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
There was, however, quite an extensive class of cases in which the right
of appeal was not completely cut off by this. These were the more
trivial ones, in which the sentence was rendered in the
audience-chamber, and in these both parties, the culprit and the fiscal,
were required to assent on the spot, when either could appeal, for the
fiscal had the same right as his opponent; it was included, in the
commission issued to fiscals, in the long enumeration of their powers
and duties, and was a right not infrequently exercised.[254] Although
the culprit thus had an opportunity to appeal, he was obliged to act
without advice. In the case of María Cazalla, in Toledo, December 19,
1534, when called upon to assent to her sentence in the
audience-chamber, she asked for delay; then, in the afternoon, she
begged to be allowed to consult her husband or her counsel and, on this
being refused, she accepted the sentence.[255] Still, as public autos
diminished and private _autillos_ multiplied, the opportunity for
appeals became more frequent and were sometimes successful.
[Sidenote: _APPEALS_]
This was more apt to benefit ecclesiastics than laymen for, except in
cases involving degradation, they were never exhibited in public autos;
their sentences were read in the audience-chamber, and they were more
likely than the ordinary culprit to possess the education and
intelligence requisite to profit by the opportunity. Cases of appeal by
them are consequently not infrequent. Fray Lucas de Allende, Guardian of
the Franciscan convent of Madrid, was one of the dupes of Lucrecia de
Leon, an impostor who pretended in dreams to have converse with God and
the saints. He busied himself in writing out her revelations and was
tried at Toledo, where he lay in prison from June, 1590, until April,
1596. He was sentenced to a reprimand and warning not to meddle with
such matters, to accept certain definitions laid down by the tribunal,
and to strict reclusion in a convent for a year. He vigorously protested
that the sentence was absurd and he appealed from it, to which the
fiscal retorted by likewise interjecting an appeal. The Suprema heard
both appeals and decided, July 30, 1596, by confirming the sentence as
to reprimand and warning, and omitting the rest. Even this did not
satisfy the obstinate Franciscan for when read to him, August 2d, he
refused to accept it and appealed to the pope, but, on being warned to
reflect well, he on the same day withdrew this appeal and submitted.
There can be little doubt however that the inquisitors suppressed the
revocation of part of the sentence, for there follows a petition from
him to be allowed to visit his native Villarubia before entering upon
his reclusion, deceit of this kind being perfectly practicable in the
profound secrecy of the tribunals.[256] More successful was the
Geronimite Fray Martin de Cazares, prosecuted in Valladolid for
superstitious curing of the sick and sentenced, in 1655, to reprimand
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