Inquisition
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02.01 | EPPURE SI MUOVE
http://www.hyperinfo.ca/~LivingAtom+/02.01.html
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Galilei

   * It was nearly 400 years ago when the famous Italian physicist Galilei
     was condemned by the Catholic Church Inquisition. With the help of his
     telescope, he intended to prove the rotation of planet earth and its
     revolution around the sun.

   * In the 17th century, it was still a sin and a crime to contradict some
     teachings of the Bible. This scripture clearly introduces the earth as
     the centre of the universe, and supports the egotistic human philosophy
     by stating that God created the human after his own picture, and we
     should dominate the rest of the creatures (Genesis 1:26). Galilei was
     condemned, and he was obliged to publicly renounce his findings and
     theories. There is an anecdote which says that, after his condemnation,
     the frustrated old scientist exclaimed "Eppure si muove" (However it
     moves).

   * Today, the so-called Ptolemaic geocentric theory is obsolete, and the
     Bible lost its scientific value. The Vatican officially apologised for
     the injustice committed against Galilei. Modern science even found that
     the whole solar system is just an insignificant little unit revolving
     around the galaxy. Looking in the direction of the infinite microcosm
     and the infinite macrocosm, we find the existence of an infinite number
     of rotating and revolving gyroscopes like our planet earth.
-----

                 Catholicism, the Religion of the Majority.

During the Middle Ages, Christianity cohabited with both Judaism and Islam,
but since the times of Catholic Kings, it became the compulsory religion of
the Spaniards, with the Inquisition ever vigilant of preserving its Roman
Catholic orthodoxy right up to the beginning of last century. The 19th
century liberal constitutions established religious liberty but during the
conservative periods the Catholic religion became the official State one and
the only religion whose public manifestation were permitted.

During the last two centuries secularization has been wide spread, although
the influence of the Catholic church is still very important.

Practically all Spaniards are Catholic, and, although few actively
participate, a good many celebrate, according to the Church's rites, the
three ceremonies considered most important by all societies to mark the
individual life cycle: birth (baptism), marriage and death. To these a
fourth must be added, of recent but very wide tradition among children: the
first communion, celebrated between 7 and 10 years of age.

Therefore, both exterior and interior religiosity exist, based on belief and
sentiment, however for a minority, there exist another important distinction
between personal and popular religion. The centre of this popular
religiosity is the devotion to the Virgen Maria and the saints, displayed in
prayers, image worship and, above all, in fiestas.
===============
                                Church Power
Ferdinand, Spanish King who revived the Inquisition
        A major drawback to the Spanish Inquisition was the splitting of
power. Not only did the Catholic Church lose some of its influence to other
religions, but the Inquisition gave more power to the aristocracy. In fact,
when Pope Sixtus IV discovered what the Inquisition was doing, he tried to
take his decision back. Spain refused, and he was unable to alter his
judgment. "The Spanish crown now had in its possession a weapon too powerful
to give up" (Encyclopedia Bretannica pg. 328 volume 6) The aristocracy began
to use the Inquisition as their own political assassin. "Virtually
invulnerable, the Spanish Inquisition counted among its victims members of
the nobility, high-ranking servants of the crown, and even bishops, notably
Archbishop Carranza (died 1576) who was imprisoned for almost 17 years".
"The Spanish Inquisition was not primarily the expression of religious
bigotry but a weapon of class warfare created to implement the racist
attitudes of the feudal nobility in its struggle for greater social and
economic power". (Encyclopedia Americana pg. 194) It is this sentiment with
which many sources agree. "Thus, the Spanish Inquisition became more an
instrument of the state than of the church..."
=============
Crypto-Jews and the Inquisition in New Spain in the 17th Century

by Pinhas Bibelnik

Sicsa Report No.7 (Spring 1992)

Anti-Jewish riots occurred in Spain during the summer of 1391. Large
communities were completely destroyed, many Jews died and many others
converted to the Catholic faith. Efforts to force the Jews to convert to
Christianity continued until 1414 (the year of the Disputation of Tortosa).
During this period about one third of the Jews died, and another third
converted to Christianity. The forced converts (called anussim in Hebrew),
were called "New Christians" to distinguish them from the "Old Christians;"
they were also insultingly called "marranos," "tornadizos," and
"alboraicos." In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain; the majority of
them went to Portugal, where they were again subject to forced conversions
in 1497.

Spain in 1480, and Portugal in 1536, established in their lands the Holy
Office of the Inquisition, to investigate the loyalty of the "New
Christians" to the Catholic faith. Thousands were accused of secretly
practicing Judaism, and were put on trial.

The phenomenon of crypto-Judaism in Spain seemed to disappear after the
first decades of the 16th century. After 1580, when King Philip II of Spain
became king of Portugal, many Portuguese New Christians fled from Portugal
to Spain, and there was an important revival of crypto-Judaism there. From
that time onwards the terms "Portuguese," "crypto-Jew" and "Jew" became
synonymous (and this happened when there were no Jews in Spain!).

Perhaps the largest proportion of New Christians assimilated into the
general society; others continued to practice Judaism in secret, and some
left the Iberian peninsula to establish new Jewish communities, or to join
existing communities elsewhere. A fourth group decided to continue their
"double life" in the New World. Many of them went to New Spain, which was a
large territory, including Mexico, the southwestern United States, Central
America and the Philippines. New Christians who were of Jewish descent were
there from the beginning of the Conquest, but the most important waves of
immigrants, several hundred of them, arrived in the 80s of the 16th, and in
the 20s and 30s of the 17th centuries.

