It Begins
About Four a Clock the Officers give Bread and Figs to all of them, that they may somewhat satisfy their Hunger during the Celebration of the Act of Faith. About Sunrising, the great Bell of the Cathedral Church tolls, by which, as the usual Signal of an Act of Faith, all Persons are gathered together to this miserable spectacle. The more reputable and principal Men of the City meet at the House of the Inquisition, and are as it were the Sureties of the Criminals, one of them walking by the Side of each Criminal in the Procession, which they think is no small Honor to them. Matters being thus prepared the Inquisitor places himself near the Gate of the House of the Inquisition, attended by the Notary of the holy Office. Here he reads over in Order the Names of all the Criminals, beginning with those whose Offences are least, and ending with those whose Crimes are greatest. The Criminals march one each in their Order, with naked Feet, and wearing the Habit that was put on them in Jail. As every one goes out, the Notary reads the Name of his Surety, who walks by his Side in the Procession. The Dominican Monks march first, who have this Honor granted them, because Dominic the Founder of their Order, was also the Inventor of the Inquisition. The Banner of the holy Office is carried before them, in which the Image of Dominic is curiously wrought in Needle-work, holding a Sword in one Hand, and in the other a Branch of Olive, with these Words, Justice and Mercy. Then follow the Criminals with their Sureties. When all those whose Crimes are too slight to be punished with Death, are gone out into Procession, then comes the Crucifix, after which follow those who are led out to the Punishment of Death. The Crucifix being in the Midst of these, has its Face turned to those who walk before, to denote the Mercy of the holy Office to those who are saved from the Death they had deserved, and the back Part of it to those who come after, to denote that they have no Grace or Mercy to expect. For all Things in this Office Are mysterious; Finally, they carry out the Statues of those who have died in Hersey, habited in the Samarra, and also the Bones dug out of the Graves, shut up in black Chests, upon which Devils and Flames are painted all over, that they may be burnt to Ashes.
When they have thus marched round the principal Streets of the City, that all may behold them, they at length enter the Church, where the Sermon concerning the Faith is to be preached. At Goa this is usually the Church of the Dominicans and sometimes that of the Franciscans, The great Altar is covered over with Cloth, upon which are placed six silver Candle-sticks, with burning Tapers. On each Side of it is erected something like a Throne; that on the right Hand for the Inquisitor and his Counselors, that on the left for the Viceroy and his Officers. Over-against the great Altar there is another lesser one, on which several Missals are placed, and from thence even to the Gate of the Church is made a long Gallery, three Foot wide, full of Seats, in which the Criminals are placed, with their Sureties, in the Order in which they enter the Church; so that those who enter first, and have offended least, are nearest the Altar.
( Dr. Geddes gives us the following Account of this Procession in Portugal, p. 441.
“In the Morning of the Day the Prisoners are all brought into a great Hall, where they give the Habits they are to wear in the Procession, which begins to come out of the Inquisition about 9 a Clock in the Morning.”
“The first in the Procession are the Dominicans, who carry the Standard of the Inquisition, which on the one Side hath their Founder, Dominic’s Picture, and on the other Side the Cross, betwixt an Olive-tree and a Sword, with the Motto, Justistta & Miserecordia. Next after the Dominicans come the Penitents, some with Benitoes, and some without, according to the Nature of their Crimes. They are all in black Coats without Sleeves, and bare-footed, with a Wax-Candle in their Hands. Next come the Penitents, who have narrowly escaped being burnt, who over their black Coat have Flames painted, with their Points turned downwards, to signify their having been saved, but so if by Fire. Next come the Negative and Relapsed, that are to be burnt, with Flames upon their Habit, pointing upward, and next come those who profess Doctrines contrary to the Faith of the Roman Church, and who, besides Flames on their Habit pointing upward, have their Picture, which is drawn two or three Days before upon their Breasts, with Dogs, Serpents, and Devils, all with open Mouths painted about it.”
“Pegna, a famous Spanish Inquisitor, calls this Procession, Horrindum ac tremendum Spectaculum, and so it is in Truth, there being something in the Looks of all the Prisoners, besides those that are to be burnt, that is ghastly and disconsolate, beyond what can be imagined, and in the Eyes and Countenances of those that are to be burnt, there is something that looks fierce and eager.”
