The Torture Process
After the Sentence of Torture is pronounced , the Officers prepare themselves to inflict it. The Place of Torture in the Spanish Inquisition is generally an under-ground and very dark Room, to which one enters through several Doors. There is a Tribunal erected in it, in which the Inquisitor, Inspector, and Secretary sit, When the Candles are lighted, and the Person to be tortured brought in, the Executioner, who was waiting for the other, makes an astonishing and dreadful Appearance. He is covered all over with a black Linen Garment down to his Feet, and tied close to his Body. His Head and Face are all hid with a long black Cowl, only two little Holes being left in it for him to see through. All this is intended to strike the miserable Wretch with greater Terror in Mind and Body, he sees himself going to be tortured by the Hands of one who thus looks like the very Devil.
While the Officers are getting Things ready for the Torture, the Bishop and Inquisitor by themselves, and other good Men zealous for the Faith, Endeavour to persuade the Person to be tortured, freely to confess the Truth, and if he will not, they order the Officers to strip him, who do it in an Instant. Clergymen however must not be tortured by a Lay Officer or Torturer unless they can’t find any Clergymen who know how to do it, or are willing, because it would be in vain for the Judges to order any Clergyman or Monk to the Torture, if there was no Body to inflict it; and therefore in such a Case ’tis usual to torture them by Lay Officers.
While the Person to be tortured is stripping, he is persuaded to confess the Truth. If he refuses it, he is taken aside by certain good Men, and persuaded to confess, and told by them, that if he confesses, he will not be put to Death, but only be made to swear that he will not return to the Heresy he had abjured. The Inquisitor and Bishop promise the same, unless the Person be a Relapse.
If he is neither persuaded by Threatenings or Promises to confess his Crime, he is tortured either more lightly or grievously, according as his Crime requires, and frequently interrogated during the Torture, upon those Articles for which he is put to it, beginning with the lesser ones, because they think he will sooner confess the lesser Matters than the greater.
Although in other Nations Criminals are publicly tortured, yet in Spain tis forbidden by the Royal Law, for any to be present while they are torturing, besides the Judges, Secretaries and Torturers. The Inquisitors must also choose proper Torturers, born of ancient Christians, who must be bound by Oath, by no Means to discover their Secrets, nor to blab out any Thing that is said. The Judges also usually protest, that if the Criminal should happen to die under his Torture, or by reason of it, or should suffer the Loss of any of his Limbs, ’tis not to be imputed to them, but to the Criminal himself, who will not plainly confess the Truth before he is tortured. An Heretic may not only be interrogated concerning himself but in general also concerning his Companions and Accomplices in his Crime.
While these Things are doing, the Notary writes every Thing down in the Process, as what Tortures were inflicted, concerning what Matters the Criminal was interrogated, and what he answered. If by these Tortures they can’t draw from him a Confession, they show him other kind of Tortures, and tell him he must undergo all of them, unless he confesses the Truth. If neither by this Means they can extort the Truth, they may to terrify him and engage him to confess, assign the second or third Day to continue, not to repeat the Torture, till he hath undergone all those Kinds of them to which he is condemned.
The Degrees of Torture formerly used were five, which were inflicted in their Turn, and are described by Julius Glarus. Know therefore, says he, that there are five Degrees of Torture, viz. First, the being threatened to be tortured. Secondly, being carried to the Place of Torture Thirdly, by stripping and binding. Fourthly, the being hoisted up on the Rack. Fifthly, Squassation.
This Stripping is performed without any Regard to Humanity or Honor, not only to Men, but to Women and Virgins, though the most virtuous and chaste, of whom they have sometimes many in their Prisons. For they cause them to be stripped, even to their very Shifts, which they afterwards take off, forgive the Expression, even to their Pudenda [external genitals], and then put on them strait Linen Drawers, and then make their Arms naked quite up to their Shoulders. As to Squassation, ’tis thus performed: The Prisoner has his Hands bound behind his Back, and Weights tied to his Feet, and then he is drawn up by his bound hands on high, till his Head reaches the very Pulley. He is kept hanging in this Manner for some time, that by the Greatness of the Weight hanging at his Feet, all his Joints and Limbs may be dreadfully stretched, and on a sudden he is let down with a jerk, by the slacking the Rope, but kept from coming quite to the Ground, by which terrible Shake, his Arms and Legs are all disjointed, whereby he is put to the most exquisite Pain; the Shock which he receives by the sudden Stop of his Fall, and the Weight at his Feet stretching his whole Body more intensely and cruelly.
