divinus sernio Principibus audilus est : contenti prajsenti rerum statu potentes
futurum Christi regnum nonnisi morientes inquirunt. Credula paupertas facile
praedicatoribus obcdit. P. 653, ad ann. 151G : of the absolution, which Arcimboldus
Chap. IV. Internal History. § 146. EccUsiast. Indulgences. 331
stantly occurring that what was offered as the highest spiritual gift,
was altogether rejected by the temporal princes,^^ or regarded with
suspicion,-^ or bitterly coiriplained of.'-"-' There were some also who
opposed the whole system of indulgences as injurious to all true
religion and morals,'"^ thougli, for the most part, they only made
themselves the objects of persecution.
was commissioned by Leo X. to offer for sale, the proceeds being destined to the
building- of St. Peter's church at Rome. Hujus rei gratia et quia in superioribus
annis sub Alexandro et Julio sumiiiis Pontificibus similes quasi indulgentia; eniissae
fuerunt, provincia nostra satis extenuata est sed utinain vel Romana Curia semel
satiata ! sed perpetuam quis saturabit esuriem ? Trithemii Chron. Hirsaugieuse
ad ann. 1490. T. II. p. 536, of the sale of indulgences by Raymund : Multa certe
florenoruni millia ex ea gi-atiarum largitione per Germaniam fuere collecta, quorum
tamen nescio si vel unus denarius in pi-aidicatum Cruciatae opus contra Turcos
fuerit expositus. Guicciardini historia d'llalia, 1. Xill. : Leone aveva sparso per
tutto il mondo senza distinzione di tempi e di luoghi indulgenze amplissime, non
solo per poter giovare con esse a quegli, che ancora sono nella vita presente, ma
con faculta di potere, oltre a questo, liberare le anime dei defuncti dalle pene del
purgatorio ; le quali cose non avendo in se ne verisimilitudine, ne autorita alcuna,
perche era notorio, che si concedevano solamente per estorquere danai-i dagli
uomini, che abbondano piu di semplicita, che di prudenza, ed essendo esercitate
impudentamente dai commissari diputati a questa esazione, la piu parte dei quali
comperava dalla coi'te la faccult^ di eseroitai-la, aveva concitato in multi luoghi
indegnazione e scandalo assai, e specialmente nella Germania. How far the pro-
ceeds of these sales were from being uniformly applied to the purpose for which
they were professedly intended, see Guicciardini ed. Vcnet. 1592, p. 395 b. il
Pontifice (Leone), il quale per facilitk della natura sua essercitava in molte cose
non poca maestk I'ufficio ponteficale, dono a Maddalena sua sorella I'emolumento e
I'essatione delle indulgenze di molte parti di Germania. Leonis X. epist. ad
Albertum Electorem Mogunt. dd. 26 Nov. 1517 (in H. Schmidt's Einleitung
zur Brandenb. Kirchen u. Reformations-Historie. Berlin, 1718. 4to. S. 244 : Fra-
ternitati Tuas committimus et mandamus, ut postquam acceperit dictum librum
Titi Livii (namely, the 23 de hello Macedonico), ipsi Johanni solvat seu solvi
faciat CXLVII Ducatos auii de Camera ex pecuniis indulgentiarum concessarum
per illas provincias in favorem fabrics BasilicEe Principis Apostolorum de Urbe.
" For the year of Jubilee, 1450, the T«utonic Order forbad all their dependants
to make the pilgrimage to Rome, see Voigt in Raumer's hist. Taschenbuche
f. 1833. S. 138. For the Post-Jubilee-year, 1451, the sale of the indulgences
was committed to the four bishops of Prussia, but a part of the proceeds were to be
paid into the papal treasury, and the bull commissioning them was to cost 1,000
ducats. The ambassador of tfie Order at Rome writes to the Grand-Master, p.