“The Prisoners that are to be burnt alive, besides a Familiar, which all the rest have, have a Jesuit on each Hand of them, who are continually preaching to them to abjure their Heresies, but if they offer to speak any Thing, in Defense of the Doctrines they are going to suffer Death for professing, they are immediately gagged, and not suffered to speak a Word more.”
“This I saw done to a Prisoner, presently after he came out of the Gates of the Inquisition, upon his having looked up to the Sun, which he had not seen before in several Years, and cried out in a Rapture, How is it possible for people that behold that glorious body to worship any Being but him that created it? After the Prisoner comes a Troop of Familiars on Horseback, and after them the Inquisitors and other Officers of the Court upon Mules, and last of all comes the Inquisitor General upon a white Horse led by two Men, with a black Hat, and a green Hatband, and attended by all the Nobles, that are not employed as Familiars in the Procession.”
“In the Terreiro de Paco, which may be as far from the Inquisition, as White Hall is from Temple Bar, there is a Scaffold erected, which may hold two or three thousand People, at the one End sit the Inquisitors, and at the other End the Prisoners. and in the same Order as they walked in the Procession, those that are to be burnt being seated on the highest Benches behind the rest, which may be ten Foot above the Floor of the Scaffold.”)
After this comes in the Inquisitor, surrounded with his Colleagues, and places himself on the right Hand Throne, and then the Viceroy, with his Attendants, seats himself on the Throne on the left Hand The Crucifix is put on the Altar in the Midst of the six Candlesticks. Then the Sermon is preached concerning the Faith and the Office of the Inquisition. This Honor is generally given to the Dominicans. The Author of the History of the Inquisition at Goa tells us, that in the Act of Faith, in which he walked in Procession, clothed with the Sambento, the Provincial of the Augustines, preached the Sermon, which lasted half an Hour, and treated of the Inquisition, which he compared to Noah’s Ark , but said it was preferable to Noah’s Ark in this, because that the Animals which entered it came out of it after the Flood, with the same brutal Nature they carried in, whereas the Inquisition so far changes the Persons who are detained in it, that though they enter cruel as Wolves, and fierce as Lions, they come out of it meek as Lambs.
When the Sermon is ended, two Readers, one after another, mount the same Pulpit, and with a loud Voice publicly read over the Sentences of all the Criminals, and the Punishment to which they are condemned. He whose Sentence is read over is brought by an Officer into the Middle of the Gallery, holding an extinguished Taper in his Hand, and there stands till his Sentence is read through , and because all the Criminals are supposed to have incurred the greater Excommunication, when any one’s Sentence is read over, he is brought to the Foot of the Altar, where, upon his Knees and his Hands placed on the Missal, he waits till so many are brought there, as there are Missals upon the Altar. Then the Reader for some time defers the reading of the Sentences; and after he hath admonished those who are kneeling at the Altar, that they should recite with him with their Heart and Mouth the Confession of Faith, he is to read over to them, he reads it with a loud Voice, and when it is ended they all take their former Places. Then the Reader reads over the Sentences of the rest, and the same Order is observed till all the Sentences are gone thro’.
When the Sentences of all those, who are freed from the Punishment of Death by the Mercy of the Office, are read thro’, the Inquisitor rises from his Throne, puts on his sacred Vestments, and being attended with about twenty Priests comes down into the Middle of the Church, and there saying over some solemn Prayers, which may be seen* in the Book of the Sentences of the Tholouse Inquisition, he absolves them all from the Excommunication they were under, giving each of them a Blow by the Hands of those Priest who attend him.
- * Verse. Lord, save thy Men Servants, and thine Handmaids.
- Resp. These, O My God who trust in thee.
- Verse. The Lord be with you.
- Resp. And with thy Spirit
Let us pray.
“Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, to these thy men Servants, and thine Handmaids, the worthy Practs [??] of Penitence, that they may be rendered innocent in the Sight of thy holy Church, from the integrity of which they have strayed thro’ Sin, by obtaining the Pardon of their Sins, thro’ Christ our Lord. Amen”
Further, when the Inquisitors absolve and reconcile Penitents at an Act of Faith, they make use of Rods, to admonish them, that by Heresy they have fallen from the Favor of God into his Anger and Fury. Hence Paramus advices such Penitents to consider, with how great Indulgence they are treated, because they are only whipped on their Shoulders, that they may go away, and being mindful of the divine Fury, may take heed not to relapse for the future. The Rod also points out the judiciary Power which the Inquisitors exercise over impious Heretics, and those who are suspected of Heresy, because a Rod is the Measure by which any one’s Deserts are measured, and therefore Penitents are whipped with Rods according to the Nature of their Offence, whereby their Faults are weighed and measured. Further, the Inquisitors use Rods, because, as a Rod at the Beginning is in its Nature flexible, tender and soft, but at last hard, blunt and stiff, to the Inquisitors are soft and tender, whilst Penitents, offending thro’ Frailty and Ignorance, reconcile themselves, but if Heretics do afterwards suffer themselves to be overcome by Wickedness, and fall again into the Crimes they have committed, then they whip them, and strike them severely, even to the burning of the Fire. And finally they use Rods to establish and support the Weak in the Faith, because Rods are a very apt Instrument to support and confirm the Lame and Weak.
The Penitents carry in their Hands extinguished Wax Tapers, while the Inquisitors reconcile them to intimate that the Light of the Faith has been altogether extinguished in their Minds by the Sin of Heresy and Infidelity. These Tapers are made of Wax, whereby Heretics profess that their Hearts have been so melted, through the Heat of Concupiscence, as to receive various Sects; and that as Wax grows hard by Moisture, but melts by Dryness and Warmth, so they being hardened by the Moisture of carnal Delights, have remained in Infidelity, but are melted as Wax, and converted by the Dryness and Heat of Tribulation and Penance enjoined them. And finally, the Cotton of the Taper, and the Wax of which ’tis made, and the Fire with which ’tis lighted after Absolution, shadow forth, that the Heretics have denied Faith, Hope and Charity. But when the Tapers are lighted after their Reconciliation, this signifies, that they profess they will demonstrate by the Light of good Works the Faith which they have recovered.
Further, those who are reconciled are sprinkled with holy Water and Hyssop, in Token, that being brought out of the Power of Darkness, and having turned the Eyes of their Minds to the true Light of the Faith, they are to remain free from all the Snares and Calumnies of the Devil, that they may serve God with greater Freedom.
Further, he who has offended against the Catholic Faith which he had professed, has a Rope tied round his Neck, to signify, that the inward Parts of such a Person being possessed by the Craftiness of the Devil, have been given to such Sins, of which his outward Parts being tied with Ropes give a very evident Sign and Proof. And though they are reconciled after Abjuration of their Heresy, yet they walk with a Rope tied about their Neck that they may come out as Witnesses against themselves, and may be Examples to others, that they may turn their Eyes to the inward Spots of the Mind.
During this Action, every one of the Prisoners eats the Bread and Figs in the Church, which were given them by the Officers of the Inquisition in jail.
When this Ceremony is performed, the Inquisitor goes back to his Place, after which the Sentences of those who are appointed to Death are read over, the Conclusion of which is, that the Inquisition can show them no Favor upon Account of their being relapsed, or impenitent, and that therefore it delivers them over to the Arm of the secular Court, which they earnestly entreat so to moderate their Punishment, as to prevent the Effusion of Blood, and Danger of Death. When those last Words are read, one of the Officers of the holy Office gives each of them a Blow on the Breast, by which he signifies that they are left by the Inquisitor; upon which one of the Officers of secular Justice comes to them and claims them. If any of them are in holy Orders, they are degraded, and deprived of all their Orders, before they are delivered to the secular Arm. After this they read the Sentences against the Dead.
At last these miserable Wretches are brought to the secular Judge, to hear the Sentence of Death, and when they come before him, they are severally asked, in what Religion they desire to die. Their Crime is never inquired into because ’tis not the Office of the secular Magistrate, to ask, whether those, who are condemned by the Inquisition, are criminal. He is to presuppose them guilty, and his Duty is to inflict the Punishment appointed by Law upon those who commit such Crimes of which they are pronounced guilty by the Inquisition. When they have answered this one single Question, they are soon after tied to a Stake, round about which there is placed a Pile of Wood. Those who answer that they will die Catholics, are first strangled ; but those who say they will die Jews or Heretics, are burnt alive.* As these are leading out to Punishment, the rest are carried back without any Order, by their Sureties, to the Jail of the Inquisition. This is the Celebration of an Act of Faith in Portugal, or rather in that Part of India which is subject to the Portuguese, as a Frenchman has described it in his History of the Inquisition at Goa, who himself walked in Procession at an Act of Faith, wearing the infamous Sambeniti, and who accurately observed and described all the Circumstances, of it.