My research deals with this last group and the Inquisition in New Spain in
the 17th century. I examined files of the trials and letters from the
Inquisition in Mexico. The files are rich in detailed information; many of
them contain hundreds of pages; some more than a thousand pages. Almost all
the material is to be found in the National General Archive of Mexico.

Tribunals of the Holy Office of the Inquisition were established in Peru
(1570), Mexico (1571) and Cartagena (1610), to combat the spread of heresy,
mainly Protestantism. The tribunals informed each other about their
activities, and shared the names of suspected heretics. For example, the
tribunals of Peru and Mexico both knew of two of the "judaizantes" (those
who practiced Judaism): Juan Bautista Perez (one of the most important
judaizers who was burnt at the stake in Lima, Peru in 1639), and Simon Vaez
Sevilla (one of the richest judaizers in Mexico).

The largest Auto de Fe in the history of the Inquisition in New Spain took
place in 1649 in the capital city Mexico. Of one hundred and nine people,
all but one were accused of keeping Judaism in secret. It is this group of
convicted judaizers, and the Auto de Fe, which is the focus of my research.
Following this event, there were few further trials against New Christians
by the Inquisition in Mexico. In the Auto de Fe of 1659 people were
sentenced who had been previously convicted. A small number were accused of
crypto-Judaism at the end of the century.

Who were the convicted at the Auto de Fe of 1649? All were of Portuguese
origin, although many of them had been born in Spain or America; a few had
been born in Italy, France or Amsterdam. They were involved in the life of
the Colony. A few were leading merchants dealing in cacao, slaves, textiles,
etc., and had connections in Spain, Portugal, Manila and throughout South
America. Most of them were lesser merchants, shopkeepers, peddlers, and
muleteers like Diego Diaz, who travelled into the most inhospitable places
to bring his goods.

The majority of the "crypto-Jews" had married within their own circle, but
there were some who married Old Christian women as well. Many had continued
to maintain ties with their relatives in their original countries; others
were unaware of having relatives in other places. Simon Vaez Sevilla, for
example, had a sister who lived openly as a Jewess in Pisa, and a natural
daughter who lived for awhile in Valladolid and afterwards resided with her
aunt in Pisa. Diego Correa's father lived in Amsterdam; Thomas Trevi§o de
Sobremonte had a brother in Peru and the rest of his family in Spain.

Can we speak of particular rites and beliefs of the New Christians? If so,
how were these developed? What was the nature of their Jewish knowledge?
What precepts did they keep? We must remember that they maintained a double
life; they participated in all the events and ceremonies of the church, and
knew what the average Christian knew of his religion. In their secret Jewish
life they had little guidance. There were no Jewish books; knowledge of
Jewish beliefs and customs was passed on orally by those who knew a "little
more:" parents, grandparents, more educated members of the family; or in a
few cases, someone who had lived as a Jew in Europe and learned there before
deciding to come to Mexico. Others learned about the "Law of Moses" and the
history of ancient Israel through reading the Bible or Christian books.

In Inquisitorial records of Mexico, we find that many of the judaizers
practiced Jewish burial rites, including the washing of the corpse, and
mourning customs such as eating boiled eggs and vegetables while sitting on
the floor. The dead, of course, were buried in Christian cemeteries. Some of
the New Christians knew portions of the Jewish prayers in Spanish, or
"original prayers" and a few Hebrew words of the Shema Yisrael. Some kept
parts of the dietary laws, e.g., they didn't use lard in cooking on the
Sabbath, and in general tried not to eat pork, but ate chickens that were
slaughtered more or less according to Jewish practices. (Women generally did
the slaughtering, and in some cases, female slaves were in charge of putting
the chickens into salted water overnight.) Many attempted to observe the
Sabbath by not working, and in a few cases, candles were lit. The most
important event was the "fast of the great day" (ayuno del dia grande),
which according to their beliefs fell on the 10th of September, or the 10th
day after the new moon of September. Many people kept the "fast of Queen
Esther" and there were also many "private fasts." The majority of men were
uncircumcized. Those who were examined by physicians for the tribunal often
had only a small cut, and in some cases, the physicians were uncertain if
the men had been circumcized or not. Many people were accused of washing
their hands more than usual. It's important to point out that almost none of
the accused kept all of these practices; most kept only a few of them.

Thus, their Jewish life was impoverished; their practice of crypto-Judaism
was based mainly on fasts, Jewish burial practices, a conscious belief in
the "Law of Moses," the denial of Christianity, and belief that the messiah
had not yet come.

A crucial question arises concerning their sense of identity: why had people
who had lived in Spain decided to go to Mexico rather than places where
Judaism was permitted? Why did people who had lived openly as Jews in
Europe, decide to pursue a "double life" in America? I think their "Iberian
identity" and the desire to improve their economic situation was stronger
than the desire to live like Jews. Although many of them told their friends
that they would like to live in countries where Judaism was permitted, they
stayed in Mexico.

What were the relations between New Christians and the rest of society? In
general, we can describe their relations as ambivalent. People had contact,
worked together, ate together and in some cases had close ties, but the New
Christians did not fully trust their Christian neighbors. Portuguese
Christians were suspected of keeping Judaism in secret and of committing
acts against Christianity such as flogging the cross, desecrating images,
insulting Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the saints, etc. This is a very
important point, for we see that a stereotype existed in the colonial
society. Besides this image of the Portuguese New Christians, we find in the
files testimonies such as: he didn't eat pork, or he didn't often go to
church, etc. In noticing matters such as these, we see that the eyes of
society were on the New Christians, and thus many came to be judged by the
Inquisition.

