A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 4 — John Shaqi
A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 4Lea, Henry Charles
History
A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 4
Lea, Henry Charles
Inquisition -- Spain
These cases show that the prevalence of the mingled heresies of
Illuminism and Lutheranism was calling for repression, nor was this
confined to Castile. In 1533, Miguel Galba, fiscal of the tribunal of
Lérida, in a letter to Cardinal Manrique, declared that only the
vigilance of the Inquisition prevented both kingdoms from being filled
with the followers of the two heresies.[38] There was of course
exaggeration in this, but the fears of the authorities led them to see
heresies everywhere. As Juan de Valdés, himself inclined to mysticism,
says, when any one endeavored to manifest the perfection of
Christianity, his utterances were misinterpreted and he was condemned as
a heretic, so that there was scarce any one who dared to live as a
Christian.[39] Many suffered from the results of this hyper-sensitiveness.
When Ignatius Loyola, after his conversion, came in 1526 to Alcalá to
study, he was joined by four young men; they assumed a peculiar gray
gown and their fervor brought many to the Hôpital de la Misericordia,
where they lodged, to consult with them and join in their spiritual
exercises. This excited suspicion and invited investigation. What was
the exact authority of Doctor Miguel Carrasco, confessor of Fonseca
Archbishop of Toledo, and of Alonso Mexia, who bore a commission
as inquisitor, does not appear, but they examined witnesses and the
sentence rendered by the Vicar-general, Juan Rodríguez de Figueroa,
was merely that the associates should lay aside their distinctive
garments. After this the number who went to listen to Loyola continued
to increase, and the women had a fashion of falling in convulsions,
there was nothing of illuminism in his exhortations, but he was open to
suspicion, and it was inadmissible that a young layman should assume
the function of a director of souls. This time it was Vicar-general
Figueroa who took the matter in hand and threw Loyola into prison, in
1527, finally sentencing him and his companions not to appear in public
until they had assumed the ordinary lay garments, nor for three years
to hold assemblages public or private and then only with permission of
the Ordinary.[40] It was this experience that drove Loyola to complete
his studies in Paris, where he was not subject to the intrusion of
excitable devotees.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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