IT is impossible to determine the exact number of persons who perished in the first years after the establishment of the holy office. Persons were burnt in the year 1481, and the Supreme Council was not created until 1483. The registers in its archives, and those of the inferior tribunals, are of a still later date; and as the inquisitor-general accompanied the court, which had no fixed residence until the reign of Philip II., many of the trials must have been lost during these journeys. These circumstances oblige me to found my calculations on the combination of certain data, which I found in the registers and writings of the holy office.
Mariana, in his History of Spain, informs us that, in 1481, the Inquisitors of Seville condemned two thousand persons to relaxation, that is, to be burnt, and that there were as many effigies; the number of persons reconciled was one thousand seven hundred. The latter were always subjected to severe penances.
The autos-da-fé of this period, which I examined at Saragossa and Toledo, lead me to suppose that each tribunal of the Inquisition celebrated at least four autos-da-fé every year. The provincial tribunals were successively organised. I do not speak of those of Mexico, Lima, Carthagena in America, Sicily or Sardinia, although they were subject to the Inquisitors-general and the Supreme Council, because I am only enabled to establish my calculation for those of the Peninsula and the neighbouring isles.
Andres Bernaldez, a contemporary historian, and very much attached to the new institution, in which he held the office of almoner to the second inquisitor, states, in his inedited History of the Catholic Kings, that from 1482 to 1489, more than seven hundred individuals were burnt, and more than five thousand subjected to penances, at Seville: he does not mention the effigies.
In 1481 the number equalled that of the persons burnt. I will, however, suppose that these were only half that number, to avoid all exaggeration, though it was in general much more considerable; I may, therefore, say, that in each year of this period, 88 persons were burnt at Seville, 44 in effigy, and 600 condemned to different penances; total, 757. The same mode of calculation may be applied to the other tribunals of the province which were then founded.
In the castle of Triana, at Seville, where the inquisitorial tribunal was held, is an inscription, placed there in 1524, importing that in the space of time from 1492 to that year, about 1000 persons had been burnt, and 20,000 condemned to penances;—I will suppose that 1000 individuals were burnt, and 500 effigies, which will give for each year 32 burnt, 16 effigies, and 625 subjected to penances. I might admit a similar result for all the tribunals of the kingdom, but I prefer taking the half, on the supposition that the commerce carried on in the kingdom of Seville drew thither many Jewish families.
With respect to the years 1490, 91, and 92, which elapsed between those mentioned by Bernaldez and the period of the inscription of Triana, I prefer calculating according to the thirty-two years after the inscription.
Such are the foundations of my calculations for the first eighteen years of the Inquisition. I shall consider it from that time as entirely belonging to the government of Torquemada, the first inquisitor-general; for, although his office was not created till 1483, the two preceding years may be united to his administration, because he was at that time one of the Inquisitors appointed by the Pope. I shall, however, carefully distinguish the time when the inferior tribunals began to act, as a greater number of persons perished in the first year, because they were not sufficiently observant of their words and actions.
1481. Seville, the only tribunal. Burnt, 2000. Effigies, 2000. Penances, 1700. Total, 21,000.
I do not mention Aragon, where the old Inquisition was in full activity.
1482. Seville. Burnt, 88. Effigies, 44. Penances, 625. Total, 757.
The tribunals of Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and Majorca, belonged to the old Inquisition.
1483. Seville. Ditto.
Tribunals were established in this year at Cordova, Jaen, and Toledo; it is probable that as many persons were condemned at these places as in the first year at Seville, but I shall take the tenth part of that number.
Cordova. Burnt, 200. Effigies, 200. Penances, 17. Total, 2100. Jaen, ditto. Toledo, ditto. Total, 7057.
1484. Seville. Burnt, 88. Effigies, 44. Penances, 625. Total, 757.
I calculate half that number for each of the three additional tribunals. Total, 1892.
1485. Seville, ditto. Cordova, ditto. Jaen, ditto. Toledo, ditto.
Valladolid, Estremadura, Murcia, Calahorra, Saragossa, and Valencia; each, burnt, 200. Effigies, 200. Penances, 1700. Total, 2100.
For the ten tribunals. Total, 12,930.
1486. Seville, as before.
Cordova, Jaen, and Toledo, ditto.
Valladolid, Llerena, Murcia, Logroño, Saragossa, and Valencia; same number as Cordova.
For the ten tribunals. Total, 4149.
1487. Seville, and the other tribunals; the same number as the preceding year.
Barcelona and Majorca, burnt, 200. Effigies, 200. Penances, 1700.
