Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/33

9 I INQUISITION IN ARAGON. 9 by wearing under his monastic robes a suit of mail, chapter complete even to the helmet beneath his hood. '- — With similar vigilance, he defended, also, every avenue to his sleeping apartment. ^ At length, however, the conspirators found an ,^^^*^f^^;.. opportunity of surprising him while at his devo- ''"^^" tions. Arbues was on his knees before the great altar of the cathedral, near midnight, when his enemies, who had entered the church in two separ- ate bodies, suddenly surrounded him, and one of them wounded him in the arm with a dagger, while another dealt him a fatal blow in the back of his neck. The priests, who were preparing to cele- brate matins in the choir of the church, hastened to the spot ; but not before the assassins had effect- ed their escape. They transported the bleeding body of the inquisitor to his apartment, where he survived only two days, blessing the Lord, that he had been permitted to seal so good a cause with his blood. The whole scene will readily remind the English reader of the assassination of Thomas a Becket. ^ The event did not correspond with the expecta- tions of the conspirators. Sectarian jealousy prov- ed stronger than hatred of the Inquisition. The populace, ignorant of the extent or ultimate object of the conspiracy, were filled with vague apprehen- sions of an insurrection of the new Christians, who 7 Llorente, Hist, de I'Inquisi- De Origine Inquisitionis, pp. 182, tion, chap. 6, art. 2, 3. 183. — Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, 8 Llorente, ubi supra. — Paramo, torn. viii. pp. 37, 38. VOL. II. 2