Records of The Spanish Inquisition Part 20

September, 1731.

On the sixth of this month, judgment was p.r.o.nounced before the Ordinary, and the prisoner was unanimously sentenced to attend at an _auto de fe_ if one should take place soon, otherwise at some church, in penitential guise, with the insignia of his crimes; and there hear his condemnation read, make an abjuration _de levi_, be severely reprehended, admonished, and warned, and be banished eight leagues from this city, Madrid, and the Court of His Majesty, for the period of ten years, being first confined three years in the garrison of this city of Barcelona. It was also ordered, that, before the execution of the sentence, it be submitted to your Highness.

October, 1731.

On the first of this month, the answer of your Highness was received, ordering that the prisoner should hear his condemnation, and undergo the first part of his sentence in the hall of the tribunal, then to be banished as above specified, for the period of five years. This order was executed on the fifth, when the prisoner was sworn to secrecy respecting the prisons, and forthwith despatched.

DR DON MIGUEL VIZENTE CEBRIAN Y AUGUSTIN.

December, 1732.

Blas Ramirez, a native of the village of Paya, in La Huerta, bishopric of Murcia, a soldier in the regiment of dragoons of Tarragona, aged thirtytwo years. Sent prisoner to this Holy Office, by Dr Jacinto Christofol, Curate of the town of La Selva, in the archbishopric of Tarragona, and Commissary of the Holy Office. A letter accompanied the prisoner from this Commissary, dated the eighth of November, and another of the same date was received from Dr Joseph Solano, chaplain of the regiment abovementioned. In both of these it was stated that the said Blas Ramirez had made a league with the devil, according to his own spontaneous confession. The aforementioned Dr Joseph Solano having communicated the case to the Archbishop of Tarragona, he was directed by him to transmit information of the same to the Commissary Dr Jacinto Christofol, who apprehended the said Blas Ramirez, and sent him under a guard to this Holy Office. On the thirteenth of November, Luis Pusol, the Familiar, gave him in charge to the Alcayde of the secret prisons, and on the same day the Inquisitor Fiscal offered a request that he might be kept in the _carceles comunes_, till the letter of the above Dr Joseph Solano should be examined, and his reasons explained for putting him into the hands of the Commissary as an offender against the faith, as well as to ascertain if there existed other evidence against him besides his confession. On the sixteenth a commission for making investigations upon this head was granted to Dr Mariano Morlaus, Commissary of the Holy Office, in the town of Tarragona, as the regiment abovementioned was quartered in that town and the neighbourhood. On the twentieth the commission was returned with the information that the abovementioned Dr Joseph Solano had left that place for Logrono, there to remain till Lent.

In the meantime the prisoner requested an audience, which was granted on the nineteenth of November, and he made the following declaration. When he was a youth he lived with the Curate of his village, and performed the offices of cooking, sweeping the house, and such other work as is usually performed by women, on which account some people called him a hermaphrodite, which, however, was not the fact. After his master died he suffered much poverty and mortification on account of the ridicule which this brought upon him. He joined the religious orders of St Francis and St Dominic, but was expelled from both when the report became current that he was a hermaphrodite. Finding himself overwhelmed with vexation and poverty, he at last invoked the devil to a.s.sist him in his misfortunes, offering him his soul if he would change his appearance into that of a woman, that he might earn a living by prost.i.tution. The devil accordingly appeared to him several times, first in a human shape and afterwards in that of a monstrous animal. He demanded a certificate of the possession of his soul, which he was unwilling to grant, but offered to give him his word to surrender himself after seven years, if the devil would grant him his conditions. He afterwards repented of his iniquitous practices, and sought a remedy for his soul by following the directions of the Rector of the town of La Selva, Commissary of the Holy Office, and those of the Chaplain of his regiment, Dr Joseph Solano, which persons, in consequence of his confessions, transmitted him a prisoner to this Holy Office. A request has been made that letters be sent to the Inquisition of Navarre, demanding an examination of the said Dr Joseph Solano.

April, 1733.