Research into the New Christians' identity and their way of life brings us
closer to understanding three important areas: firstly, the extent and
connections of the Sephardi Diaspora (meaning the communities of Spanish and
Portuguese Jews, and the centers of New Christians of the same origin), and
its weight in the developement of the modern world. Secondly, in the
complexity of their identity, values, ideas and beliefs, we can look for the
origins of patterns of behaviour which led to the emergence of the modern
Jew. Thirdly, we see how the medieval image of the Jew continued to exist
and finally was integrated into present-day western culture.

Pinhas Bibelnik teaches History of the Jewish People at the Rothberg School
for Overseas Students, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
==============
                   HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE INQUISITION

     After the Roman Church had consolidated its power in the early Middle
Ages, heretics came to be regarded as enemies of society. The crime of
heresy was defined as a deliberate denial of an article of truth of the
Catholic faith, and a public and obst inate persistence in that alleged
error. At this time, there was a sense of Christian unity among townspeople
and rulers alike, and most of them agreed with the Church that heretics
seemed to threated society itself.

     However, the repression of heresy remained unorganized, and with the
large scale heresies in the 11th and 12th centuries, Pope Gregory IX
instituted the papal inquisition in 1231 for the apprehension and trial of
heretics. The name Inquisition is der ived from the Latin verb inquiro
(inquire into). The Inquisitiors did not wait for complaints, but sought out
persons accused of heresy. Although the Inquisition was created to combat
the heretical Cathari and Waldenses, the Inquisition later extended i ts
activity to include witches, diviners, blasphemers, and other sacrilegious
persons.

     Another reason for Pope Gregory IX's creation of the Inquisition was to
bring order and legality to the process of dealing with heresy, since there
had been tendencies in the mobs of townspeople to burn alleged heretics
without much of a trial. Pope Gregory's original intent for the Inquisition
was a court of exception to inquire into and glean the beliefs of those
differing from Catholic teaching, and to instruct them in the orthodox
doctrine. It was hoped that heretics would see the falsity of the ir opinion
and would return to the Roman Catholic Church. If they persisted in their
heresy, however, Pope Gregory, finding it necessary to protect the Catholic
community from infection would have suspects handed over to civil
authorities since these her etics had violated not only Church law but civil
law as well. The secular authorities would apply their own brands of
punishment for civil disobedience which, at the time, included burning at
the stake.

     The inquisitiors, or judges of this medieval Inquisition were recruited
almost exclusively from the Franscian and Dominican orders. In the early
period of the institution, the Inquisitiors rode the circut in search of
heretics, but this practice was short lived. The Inquisitors soon acquired
the right to summon the suspects from their homes to the Inquisition center.
The medieval Inquisition functioned only in a limited way in northern
Europe. It was employed most in the south of France and in nor thern Italy.

     Throughout the Inquisition's history, it was rivaled by local
ecclesiastical and secular jurisdictions. No matter how determined, no pope
succeeded in establishing complete control of the institution. Medieval
kings, princes, bishops, and civil auth orities wavered between acceptance
and resistance of the Inquisition. The institution reached its apex in the
second half of the 13th century. During this period, the tribunals were
almost entirely free from any authority, including that of the pope. T
herefore, it was almost impossible to eradicate abuse.

     A second variety of the Inquisition was the infamous Spanish
Inquisition, authorized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1478. Pope Sixtus tried to
establish harmony between the inquisitors and the ordinaries, but was unable
to maintain control of the desires of Ki ng Ferdinand V and Queen Isablella.
Sixtus agreed to recognize the independence of the Spanish Inquisition. This
institution survived to the beginning of the 19th century, and was
permanently suppressed by a decree on July 15, 1834.

     A third variety of the Inquisition was the Roman Inquisition. Alarmed
by the spread of Protestantism and especially by its penetration into Italy,
Pope Paul III in 1542 established in Rome the Congregation of the
Inquisition. This institution was al so known as the Roman Inquisition and
the Holy Office. Six cardinals including Carafa constituted the original
inquisition whose powers extended to the whole Church. The "Holy Office" was
really a new institution related to the Medieval Inquisition only by vague
precedents. More free from episcopal control than its predecessor, it also
conceived of its function differently. Some saw its establishment as an
attempt to counter-balance the severe Spanish Inquisition at a time when
much of Italy was under Spanish rule. Whereas the medieval Inquisition had
focused on popular misconceptions which resulted in the disturbance of
public order, the Holy Office was concerned with orthodoxy of a more
academic nature, especially as it appeared in the writings of theologians.
In its first twelve years, the activities of the Roman Inquisition were
relatively modest and were restricted almost exclusively to Italy. Cardinal
Carafa became Pope Paul IV in 1555 and immediately urged a vigorous pursuit
of "suspects." His snare did not exclude bishops or even cardinals of the
Church. Pope Paul IV carged the congregation to draw up a list of books
which he felt offended faith or morals. This resulted in the first Index of
Forbidden Books (1559). Although succeeding popes tempered the zeal of the
Roman Inquisition, many viewed the institution as the cutomary instrument of
papal government used in the regulation of Church order. This was the
institution that would later put Galileo on trial.
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Inquisition
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Things/inquisition.html
The Inquisition was a permanent institution in the Catholic Church charged
with the eradication of heresies. Unlike many other religions (e.g.,
Buddhism, Judaism), the Catholic Church has a hierarchical structure with a
central bureaucracy. In the early years of the church, there were several
competing sects that called themselves Christian. But after the Emperor
Constantine I (280?-337 CE) made Christianity the state religion of the
Roman Empire and the local administrative structures were pulled together
into one hierarchy centered in Rome, doctrinal arguments were settled by
Church Councils, beginning with the Council of Nicea in 325 (which
formulated the Nicean Creed). Those whose beliefs or practices deviated
sufficiently from the orthodoxy of the councils now became the objects of
efforts to bring them into the fold. Resistance often led to persecution.