Total for the twelve tribunals, 8359.
1488. Seville, ditto.
Eleven other tribunals, same number as before. Total, 4915.
1489. Same as the preceding year. Here finish the calculations founded on the statements of Mariana and Bernaldez.
1490. Seville. Burnt, 32. Effigies, 16. Penances, 625. Total, 663. According to the calculation from the inscription of Triana.
The eleven other tribunals may be considered to have punished half that number. Total for the twelve, 4369.
1491 to 1498. According to my system of reduction, the total number of victims for the eight last years of Torquemada, was 34,952.
Total for the eighteen years of his administration, 105,294.
1499 to 1507. Second inquisitor-general. Don Fray Diego Deza. For the twelve tribunals during the eight years of his administration. Burnt, 1664. Effigies, 832. Penances, 32,456. Total, 34,952.
1507 to 1518. Third inquisitor-general. Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros. In 1513 he separated the tribunal of Cuença from that of Murcia.
Number of persons condemned during the eleven years of his administration. Burnt, 2536. Effigies, 1368. Penances, 47,263. Total, 51,163.
1518 to 1524. Fourth inquisitor-general. Cardinal Adrian. Number of tribunals in the peninsula, the same as under his predecessor. Burnt, 1344. Effigies, 662. Penances, 26,214. Total, 28,230.
1524 to 1539. Fifth inquisitor-general. Cardinal Manrique. For each year of this administration, I calculate that in each of the tribunals 10 were burnt, 5 in effigy, and 50 subjected to penances; total, 65. There were thirteen tribunals in the peninsula, and two in the adjacent isles. According to the preceding calculation, we find that during the fifteen years of the administration of Manrique, there were, Burnt, 2250. Effigies, 1120. Penances, 11,250. Total, 14,625.
1539 to 1545. Sixth inquisitor-general. Cardinal Tabera. His administration may be considered as having lasted seven years. For the fifteen tribunals during that period, I calculate, Burnt, 840. Effigies, 420. Penances, 4200. Total, 5460.
Seventh inquisitor-general. Cardinal Loaisa was appointed in 1546, and died in the same year; the time of his administration may be said to be twelve months. In the fifteen tribunals, Burnt, 120. Effigies, 60. Penances, 600. Total, 780.
Eighth inquisitor-general. Don Ferdinand Valdés, Archbishop of Seville. Twenty years in the fifteen tribunals, Burnt, 2400. Effigies, 1200. Penances, 12,000. Total, 19,600.
Ninth inquisitor-general. Cardinal Espinosa, six years. Burnt, 720. Effigies, 360. Penances, 3600. Total, 4680.
Tenth inquisitor-general. Don Pedro de Cordova, Ponce de Leon, succeeded in 1572, and died in January, 1573, before he could enter on his office.
Eleventh inquisitor-general. Cardinal Quiroga, twenty-two years. Another tribunal was established in Galicia. In the sixteen tribunals were Burnt, 2816. Effigies, 1408. Penances, 14,080. Total, 18,304.
Twelfth inquisitor-general. Don Jerome Manrique de Lara, Bishop of Carthagena and Avila, one year. Total for the sixteen Inquisitions, Burnt, 180. Effigies, 64. Penances, 640. Total, 832.
Thirteenth inquisitor-general. Don Pedro de Porto-Carrero, Bishop of Cuença, three years. Burnt, 184. Effigies, 92. Penances, 1920. Total, 2196.
Fourteenth inquisitor-general. Cardinal Guevara, three years. Burnt, 240. Effigies, 96. Penances, 1728. Total, 2064.
Fifteenth inquisitor-general. Don Juan de Zuñiga, Bishop of Carthagena, one year. Burnt, 84. Effigies, 32. Penances, 576. Total, 688.
Sixteenth inquisitor-general. Don Juan Bautista de Acebedo, Archbishop in partibus infidelium, five years. Burnt, 400. Effigies, 116. Penances, 2880. Total, 3440.
Seventeenth inquisitor-general. Cardinal Sandoval y Roxas, eleven years. Burnt, 880. Effigies, 352. Penances, 6336. Total, 7568.
Eighteenth inquisitor-general. Don Fray Louis de Aliaga, two years. Burnt, 240. Effigies, 96. Penances, 1728. Total, 2064.
Nineteenth inquisitor-general. Don Andres Pacheco, four years. Burnt, 200. Effigies, 128. Penances, 1280. Total, 1664.
