ALTHOUGH the Popes, in establishing the Inquisition, had only proposed to punish the crime of heresy, yet the inquisitors were commissioned to pursue those Christians who were only suspected, because it was the only means of discovering those who were really guilty. There were many crimes which came under the jurisdiction of a civil judge, which the Popes considered no one could be guilty of without being tainted with a false doctrine; and although they were pursued by secular tribunals, the inquisitors were enjoined to consider the accused as suspected of heresy, and to proceed against them, in order to ascertain if they committed these crimes from the depravity natural to man, or from the idea that they were not criminal; which opinion caused a suspicion that their doctrine was erroneous. A species of blasphemy which was called heretical, belonged to this class of crimes; it was committed against God or his saints, and showed in the offender erroneous opinions of the omniscience or other attributes of the Deity. It rendered the blasphemer liable to be suspected of heresy, as the inquisitor might consider it a proof that his habitual thoughts were contrary to the faith.
The second species of crime which caused a suspicion of heresy, was sorcery and divination. If the offenders only made use of natural and simple means of discovering the future, such as counting the lines in the palm of the hand, they came under the jurisdiction of a civil judge; but all sorcerers were liable to be punished for heresy by the Inquisition, if they baptized a dead person, re-baptized an infant, made use of holy water, the consecrated host, the oil of extreme unction, or other things which proved contempt or abuse of the sacraments and the mysteries of religion.
The same suspicion affected those who addressed themselves to demons in their superstitious practices. A third species of crime was the invocation of demons. Nicholas Eymerich informs us that, in his office of inquisitor, he had procured and burnt, after having read them, two books which treated of that subject; they both contained an account of the power of demons, and of the mode of worshipping them. The same author adds, that in his time a great number of trials for this crime took place in Catalonia, and that many of the accused had gone so far as to worship Satan, with all the signs, ceremonies, and words of the Catholic religion.
A fourth kind of crime which caused suspicion of heresy, was, to remain a year, or longer, excommunicated without seeking absolution, or performing the penance which had been imposed. The Popes affirmed that no Catholic, irreproachable in his faith, could live with so much indifference under the censure of the church.
Schism was the sixth case where heresy was suspected. It may exist either without heresy or with it. To the first class belong all schismatics, who admit the articles of the faith, but deny the authority of the Pope, as head of the Catholic Church, and vicar of Jesus Christ. The second is composed of those who hold the same opinions as the first, and also refuse to believe in some of the articles; such as the Greeks, who hold that the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father, and not from the Son.
The Inquisition also proceeded against concealers, favourers, and adherents of heretics, as being suspected of professing the same opinions. The seventh class was composed of all those who opposed the Inquisition, and prevented the inquisitors from exercising their functions.
The eighth class comprehended those nobles who refused to take an oath to drive the heretics from their states. The ninth class consisted of governors of kingdoms, provinces and towns, who did not defend the Church against heretics, when they were required by the Inquisition. The tenth class comprised those who refused to repeal the statutes in force in towns and cities, when they were contrary to the measures decreed by the holy office. The eleventh class of suspected persons, were all lawyers, notaries, and other persons belonging to the law, who assisted heretics by their advice; or concealed papers, records, and other writings, which might make their errors, dwellings, or stations known. In the twelfth class of suspected were those persons who have given ecclesiastical sepulture to known heretics. Those who refused to take an oath in the trials of heretics when they were required to do it, were also liable to suspicion. The fourteenth class were deceased persons who had been denounced as heretics. The Popes, in order to render heresy more odious, had decreed that the bodies of dead heretics should be disinterred and burnt, their property confiscated, and their memory pronounced infamous. The same suspicion fell upon writings which contained heretical doctrines, or which might lead to them. Lastly, the Jews and Moors were considered as subject to the holy office, when they engaged Catholics to embrace their faith, either by their writings or discourse.
Although all the persons guilty of the crimes above-mentioned were under the jurisdiction of the holy office, yet the Pope, his legates, his nuncios, his officers, and familiars were exempt; and if any of these were denounced as heretics, the inquisitor could only take the secret information and refer it to the Pope. Bishops were also exempt, but kings had not that privilege.
As the bishops were the ordinary inquisitors by divine right, it seems just that they should have had the power of receiving informations, and proceeding against the apostolical inquisitors in matters of faith; but the Pope rendered his delegates independent, by decreeing that none but an apostolical inquisitor could proceed against another. The inquisitor and the bishop acted together, but each had the right of pursuing heretics separately: the orders for imprisonment could only be issued by both together, and if they did not accord they referred to the Pope. The inquisitors could require the assistance of secular power in the exercise of their authority, and it could not be refused without incurring the punishment of excommunication and suspicion of heresy. The bishop was obliged to lend his house for the prisoners; besides this, the inquisitors had a particular prison to secure the persons of the accused.