Heresies (from L. haeresis, sect, school of belief) were a problem for the
Church from the beginning. In the early centuries there were the Arians and
Manicheans; in the Middle Ages there were the Cathari and Waldenses; and in
the Renaissance there were the Hussites, Lutherans, Calvinists, and
Rosicrucians. Efforts to suppress heresies were initially ad hoc. But in the
Middle Ages a permanent structure came into being to deal with the problem.
Beginning in the 12th century, Church Councils required secular rulers to
prosecute heretics. In 1231, Pope Gregory IX published a decree which called
for life imprisonment with salutary penance for the heretic who had
confessed and repented and capital punishment for those who persisted. The
secular authorities were to carry out the execution. Pope Gregory relieved
the bishops and archbishops of this obligation, and made it the duty of the
Dominican Order*, though many inquisitors were members of other orders or of
the secular clergy. By the end of the decade the Inquisition had become a
general institution in all lands under the purview of the Pope. By the end
of the 13th centuries the Inquisition in each region had a bureaucracy to
help in its function.

The judge, or inquisitor, could bring suit against anyone. The accused had
to testify against himself/herself and not have the right to face and
question his/her accuser. It was acceptable to take testimony from
criminals, persons of bad reputation, excommunicated people, and heretics.
The accused did not have right to counsel, and blood relationship did not
exempt one from the duty to testify against the accused. Sentences could not
be appealed Sometimes inquisitors interrogated entire populations in their
jurisdiction. The inquisitor questioned the accused in the presence of at
least two witnesses. The accused was given a summary of the charges and had
to take an oath to tell the truth. Various means were used to get the
cooperation of the accused. Although there was no tradition of torture in
Christian canon law, this method came into use by the middle of the 13th
century. The findings of the Inquisition were read before a large audience;
the penitents abjured on their knees with one hand on a bible held by the
inquisitor. Penalties went from visits to churches, pilgrimages, and wearing
the cross of infamy to imprisonment (usually for life but the sentences were
often commuted) and (if the accused would not abjure) death. Death was by
burning at the stake, and it was carried out by the secular authorities. In
some serious cases when the accused had died before proceedings could be
instituted, his or her remains could be exhumed and burned. Death or life
imprisonment was always accompanied by the confiscation of all the accused's
property.

Abuses by local Inquisitions early on led to reform and regulation by Rome,
and in the 14th century intervention by secular authorities became common.
At the end of the 15th century, under Ferdinand and Isabel, the Spanish
inquisition became independent of Rome. In its dealings with converted
Moslems and Jews and also illuminists, the Spanish Inquisition with its
notorious autos-da-fÈ represents a dark chapter in the history of the
Inquisition. In northern Europe the Inquisition was considerably more
benign: in England it was never instituted, and in the Scandinavian
countries it had hardly any impact.

Pope Paul III established, in 1542, a permanent congregation staffed with
cardinals and other officials, whose task it was to maintain and defend the
integrity of the faith and to examine and proscribe errors and false
doctrines. This body, the Congregation of the Holy Office, now called the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, part of the Roman Curia, became
the supervisory body of local Inquisitions. The Pope himself holds the title
of prefect but never exercises this office. Instead, he appoints one of the
cardinals* to preside over the meetings. There are usually ten other
cardinals on the Congregation, as well as a prelate and two assistants all
chosen from the Dominican order. The Holy Office also has an international
group of consultants, experienced scholars of theology and canon law, who
advise it on specific questions. In 1616 these consultants gave their
assessment of the propositions that the Sun is immobile and at the center of
the universe and that the Earth moves around it, judging both to be "foolish
and absurd in philosophy," and the first to be "formally heretical" and the
second "at least erroneous in faith" in theology. This assessment led to
Copernicus's De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium to be placed on the Index
of Forbidden Books, until revised and Galileo to be admonished about his
Copernicanism. It was this same body in 1633 that tried Galileo.

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Sources
Because of the nature of this subject, care must be taken in choosing
readings. Until recently, Protestant literature on the Inquisition tended to
be hostile to the Catholic Church, while Catholic literature tended to be
apologetic and justificatory. A balanced introduction to the early period is
Bernard Hamilton, The Medieval Inquisition (New York: Holmes & Meier, 1981).
For a frank Catholic discussion of the Inquisition and its problems, see
John A. O'Brien, The Inquisition (New York: Macmillan; London: Collier
Macmillan, 1973). For a more historiographical approach, see Edward Peters,
Inquisition (New York: Free Press; London: Collier Macmillan, 1988). For the
Inquisition and its procedures in Italy during Galileo's time, see John
Tedeschi, The Prosecution of Heresy: Collected Studies on the Inquisition in
Early Modern Italy (Binghamton, NY: Center for Medieval and Early
Renaissance Studies, 1991).