142: "All which being taken into consideration, my Lord, you will readily see
that this absolution is quite too dear; and if I might offer my poor advice, it would
be rather to beg to be excused from it than to introduce it into the countiy, since
its chief effect will be to carry away from us our money." The Order agreed in
this view of the subject, and did not allow the indulgence to be exposed for sale.
2*» When about to put up for sale a Jubilee-indulgence for the year 1466, the
German Diet stipulated that the money should be delivered neither to the Pope,
nor the Emperor, but to them. See M ü 1 1 e r' s Reichtagstheatrum, Th. 2. S.
216 seq. Cardinal Raymund was not allowed to proclaim the Jubilee-year 1500,
in Germany, till the commissioners of the Diet in Nuremberg had bound him by a
contract to deposit the amount destined to carry on the war against the Turks
under four locks {Raynald, 1500. no. 20. Sammlung der Reichsabschiede, Bd. 2.
S. 96 ff.).
^ See M. Meyeri epist. ad .^neam Sylv. see § 132, note 17. Gravamen Nat.
Germ. VIII. A. D. 1510. see § 134, note 8.
^^ Nicholas V. 1448, had to take measures (see the bull in Raynald, ad h. a.
no. 9), because in nonnullis Burgundije partibus plerique saeculares Prasbyteri, —
332 Third Period. Div. V. A. D. 1409 — 1517.
For the hierarchy measured their favor by the degree of blind sub-
mission which they found to their commands. For the submissive
they knew how to reconcile the demands of Christianity with the
entire gratification of their desires, whilst the refractory they perse-
cuted without mercy, even though they might be animated by the
purest zeal for religion and morals. The catalogue of the sins of
disobedience was yearly lengthened, and on the Thursday before
Good Friday, the most solemn anathemas were affixed to them.^^
etiam nonnunquaiii in sermonibus publicis ad populum — habitis, aliqua piarum
aurium ofJensiva, — et prffisertim indulgentiarum et remissionum peccaminum,
necnon claviiiru Ecclesiae, et sacramenti poenitentiffi materias concernentia afBrma-
runt, — undo ibi gravia scandala successerunt. — Amongst the errors of the
Franciscan, John Vitrarius, in Paris, condemned by the Sorbonne in 1498, were
the following ((TArgentri. I. II. p. 341) : VIII. On ne doit point donner d'argent
aux Eglises pour les pardons (which the Sorbonne designates as : scandalosa,
devotionis fidelium diniinutiva, falsa, reparanda). IX. Les pardons ne sont point
donnis pour les Bonrdeaulx (Est indiscrete populo praedicata, scandalosa in reli-
giosos donios, qiiibiis collatae sunt indulgentia?). X. Les pardons viennent d'enfer
(Est piarum aurium oflensiva, scandalosa, in Ecclesiam et claves Ecclesiaj blasphe-
ma, haeretica, reparanda, si fuerit prsedicata). In 1517, on the other hand, Michael
Menot could preach with impunity (see § 14-5, note 10) (Sermones quadragesi-
males. Paris. 1526. 8vo. fol. 147. b.) : Vultis, quod ego dicam vobis unum verbum ?
Numquara theologi fecerunt mentionem, nee posuerunt manum in istis indulgen-
tiis : aut si fecerunt, raro et modicum. Videatis Joannem Andreae, Panormitanum,
et omnes Canonistas, qui dicunt de indulgentiis parum. Scotus parura. — Sed soli
cafTardi eas praedicaverunt cum infinitis mendaciis, ut populum decipiant: qui
SEEpe sunt parvi diaboli, quando sunt in taberna : quibus non est qusstio, nisi de
luxuria, de ludo, etc. Die si vis : quid ergo est .' oportet ire ad magnam indulgen-
tiam, quae est contiitio. Et si hoc facias, promitto tibi, quod Magdalena promissum
est. Vade ad lachrymas cordis : effunde abundanter. Deus non dixit ei, quod
poneret quinque solidos in trunco, sed dixit ei : fides tua te salvatn fecit (Luc. vii.