In the next Paragraph, Limbroch gives a more distinct Explication of this Matter, and reckons up three Degrees of Torture, The first is to which comprehends not only Threatenings to Torture, but the being carried to the Place of Torments, the being stripped and bound ; unless such Binding should happen to be to severe and hard, and performed with a Twist, as is the Custom of most Judges; Thus it was practiced upon a certain person of Olezo, who suffered more being bound, than others in the very Torture. And therefore such Binding may be equaled to the Torture itself. The Second Degree is, to put to the Torture, or to interrogate by Torture. This is done by hoisting a person up, and keeping him hanging for a considerable Time. The Third is to torture by Squassation, which is performed amongst us by one Jerk of the Rope. But if the Senate commands that the Person be well or severely thus tortured, they give two jerks of the Rope. Antonius Drogus, in his Annotations to this Place, says, That you may have the perfect modern Practice, observe, that when the Senate orders, let him be interrogated by Torture, the Person is lifted or hoisted up, but not put to the Squassation. If the Senate orders, let him be tortured, he must then undergo the Squassation once, being first interrogated as he is hanging upon the Rope and Engine. If it orders, let him be well tortured, ’tis understood that he must suffer two Squassation. If it orders, let him be severely tortured, ’tis understood of three Squassation, at three different Times within an Hour. If he says very severely, ’tis understood that it must be done with Twisting,— and Weights at the Feet. In this Case the Senate generally expresses the Twisting, or any other particular Manner which they intend, and the Judge may proceed to every Severity not reaching to Death. But when it says, very severely even unto Death, then the Criminals Life is in immediate Danger.
In the Sentence , of Friar Bernard Deliciosi, of the Order of Minors, among other Things, this was imputed to him as a Criminal, that he justified those who were apprehended for Heresy, and condemned for it, and ordered to perpetual Imprisonment and other Punishments, and that though’ they were true Catholics, they had confessed Heresy of themselves and others, only through the Violence of their Torments, and were unjustly condemned.
The Author of the History of the Inquisition at Goa tells us, that the Torture now practiced in the Portuguese inquisition is exceeding cruel. In the Months of November and December I heard every Day in the Morning the Cries and Groans of those who were put to the Question, which is so very cruel, that I have seen several of both Sexes who have been ever after lame. In this Tribunal they regard neither Age nor Sex nor Condition of Persons, but all without Distinction are tortured, when ’tis for the interest of this Tribunal.
The Method of Torturing, and the Degree of Tortures now used in the Spanish Inquisition, will be well understood from the History of Isaac Orobio, a Jew, and Doctor of Physic, who was accused to the Inquisition as a Jew, by a certain Moor his Servant, who had by his Order before this been whipped for thieving; and four Years after this he was again accused by a certain Enemy of his for another Fact, which would have proved him a Jew. But Orobio obstinately denied that he was one. I will here give the Account of his Torture, as I had it from his own Mouth.