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Glossary terms
Dominican Order -- The popular name for the Order of Friars Preachers. The
order was founded by Domingo de Guzman (known as Dominic) between 1215 and
1221. Like the Franciscans, the Dominicans were mendicant friars.
cardinal -- High ecclesiastic appointed by the pope to the College of
Cardinals and ranking above every other ecclesiastic but the pope.

galileo@rice.edu

====================
The Jesuits and the Inquisition
http://www.worldmissions.org/Clipper/HistArch/JesuitsInquis.htm
The following is from Miller's Church History, Bible truth Publishers, P. O.
Box 649, Addison, IL 60101.

[O Timothy Editor's Note: The following overview of the Roman Catholic
Inquisition reveals the shame of those today who claim to be Evangelical
Christians but who are accepting Roman Catholicism as true Christianity.
Those multitudes who died in Rome's evil flames will stand in judgment of
this cowardly, compromised generation. ÝJohn Paul II sits in the seat of
those who commanded these barbarities upon the saints of old. If he were
truly born again as many are claiming, he would publicly testify that Jesus
Christ and His blood fully satisfy God's law and that all of Rome's
multitudinous additions-- the occultic mass, the presumptuous priesthood,
the non-existent saints, the empty baptism, the silly rituals; he would
beseech God's forgiveness for his part in fostering fables upon the people's
of the world; he would reject the unspeakable blasphemy of claiming that
Mary is anything more than a sinner saved by grace; he would boldly reject
Rome's sacramental gospel; he would throw aside in abhorrence his
blasphemous robes and titles; he would cry out for every Roman Catholic
throughout the world to turn their backs on sacramentalism to cleave to the
finished salvation of Jesus Christ. I say, if John Paul II were truly saved,
he would do all of this and much more. Those Evangelicals and Charismatics
and Pseudo-Fundamentalists who are praising this present Pope are as blind
as he is. ]

Previous to the reign of Constantine, or to the union of Church and State,
heresy and spiritual offences were punished by excommunications only; but
shortly after his death capital punishments were added. Theodosius generally
allowed to have been the first of the Roman Emperors who pronounced heresy
to be a capital crime. But the Inquisitors at that time did not belong to
the clerical order, they were layman appointed by Roman prefects.

Priscillian, the Spanish heretic, was put to death about 385. Justinian in
the 529 enacted penal laws against heretics, and as centuries rolled onward,
the proceedings against them were marked by increasing severity. It was not,
however, until the thirteenth century that the court of Inquisition was
established by canon-law.

Then it became a criminal tribunal, charged with the detection, prosecution,
and punishment of heresy, apostasy, and other crimes against the established
faith. Whether Dominic or Innocent is to have the credit of the invention,
it evidently had its origin in the Albigensian war.

The papal legate discovered that the open slaughter of heretics would never
accomplish their utter extermination. This difficulty led to the creation of
a new fraternity, called the order of the Holy Faith; the members of which
were bound by solemn oaths to employ their utmost powers for the repression
of free inquiry in matters of religion and for maintaining the unity of
faith, for the destruction of all heretics and for the rooting out of all
heresy reserved for Gregory IX, in the Council of Toulouse, to fix the
establishment of the Inquisition in the form of a tribunal, and at the same
time to give it positive laws.

This terrible tribunal was gradually introduced into the Italian states,
into France, Spain, and other Countries; but into the British island it
never was allowed to force its way. In France and Italy it required
strenuous and persevering efforts to organize and establish it; Germany
successfully resisted a permanent Inquisition; in Spain, however, though it
met with some opposition at first, it speedily gained a footing, and in time
attained a magnitude which, from a variety of causes, it never reached in
any other country.

Gradually the authority of the inquisitors was extended, and they were
called upon to pronounce judgment, not only upon the words and actions, but
even upon the thoughts and intentions of the accused.

During the fourteenth century, its progress was steady, whilst its rigour
and energy were continually on the increase. But it was not till the close
of the fifteenth century; when Isabella, wife of Ferdinand of Arragon had
ascended the throne of Castile, and when the different kingdoms of
Spain--Castile, Navarre, Arragon, and Portugal--were united under these
sovereigns, that the inquisition became general in the country, and assumed
that form which it retained until the period of its dissolution in 1808.

THE INTERNAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE INQUISITION

Under this head, as all know now, the darkest deeds, the most irresponsible
tyranny and inhuman cruelties that ever blackened the annals of mankind
might be written; but lengthy details, however painfully interesting, would
be out of place in our "Short Papers;" so we will content ourselves with a
few brief statements and extracts.

No tribunal, we may safely affirm, so regardless of justice, humanity, and
every sacred relationship in life, ever existed in the dominions of
heathenism or Mahometanism. When a man was slightly suspected of heresy,
spies, called the Familiars of the Inquisition, were employed narrowly to
watch him, with the view of discovering the least possible excuse for
handing him over to the tribunal of the Holy Office. The man may have been a
good Catholic, for Llorente assures us that nine-tenths of the prisoners
were true to the Catholic faith; but, perhaps he was suspected of holding
liberal opinions, or he may have shown in conversation that he knew more of
theology than the illiterate monks, or differed with them on some point of
doctrine. Any of these things would be enough to create suspicion; for
nothing was more to be dreaded than new light or truth; he was now marked
and denounced by the familiars.

