A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 1Lea, Henry Charles
History
A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 1
Lea, Henry Charles
Inquisition -- Spain
[Sidenote: _INTERNAL QUARRELS_]
As delegated powers were held to expire with the death of the grantor,
unless otherwise expressly defined, Torquemada's commission required
renewal on the decease of Sixtus IV. Ferdinand and Isabella asked that
the new one should not be limited to the life of the pope, but that the
power should continue, not only during Torquemada's life, but until the
appointment of his successor.[487] The request was not granted and, when
Innocent VIII, by a brief of February 3, 1485, recommissioned Torquemada
it was in the ordinary form. This apparently was not satisfactory, but
the pope was not willing thus to lose all control of the Spanish
Inquisition and a compromise seems to have been reached, for when,
February 6, 1486, Torquemada was appointed Inquisitor-general of
Barcelona and his commission for Spain was renewed, on March 24th of the
same year, it was drawn to continue at the good pleasure of the pope and
of the Holy See, which, without abnegating papal control, rendered
renewals unnecessary.[488] This formula was abandoned in the commissions
of Torquemada's immediate successors, but was subsequently resumed and
continued to be employed through the following centuries.[489]
Torquemada's commission of 1485 contained the important power of
appointing and dismissing inquisitors, but the confirmation of 1486 bore
the significant exception that all those appointed by the pope were
exempted from removal by him, indicating that in the interval he had
attempted to exercise the power and that the resistance to it had
enlisted papal support. In fact, at the conference of Seville, held in
1484 by Torquemada, there were present the two inquisitors of each of
four existing tribunals; from Seville we find Juan de San Martin, one of
the original appointees of 1479, but his colleague, Miguel de Morillo,
has disappeared and is replaced by Juan Ruiz de Medina, who had been
merely assessor, while but a single one, Pero Martínez de Barrio, of the
seven commissioned by Sixtus IV in 1482 appears as representing the
other tribunals--the rest are all new men, doubtless appointees of
Torquemada.[490] There was evidently a bitter quarrel on foot between
Torquemada and the original papal nominees, who held that their powers,
delegated directly from the pope, rendered them independent of him, and,
as usual, the Holy See inclined to one side or to the other in the most
exasperating manner, as opposing interests brought influence to bear.
Complaints against Torquemada were sufficiently numerous and serious to
oblige him thrice to send Fray Alonso Valaja to the papal court to
justify him.[491] He seems to have removed Miguel de Morillo, who
vindicated himself in Rome, for a brief of Innocent VIII, February 23,
1487, appoints him inquisitor of Seville, in complete disregard of the
faculties granted to Torquemada. Then a _motu proprio_ of November 26,
1487, suspends both him and Juan de San Martin and commissions
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account