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MEXICO

capital, at which it was decided " that on account of the intercourse with foreigners, and because the many privateers that cruised along the coasts might intro- duce evil customs and habits among the natives and the Spaniards, who by the grace of God had been preserved from the taint of heresy, it was necessary to establish the Holy Office of the Inquisition ".

It was no doubt in consequence of this resolution that on 27 June, 1535, Bishop Zumarraga was ap- pointed inquisitor, with ample faculties, including that of turning over the offender to the secular arm and of establishing the Holy Office. He did not establish the tribunal, but it Is known that he tried and condemned to be burnt a Texcocan noble accused of having sacri- ficed human beings. After this it was forbidden by the royal decree of Charles V, of 15 October, 1538, to try cases against the Indians before the Holy Office, and that in matters of faith the bishop shoukl he their judge. Since then there Is no record of a single In- dian having been tried before the triljunal of the In- quisition. In 1554, .Archl)ishi)p Montrffar, a Dominican andqualificator of the Inc[uisitii)U in Granada, though not bearing the title of inquisitor, proceeded as though thus empowered, no doubt because of the ordinary jurisdiction possessed by the bishop in matters of faith, and passed the autos of 1555 and 1558. Cardinal Diego de Espinosa, Bishop of Sigiienza, and Grand In- quisitor of Spain, appointed as inquisitor for Mexico D. Pedro Moya de Contreras, also two lawyers, Juan Cervantes and Alonso Femiindez de Bonilla. Their jurisdiction e.xtended over all of New Spain, Guate- mala, and the Philippines. The royal decree of 16 August, 1570, commanded that the City of Mexico was to aid and respect the inquisitors, and on 2 Novem- ber, 1571, the tribunal was established with all due solemnity. It exercised its authority in Mexico until 8 June, 1813, when the decree of the Spanish Cortes suppressing it was published. On 21 January, 1814, it was re-established, and in 1820 definitively abol- ished.

In New Spain the Tribunal of the Inquisition was composed of three Apostolic inquisitors and a treas- urer, each with a salary of three thousand pesos, paid three times a year in advance by the canonries of the cathedrals of their respective districts. There wa-s also a head constable, a trustee, treasurer, three secre- taries, several consultors, qualificators, and lay officials. The tribunal had authority to pass general and partic- ular autos defe. What the viceroys of Mexico thought of this tribunal may be gathered from the many inst ruc- tions which by order of the king each viceroy had to leave for his successor in the government of the colony. And it may be noted that these instructions, coming from men who were laying down the reins of government, speak with perfect freedom, not hesitat- ing to censure what was considered worthy of censure. From these instructions it is evident that the author- ity of the tribunal was not as absolute as is generally supposed. The Marques de Mancera, in the instruc- tions left 22 Oct., 1673, for hlj successor the Duque de Veragua, after saying that the Tribunal of the Inquisi- tion " has been and is feared and respected with all due reverence in these provinces, knowing full well that, owing to its uprightness and vigilance, they find them- selves by the grace of God free from the errors and . abominations which at different times the common enemy has sought to sow in their midst ", adds, " but, as its jurisdiction is so absolute, the tribunal does not always keep as it shoukl within its proper limits, nor do the viceroys, governors, or .\udicncias take it upon them.selves to hold it within hounds, except in cases of the most urgent necessity: nevrrtlieless, when the exce3.ses are notalily prejudiei:U to t he respect due the royal representation, to its jurisdiction, or its excheq- uer, or when the delay causes irreparable damage, there is special authority for applying a suitable remedy, and I made use of this fsvculty at the close of

the year 1666", etc. The Duque de Linares says in his instruction to the Marques de Valero, in 1716, speak- ing of the inquisitors of his time: " Of the inquisitors I should inform Your Excellency that I am indebted to them not only for a just respect, esteem, and appre- ciation for my official character, but their mildness and prudence have been such that when the apparent zeal of some of the ministers has attemptccl to enkin- dle some sparks, I have been able to extinguish them owing to the consultations and the mutual confidence which have always existed between us".

For the sake of clearness, the persons condemned by the Inquisition may be placed under three heads: retajados (delivered to the secular arm for execution of sentence) in person or effigy, reconciliados (recon- ciled), and penitentes (penitents). The relajadns in

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person were burnt, either alive or first garroted. On the way to the place of execution they were clothed in the samarra, a sort of scapular of cloth or cotton, yellow or red, upon which dragons, demons, and flames were painted, among which could be seen the picture of the criminal. The head was covered with a species of mitre called coroza, covered with the same devices. The relajadns in effigy were those who, having escaped or died, were burned in effigy, sometimes together with their bones and bodies. This was done with those who died or who committed suiciile during the process. It sometimes happened that a criniinal aHemptcd to commit suicide; if before dying he bc!j;i;r(l pMrdon and retracted his errors, he was reconcilcil in cllij^y. S\ich was the case of the French physician, Eticnne Morel, whose auto defe was carried out 9 .Vugust, 17'.)5. The recnnciliados were those who, recognizing their offences and errors, retracted and asked pardon. They were not condemned to ilcath, but were oblige<l to sulimit to various punishments. One was, to wear the San Benito, calli'd/i(((/<) nrnlld or rei'vello, a garment simi- lartothal worn by thrrelajmlos, with h eorrcsiioiiding corona, only that in this the flames i)oinl cd downwards to show llial liy their repentance they had escaped the capital punishment. Other forms of punishment were inliipted arr(jrding to the gravity of the offence — exile, the galleys, whipping, imprisonment, certain