50). — Philippus Tiirrianus, domus s. Spiritus commendator 1509, preached
against indulgences, see Conspectus hist. Uiiivers. Yiennensis Ssec. II. (Viennae,
1724. 8vo.) p. 73: diversas contra indulgentias cum populi offendiculo propositiones
palam effutivisse ferebatur, and was punished by a fine. Ulrich Krafft, a preacher
in Ulm (â– f 1516. see Veesenmeyer comm. de vicissitudinibus doctrinse de s. ccena
in Eccl. Ulmensi. Norimb. 1789. 4to. p. 8) said publicly of Tetzel : "Here is a
decoy bird coming, who wants to talk your money out of your purses. Believe
him not, dear fiiends, Christ alone is our absolution and our sacrifice, who has
already done and paid for us enough." See V o g e 1 ' s Leben des päbstl. Gnaden-
predigers, oder Ablasscrämers J. Tezels (Leipz. 2te Aufl. 1727. Svo.). Besides
these, Wolf, in his Lectiones memorabiles, mentions the following persons, as
opponents of the sale of indulgences in the beginning of the 16th century (ex-
tracted in Flacii catalogus test, verit.) : Sebastianus, D. theol. and canon in
Erfurt (see Flacius ed. Francof. 1666. p. 827), Ludolph Castrick, Pastor of St.
Michael's Church in Magdeburg (Flacius, p. 833), Joh. Pfennig, preacher in
Nuremburg, afterwards in Annaberg, who, when about to flee into Bohemia to
escape from persecution, was seized and kept in prison by the bishop of Meissen
(Flacius, p. 841. G. Fabricii Annal. urbis Misn. p. 78), Tilemann, a monk in
Groningen (Flacius. p 842).
31 Compare § 117, note 17. See the Bulla ccenae, which Paul II. pub-
lished 1468, and which was especially directed against George Podiebrad,
Gregory of Heimburg and others, in Cypriani tabularium Ecclesia^ Romanae.
Francof. et Lips. 1743. 4to. p. 33 seq. Leo X's Bulla cance, A. D. 1515, see in
Wittii hist. Weslphalias, p. 647, and Hartzheim Concill. Germ. T. VI. p. 144 :
Consueverunt Romani Pontifices, prsedecessores nostri, ad retinendum jjuritatem
religionis Christianae — arma justitiae per ministerium Apostolatus in prassenti cele-
britate exercere. Nos igitur vetustum et solemnem hunc morem sequentes, ex-
communicamus et anathematizamus ex parte Dei omnipotentis, Patris, et Filii, et
Chap. IV. Internal Histonj. ^ 146. Ecclesiast. Indulgences. 333
Even the Synods confessed that ban and interdict were often unjustly
Spiritus Sancti, auctoritate quoque beatoruin Apostolorum Petri et Pauli ac nostra,
omncs haereticos, Gazaros, Patarenos, Pauperes de Lugduno, Arnoldistas, Spero-
nistas, Passagerios, Wiclevistas sou Hussitas, Fratricellos, de opinione nuncupatos,
et quoslibet alios haereticos, ac omnes fautores — eorundem. Item excommunica-
mus et anathematizamus omnes violatores et perturbatores libertatis ecclesiasticae,
— et eos prassertim, qui — Ecclesiis et ecclesiasticis personis sine licentia special!
