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
Although by decree both secular and ecclesiastical courts were empowered
to punish the guilty, the prosecutions seem to have been left altogether
to the Inquisition and it had the satisfaction of burning the effigies
of the fugitives. Many, however, paid the penalty in their persons.
Vidau Durango was soon caught at Lérida, when he made no difficulty in
revealing the details of the plot and the names of the accomplices. The
work of retribution followed and was continued for years. In the auto of
June 30, 1486, Juan de Pedro Sánchez was burnt in effigy; Vidau Durango
was treated mercifully, doubtless in consideration of his
communicativeness; his hands were cut off and nailed to the door of the
Diputacion, or House of Diputados, and it was not until he was dead that
he was dragged to the market-place when he was beheaded and quartered
and the fragments were suspended in the streets. The punishment of Juan
de Esperandeu was more harsh; he was dragged while living to the portal
of the cathedral when his hands were cut off; he was then dragged to the
market-place, beheaded and quartered, as in the case of Durango. On
July 28th Caspar de Santa Cruz and Martin de Santangel were burnt in
effigy and Pedro de Exea, who had contributed to the fund, was burnt
alive. On October 21st, Maria de la Badía was burnt as an accessory. On
December 15th an auto was hastily arranged; Francisco de Santa Fe,
assessor of the Governor of Aragon and son of the great Converso
Jeronimo de Santa Fe, was fatally compromised in the conspiracy;
hopeless of escape he threw himself from the battlement of the tower in
which he was confined and was dashed to pieces and the same day his
remains were burnt and his bones, enclosed in a box, were cast into the
Tagus as though it was feared that they would be venerated as those of a
martyr. Juan de la Badía eluded his tormentors in even more desperate
fashion. An auto was arranged for January 21, 1487, in which he was to
suffer; in his cell the day before he broke in pieces a glass lamp and
swallowed the fragments, which speedily brought the death he craved; the
next day his corpse was dragged and quartered and the hands were cut off
and on the same occasion there were burnt in effigy as accomplices Pedro
de Almazan the elder, Anton Pérez and Pedro de Vera. On March 15th Mateo
Ram, who superintended the murder, had his hands cut off and was then
burnt, with Joan Francés, who was suspected of complicity and the
effigies of three accomplices, Juan Ram, Alonso Sánchez and García de
Moras. August 8th, Luis de Santangel, who was one of the chief
conspirators, was beheaded in the market-place, his head was set upon a
pole and his body was burnt.[670]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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