Letters were sent to the Tribunal of the Inquisition of Logrono, requesting an examination of Dr Joseph Solano, who was residing in that district. On the twentieth of November, a letter was received from Dr Mariano Morlans, Commissary of the Holy Office in the town of Tarrega, bishopric of Solsona, stating that a priest of that town was ready to denounce the prisoner, from what he had heard of the colonel of his regiment respecting his compact with the devil. On the twentysecond of the same month, a commission was demanded for the above mentioned Dr Mariano Morlans to examine the said priest, and summon the colonel referred to, as a witness against the prisoner. On the eleventh of December following, the said Commissary Morlans transmitted the information against the prisoner, gathered from thirteen witnesses, most of whom deposed that they positively knew the prisoner to be a woman, and one of them stated that he had asked the prisoner how she could, being a woman, procure such a thick beard. She replied that she had produced it with the help of an ointment; that she had been seduced and abandoned in her youth; that she afterwards dressed herself like a man, and turned soldier.

Another of the witnesses deposed that the prisoner informed him she was once a boy, and entertained a wish to become a female from her attachment to a young man. That the devil appeared to her in the shape of a handsome youth, and demanded what she wanted; to which she replied that she wished for the shape of a female. This the devil granted her, and they made a compact, by virtue of which she was to be alternately male and female, changing s.e.x every seven years; which alteration she had effected by means of a certain herb.

On the seventeenth of December, the Inquisitor Fiscal requested that the acts and declarations of the prisoner might be attested, and this having been done in a junta of four Calificadores, the same persons unanimously presented the prisoner as a wizard, sorcerer, and one holding an explicit compact with the devil.

The information above specified having been received distinct from the prisoner's own declaration, in the audience which he had requested, the Inquisitor Fiscal pet.i.tioned that he might not be tried as an _Espontaneo_,[20] on account of what he had concealed in his confession, that he might be removed into the secret prison, and his trial inst.i.tuted forthwith. On the eighteenth of the same month, orders were issued for confining him in the secret prison, and commencing his trial. Three audiences were held, in which he confessed nothing beyond what he had declared in his first confession on the thirteenth of November. On the twentyfirst of January the accusation was presented, and an audience was held the same day, when the prisoner replied to the charges. On the two following days the acts which he had omitted in his confession were attested, and the prisoner declared that although in the bargain which he had made with the devil he had offered to surrender up his soul, yet he had not paid him any worship, nor abjured our Holy Faith, notwithstanding he internally consented to the delivery of his soul, and in consequence departed from our Holy Faith and G.o.d our Lord.

The prisoner was furnished with a copy of the accusation, and on the twentyfourth conferred with his counsel, reserving his defence till after the publication of the testimony. The case was then admitted for proof, and the witnesses residing at a great distance, and in various places, the ratification of the testimony was delayed for some time. The business being finally accomplished, publication of the testimony was made on the thirteenth and fourteenth of April. In the audiences which were held on those days, the prisoner declared nothing of consequence.

The audience for communication with his counsel was held on the sixteenth, and that for the defence will be held as soon as possible.

[_Here occurs a chasm in the ma.n.u.script._]

July, 1740.

[Sidenote: Juan Ginesta, confined in the secret prison.

Prison of the Martyrs.

Maintenance, two sueldos and the bread of the Contractor.]

Juan Ginesta, a native of this city, aged twentyfive years, was confined in the secret prison on the sixth of June, with sequestration of property, for performing magical cures and deceptive tricks, and uttering speeches against our Holy Faith. The first audience was held on the eighth, when he confessed that he had taught a person to perform cures by the application of certain remedies, and the uttering of a prayer; and also that he had practised the same arts himself. On the ninth, another audience was held, in which he confessed other practices of the same nature, and that he had uttered many speeches, by way of joke and pastime. On the fifteenth, the third audience was held, in which he declared, that having been questioned several times whether he had been in the Inquisition, he had answered, Yes. The accusation against him was presented on the eighteenth, at which time, and on the twentyfirst and twentyfifth, the prisoner answered to the charges, confessing the performance of the cures imputed to him, and the mode of executing them, denying withal some parts of the accusation. On the twentyfifth, he was ordered to be furnished with a copy of the accusation for the purpose of making his defence within three days. He nominated for his advocate Dr Manuel Bonvehi. On the twentyseventh, an audience was held, in which the prisoner communicated with his counsel respecting his defence. The Inquisitor Fiscal demanded ratification of the testimony, and the case was admitted for proof in a full trial. The testimony was then ratified and given in publication on the thirteenth, fifteenth, and nineteenth of July. On the twentythird an audience was held, in which the prisoner conferred with his counsel. The publication of the testimony was read to him, and he was furnished with the necessary papers for drawing up the defence. On the twentyninth an audience was held, when the prisoner's counsel presented the defence, and demanded investigations; for which purpose a commission was granted on the same day.