Romani Pontificis — onera — imponunt. — Item — omnes piratas, cursarios, —
praecipue qui mare nostrum a monte argentario usque ad Terracinam discurrere, et
navigantes in illo depraedari — hactenus praesumpserunt, ac omnes receptatores
eorundem. — Item — omnes, qui in terris suis nova pedagia imponunt vel prohibita
exigunt. Item — omnes falsarios Bullarum seu literarum Apostolicarum. — Item
— omnes illos, qui equos, anna, ferrum, ligamina, et alia prohibita deferunt Sara-
cenis, Turcis et aliis Christi nominis inimicis, quibus Christianos inipugnant. Item
— omnes impedientes seu invadentes victualia, seu alia, ad usum Romanx Curiae
necessaria, adducentes : — cujuscunque fuerint ordinis, praeeminentiae, conditionis
et status, etiamsi Pontificali, Regali, Reginali, ant alia quavis ecclesiastica, vel
mundana praet'ulgeant dignitate. Item — omnes illos, qui ad Sedem Apostolicam
venientes, et recedentes ab eadem — spoliant, — mutilare vel intcrficere pi-aesu-
munt. — Item — omnes temere mutilantes, — interficientes, capientes — Patriar-
chas, Archiepiscopos, eorumque mandatores. Item — omnes illos, qui — personas
— ad Romanam Curiam super eorum causis et negotiis recurrentes, — aut — Pro-
curatores ipsorum, vel etiam Auditores seu Indices super dictis causis — deputatos
occasione causarum — ejusmodi verberant, — vel occidunt, seu bonis spoliant (see
§ 136, note 4) — : ac illos, qui, ne Uteris et mandatis et Apostolicaj Sedis, et
Legatorum — ejusdem — non habito primo eorum beneplacito et assensu pareatur,
— sub gravissimis poenis prohibere (see § 136, note 5), — quive in animarum
eorundem periculum se a nostra, et Romani Pontificis pro tempore obedientia per-
tinaciter subtrahere — praesumunt : quive Jurisdictionen! seu fructus ad ecclesiasti-
cas personas pertinentes usurpant vel arripiunt (§ 136, notes 2, 3) : — cujuscunque
praeeminentia; — fuerint, etiamsi Pontificali, Regali, Reginali, vel quavis alia prae-
lulgeant dignitate. Item — omnes mutilantes, vulnerantes, interficientes, seu
capientes et detinentes, seu deprsdantes Romipetas. — Item — qui — occupant,
detinent, vel hostiliter destruunt, seu invadunt — almam urbem, regna Siciliae vel
Trinacrise, insulas Sardiniae et Corsicse, terras citra Pharum, Patrimonium b. Petri
in Tuscia, Ducatum Spoletanum, Comitatum Venaysinum, Sabinensem, Marchiae
Anconitanse, Masss, Trebarias, Romandiols, Campanire, et Maritimee provincias,
et terras specialis commissiones Arnolphorum, Bononiensium, Ferrariensium, Bene-
ventanorum, Perusii, Avinionensis civitatis, Castelli, Tuderti, et alias civitafes,
terras, et loca vel jura ad ipsam Romanam Ecclesiam spectantia. — Non obstantibus
quibuscunque privilegiis — eis — concessis, quod excommunicari vel anathemati-
zari non possint per literas Apostolicas non facientes plenam et expressam — de —
nominibus omnibus propriis — mentionem : nee non consuetudinibus — contrariis.
— Et a quibus quidem sententiis nullus per alium, quam per Romanum Pontificem,
nisi duntaxat in mortis articulo constitutus, absolvi possit : nee etiam tunc, nisi de
stando s. RomauEe Ecclesite mandatis, satisfactione vel sufficienti cautione praestitis.