After three whole Years Which he had been in jail, and several Examinations, and the Discovery of the Crimes to him of which he was accused, in order to his Confession, and his constant Denial of them, he was at length carried out of his Jail, and thro’ several Turnings brought to the Place of Torture. This was towards the Evening. It was a large underground Room, arched, and the Walls covered with black Hangings. The Candlesticks were fastened to the Wall, and the whole Room enlighten with Candles placed in them. At one End of it there was an enclosed Place like a Closet, where the Inquisitor and Notary sat at a Table, so that the Place seemed to him as the very Mansion of Death, every Thing appearing so terrible and awful. Here the Inquisitor again admonished him to confess the Truth, before his Torments began. When he answered he had told the Truth, the Inquisitor gravely protested, that since he was so obstinate as to suffer the Torture, the holy Office would be innocent, if he should shed his Blood, or even expire in his Torments. When he had said this, they put a Linen Garment over his Body, and drew it so very close on each Side, as almost squeezed him to Death. When he was almost dying, they slackened at once the Sides of the Garment, and after he began to breathe again, the sudden Alteration put him to the most grievous Anguish and Pain. When he had overcome this Torture, the same Admonition was repeated, that he would confess the Truth in order to prevent further Torment. And as he persisted in his Denial, they tied his Thumbs so very tight with small Cords, as made the Extremities of them greatly swell, and caused the Blood to spurt out from under his Nails. After this he was placed with his Back against a Wall, and fixed upon a little Bench into the Wall were fastened little Iron Pulleys, through which there were Ropes drawn, and tied round his Body in several Places, and especially his Arms and Legs. The Executioner drawing these Ropes with great Violence, fastened his Body with them to the Wall, so that his Hands and Feet, and especially his Fingers and Toes being bound so straightly with them, put him to the most exquisite Pain, and seemed to him just as though he had been dissolving in Flames. In the Midst of these Torments the Torturer, of a sudden, drew, the Bench from under him, so that the miserable Wretch hung by the Cords without any Thing to support him, and by the Weight of his Body drew the Knots yet much closer. After this a new kind of Torture succeeded. There was an Instrument like a small Ladder, made of two upright Pieces of Wood, and five cross ones sharpened before. This the Torturer placed over against him, and by a certain proper Motion struck it with great Violence against both his Shins, so that he received upon each of them at once five violent Strokes, which put him to such intolerable Anguish that he fainted away. After he came to himself, they inflicted on him the last Torture. The Torturer tied Ropes about Orobio’s Wrists, and then put those Ropes about his own Back, which was covered with Leather, to prevent his hurting himself. Then falling backwards, and putting his Feet up against the Wall, he drew them with all his Might, till they cut through Orobio’s Flesh even to the very Bones; and this Torture was repented thrice, the Ropes being tied about his Arms about the Distance of two Fingers Breadth from the former Wound, and drawn with the same Violence. But it happened, that as the Ropes were drawing the second time, they slid into the first Wound, which caused so great an Effusion of Blood, that he seemed to be dying. Upon this the Physician and Surgeon, who are always ready, were sent for out of a neighboring Apartment, to ask their Advice, whether the Torture could be continued without Danger of Death, least the Ecclesiastical Judges should be guilty of an Irregularity if the Criminal should die in his Torments. They, who were far from being Enemies to Orobjo, answered, that he had Strength enough to endure the rest of the Torture, and hereby preserved him from having the Tortures he had already endured repeated on him, because his Sentence was, that he should suffer them all at one time, one after another. So that if at any time they are forced to leave off through Fear of Death, all the Tortures, even those already suffered, must be successively inflicted, to satisfy the Sentence. Upon this the Torture was repeated the third time, and then it ended. After this he was bound up in his own Cloths, and carried back to his Prison, and was scarce healed of his Wounds in seventy Days. And insomuch as he made no Confession under his Torture, he was condemned, not as one convicted, but suspected of Judaism, to wear for two whole Years the infamous Habit called Sambenito, and after that Term to perpetual Banishment from the Kingdom of Seville.
In the History of the Low Country gives us an Account of another Kind of Torture. There is a Wooden Bench, which they call the Wooden Horse, made hollow like a Trough, so as to contain a Man lying on his Back at full Length, about the Middle of which there is a round Bar laid across, upon which the Back of the Person is placed, so that he lies upon the Bar instead of being let into the Bottom of the Trough, with his Feet much higher than his Head, As he is lying in this Posture, his Arms, Thighs and Shins are tied round with small Cords or Strings, which being drawn with Screws at proper Distances from each other, cut into the very Bones, so as to be no longer discerned. Besides this, the Torturer throws over his Mouth and Nostrils a thin Cloth, so that he is scarce able to breathe through them, and in the meanwhile a small Stream of Water like a Thread, not Drop by Drop, falls from on high, upon the Mouth of the Person lying in this miserable Condition, and so easily sinks down the thin Cloth to the Bottom of his Throat, so that there is no Possibility of breathing, his Mouth being stopped with Water, and his Nostrils with the Cloth, so that the poor Wretch is in the same Agony, as Persons ready to die, and breathing out their Last. When this cloth is drawn out of his Throat, as it often is, that he may answer to the Questions, it is all wet with Water and Blood, and is like pulling his Bowels through his Mouth.
