The Spanish Inquisition
By G. W. Caviness
HAVING lately found the history of the Spanish Inquisition written by one of its secretaries, Don Juan Antonio Llorente, I thought it might be interesting to take a view of this institution from the standpoint of a Roman Catholic. Of his ability to write the history, he says: In order to write an exact history, it was necessary to be an inquisitor or a secretary. Only so could one have access to the bulls of the popes, the ordinances of the kings, the decisions of the councils of the Inquisition, the original processes and papers in their archives. Perhaps I am the only man who to-day has all these requisites. I was secretary of the Inquisition of the court of Madrid in the years 1789, 1790, and 1791. I knew the institution sufficiently well to be able to characterize it as being vicious in its constitutions and laws in spite of the apologies written in its favor. From that time I set myself to gather together documents, taking notes and data, and copying literally the most important. My constancy in this work and that of acquiring as many books and papers not printed as I was able to have at hand and at a considerable cost in the testaments of the inquisitors and of other deceased persons, furnished me a copious collection. Finally I obtained a great many more in the years 1809, 1810, 1811, on the occasion of the suppression of that tribunal. Having given the sources from which he was able to write his history, he proceeds to tell something of the manner of the working of the Inquisition. We here transcribe what he says: Having spoken with some Roman Catholics in Paris and London, I heard them say that the existence of the Inquisition is useful in Spain for the conservation of the purity of Catholicism, and that France would be happier if she had the same institution. They are very much in error who believe it to be sufficient to be a good Catholic in order to be free from the jails of the holy office, because on account of the secret system nine out of every ten prisoners are strong Roman Catholics, but through the ignorance or malice of the informers, they have been persecuted under the supposition of being capable of being heretics in the opinion of an ignorant friar, considered wise by the common people because of having studied scholastic theology. The Inquisition conserves and fortifies hypocrisy, punishing only those who refuse to be hypocrites; but it converts no one, as was seen in the case of the Jews and Moors baptized without true conversion, in order that they might remain in Spain. The former perished in the flames, the others passed over to Africa at the expulsion of the Moors, as much Mohammedan then as before the baptism of their grandfathers. To preserve the purity of Spanish Catholicism by means of flames and the expulsion of three million souls among the three classes, there was need only for hangmen, laws, and judges to apply them, without Inquisitorial apostolic priests by the grace of the pope. I hope that they may be undeceived and come out of their error, when they read this history and know the institution which is not as yet well known. I am an apostolic Roman Catholic, and I yield to no inquisitor in the purity of my faith nor in my desire to see Spain happy. But this does not hinder my believing that my country would be better if the Inquisition should be turned over anew to the charge of the bishops only, as it was for many centuries; for in my opinion it would be more in conformity with the Sacred Scriptures, from which it is evident according to the expression of the apostle Paul, "The Holy Spirit" (and not Peter nor the popes) charge the bishops to govern the church purchased by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. From the foregoing paragraph it will be evident that the writer did not entirely agree with the idea of the pope’s supremacy, but thought the affairs of the church should be left in the hands of the bishops. As to the number of victims, I will cite two paragraphs showing what happened within a few years; but as the whole system was largely a secret affair, it will be evident that no figures, even those given by the secretary, stating what was done in Spain, would give any adequate idea of the uncounted numbers that perished under this diabolical system. From the calculation made in chapter four taken from the data of the inscription in Seville, and with preference taking the more moderate extreme, we learn that in five years of the rule of Adrian there were in Spain 24,025 punished by the Inquisition; to wit, 1,620 burned in person, 560 in effigy, 21,845 made to pay penance, the whole at the rate of 324 of the first mentioned each year, 112 of the second, 4,369 of the third. If we add the year 1523, which may be counted as an interregnum until the inscription of Seville made in 1524, we may say that in the forty-three years of the first four Inquisitor-generals there were 234,506 victims; to wit, 18,320 burned in person, 9,660 in effigy, 206,526 compelled to pay penance, a monstrous number, altho greatly reduced, and which falls very far short of the truth. From reading his history, it seems evident that many Catholics suffered under the system. And no doubt it was on this account that the institution was abolished; for when such terrible power was given an inquisitor, he did not fail to use it against any enemy or rival, Catholic or Protestant. The fatal results of the Inquisition are clearly seen in all Catholic countries where it was in operation. The honest and the sincere were almost annihilated; and hypocrites, bigots, and those without conscience were left.