— Illos autem, qui contra tenorem prssentium talibus — absolutionis beneficium
impendunt de facto, excommunicationis et anathematizationis sententia innodamus:
— et declarantes, — nos gravius contra eos spiritualiter et temporaliter — proces-
suros : et nihilominus quidquid egerint absolvendo vel alias, nullius sit roboris ac
moraenti. Ut autem hujusmodi nostri processus ad communem omnium notitiam
deducantur, Chartas sive membranas processus continentes eosdem in valvis Basili-
carum Principis Apostolorum, sanctique Johannis Lateranensis de urbe affigi, seu
appendi faciemus, quae processus ipsos suo quasi sonoro praeconio et patulo indicio
publicabunt, ut hi, quos processus hujusmodi contingunt, quod ad ipsos non per-
venerint, aut quod ipsos ignoraverint, nullam possint excusationem pra^tendere,
seu ignorantiam praetendere, cum non sit verisimile, quoad ipsos remanere in-
cognitum, quod tam patenter omnibus publicatur. (Concerning this mode of pub-
lication see § 59, note 33; § 96, note 6; § 100, note 9.) Verum ut prssentes
literse, ac omnia in eis contenta, eo fiant notiora, quo in plerisque civitatibus et
locis fuerint publicata, Venn, fratribus nostris Patriarchis, Primatibus, Archiepis-
334 Tliird Period. Div. V. A. D. 1409 — 1517.
imposed, and rebuked the Popes for their haste.^^ And it is not to
be wondered at that as the respect for the hierarchy sank lower and
lower, till their censures were often as little regarded by men â– 'â– ' as by
the reptiles and insects, against which they were not unfrequently
directed.-^^
Ǥ. 147.
INQUISITION.
During the papal schism and the period of the reforming councils,
the power of the Inquisition seemed to be broken with that of the
hierarchy ; ^ but with the revival of this last the Inquisition also re-
vived, and commenced in Spain and Germany a course more deeply
marked than ever by cruelty and bloodshed.
In Spain- the occasion for this cruelty was afforded by the Jews,
who, from A. D. 1391 , had been forced in appearance lo embrace
Christianity, but in private had continued to worship according to the
religion of their fathers.^ The Inquisition established to inquire into,
and bring to judgment this heresy, assumed a character hitherto
unknown, however, from the circumstance, that the king and queen,
Ferdinand and Isabella, were empowered by the Pope to appoint the
Inquisitors (1478), and to confiscate for the royal use the estates of
copis, Episcopis, et locorum Oi-dinariis ubilibet constitutis per haec scripta com-
mittimus, et in virtiite sanctae obedientife districte praecipiendo mandamus, qua-
tenus per se, vel alium, seu alios, praesentes literas, postquam eas receperint,
seu earum habuerint notitiam, saltern semel in anno, aut pluries, proiit expedire
viderint, in Ecclesiis suis, dum major in eis populi mullitudo ad divina convenerit,
solemniter publicent, et ad Christitidelium mentes deducant et declarcnt.
32 See Cone. Basil, above, § 131, note 23.
^3 See § 135, note 29.
^â– ' Compare M tiller's Schweizergeschichte, neue Aud. Leipzig, 1826. Th.
4. S. 246 fif. One case is related by Valerius A n s h e 1 m Berner Chronik.
Bd. 1. S. 206 seq. A. D. 1479.
' Thus Jacobus Carthusianus (see § 135, note 31) de arte curandi vitia (in
<ü. d. Hardt Auto<irapha Lutheri pr»f. p. 47) could say openly : Utinam moderni
theologi ac Praelati ordine procederent in cori-ectionibus : non esset opus tot homi-
nes igne cremari. Sperandum melius esset de pluribus, si viderent vestigia Christi
in Praelatis et theologis, qui per mansuetudinem suas doctrin», et per pietatem
•omnes vicit, et trahendos ad se traxit. Moderni autem non sic. Sed qui nititur
informari rationibus, exposcens rationem de fide, non sunt parati reddei'c rationem,
ut tamen docet fieri b. Petrus. Sed statim fremunt dentibus, acclamantcs : hcereti-
•cus est, comburatur. Sicque attrahendos exasperant, et exasperates repollunt, et,
si possunt, i].\mna bonorum et corporis illis procurant. Qua> omnia Christus non
docuit, sed onmia prohibuit. Inde accidit, quod moderni nil proficiant, sed potius
Ecclesiam Dei diminuant. Et cunctos, etiam timoratos, scandalisant.