There is also another Kind of Torture peculiar to this Tribunal, which they call the Fire. They order a large Iron Chasing-dish full of lighted Charcoal, to be brought in, and held close to the Soles of the tortured Person’s Feet, greased over with Lard, so that the Heat of the Fire may more quickly pierce through them.
This is Inquisition by Torture, when there is only half full Proof of their Crime. However, at other Times Torments are sometimes inflicted upon Persons condemned to Death, as a Punishment preceding that of Death. Of this we have a remarkable Instance in William Lithgow, an Englishman, who, as he tells us in his Travels, was taken up as a Spy in Mallagom, a City of Spain, and was exposed to the most cruel Torments upon the Wooden Horse. But when nothing, could be extorted from him, he was delivered to the Inquisition as an Heretic, because his Journal abounded with Blasphemies against the Pope and the Virgin Mary. When he confessed himself a Protestant before the inquisitor, he was admonished to convert himself to the Roman Church, and was allowed eight Days to deliberate on it. In the meanwhile the Inquisitor and Jesuits came to him often, sometimes wheedling him, sometimes threatening and reproaching him, and sometimes arguing with him. At length they Endeavored to overcome his Constancy by kind Assurances and Promises. But all in vain. And therefore as he was immovably fixed, he was condemned in the Beginning of Lent, to suffer the Night following eleven more cruel Torments, and after Easter to be carried privately to Granada, there to be burnt at Midnight, and his Ashes to be scattered into the Air: When night came on his Fetters were taken off, then he was stripped naked, put upon his Knees, and his Hands lift up by Force; after which opening his Mouth with Iron Instruments, they filled his Belly with Water till it came out of his Jaws. Then they tied a Rope hard about his Neck, and in this Condition rolled him seven times the whole Length of the Room, till he was almost quite strangled. After this they tied a small Cord about both his great Toes, and hung him up thereby with his Head towards the Ground, and then cut the Rope about his Neck, letting him remain in this Condition, till all the Water discharged itself out of his Mouth; so that he was laid on the Ground as just dead, and had his Irons put on him again, but beyond all Expectation, and by a very singular Accident, he was delivered out of jail, escaped Death, and fortunately sailed home to England. But this Method of Torturing does not belong to this Place, where we are treating only of the Inquisition of a Crime not yet fully proved.
But if, when under the Question, he confesses, ’tis written in the Process, after which he is carried to another Place, where he has no View of the Tortures, and there his Confession made during his Torments is read over to him, and he is interrogated several times till the Confession be made. But when the Prisoner is carried to Audience, they make him pass by the Door of the Room where the Torture is inflicted, where the Executioner shows himself on purpose to be seen in that Shape of a Devil I have described before, that as he passes by, he may, by seeing him, be forced to feel, as it were, over again his past Torments. The Space of Time allowed between the Torture and the Ratification of the Confession, is determined by the Madrid Instruction, four Hours after the Torture the Criminal must ratify his Confession, and if he retracts it, the Remedies provided by Law must be made use of. And at the time when the Torture is inflicted the Notary must write down the Hour, as also the Time of The Ratification, lest if such Ratification should be made the next Day, a Doubt may arise, whether it was after or before the twenty-four Hours. If the Criminal ratifies his Confession made under Torture, and the Iniquitous are satisfied of his good Confession and Conversion, they may admit him to Reconciliation, although his Confession was made under Torture.
If there be very strong Evidence aquarist the Criminal, if new Proofs arise, if the Crime objected to him be very heinous, and the Discoveries against him undoubted, if he was not sufficiently tortured before, he may be tortured again, but then only when his Mind and Body is able to endure it.
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