September, 1740.

The result of the investigations was presented on the third of August, and on the eighth, were communicated to the prisoner's counsel, when the defence was concluded. On the eleventh, before the Judge Ordinary, the Most Reverend Father, M. Fr. Mariano Anglasel Merzenario, sentence was pa.s.sed that the prisoner be brought into the hall of the tribunal, and there, with closed doors, in the presence of the Secret Ministers, hear his condemnation read, be reprehended, admonished, and warned, and afterwards banished eight leagues from this city, Madrid, and the Court of His Majesty, for the period of two years; which sentence was submitted to your Highness on the thirteenth of the same month, and on the tenth of September the answer was received ordering the first part of the sentence to be executed as above specified, and the prisoner to be banished for one year. This was carried into execution on the eleventh of September, and the audience held for binding the prisoner to secrecy and taking the customary precautions respecting the prison; after which an order was despatched to the Alcayde to take him from his confinement.

Inquisition of Barcelona, Sept. 27th, 1740.

DON FRANCISCO ANTONIO DE MONTOYA Y ZARATE.

MISCELLANEOUS DOc.u.mENTS.

_Augustin Tamarit, a physician, of the town of Salas, was imprisoned in the Inquisition on the third of July, 1757, and tried for heretical speeches. The following are some of the articles of the accusation, with the imputed a.s.sertions qualified; that is, their character and tendency formally p.r.o.nounced by the officers of the Inquisition._

In the Royal Palace of the Inquisition of Barcelona, on the twentyninth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and fiftysix, at the morning audience, the Inquisitors Licentiate Don Joseph Otero y Cossio, Licentiate Dr Manuel de Guell y Serra as Calificadores, and Father Mariano Alberich, Jesuit, Fray Augustin Voltas, Dominican, Fray Raphael Talavera, Minim, and Fray Buenaventura de Lanuza, Observante, all of this Holy Office--having read article by article the following propositions, _qualified_ them in the following manner.

A certain person, a native of these kingdoms, has a.s.serted,

That the Moors were wealthy, prosperous, and in the enjoyment of plentiful rain, directly the reverse of us Christians, and concluded by saying 'What remains for us but to join the Moors?' On another occasion he a.s.serted that it was better to be bad than good, as good people were generally poor, and bad ones rich.

_The first part of this proposition is scandalous, savouring of Molinism and apostacy. The last is heretical._

Speaking of the bishops, he said, in answer to a question, 'What power have they to ordain priests?'

_This proposition is insulting to the episcopal dignity, and by the way in which it is expressed, the inference is drawn that it is virtually heretical._

That the friars and ecclesiastics devoured the people, and that the king ought to take them into his service, by which means he would have soldiers enow.

_This is scandalous, and insulting to the ecclesiastical and secular state._

That the figures of the Saints were said to work miracles, and if this were the fact, let one of them be thrown into the river to see if he could save himself.

_Blasphemous and virtually heretical._

That it was a great pity for a man to be obliged to tell another, meaning the Confessor, everything he did, and that it would be better to speak into a hole and stop it up, for 'what good did confession do?'

That he went to confession but once a year, signifying that but for constraint he would not go at all.

_This is heretical, as it is a scorning of the Divine inst.i.tution of sacramental confession._

Speaking of the supplications which are made for rain, he asked, 'What use is there in running after these Saints, and what power have they to make it rain? What is the use of carrying in procession these images?'

meaning several, and among others that of Nuestra Senora del Coll, 'as they are nothing but bits of wood or stone.'

_A heretical blasphemy._

Speaking of the Bull of the Santa Cruzada, he a.s.serted that if he was sovereign, he would hang every one who received the Bull.

_This is insulting, et sapiens haeresin._

Speaking of the chapels and hermitages in the village where he lived, he asked 'What do those images do there?' meaning, 'Why do not people destroy them?'