" Lud. a Paramo de origine et progressu officii sancta; Inquisitionis. Matrili,
1598. Ibl. S p i 1 1 1 e r ' s Entwurf der Gesch. der span, lnq\üsition, vor der Samm-
lung der Instruclionem des span. Inquisitionsgerichfes, übers, von J. D. Reuss.
Hannover, 1788. 8vo. Histoire critique de l'inquisition d'Espagne par D. Jean
Ant. Llorente. Tomes IV. k Paris. 1817, 1818. 8vo.
3 Llorente, I. p. 141 seq.
Chap. IV. Internal History. § 147. Inquisition. 335
the condemned. Two inquisitors were first appointed (1480), but though
they showed themselves, as it might have seemed, sufficiently active
in their bloody work,"* they were soon displaced, and Thomas de
Torquemada appointed Inquisitor General (1483).^ By him a regular
system was introduced. Inquisitors were stationed in every place of
any note, and provided with the most particular instructions.^ These
again surrounded themselves with assistants (familiäres Sancti Offi-
cii). All resistance even of the civil authorities was put down by the
most fearful means.^ The burning piles of the victims were altars
on which at once reason was sacrificed to fanaticism, and civil liberty
to royal despotism.*^ The bishops, instead of assisting in the judg-
ment, were obliged to submit to the new Inquisition,^ and even the
popes were not able to restrain this monster of their own creation. ^^
* Llorente, I. p. 145 seq. Compare Sixti IV. epist. ad Ferdinandum et Isabel-
lam, dd. 29 Jan. 14S2, in Llorente lY. p. 347 : Quo factum est, ut multiplices
querela; et lamentationes factas fuerint, tam contra nos de illarum (literarum) expe-
ditione hujusmodi, quam contra Majestates vestras et contra dilectos filios Michaelem
de Morillo Magistrum, et Joannem de s. Martino Baccalaureum in theologia,
Ordinis Prasdicatorum professores, quos dictarum litterarum praetextu inquisitores
in vestra civitate Hispalensi nominastis, pro eo quod (ut asseritur) inconsulte, et
nullo juris ordine servato procedentes, multos injuste carceraverint, diris tormentis
subjecerint, et haereticos injuste declaraverint, ac bonis spoliaverint, qui ultimo
supplicio affecti fuere : adeo ut quam plures alii justo timore perterriti in fugam se
convertentes hinc inde dispersi sint, plurimique ex eis — ad sedem Romanam,
oppressorum ubique tutissimum refugium, confugerint.
* Llorente, I. p. 172 seq.
^ The earliest dates 29 Sept. (according to Llorente, 29 Oct.) 1484, may be seen
in the Sammlung der Instructionera des span. Inquisitionsgerichtes, übers, v. J. D.
Eeuss, S. 1 ff., extracted in Llorente, I. p. 175 seq.
' See the efforts of the Cortes of Arragon at Rome, against the new Inquisition,
especially against the system of confiscation, Llorente, I. p. 187 ; murder of an
Inquisitor in Saragossa, 1485, p. 189 ; disturbances at the same time in all Arragon,
p. 211; renewed resistance of the Cortes of Arragon, 1510, p. 371 ; united efforts
of the Cortes of Castile, Arragon, and Catalonia, against the Inquisition at the
accession of Charles V., 1518, p. 376 seq.
^ R an k e ' s Fürsten u. Völker von Südeuropa im sechszehnten u. siebzehnten
Jahrb.-, vornehmlich aus ungedruckten Gesandtschaftsberichten. Bd. 1. (Hamburg,
1827. 8vo.) S. 241. In what regard the new Inquisition was at first held in Spain
may be seen from Sixti IV. epist. ad Isabellam, dd. 23 Febr. 1483, in Llorente,
IV. p. 354 : Quod autem dubitare videris, nos forsan existimare, cum in perfidos
illos, qui Christianura nomen ementiti Christum blasphemant, et judaica perfidia
crucifigunt, quando ad unitatem redigi nequeant, tam severe animadvertere cures,
ambitione potius et bonorum temporalium cupiditate [te agi], quam zelo fidei et
catholicae veritatis, vel Dei timore ; certo scias, ne uUam quidem apud nos ejus rei
fuisse suspicionem. Quod si non defuerint qui ad protegendum eorum scelei'a
multa susurrarint, nihil tamen sinistri de tua vel — consortis tui illustris devotione
persuaderi nobis potuit.
