A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 3Lea, Henry Charles
History
A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 3
Lea, Henry Charles
Inquisition -- Spain
The furious zeal of Torquemada rendered acquittal peculiarly distasteful
to him, and we have seen above (Vol. I, p. 175) a case in which he set
aside acquittals at Medina del Campo, and insisted on conviction
although, at his instance, the parties had been tried twice and had been
tortured without confession. This temper on his part could not but
impress itself on his subordinates, and yet we occasionally meet with
acquittals in this early time--acquittals, however, which manifest a
strange mental confusion, and betray the unwillingness to admit the
prosecution of the innocent, for they couple acquittal with punishment.
Thus at Guadalupe, in 1485, in the case of Andrés Alonso of Trogillano,
the sentence recites that the fiscal had not proved his accusation as
fully as he ought, wherefore the inquisitors absolved the accused but,
as the evidence aroused some suspicion in their hearts, for the
satisfaction of their consciences and his, they sentenced him to abjure
_de levi_ and, as some infamy had accrued to him from the accusation,
they removed it and restored him to his former good repute, and lifted
the sequestration on his property. Whereupon he duly abjured _de levi_,
renouncing all manner of heresy, and especially that of which he was
accused, promising to be always obedient to the Church, after which he
was absolved _ad cautelam_ from any excommunication which he might have
incurred, and of all this he asked to have a certificate.[282] All the
acquittals that I have met, of this period, bear this illogical
character, sometimes even requiring abjuration _de vehementi_ and
inflicting penalties for the offence of which the accused is pronounced
innocent.
[Sidenote: _ACQUITTAL_]
In Barcelona, the Inquisition had been established twelve years before
the first acquittal was granted, and, from such record as we have, it
would appear that there were acquittals of more than one
kind--conditional and unconditional. Thus, in 1499, Jayme Castanyer and
Eufrosina Pometa were acquitted, but were required to abjure publicly on
May 2d, and, on October 5th, Luys Palau was acquitted. In 1500, on
September 18th, four women were acquitted absolutely, two men were
acquitted with penance, and two women and a man were acquitted with
abjuration. Then, on October 5th, the memory and fame of Juan de Ribes
Altes were cleared and, on December 20, 1501, Blanquina Darla was
acquitted absolutely.[283]
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