At midnight a knock is heard, the suspected man is ordered to accompany the
messengers of the Holy Office. His wife and family know what that means;
their distress is great; they must now take a last farewell of the beloved
husband and the beloved father. Not a word of entreaty or of remonstrance
dare be breathed. Thus suddenly and unexpectedly this frightful institution
pounced upon its victims. Wives gave up their husbands, husbands their
wives, parents their children, and masters their servants, without a
question or murmur. Terror constituted the great element of its power. No
man, from the monarch to the slave, knew when the knock might come to his
door. An impenetrable secrecy characterized all the proceedings of this
institution. This feeling of insecurity and the workings of the imagination
lent their aid to exaggerate the fearful reality. Neither rank, nor age, nor
sex, afforded any defence against its watchful vigilance and its pitiless
severity.

The prisoner, the helpless victim, is now within the gates of the
Inquisition; and few who ever entered there left it absolved and acquitted;
not more, it is said, than one in a thousand. Certain forms were gone
through as to the question of the alleged guilt of the accused, but all were
a gross mockery of justice. "The court sat in profound secrecy; no witness
was confronted with the accused; who were the informers, what the charges,
except the vague charge of heresy, no one knew.

The suspected heretic was first summoned to or like himself on suspicion of
heresy, or Waldensianism. If he refused, he was cast into a dungeon, the
most dismal, the most foul, the most noisome, in those dreary ages. No
falsehood was too false, no craft too crafty, no trick too base, for this
deliberate, systematic, moral torture which was to wring further confession
against himself, denunciation against others. It was the deliberate object
to break the spirit; the prisoner's food was to be slowly, gradually,
diminished till body and soul were prostrate. He was then to be left in
darkness, solitude, and silence. "

The next part of the procedure of the Holy Office in these secret prisons
was the application of bodily torture. The helpless victim was charged with
the culpable concealment and denial of the truth. In vain did he affirm that
he had answered every question fully and honestly to the utmost extent of
his knowledge; he was urged to confess if ever he had entertained an evil
thought in his heart against the church, or the Holy Office or anything else
they chose to name. No matter what answer he gave, he was denounced as an
obstinate heretic.

After some hypocritical expressions as to their love for his soul, and their
sincere desire to deliver him from error, that he might obtain salvation, a
vast apparatus of torturing instruments were shown to him; the rack must now
be applied to make him confess his sin.

THE APPLICATION OF TORTURE

Were it not the truth and impartial history demand that the real nature of
the papacy should be told, we would much rather not describe, even in the
briefest way, those scenes of torture; but few of our young readers in these
peaceful times have any idea of the cruel character of popery, and of its
thirst for the blood of God's saints. And that nature, let it be remembered,
is unchanged.

As late as 1820, when the Inquisition was thrown open in Madrid by the
orders of the Cortes, twenty-one prisoners were found in it; not one of them
knew the name of the city in which he was; some had been confined for three
years, some a longer period, and not one knew perfectly the nature of the
crime of which he was accused.

One of these persons was to have suffered death the following day by the
Pendulum. This method of torture is thus described. 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 victim sees this implement of destruction
swinging to and fro above him, and every moment the keen edge approaches
nearer and nearer; at length it cuts the skin of his face, and gradually
cuts through his head, until life is extinct. " This was a punishment of the
Secret Tribunal in 1820.

The penances and punishments to which the accused were subjected, in order
to obtain such a confession as the inquisitors desired, were many and
various; the rack was usually the first. The naked arms, to which a small
hard cord was fastened, were turned behind the back, heavy weights were tied
to the feet; and then the sufferer was drawn up by the action of a pulley to
the height of the place he was in. Having been kept suspended for some time,
he was suddenly let down with a jerk to within a distance of the floor; this
done several times, the joints of the arms were dislocated, whilst the cord,
by which he was suspended, cut through the skin and flesh, and penetrated to
the bone; and by means of the weights appended to the feet, the whole frame
was violently strained. This species of torture was continued for an hour
and sometimes longer, according to the pleasure of the inquisitors present,
and to what the strength of the sufferer seemed capable of enduring.

The torture by fire was equally painful. The prisoner being extended on the
floor, the soles of his feet were rubbed with lard, and placed near the
fire, until, writhing in agony, he was ready to confess what his tormentors
required. A second time the judges doomed their victims to the same torture,
to make them own the motives and intentions of their hearts for their
confessed conduct or sayings; and a third time, that they might reveal their
accomplices or abettors.

When cruelties failed to wring a confession, artifices and snares were
resorted to. Persons were sent into the dungeons, pretending to be prisoners
like themselves, who ventured to speak against the Inquisition, but only
with the view of ensnaring others that they might witness against them. When
the accused was held to be convicted, either by witnesses or by his own
forced confession, he was sentenced according to the heinousness of his
offence. It might be to death, to perpetual imprisonment, to the galleys, or
to flogging.

Those sentenced to death by fire were allowed to accumulate, that the
sacrifice of a great number at once might produce a more striking and
terrible effect.

THE AUTO DE FE

The cruel death by which the Inquisition closed the career of its victims
was styled in Spain and Portugal as AUTO DE FE, or "Act of Faith," being
regarded as a religious ceremony of peculiar solemnity; and to invest the
act with greater sanctity, the cruel deed was always done on the Lord's day.