Twentieth inquisitor-general. Cardinal Mendoza, six years. Burnt, 384. Effigies, 192. Penances, 1920. Total, 2496.
Twenty-first inquisitor-general. Don Fray Antonio de Sotomayor, Archbishop in partibus infidelium, eleven years. Burnt, 704. Effigies, 352. Penances, 3520. Total, 4576.
Twenty-second inquisitor-general. Don Diego de Arce y Reynosa, Bishop of Placencia, twenty-three years. Burnt, 1472. Effigies, 736. Penances, 7360. Total, 9568.
Twenty-third inquisitor-general. Cardinal d’Aragon. Dismissed before he entered on his office.
Twenty-fourth inquisitor-general. Don Juan Everard Nitardo, three years. Burnt, 144. Effigies, 48. Penances, 576. Total, 768.
Twenty-fifth inquisitor-general. Don Diego Sarmiento de Valladares, twenty-six years. Burnt, 1248. Effigies, 416. Penances, 4992. Total, 6656.
Twenty-sixth inquisitor-general. Don Juan Thomas Rocaberti, Archbishop of Valencia, five years. Burnt, 240. Effigies, 80. Penances, 960. Total, 1280.
Twenty-seventh inquisitor-general. Cardinal Aguilar. Died before he entered on his office.
Twenty-eighth inquisitor-general. Don Balthazar Mendoza y Sandoval, Bishop of Segovia, five years. Burnt, 240. Effigies, 80. Penances, 960. Total, 1280.
Twenty-ninth inquisitor-general. Don Vidal Marin, Bishop of Ceuta, four years. Seventeen tribunals. Burnt, 136. Effigies, 68. Penances, 816. Total, 1020.
Thirtieth inquisitor-general. Don Antonio Ibañez de la Riva Herrera, Archbishop of Saragossa, two years. Burnt, 68. Effigies, 34. Penances, 408. Total, 510.
Thirty-first inquisitor-general. Cardinal Judice, six years. Burnt, 204. Effigies, 102. Penances, 1224. Total, 1530.
Thirty-second inquisitor-general. Don Joseph Molines, Auditor de Rote at Rome, two years. Burnt, 68. Effigies, 34. Penances, 408. Total, 510.
Thirty-third inquisitor-general. Don Juan de Arzamendi. Died before he entered on the office.
Thirty-fourth inquisitor-general. Don Diego de Astorga y Cespedes, Bishop of Barcelona, two years. Burnt, 68. Effigies, 34. Penances, 408. Total, 510.
Thirty-fifth inquisitor-general. Don Juan de Camargo, Bishop of Pampluna, thirteen years. Burnt, 442. Effigies, 221. Penances, 2652. Total, 3315.
Thirty-sixth inquisitor-general. Don Andres de Orbe y Larreategui, Archbishop of Valencia, seven years. Burnt, 238. Effigies, 119. Penances, 1428. Total, 1785.
Thirty-seventh inquisitor-general. Don Manuel Isidro Manrique de Lara, Archbishop of Santiago, four years. Burnt, 336. Effigies, 68. Penances, 816. Total, 1020.
Thirty-eighth inquisitor-general. Don Francisco Perez de Prado y Cuesta, Bishop of Teruel. He was confirmed by the Pope in 1746; I do not know the exact term of his administration, but I have fixed it in 1757, before the death of Ferdinand VI., who appointed his successor. Burnt, 10. Effigies, 5. Penances, 107. Total, 122.
Thirty-ninth inquisitor-general. Don Manuel Quintano Bonifaz, Archbishop of Pharsala, seventeen years. Burnt, 2. Penances, 10 in public, a greater number in private.
Fortieth inquisitor-general. Don Philip Bertran, Bishop of Salamanca, nine years. Two were burnt every year of this administration, six condemned to public, and a great number to private penances [85].
Forty-first inquisitor-general. Don Augustin Rubin de Cevallos, Bishop of Jaen, nine years. Fourteen condemned to public penances, and a considerable number condemned intra muros.
Forty-second inquisitor-general. Don Manuel Abad y la Sierra, Archbishop of Selimbria, two years. Sixteen individuals condemned to public, a greater number to private penances.
Forty-third inquisitor-general. Cardinal Lorenzana, three years. Public penances, 14. A very great number condemned to private penances. One effigy was burnt at Cuença.