^ The first archbishop of Granada, Ferdinand de Talvera, having sought to
counteract the influence of the Inquisition, in his capacity as confessor to the
queen, was brought to trial, and only saved by the influence of the Pope, Llorente,
I. p. 341.
" The Popes at first tried to draw some advantage from the new Institution, by
selling absolution for the crime of apostacy, but this met with so much opposition
both from the Inquisition and the royal power, that Alexander VI. had at length
to annul all that had been granted, 23 Aug. 1497, Llorente, I. p. 239 seq. In like
manner they at first sold privileges, by which individuals were taken from the
336 Third Period. Div. V. A. D. 1409 — 1517.
In 1492, by Torquemada's advice, all Jews who refused to embrace
Christianity, were expelled from the kingdom, and in 1502 a like
fate was decreed for the Moors in Granada, notwithstanding the
assurances to the contrary made at the peace of 1492. But still for
centuries the Inquisition found no lack of victims for its bloody work.^^
Fear and mistrust mingled in the nearest and holiest relations of life;
whilst cruelty, revenge, treachery and hypocrisy became more and
more deeply marked in the character of the unhappy people who
groaned under this fearful yoke.^^
jurisdiction of the Inquisition; but on the 15th May, 1502, Alexander decreed that
in future the Gi'and-Inquisitor should be the judge of all such cases of exemption,
Llorente, I. p. 247 seq.
" According to Llorente, IV. p. 252, up to 1498, when Torquemada resigned
his office, there had been 8,800 burned alive, 6,500 in effigy, 90,004 punished in
various ways : under his successor, the Dominican, Diego Deza, from 1499- 1506,
1664 were burned alive, 832 in effigy, 32,456 perished by penance : under the
third general Inquisitor, the Cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo, Francis Ximenez
de Cisneros, from 1507-1517, 2536 were burned ahve, 136S in effigy, 47,263
reconciled to the church.
^- The orthodox view of this scourge may be seen from the account of the
origin of the Inquisition in Jo. Mariana hist, de rebus Hispanis (Toledo, 1592)
lib. XXIV. c. 17 : Meliori Hispanic foto, quod eatenus factum non erat, quGestion-
ibus habendis adversus religionis desertores atque h^reticos, aliisque in veram
pietatem criminibus vindicandis certi judices designati in Castella sunt, discreti ab
Episcopis (quorum effi partes ab antiquo erant), Komani Pontificis auctoritate, et
favore Principum armati, Inquisitorum ab officio nomine. Morem in aliis provin-
cfis frequentem Italia, Gallia, Germania, ipsaque Aragonia, hoc demum tempore
Castella est imitata: neque in studio impios conatus vindicandi se ab ulla gente
vinci passa est. Auctor consilii Hispaniae Cardinalis (i. e. Petrus Gonzalez a
Mendoza, Archiepiscopus Hispalensis). Licentia superiorum temporum multa
in ea provincia erant depravata, Mauris Judasisque cum piis promiscue versantibus
nullo non commercii genere. Prava consuetudine usuque non paucos e piorum
numero infici necesse fuit : plures sacra christiana, quce susceperant patria super-
stitione abdicata, fide inconstanti, nullo vetante deserebant : labes Hispali maxime
est grassata : in ea urbe primum qua!sdonibus arcane habitis de sentibus gravissi-
mis poenis vindicatum est. Nam majori commisso delicto, igne post diuturnuin