month before the Auto de fe, a procession consisting of familiars 428 00:41:52.519 --> 00:41:55.760 and notaries of the inquisition would march through the streets of the town, proclaiming 429 00:41:55.800 --> 00:42:01.159 the date of the ceremony. Orders went out carpenters and masons to prepare the 430 00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:07.360 scaffolding for the occasion, and decorations were made ready. The evening before the 431 00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:10.760 Auta da fe, a special proceeding took place, known as the Procession of 432 00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:15.880 the Green Cross, during which familiars and others carried the cross of the Holy 433 00:42:15.920 --> 00:42:22.480 Office to the site of the ceremony. All that night, prayers and preparations 434 00:42:22.519 --> 00:42:27.360 were made. Then early the next morning, Mass was celebrated, Breakfast was 435 00:42:27.400 --> 00:42:30.000 given to all who appeared in the Auta de Fay, including those condemned, 436 00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:35.679 and a procession began which led directly to the square where it would be held. 437 00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:40.960 There is one contemporary account of the first Attada Fay, held in Toledo 438 00:42:42.480 --> 00:42:47.440 on Sunday, the twelfth of February fourteen eighty six, during which over seven 439 00:42:47.559 --> 00:42:53.800 hundred Jews were reconciled to the church. At this early epic, ceremonial and 440 00:42:53.880 --> 00:43:00.079 ritual were notably absent. The inquisitors were occupied solely with the task of reconciling 441 00:43:00.159 --> 00:43:07.360 large number of heretics quickly and efficiently. Here's the account all the reconciled when 442 00:43:07.400 --> 00:43:12.840 in procession to the number of persons seven fifty, including both men and women, 443 00:43:13.519 --> 00:43:15.920 they went in procession from the Church of Saint Peter Martyr in the following 444 00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:21.360 way. The men were all together in a group, bare headed and unshod, 445 00:43:21.880 --> 00:43:24.400 and since it was extremely cold, they were told to wear souls under 446 00:43:24.440 --> 00:43:29.719 their feet, which were otherwise bare, and their hands were unlit candles. 447 00:43:30.599 --> 00:43:34.800 The women were together in a group, their heads uncovered and their faces bare, 448 00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:39.000 unshod, like the men when with candles. Among all these were many 449 00:43:39.039 --> 00:43:44.960 prominent men in high office. With the bitter cold and dishonor and disgrace they 450 00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.920 suffered from the great number of spectators. They went along, howling loudly and 451 00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:53.280 weeping, and tearing out their hair, no doubt more for the dishonor they 452 00:43:53.280 --> 00:43:58.559 were suffering than for any offense they had committed against God. Thus they went 453 00:43:58.599 --> 00:44:04.159 in tribulation through the along which the Corpus Christi procession goes, until they came 454 00:44:04.199 --> 00:44:07.960 to the cathedral. At the door of the church were two chaplains who made 455 00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:13.559 the sign of the Cross on each other's forehead, saying, quote, received 456 00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:16.960 the sign of the cross, which you denied and lost through being deceived end 457 00:44:17.000 --> 00:44:22.280 quote. Then they went into the church until they arrived at a scaffolding erected 458 00:44:22.480 --> 00:44:28.800 by a new gate, and on it were the further inquisitors. Nearby was 459 00:44:28.840 --> 00:44:31.840 another scaffolding, on which stood an altar, at which they sent mass and 460 00:44:31.840 --> 00:44:36.760 delivered a sermon. After this, a notary stood up and began to call 461 00:44:36.840 --> 00:44:42.920 each one by name. Quote is ex here end quote. The penitent would 462 00:44:42.960 --> 00:44:45.480 raise his candle and say yes. There in the public they read all the 463 00:44:45.519 --> 00:44:50.400 things which he had done. The same was done for the women. When 464 00:44:50.400 --> 00:44:53.639 this was over, they were publicly allotted penance and ordered to go in procession 465 00:44:53.679 --> 00:45:00.280 for six fridays, including scourging their bodies, bare backed, unshown, and 466 00:45:00.320 --> 00:45:05.679 bare headed. They were to also fast for those six fridays. It was 467 00:45:05.719 --> 00:45:08.719 also ordered that all the days of their life they were to hold no public 468 00:45:08.800 --> 00:45:14.119 office, or to be public scriveners or messengers, and that those who held 469 00:45:14.159 --> 00:45:16.480 public office were to lose them, and that they were not to become money 470 00:45:16.599 --> 00:45:22.840 changers, shopkeepers or grocers, or hold any post whatsoever. They were not 471 00:45:22.840 --> 00:45:25.039 to wear silk or scarlet, or colored cloth, or gold or silver, 472 00:45:25.159 --> 00:45:30.559 or pearls or any jewels, nor could they stand as witnesses. And they 473 00:45:30.599 --> 