Forty-fourth inquisitor-general. Don Ramon Joseph de Arce, Archbishop of Saragossa, eleven years. Twenty individuals were condemned to public, and a very considerable number to private penances. The Curate of Esco was condemned to the flames, but the grand-inquisitor and the Supreme Council would not permit the sentence to be executed.
Number of persons who were condemned and perished in the flames | 31,912 |
Effigies burnt | 17,659 |
Condemned to severe penances | 291,450 |
341,021 |
LONDON:
Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES,
Stamford-Street.
[1] The following fact shews that the inquisitors of our own days do not fall below the standard of those who followed the fanatic Torquemada. was present when the Inquisition was thrown open, in 1820, by the orders of the Cortes of Madrid. Twenty-one prisoners were found in it, not one of whom knew the name of the city in which he was: some had been confined three years, some a longer period, and not one knew perfectly the nature of the crime of which he was accused.
One of these prisoners had been condemned, and was to have suffered on the following day. His punishment was to be death by the pendulum. The method of thus destroying the victim is as follows:—The condemned is fastened in a groove, upon a table, on his back; suspended above him is a pendulum, the edge of which is sharp, and it is so constructed as to become longer with every movement. The wretch sees this implement of destruction swinging to and fro above him, and every moment the keen edge approaching nearer and nearer: at length it cuts the skin of his nose, and gradually cuts on, until life is extinct. It may be doubted if the holy office in its mercy ever invented a more humane and rapid method of exterminating heresy, or ensuring confiscation. This, let it be remembered, was a punishment of the Secret Tribunal, A.D. 1820!!!
[2] The absolution ad cautelam is that granted by inquisitors to persons who have been suspected of heresy.
[3] Since the publication of this work, the Author has been informed that the convicts were only fastened to the statues of the Four Prophets, and not enclosed in them. Andrew Bernaldez, a contemporary writer, and eye-witness of the executions, from whom this fact was taken, is not sufficiently explicit to remove all doubt.
[4] Erasmus, letters 884, 907, 910.
[5] Sandoval. Hist. Charles V. B. 24, § 23.
[6] Salazar de Mendoza, Life of Don Bartholomew Carranza, ch. vii.
[7] Mayan’s Life of John Louis Vives, in the introduction to the new edition of his works.
[8] Virues: Philippics against Melancthon, in the dedication of the edition of Antwerp, 1541.
[9] Reginaldus Gonzalvius Montanus, Sanctæ Inquisitionis Hispanicæ, artes aliquot detectæ. This work is now extremely rare; it was published in 8vo. at Heidelberg in 1567.
[10] Charles V. is the hero of this poem.
[11] Don Antonio Cajetan de Souza has inserted this bull in his genealogical History of the Royal House of Portugal; Vol. II.
[12] Continued from Gonzales de Montes.
[13] Sandoval’s History of Charles V., vol. ii.
[14] Sandoval’s History of Charles V., tom. ii.
[15] Cabrera, Hist. Philip II., Book 2. chap. vi.
[16] Cabrera, ibid. B. I. chap. viii. and ix.
[17] Leti, Life of Philip II. Book 17.—Reinaldi, Annales Eccles. An. 1563, No. 146.—Palavicini, Hist. Council of Trent, Book 22, Chap. viii.—Sarpi, Hist. Council of Trent, Book 8. No. 42.
[18] See Chapter XVI.
[19] Pellecyr, Ensago de Biblioteca de Traductores Españoles. Articles, Reina, Perez, and Valera.
[20] Regnialdus Gonzalirus Montanus, Sanctæ Inquisitionis Hispanicæ artes aliquot detectæ, in the rubric Publicato testium, p. 50.
[21] Fleury, Hist. Ecoles, liv. 154, ann. 1559, No. 14.
[22] Ulloa, Vita di Carlos V., edition of Venice; 1589, p. 237.
[23] The informer is admitted as a witness, in contempt of the rule of right, and the punishment due to a false witness is not inflicted, if he is discovered to be such.
[24] They never found this measure necessary. The old bulls and the Cortes had provided that the interlocutory act of arrest should be consented to, and signed by the inquisitor in ordinary of the diocese. Reason dictated this measure, because the decree for an arrest does not permit the summons.
[25] This form is very prejudicial to the prisoner, when the conversation takes place with one person, because the manner of relating the fact supposes three, the accused, the interlocutor, and the individual who has seen or heard.
[26] This inconvenience was the danger to which the secrecy of the holy office was exposed from the activity of these procurators.
[27] This is false; the advantages on the contrary were very important, because the procurators who knew the persons capable of proving the challenge of presumed witnesses, informed them of it, in order to favour the accused.