The first inquisitors had no fixed salary: the holy office was founded on devotion and zeal for the faith; its members were almost all monks, who had made a vow of poverty, and the priests who were associated in their labours, were generally canons, or provided with benefices. But when the inquisitors began to make journeys, accompanied by recorders, alguazils, and an armed force, the Pope decreed that all their expenses should be defrayed by the bishops, on the pretence that the inquisitors laboured for the destruction of heresy in their dioceses. This measure displeased the bishops, still more as they were deprived of part of their authority. The expenses of the Inquisition were afterwards defrayed by the fines and confiscations of the condemned heretics: these resources were the only funds of the holy office; it never possessed any fixed revenue.
When a priest was appointed an inquisitor by the Pope, or by a delegate of the holy see, he wrote to the king, who issued a royal mandate to all the tribunals of the towns where the inquisitor would pass to perform his office, commanding them, on pain of the most severe penalties, to arrest all the persons whom he should mark as heretics, or suspect of heresy, and to execute the judgments passed upon them. The same order obliged the magistrates to furnish the inquisitor and his attendants with a lodging, and to protect them from insult and every inconvenience. When the inquisitor arrived at the town where he intended to enter upon his office, he officially informed the magistrate, and required his attendance, fixing the time and place.
The commander of the town presented himself before the delegate, and took an oath to put in force all the laws against heretics. If the officer or magistrate refused to obey, the inquisitor excommunicated him; if he made no difficulty, the inquisitor appointed a day for the people to meet in the church, when he preached, and read an edict which commanded that all informations should be given within a certain period. The inquisitor afterwards declared that all who should voluntarily confess themselves heretics, should receive absolution, and be subjected to a slight penance, but that those who were denounced should be proceeded against with severity.
If any accusations took place during the interval, they were registered, but did not take effect until it was known that the accused would not come voluntarily before the tribunal. After the expiration of the period allowed, the informer was summoned; he was told that there were three ways of proceeding to discover the truth,—accusation, information, and inquisition, and was asked to which he gave the preference. If he chose the first, he was invited to accuse the denounced person, but at the same time to consider that he was subject to the law of retaliation if he was found to be a calumniator. This manner of proceeding was adopted by very few persons: the greater number declared, that fear of the punishments with which the holy office menaced those who did not inform against heretics was the cause of their appearance; and they desired that their information might be kept secret, on account of the danger they incurred of being assassinated if they were known.
The inquisitor interrogated the witnesses, assisted by the recorder and two priests, who were commissioned to observe if the declarations were faithfully taken down, and to be present when they were read to the witnesses, who were then asked if they acknowledged all that was read to them. If the crime or suspicion of heresy was proved in the information, the criminal was arrested and taken to the ecclesiastical prison. After his arrest, he was examined, and his answers compared with the testimony of the witnesses. If the accused confessed himself guilty of one heresy, it was in vain for him to assert that he was innocent of the others; he was not permitted to defend himself, because his crime was proved. He was asked if he would abjure the heresy of which he acknowledged himself guilty. If he consented, he was reconciled, and the canonical penance was imposed on him, with some other punishment; if he refused, he was declared an obstinate heretic, and was delivered up to secular justice, with a copy of his sentence.
If the accused denied the charge, and undertook to defend himself, a copy of the process was given to him, but without the names of the accuser or the witnesses, and with every circumstance omitted which might lead to their discovery.
The accused was asked if he had enemies, and if he knew their motives for hating him. He was also permitted to declare that he suspected any particular person of wishing to ruin him. In either case the proof was admitted, and the inquisitor considered it in passing judgment. The inquisitor sometimes asked the accused if he knew certain persons; these individuals were the accusers and witnesses; if he replied in the negative, he could not afterwards challenge them as enemies: in the course of time, every one concluded that these persons were the accuser and the witnesses, and the custom was abandoned. The accused person was also permitted to appeal to the Pope, who rejected or admitted his appeal, according to the rules of justice. There was no regular proceeding before the Inquisition, and the judges did not fix a time to establish the proof of the facts. After the replies and defence of the accused, the inquisitor and the bishop of the diocese, or their delegates, proceeded to pass sentence without any other formalities. If the accused denied the charges, although he was convicted or strongly suspected, he was tortured, to force him to confess his crime; or if it was thought that there was no necessity for it, the judges proceeded to pass the final sentence.
If the crime imputed to the accused was not proved, he was acquitted, and a copy of the declaration given to him, but the name of his accuser was not communicated. If he had been calumniated, he was obliged to clear himself publicly by the canonical method, in the town where it had taken place; he afterwards abjured all heresy, and received the absolution ad cautelam [2] for all the censures which he had incurred. In order to proportion the punishment to the suspicion, it was divided into three degrees, named slight, serious, and violent.
