The crime of heresy could be committed only by a man who had been baptized, who from the point of view of the Catholic faith was guilty of error, and who obstinately persisted in that error after having been warned and enlightened. Obstinacy in error was the main point. If there was no obstinacy, but retraction of the error, there was no more crime; there remained only a sin. On the other hand, a simple offense against the _placarts_ might be committed by anyone, be he a Catholic, a Jew, or a heretic. Such offenses might be committed, for instance, by _acts_, such as the circulation of heretic books and pamphlets, by sheltering meetings of heretics, etc. The crime of heresy was to be judged by an ecclesiastical judge, the only one able to discuss those matters. The offense against the _placarts_ was to be dealt with by a secular judge, a layman. The jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical judge was limited by strict rules. He might not impose a penalty prescribed by the _placarts_, or any penalty involving the shedding of blood. If the heretic remained obstinate, he was to be expelled from the church and given over to the lay judge, who alone might impose the penalty prescribed by the _placarts_. The latter penalties were simple and drastic: death by fire, by sword, or by burial alive, and the confiscation of property. The system inaugurated by Charles was anti-judicial and cruel. It was anti-judicial, inasmuch as the penalties were applied both to heretics and to simple offenders against the _placarts_, and thus provided similar punishment for offenses whose intrinsic criminality was wholly different. It must not, however, be forgotten that in the sixteenth century the object of every penal law was to instil terror first of all, and that those guilty of heresy were considered as seditious persons, disturbers of the state, and consequently to be punished by the severe penalties applicable to acts of _lèse-majesté_. Special officers were appointed for enforcing the _placarts_. These were the so-called “Apostolic Inquisitors” whom Charles V requested the Pope to appoint in 1524. They were only ecclesiastical judges, receiving their instructions directly from the Holy See. Their mission consisted in discovering the heretics, in reconciling them with the church, and in imposing only a canon or ecclesiastical penalty. If the heretic remained obstinate, they were obliged to turn him over to the lay judge. For the first time, in 1546, they received detailed instructions from the Emperor and after that were considered as agents of the state.