The innocent victims of this papal barbarity were led forth in procession to
the place of execution. They were dressed in the most fantastic manner. On
the caps and tunics of some were painted the flame of hell, and dragons and
demons fanning them to keep them brisk for the heretics; and the Jesuits
thundering in their ears that the fires before them were nothing to the
fires of hell which they would have to endure for ever. If any brave heart
attempted to say a word for the Lord, or in defence of the truth for which
he was about to suffer, his mouth was instantly gagged. The condemned were
then chained to stakes. Any of the persons confessing that he was a true
Catholic and wished to die in the Catholic faith, had the privilege of being
strangled before he was burned; but those who refused to claim the
privilege, were burnt alive, and reduce to ashes.

A quantity of furze, sometimes green, and pieces of wood were laid around
the bottom of the stakes and set on fire. Their suffering were
indescribable. The lowest extremities of the body were sometimes actually
roasted before the flames reached the vital parts. And this appalling
spectacle was beheld by crowds of people of both sexes, and of all ages,
with transports of joy; so demoralized were the people by Romanism.

For upwards of four centuries the Auto de Fe was national holiday in Spain,
which its kings and queens, princes and princesses, witnessed in the pomp of
royalty. According to the calculations of Llorente, compiled from the
records of the Inquisition, it appears that from the year 1481 to 1808 this
tribunal condemned, in Spain alone, upwards of three hundred and forty one
thousand persons. And if to this number be added all who suffered in other
countries, then under the dominion of Spain, what would the total number be?

Torquemada, on being made Inquisitor-general of Arragon in 1483, burned
alive, to signalize his promotion to the Holy Office, no less than two
thousand of the prisoners of the Inquisition. Sovereigns, princes, royal
ladies, learned men magistrates, prelates, ministers of state, were boldly
and fearlessly accused and tried by the Holy Office. But the Lord knows them
all--He knows the sufferers, He knows the persecutors, He knows how to
reward the one and how to judge the other. The dark deeds of those secret
dungeons, the pitiful wail of the helpless sufferers, the cruel mockings of
the unaccountable Dominicans, must all be revealed before that throne of
inflexible justice, of inquisitor-general and his gaolers, tormentors, and
executioners, must all appear before "the great white throne"--the judgment
seat of Christ.

There we leave these wicked men, thankful that we have not to judge them,
and perfectly content with the Lord's decisions. Shall no the Judge of all
the earth do right? He who rebuked His disciples for entertaining the
thought of calling down fire on the Samaritans will judge them by His own
standard. He then placed on record what should have been a guide to His
people in all ages. He rebuked the disciples, and said, "Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's
lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:55,56). It may be necessary just to state
here, that we do not consider all who suffered by the Inquisition to be
martyrs, or even Christians. The Crimes of which the inquisitors took
cognizance were heresy in all its different forms; such as Judaism,
Mahometanism, sorcery, polygamy, apostasy; besides, we have not the
privilege of knowing the final testimony of the sufferers. It was quite
different with the martyrs under the heathen emperors. At the same time, it
is impossible not to be strongly moved with horror as well as compassion, in
reading the histories of that dark and diabolical period.
===============

Re: Cathars, Heretics, and the Inquisition.

>        I've always been very interested in the Cathars and the Inquisition,
>especially within the context of Roman Catholic medieval Europe.  Often, it
>appears to me, the Church has been heavily criticized, if not outrightly
>condemned, for the way it handled heretics through the Inquisition.  The
>trend was to judge it in a manner more befitting our modern perceptions of
>religious tolerance and live and let live attitude.  I highly appreciated
>William Thomas Walsh's book on the Inquisition, called, "Characters of the
>Inquisition," which cleared up some common misconceptions of the way the
>Church hierarch treated those whom they suspected of heresy.  I'm not saying
>there weren't occasions of cruelty or injustice but I do think that, as
>applied to the Inquisition, they've been greatly exagerrated.  However,
>this is a little out of the topic of the Cathars themselves but it's worth
>mentioning anyway.
>
>--Lillian Cheng
>Amherst College

I must confess your (and Mr. Walsh's) perspective on the Inquisition is new to
me.  I would think if anything the condemnation of the Church ( and it's
subsequent lack of repentance for atrocities against the Christian ideal ) has
been inadequate.  If we are talking about the way a secular potentate abused
fellow humans there is indeed a case to be made that one is judging by modern
standards, but it would seem that the Church that claimed moral authority as the
representative of Christ's teachings on earth, has no excuse for its behavior
during that period.

One is reminded that a phrase that later became popular among certain Special
Forces in VietNam had its origin in the Albigensian Crusade when the Bishop of
Toulouse, I believe, was asked his order regarding the sack of Albi upon its
fall.  He was reminded that surely there must be some faithful among the
heretics.  He replied, "Kill them all, God will recognize his own."

The crusade against Catharism was certainly representative of an organization
which had lost all moral authority.

We do, however, share an interest in the Cathar period.  I've travelled a bit in
Languedoc and visited Montsegur and some of the other places.  My original
interest was in the Templars but became interested in Catharism through Leigh
and Baigent's extraordinary Holy Blood, Holy Grail.  Would enjoy hearing your
reactions to that, if you have read it, and recommend it to you if you have not.
Charles Hankey

[Submitted by: Charles Hankey <chaan@IX.NETCOM.COM>
               Fri, 24 Mar 1995 11:13:50 -0800]
=======
                           Who Are The Marranos?
        When the Catholic Church established the Inquisition in Spain in
1481, and the expulsion of all Jews from Spain in 1492, the practice of
Judaism in Spain became an offense punishable by the most gruesome forms of
torture and/or death. Seven years later, in 1497, Portugal followed the
Spanish example and quickly established its own Portuguese inquisition of
torture and death. Initially, many Jews fled to safety in such places as the
Mediterranean nations of Greece, Italy, and Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Sarajevo,
Hersegovina), the nations of Romania and Bulgaria, and the various Spanish,
Portuguese and Dutch colonies of the New World. The huge number of exiles in
the New World soon found, however, that the ghost of the Inquisition was
established in Lima, Peru; Cartegena, Colombia, and Mexico City, Mexico.