The person who was declared to be suspected, though in the least degree, was called upon to renounce all heresies, and particularly that of which he was suspected. If he consented, he was reconciled, and was subjected to punishments and penances; if he refused, he was excommunicated; and if he did not demand absolution, or promise to abjure after the space of one year, he was considered as an obstinate heretic, and proceeded against as such. If the accused was a formal heretic, willing to abjure, and not guilty of having relapsed, he was reconciled with penances.
A person was considered as relapsed if he had already been condemned, or violently suspected of the same errors. The abjurations were made in the place where the inquisitor resided, sometimes in the episcopal palace, in the convent of Dominicans, or in the house of the inquisitor, but most generally in the churches. The Sunday before this ceremony, the day on which it was to take place was announced in all the churches of the town, and the inhabitants were requested to attend the sermon which would be preached by the inquisitor against heresy. On the appointed day the clergy and the people assembled round a scaffold, where the person slightly suspected stood bare-headed, that he might be seen by every one. The mass was performed, and the inquisitor preached against the particular heresy which was the cause of the ceremony; he announced that the person on the scaffold was slightly suspected of having fallen into it, and read the process to the people: he concluded by saying, that the culprit was ready to abjure. A cross and the Bible was given to the offender, who read his abjuration, and signed it, if he could write; the inquisitor then gave him absolution, and imposed upon him those penances which were thought most useful.
When the suspicion of heresy was violent, the auto-da-fé took place on a Sunday, or festival-day, and all the other churches were closed, that the concourse of people might be greater in that where the ceremony was to be performed. The offender was warned, not only to be a good Catholic for the future, but to conduct himself in such a manner as not to be accused a second time; as, if he relapsed, he would suffer capital punishment, although he might abjure and be reconciled. If the offender was suspected in the highest degree, he was treated as an heretic, and wore the habit of a penitent during the ceremony; it was composed of brown stuff, with a scapulary which had two yellow crosses fastened on it.
If the suspected person was to clear himself from calumny by the canonical method, the ceremony was also announced before it took place, and he was obliged to take an oath that he was not an heretic, and to produce twelve witnesses who had known him for the last ten years, to swear that they believed his affirmation to be true. He then abjured all heresies.
If the accused was repentant, and demanded to be reconciled after having relapsed, he was to be delivered over to secular justice, and was destined to suffer capital punishment. The inquisitors, after having passed judgment on him, engaged some priests, who were in their confidence, to inform him of his situation, and induce him to demand the sacrament of penance and the communion. When these ministers had passed two or three days with the prisoner, an auto-da-fé was announced; the sentence was read which delivered the culprit over to secular justice, and recommended the judges to treat him with humanity.
If the accused was an impenitent heretic, he was condemned, but the auto-da-fé was never celebrated until every means had been tried to convert him; if he was obstinate, he was delivered up to the justice of the king, and burnt. If the unfortunate heretic had relapsed, it was in vain for him to return to the true faith; he could not avoid death, and the only favour shewn him was, that he was first strangled, and afterwards burnt. Those who escaped from the prisons, or fled to avoid being arrested, were burnt in effigy.
The tribunal of the Inquisition being ecclesiastical, had originally only the power of inflicting spiritual punishments; but the laws of the emperors during the fourth and following centuries, and other circumstances, caused the inquisitors of the thirteenth century to assume the right of imposing punishments entirely temporal, except that of death. The sentence of the Inquisition imposed a variety of fines and personal penalties; such as entire or partial confiscation; perpetual, or a limited period of imprisonment; exile, or transportation; infamy, and the loss of employments, honours, and dignities. Those persons who abjured as seriously suspected of heresy, were condemned to be imprisoned for a certain time proportioned to the degree of suspicion. If the accused was violently suspected, he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, but the inquisitor had the power of mitigating the sentence, if he judged that the prisoner repented sincerely. If the abjurer had been a formal heretic, he was imprisoned for life, and the inquisitor had not the power of shortening the duration of the punishment.
Among the punishments to which heretics were condemned, must be enumerated that of wearing the habit of a penitent, known in Spain under the name of San Benito, which is a corruption of saco bendito. Its real name in Spanish was Zamarra. The first became the common name, because the penitential habit was called sac in the Jewish history.
Before the thirteenth century it was the custom to bless the sac which was worn in public penance, and hence it derived the epithet of bendito (blessed). It was a close tunic, made like the cassock of a priest, with crosses of a different colour affixed to the breast. St. Dominic and the other inquisitors caused the reconciled heretics to wear these crosses, as a protection against the Catholics who massacred all known heretics, although they might be unarmed. The reconciled heretics wore two crosses to distinguish them from pure Catholics, who only wore one as crusaders.