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 INQUISITION

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INQUISITION

tion of Their Spanish Majesties (Paramo, II, tit. ii, c. iii, n. 9) Sixtus IV bestowed on Torquemada the office of grand inquisitor, the institution of which in- dicates a decided advance in the development of the Spanish Inquisition. Innocent VIII approved the act of fiis predecessor, and under date of 11 February, 14S6, and 6 February, 1487, Torquemada was given the dignity of grand inquisitor for the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Valencia, etc. The institution speedily ramified from Seville to Cordova, Jaen, Villaredl, and Toledo. About 1538 there were nineteen courts, to which three were afterwards added in Spanish America (Mexico, Lima, and Cartagena). Attempts at intro- ducing it into Italy failed, and the efforts to establish it in the Netherlanils entailed disastrous consequences for the mother country. In Spain, however, it re- mained operative into the nineteenth century. Orig- inally called into being against secret Judaism and secret Mohammedanism, it served to repel Protestant- ism in the sixteenth century, but was unable to expel French Rationalism and immorality in the eighteenth. King Joseph Bonaparte abrogated it in ISOS, but it was re-introduced by Ferdinand VII in 1814 and ap- proved by Pius VII on certain conditions, among others the abolition of torture. It was definitely abolished by the Revolution of 1820.

(2) Organization. — .\t the head of the Inquisition, known as the Holy Office, stood the grand inquisitor, nominated by the king and confirmed by the pope. By virtue of liis papal credentials he enjoyed authority to delegate his powers to other suitable persons, and to receive appeals from all Spanish courts. He was aided by a High Council (Consejo Supremo) consisting of five members — the so-called Apostofic inquisitors, two secretaries, two relatores, one advocatus fiscalis — and several consultors and qualificators. The officials of the supreme tribunal were appointed by the grand inquisitor after consultation with the king. The for- mer could also freely appoint, transfer, remove from oflSce, visit, and inspect or call to account all inquisi- tors and officials of the lower courts. Philip III, on 16 December, 161S, gave the Dominicans the privilege of having one of their order permanently a member of the Consejo Supremo. All power was really concen- trated in this supreme tribunal. It decided important or disputed questions, and heard appeals; without its approval no priest, knight, or noble could be impris- oned, and no auto-da-fe held; an annual report was made to it concerning the entire Inquisition, and once a month a financial report. Everyone was subject to it, not excepting priests, bishops, or even the sover- eign. The Spanish Inquisition is distinguished from the medieval by its monarchical constitution and a greater consequent centralization, as also by the con- stant and legally provided-for influence of the crown on all official appointments and the progress of trials.

(3) The procedure, on the other hand, was substan- tially the same as that already described. Here, too,

' a "term of grace" of thirty to forty days was invar- iably granted, and was often prolonged. Imprison- ment resulted only when unanimity had been arrived at, or the offence had been proved. Examination of the accused could take place only in the presence of two disinterested priests, whose ol.iligation it was to restrain any arbitrary act; in their presence the pro- tocol had to be read out twice to the accused. The de- fence lay always in the hands of a lawyer. The wit- nesses, though unknown to the accused, were sworn, and very severe punishment, even death, awaited false witnesses (cf. Brief of Leo X of 14 December, 1518). Torture was applied only too frequently and too cruelly, but certainly not more cruelly than under Charles V's system of judicial torture in Germany.

(4) The Spanish Inquisition deserves neither the exaggerated prai.se nor the equally exaggerated vilifi- cation often bestowed on it. The numlier of victims cannot be calculated with even approximate accu-

racy; the much-maligned autos-da-fe were in reality but a religious ceremony {actus fidei); the San Benito has its counterpart in similar garbs elsewhere; the cruelty of St. Peter Arbues, to whom not a single sen- tence of death can be traced with certainty, belongs to the realms of fable. However, the predominant ecclesiastical nature of the institution can hardly be doubted. The Holy See sanctioned the institution, accorded to the grand inquisitor canonical installation and therewith judicial authority concerning matters of faith, while from the grand inquisitor jurisdiction passed down to the subsidiary tribunals under his control. Joseph de Maistre introduced the thesis that the Spanish Inquisition was mostly a civil tribunal; formerly, however, theologians never questioned its ecclesiastical nature. Only thus, indeed, can one ex- plain how the popes always admitted appeals from it to the HolySee, called to themselves entire trials, and that at any stage of the proceedings, exempted whole classes of behevers from its jurisdiction, intervened in the legislation, deposed grand inquisitors, and so on.

(See T0RQUEM.\DA, ToM.is DE.)

(C) The Holy Office at Rome. — The great apostasy of the sixteenth century, the filtration of heresy into Catholic lands, and the progress of heterodox teach- ings everywhere, prompted Paul III to establish the "Sacra Congregatio Romanae et universalis Inquisi- tionis seu sancti officii " by the Constitution " Licet ab initio" of 21 July, 1542. This inquisitional tribunal, composed of six cardinals, was to be at once the final court of appeal for trials concerning faith, and the court of first instance for cases reserved to the pope. The succeeding popes — especially Pius IV (by the Constitutions " Pastoralis Officii " of 14 October, 1562, "Romanus Pontifex" of 7 April, 1563, "Cum nosper" of 1564, "Cum inter crimina " of 27 August, 1564) and Pius V (by a Decree of 1566, the Constitution "Inter multiplices" of 21 December, 1.566, and "Cum felicis record. ", of 1566) — made further provision for the procedure and competency of this court. By his Con- stitution "Immensa jeterni" of 22 January, 15S7, Sixtus V became the real organizer, or rather reor- ganizer of this congregation.

The Holy Office is first among the Roman congrega- tions. Its personnel includes judges, officials, con- sultors, and qualificators. The real judges are cardi- nals nominated by the pope, whose original number of six was raised by Pius IV to eight and by Si.xtus V to thirteen. Their actual number depends on the reign- ing pope (Benedict XIV, Const. "SoUicita et Pro- vida ", 1733). This congregation differs from the oth- ers, inasmuch as it has no cardinal-prefect: the pope always presides in person when momentous decisions are to be announceci (coram Sanctissimo). The solemn plenary session on Thursdays is always preceded by a session of the cardinals on Wednesdays, at the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and a meeting of the consultors on Mondays at the palace of the Holy Of- fice. The highest official is the commissartus sancti officii, a Dominican of the Lombard province, to whom two coadjutors are given from the same order. He acts as the proper judge throughout the whole case until the plenary session exclusive, thus conducting it up to the verdict. The assessor sancti officii, always one of the secular clergy, presides at the plenary ses- sions. The promotor fiscalis is at once prosecutor and fiscal representative, while the advocatus reorum under- takes the defence of the accused. The duty of the consultors is to afford the cardinals expert advice. They may come from the secular clergy or the relig- ious orders, but the General of the Dominicans, the magisler sacri patatii, and a third member of the same order are always ex-officiocon.sultors (consultores nati). The qualificators are appointed for life, but give their opinions only when called upon. The Holy Office has jurisdiction over all Christians and, according to Pius IV, even over cardinals, In practice, however, the