Thus, in the New World, thousands of faithful Sefardic Jews had no choice
but to publically convert to Christianity, while keeping their true Jewish
faith hidden. The name "Marranos", meaning "swine" became the contemptuous
name given by the Catholic Church to the Jews who were forced into
conversion, but who continued to practice Judaism in secret. The officers of
the Inquisition made it their priority to routinely investigate Marranos to
check if they had circumcised their newborns, if they were gathering to pray
on Saturdays, or were gathering on any of the known Jewish feasts,
particularly Passover and Yom Kippur. Also the Inquistion would routinely
require suspected Jews to eat pork in public as a means of demonstrating
whether or not they were good "Conversos", (converts to Catholicism).

Marranos are also known as Crypto-Jews, meaning "secret" Jews, because they
kept Jewish customs in secret. Many Crypto-Jewish communities survive today
in various places in the former Spanish and Portuguese empire, including
many communities in the Americas such as the following: the Guadalara area
of Mexico; the city of Monterrey, Mexico and the surrounding Mexican State
of Nuevo Leon; Santa Fe, New Mexico; San Antonio, Texas; Las Cruces, New
Mexico; San Jose, Costa Rica; the Nations of El Salvador, Honduras, and
Nicaragua; Medellin, Colombia; Lima, Peru; Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Belem,
and Bello Horizonte, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Santiago, Chile.

Many surviving Crypto-Jews and Marranos today still instinctively fear being
open about their Jewishness, and continue to maintain secrecy about their
beliefs and practices. However, the vast majority of other Marrano
descendants, due to many generations of secrecy about their true heritage,
were assimilated into Christianity in Latin America, but still have
maintained residual Jewish practices such as lighting candles on Friday
night, and are generally aware of their Jewish family trees.

Most of the Spanish or Latinos living in the Americas, are direct
descendants of these Marrano or Crypto-Jews. This is the result of the New
World having been originally explored and colonized mostly by Marranos who
left Spain in order to escape the persecution of the Catholic Church. The
millions of Marranos in Latin America are literally a "sleeping giant",
ready to be awakened to their true heritage in the tribes of Israel, but
sadly, after being hunted and persecuted for centuries by the Catholic
Church, the Marranos are generally not welcomed by mainstream Judaism
either, and cannot currently obtain recognition as Jews without undergoing
formal conversion.

In the Fall of 1995, while ministering to a group of about 300 Marranos in
San Jose, Costa Rica, the Lord directed Rabbi Haim Levi to a specific new
vision and calling found in Obadiah 1:20b, which says: "The captivity of
Jerusalem, which is in Sefarad, shall inhabit the cities of the Negev". With
the formation of the I.F.M.J., those of us involved in this ministry are
aware that now is the day and the final hour for the sleeping giant to
awaken after 505 years of slumbering. With the majority of the I.F.M.J.
executive committee being bi-lingual (i.e. speaking English and Spanish), we
see ourselves thrust into this work by the mighty hand of Hashem.

                          RECOGNITION OF MARRANOS

For more than 500 years, Sefardic Jews have been suffering with the memory
of the Catholic Church's crime against the household of Israel. Beginning
with the Inquisition, the pressure that was placed upon the families who hid
their Jewishness from the Church was tremendous. They were in constant fear
of being accused. Aside from being cast out of the ordinary affairs of the
society, torture and even death were common penalties for those caught
keeping customs that were typically Jewish. To this day, due to the
overwhelming influence of the Catholic Church, many descendants of Sefardic
Jews in Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations still instinctively remain
in fear of coming "out of the closet" concerning their true Jewish heritage.

The result of what began with the Inquisition is that today, the vast
majority of Sefardic Jews, having kept their Jewish identities a secret for
so many generations, are now are unable to prove through any documentation
that they are in fact of Jewish lineage.

Yet, many have memories of having heard a grandmother, grandfather, uncle or
aunt who said to them at one time in the strictest confidence: "Somos
Judios" or "We are Jews". Some come from families that always lit candles on
Friday night, but who knew why? Other families never ate pork, always fasted
and prayed on a certain day each year, or rarely worked on Saturdays.

The most common surnames of the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world are
all typically Sefardic. Surnames like Lopez or Perez in Mexico or Colombia,
for example, are as common as Smith or Jones in the United States or Great
Britain.

Many "Marranos" begin to wonder why they have such a deep love for Israel
and an affection for Jewish things, despite being outwardly Christian all
their lives. These suddenly find themselves compelled to look after their
Jewish roots, and to be rejoined to the nation and people from which they
were forcibly divided by the Catholic Church.

It is the desire of the IFMJ to start giving papers of Jewish recognition to
these Jews. However, in order not make of this provision a free-for-all
paper mill, there are the strongest requirements that need to be met. For
more information on Marrano recognition, contact the I.F.M.J. office.
END****************************************************************************