* I cannot avoid here giving my Reader a more particular Account of this Execution from Dr. Geddes, who himself was once present at it. His Words are these. “The Prisoners are no sooner in the hands of the Civil Magistrate, than they are loaded with Chains, before the eyes of the Inquisitors, and being carried first to the secular Jail, are, within an Hour or two, brought from thence, before the Lord Chief Justice, who without knowing any Thing of their particular Crimes, or of the Evidence which was against them, asks them one by one, In what Religion they do intend to die? If they answer, That they will die in the Communion of the Church of Rome, they are condemned therein, To be carried forthwith to the Place of Execution, and there to be first strangled, and afterwards burnt to Ashes. But it they say, They will die in the Protestant, or in any other Faith that is contrary to the Roman, they are then sentenced by him, To be Carried forthwith to the Place of Execution, and there to be burnt alive. —
The Method of celebrating an Act of Faith in Spain is somewhat different. For whereas at Goa, the Banner which they carry before the Procession hath the Picture of Dominic wrought in it, Paramus says that in Spain the Cross is the Banner of the Inquisition, which is carried before them, and tediously tells us of several Mysteries signified by the Cross, of which I will here give a short Summary.
The Cross is the Beginning and End of all Acts of the Inquisition, and by it is represented that the Tribunal of the Inquisition is a Representation of that supreme and final Tribunal, in which the Sign of the Cross shall appear is before the Lord Christ, coming to the Judgment of the World with great Majesty and Glory. Further, it denotes the War which the Inquisition wages against Heretics, and the Victory which they gain over the Enemies of the Orthodox Faith , because the Inquisitors are appointed the Conquerors of heretical Pravity, and Captains for the Defense of Religion, who keep Watch at the Castle of the Inquisition for the Christian Faith, repair it when going to Ruin, restore it when tumbled down, and preserve it when restored in its ancient, flourishing and vigorous State.
Thus far Dr. Geddes.—”At the Place of Execution, which at Lisben is the Ribeva, there are So many Stakes set up, as there are Prisoners to be burnt, with a good Quantity of dry Furz about them. The Stakes of the Professed, as the Inquisitors call them, may be about four Yards high, and have a small Board whereon the Prisoner is to be seated, within half a Yard of the Top. The Negative and Relapsed being first strangled and burnt, the Professed go up a Ladder, betwixt the two Jesuits, which have attended them all Day, and when they are come even with the aforementioned Board, they turn about to the People, and the Jesuits spend near a quarter of an Hour in exhorting the Professed to be reconciled to the Church of Rome , which, if they refuse to be, the Jesuits come down, and the Executioner ascends, and having turned the Professed off the Ladder upon the Seat, and chained their Bodies close to the Stake, he leaves them, and the Jesuits go up to them a second time, to renew their Exhortation to them, and at parting tell them, That they leave them to the Devil, who is standing at their Elbow to receive their Souls, and carry them with him into the flames of Hell fire, so soon as they are out of their Bodies Upon this a great Shout is raised, and as soon as the Jesuits are off the Ladders, the Cry is, Let the Dogs Beards, let the Dogs Beards be made , which is done by thrusting flaming Furzes, fastened to a long Pole, against their Faces. And this Inhumanity is commonly continued until their Faces are burnt to a Coal, and is always accompanied with such loud Acclamations of Joy, as are not to be heard upon any other Occasion, a Bull Feast, or a Farce being dull Entertainments, to the using a professed Heretic thus inhumanly.”
“The professed Beards having been thus made, or trimmed, as they call it in Jollity, Fire is set to the Furz, which are at the Bottom of the Stake, and above which the Professed are chained So high, that the Top of the Flame seldom reaches higher than the Seat they sit on, and if there happens to be a Wind, to which that Place is much exposed, it seldom reaches so high as their Knees. So that though, if there be a Calm, the Professed are commonly dead in about half an Hour after the Furz is set on Fire, yet if the Weather prove windy, they are not after that dead in an Hour and a half, or two Hours, and so are really roasted, and not burnt to Death. But though out of Hell, there cannot possibly be a more lamentable Spectacle than this, being joined with the Sufferers (so long as they are able to speak) crying out, miserecordia por amor de dios, Mercy for the love of God, yet it is beheld by People of both Sexes, and all Ages, with such Transports of Joy and Satisfaction, as are not on any other Occasion to be met with.
End Part II. Proceed to Part III
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