without a formal decision signed unanimously by all three. In 1534 Charles V. called attention to the neglect of this rule, whereby the accused was deprived of the right of appeal, and he ordered that it should be strictly observed in future—regulations which duly maintained their place on the statute book as long as the use of torture was continued.[1498] Many varieties were in use, but the most common were the strappado and pouring water down the throat; but when the accused was so weak as to render these dangerous, fire was applied to the soles of the feet; and the use of the scourge was not unusual. As in the ancient laws, the owner of slaves was entitled to compensation when his bondmen were unjustly tortured. If there was no justification for it, he was reimbursed in double the estimated value; if the judge exceeded the proper measure of torment, he made it good to the owner with another slave.[1499] Whatever limitations may theoretically have been assigned to the application of torture, however, it is probable that they received little respect in practice. Simancas, Bishop of Badajos, who was a little anterior to Villadiego, speaks of it as a generally received axiom that scarcely any criminal accusation could be satisfactorily tried without torture.[1500] This is confirmed by the account recently discovered by Bergenroth of the secret history of the execution of Don Carlos, for, whether it be authentic or not, it shows how thoroughly the use of torture had interpenetrated the judicial system of Spain. It states that when Philip II. determined to try his wretched son for the crime of encouraging the rebellious movements in the Netherlands, and the prince denied the offence, torture was applied until he fainted, and, on recovering his senses, consented to confess in order to escape the repetition which was about to be applied. It is hardly to be believed that even a Spanish imagination could invent the dark and terrible details of this dismal story; and even if it be not true, its author must have felt that such an incident was too probable to destroy its vraisemblance.