[28] The New Christians, the relations, the servants, malefactors, infamous persons, in fact every man, a wife, a child, are admitted to depose against the accused, and he cannot call as a witness any person who is a relation or a servant!
[29] This is an injustice. If an accused person had seen the proved articles of the examination in his defence, or if they had been communicated to his lawyer, he would have often derived conclusive arguments from them against the depositions for the prosecution.
[30] It was not often used, because the inquisitors were unwilling to reveal the secret of their irregular proceedings; they considered it dangerous, because it was favourable to the accused, in the few cases where it had been employed; they wished it to be used with great caution, because they felt that those who are not inquisitors act like judges. The canonical proof takes place in the presence of twelve persons, who declare upon oath whether they believe the accused to be innocent or guilty. They were a kind of jury, to whom the inquisitors were obliged to show the original process, and thus the accused depended more upon the jury than on the inquisitors.
[31] I have not read any process which proves that more than one inquisitor has assisted at this execution; I have never seen either the ordinary, or the consultors present at it; the question was only applied in the presence of the inquisitor, the notary, and the executioners.
[32] It was afterwards regulated that this should be done in all definitive sentences.
[33] The trial began in 1558; it had already lasted more than fifteen years, yet the council said that it went on quickly!
[34] Father Kircher has inserted this letter in his work called Principis Christiani Archetipon Politicum.
[35] Kircher has inserted the whole of this letter in the work before mentioned.
[36] Estrada: Decades of the War of Flanders. Decade i. b. 7.
[37] This refers to the queen’s journey to Bayonne, to confer with her mother on the political affairs of the League. It took place in 1565.
[38] Cabrera: History of Philip II., chap. 28.
[39] Wander-Hamer: History of Philip II., p. 115. Cabrera: Prudence of Philip II., b. vii. chap. 22.
[40] Cabrera. Ibid. chap. 28.
[41] Kircher: Vide the Work before mentioned, b. ii. chap. 2.
[42] Estrada: Wars of Flanders, Decade i. b. 7.
[43] Cabrera: Hist. Philip II., b. vii. chap. 28.
[44] Wander-Hamen: Life of Don John of Austria, book i.
[45] Cabrera: Hist. Philip II., book vii. chap. 22.
[46] Retamar is a place situated half-way between Madrid and the Pardo.
[47] Cabrera, book vii. chap. 22.—Wander-Hamen: Life of Don John of Austria, book i.
[48] St. Jerome is a monastery of the order of Jeronimites, founded by Henry IV. Near this monastery is the old royal palace called Buen Retiro.
[49] Atocha is a Convent of Dominicans near Buen Retiro, on the east side.
[50] This was not the Saturday following, which was on the 3rd of January, 1568, but on the 17th of January, the day before Don Carlos was arrested.
[51] The princes of Bohemia and Hungary, then at Madrid, also Don John of Austria and Alexander Farnese.
[52] Some galleys which were then being prepared under the command of Don John.
[53] Grand prior of the order of St. John of Jerusalem: his name was Don Antonio de Toledo, brother to the Duke of Alva, and a councillor of state.
[54] The Duke de Feria was captain-general of the king’s guards, and a councillor of state.
[55] Louis Quijada was Lord of Villagarcia, son of him who was major-domo to Charles V. in his retirement. The Count de Lerma was afterwards first duke and favourite of Philip III. Don Rodrigo de Mendoza was the eldest son of the Prince d’Evoli.
[56] Son of Don Gabriel, Count de Siruela.
[57] Mass was afterwards said in the prince’s apartment; this shows that the account was written before the 2nd of March, when the order was given to have it performed.
[58] The 19th of January, 1568.
[59] Hoyos. His name was Pedro del Hoyo.
[60] That is of the eldest sons who have the right of succeeding to the crown, which is a majorat, or a perpetual substitution by the order of primogeniture.
[61] Jane, the king’s sister, who had brought up Don Carlos before he had masters.
[62] The monteros are the king’s body-guard for the night. All the individuals of this guard are called Monteros de Espinosa, because they ought to have been born in the borough called Espinosa de la Monteros; this is a privilege which was granted to them by the sovereign Count of Castile, Ferdinand Gonzalez, as a recompense for a distinguished act of fidelity.
[63] Watson: History of the Reign of Philip II., in English and French, Appendix.
[64] De Thou: History of his Time, in Latin, vol. ii. b. 43.