00:45:34.000 were ordered that if they relapsed, that is, if they fell into the 474 00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:37.800 same error again and resorted to any of the forementioned things, they would be 475 00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:43.320 condemned to the fire. And when all this was over they went away. 476 00:45:44.239 --> 00:45:51.880 It was two o'clock in the afternoon end quote. Burning at the stake was 477 00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:57.000 even rarer. We have one following account from the Auta de Fay felt at 478 00:45:57.079 --> 00:46:04.599 Laurento in August seventeen nineteen. Around the jew are a number of religious people, 479 00:46:04.639 --> 00:46:08.800 who quote pressed the accused with great anxiety and zeal to convert himself. 480 00:46:09.519 --> 00:46:14.199 With perfect serenity, he said, I will convert myself to the faith of 481 00:46:14.280 --> 00:46:17.400 Jesus Christ, words which he had not been heard to utter until then. 482 00:46:19.360 --> 00:46:22.960 This overjoyed all the religious, who began to embrace him with tenderness and gave 483 00:46:23.000 --> 00:46:29.239 finite thanks to God for having opened them a door for his conversion. And 484 00:46:29.280 --> 00:46:32.639 as he was making his confession of faith, a learned religious man of the 485 00:46:32.679 --> 00:46:37.920 Franciscan order asked him in what law do you die? He turned and looked 486 00:46:37.960 --> 00:46:42.679 him in the eye and said, father, I have already told you that 487 00:46:42.760 --> 00:46:46.280 I die in the faith of Jesus Christ. This caused great pleasure and joy 488 00:46:46.360 --> 00:46:52.440 among all, and the Franciscan, who was kneeling down, arose and embraced 489 00:46:52.440 --> 00:46:58.239 the accused. All the others did the same with great satisfaction, giving thanks 490 00:46:58.559 --> 00:47:02.599 for the finite goodness of God. God. At this moment the accused saw 491 00:47:02.639 --> 00:47:07.079 the executioner, who had put his head out from behind the stake, and 492 00:47:07.199 --> 00:47:12.119 asked him, why did you call me a dog before? The executioner replied, 493 00:47:12.840 --> 00:47:15.440 because you denied the faith of Jesus Christ. But now that you have 494 00:47:15.519 --> 00:47:19.760 confessed, we are brothers. And if I have offended you by what I 495 00:47:19.800 --> 00:47:23.639 said, I beg pardon on my knees. The accused forgave him gladly, 496 00:47:23.960 --> 00:47:29.519 and the two embraced and desirous that the soul which had given so many signs 497 00:47:29.519 --> 00:47:34.000 of conversion would not be lost. I went round casually behind the stake to 498 00:47:34.039 --> 00:47:38.039 where the executioner was and gave him the order to strangle him immediately, because 499 00:47:38.079 --> 00:47:44.159 it was very important not to delay. This. He did with great expedition. 500 00:47:45.639 --> 00:47:49.760 When it was certain he was dead, the executioner was ordered to set 501 00:47:49.800 --> 00:47:52.440 fire at the four corners of the pyre to the brushwood and charcoal that had 502 00:47:52.440 --> 00:47:57.280 been piled up. He did this at once, and it began to burn 503 00:47:57.320 --> 00:48:00.760 on all sides, the flames rising swiftly up the platform and burning the wood 504 00:48:00.760 --> 00:48:05.440 and clothing. When the cords binding the accused had been burnt off, he 505 00:48:05.480 --> 00:48:08.360 fell through the open trap door into the pire, and his whole body was 506 00:48:08.400 --> 00:48:15.000 reduced to ashes. Quote. There was no age limit for those condemned to 507 00:48:15.039 --> 00:48:19.639 the stake. Women in their eighties and boys and their teens were treated the 508 00:48:19.639 --> 00:48:24.559 same. By the mid sixteenth century, acts of faith autos de fe were 509 00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:30.320 so rare that they had become essentially once in lifetime events. By the second 510 00:48:30.320 --> 00:48:35.519 half of that century, they had become obsolete. Only private acts of faith 511 00:48:35.559 --> 00:48:40.400 happened during those thirty odd years. Perhaps, as one commenter dryly observed, 512 00:48:42.440 --> 00:48:47.960 the heretics had been purged out of existence. So that's it for our look 513 00:48:49.079 --> 00:48:54.440 at the Inquisition in general. Next week, we returned to our Galileo story 514 00:48:54.800 --> 00:49:01.719 to wrap up his trial and his confrontation with the Inquisition. Spoiler alert, 515 00:49:01.760 --> 00:49:05.760 He's not going to be burned at the stake now. As always, if 516 00:49:05.760 --> 00:49:07.639 you're looking for more Western SIEV, I've got links in the show notes. 517 00:49:08.199 --> 00:49:14.079 I have changed a little bit how the support works. We've gone down to 518 00:49:14.239 --> 00:49:17.119 just the Patreon account because it's just much easier and it's cheaper, and I'm 519 00:49:17.159 --> 00:49:22.000 able to get out additional shows much much faster for those who are willing to 520 00:49:22.039 --> 00:49:25.639 support, and as always, I appreciate it. If you can't support the 521 00:49:25.679 --> 00:49:30.880 show financially, but you'd like to do something. Rating and review is always 522 00:49:30.280 --> 00:49:31.639 greatly appreciated.