[65] Comentarios del Reverendissimo señor Fray Barthome Carranza de Miranda, Arzobispo de Toledo, sobre el cathecismo christiano, divididos en quatro partes, les quales contienent odo lo que profesamos en el santo bautismo, como se vera en la plana siguiente, dirigida al serenisimo senor rey de Espana, &c., nuestro senor. En Anveres, en casa de Martin Nucio, Anno M. D. LVIII., con privilegio real.
[66] Reinaldo: Ecclesiastical Annals for 1563, No. 137. Paul Sarpi: History of the Council of Trent, b. viii. p. 32.
[67] These expressions show that the Count foresaw that the resolution of the council would be favourable to the Catechism; and in that case the holy office of Spain would be dishonoured.
[68] The chief justice of Aragon was an intermediate judge between the king and his subjects, and independent of him as an officer of justice, before whom the king only was the pleading party. This magistracy had been established by the constitution of the kingdom; the person invested with it was authorized to declare, at the demand of any inhabitant, that the king, his judges, or his magistrates, abused their power, and acted against the law in violating the constitution and privileges of the kingdom; in this case, the chief justice could defend the oppressed by force of arms against the king, and of course against his agents or lieutenants.
[69] This expression is ancient in the Aragonese dialect, and taken from the French, which derived it from the Latin inquisitio. It is the title given in the code of Fueros to the sentence pronounced against magistrates or other public officers guilty of infidelity, abuse of power, or other crimes.
[70] Henry IV. of France, then called the Duke of Vendome, and Catherine de Bourbon, afterwards Sovereign Duchess of Bar.
[71] Molina was then at Madrid, where he had been rewarded by a place in the council of military orders. He was succeeded at Saragossa by Don Pedro de Zamora.
[72] See Relations of Perez.
[73] See Chapter XV.
[74] See Chapter 15.
[75] See Chapter 26.
[76] See Chapter 25.
[77] A work, by M. Clement, was printed at Paris, in 1802, called A Journal of Correspondences and Journeys for the Peace of the Church.
[78] These letters will be found in the second volume of the Memoires pour servir à l’Histoire de la Révolution d’Espagne, by Don Juan Nellerto, Nos. 34, 59, 67.
[79] Don Miguel Juan Antonio Solano was born at Veroline in Aragon. Nature had endued him with an inventive, penetrating genius, inclined to mathematical applications; he learned the trade of a joiner, for his own amusement. He invented a plough which would work without oxen or horses, and presented it to the government, but little notice was taken of it. Desiring to make himself useful to his parishioners, he undertook to fertilize the earth in a ravine situated between two mountains, and completely succeeded. He had brought into the ravine the waters of a fountain, which was about a quarter of a Spanish league from the spot. A long and severe illness had made him lame, and during his convalescence, he invented a chair in which he could go out into his garden. When his age inclined him to meditations of another nature, as he had not many books, he particularly applied himself to the study of the Bible, and from it he formed his religious system, which differed little from that of the reformed Protestants, who are most attached to the discipline of the first ages of the church; he was persuaded that all that is not expressed in the New Testament, or is opposed to the literal sense of the text, was invented by man. He put his sentiments in writing, and sent the work to his bishop, requesting him to instruct him and give his opinion. The bishop Lopez Gil promised to send him an answer; but as it did not arrive, Solano communicated his opinions to some professors of theology in the University of Saragossa, and to some curates in his neighbourhood: he was in consequence denounced to the Inquisition of Saragossa, who proceeded to take informations, and arrest the criminal. A curate, who called himself his friend, received the commission to arrest the unfortunate Solano, while entire liberty was allowed him to enable him to recover. Solano, however, found means to convey himself to Oleron, the nearest town on the French frontier; but soon after, depending on the goodness of his intentions, hoping that the inquisitors would respect his innocence, and show him his errors, if he had fallen into any, he returned to Spain, and wrote to inform them that he would submit to anything, in order to be enlightened and convinced. His conduct proved that he was little acquainted with the tribunal of the Inquisition.
[80] See Gazette de France, for the 14th April, 1816, No. 103.
[81] Gazette de France, Journal du Soir, for the 1st May, 1816.
[82] Gazette de France, 22nd May, 1816, No. 41.
[83] Gazette de France, January 21st, 1817, No. 31.
[84] Gazette de France, April 3rd, 1816, No. 94.
[85] The last person burnt by the Inquisition was a Beata, for having made a compact with the devil. She suffered on the 7th of November, 1781.