But, in spite of the terrors which it spread, voices were repeatedly heard in Spain to pronounce against it, especially when it developed all its power to crush out evangelical doctrines diu^ng the great Reformation of the 16th century. Hatred towards it liad spread itself far through the country (YrCTie, Reformation in Spain, chap, v) ; and Avhen Charles V ascended the throne, the Cortes of Castile, .Vragun, and Catalonia endeavored to
bring to pass a reformation of the tribunal (Llorente, i, 3('6 sq.). Negotiations to accomplish this end were en- tered into with the papal chair, and concessions were made, but they were not carried out. It directed its power now against those who openly or secretly adhered to evangelical doctrines. It published annually an edict of denunciation, and convened its chief tribunals at Se- ville and Valladolid. But it also directed its power against such members of its own Church as did not ac- cept the doctrines of the Council of Trent concerning justification. As, however, they succeeded in entirely suppressing Protestantism in Spain before the beginning of the 17th century, executions Iwcame rarer, and in the latter haK of the 17th century the Inquisition abated its rigor, and was active principally in suppressing books and persecuting those who possessed or circulated for- bidden books. Autos da fe were hardly ever heard of, and, as a result, the tribunal was less feared ; and, final- ly, even Charles III forbade first the execution of capi- tal punishment without royal warrant, and afterwards also set further limits to the power of the Inquisition, preventing it from rendering any final decision ^vithout the assent of the king, and also from making any new regidations. In 1702 the grand inquisitor was exiled into a convent for condemning a book against the king's will. In 1770 his minister Aranda circumscribed its power still further by forbidding the imprisonment of any royal subject, unless his guilt was well substan- tiated; and in 1784 followed the provision that the pa- pers of every suit against a grandee, minister, or any other officer "in the employ of the king, should always be presented to the sovereign for inspection before judg- ment could be pronounced ; and although it afterwards regained ground for a while, public opinion proved too averse to it. Even the ]iope began to restrict its pow- ers, and it was finally alx>lished in Madrid, Dec. 4, 1808, by an edict of Joseph Napoleon. Llorente calculates that from the time of its introduction into Spain (1481) to that date (1808), the Inquisition had condemned in Spain alone 341,021 persons. Of these, 31,912 persons were burnt alive, 17,659 in effigy, and 291,456 others punished severely. When Ferdinand VII regained the throne of Spain in 1814, one of his first acts was the re- establishment of the Inquisition, but also one of the first acts of the Revolution of 1820 was the destruction of the palace of the Inquisition by the people, and the in- stitution was suppressed by the Cortes. Yet, after the restoration, the apostolical party continued to demand its re-establishment; an in(iuisitorial juntr. was organ- ized in 1825, and the old tribunal finally restored in 1826. The law of July 15, 1834, again suspended the Inquisition, after sequestering all its possessions, and the Constitution of 1855 expressly declares that no one shall be made to suffer for his faith. Yet in 1857 the Inquisition showed itself still very vigorous in persecu- ting all persons suspected of Protestantism, and all books containing their doctrines. Such as were found with heretical books in their possession, or had read them, were severely punished. The great political clianges which the last few years have wrought on all the civil- ized world have not been without marked effects on Spain, and have removed not only in a measure, but, we hope, altogether, the deplorable effects of the Romish spirit of immitigated intolerance, which has ever been praised, preached, ami imperatively enjoined as one of the highest of Christian virtues by the antichristian see of Rome. Indeed the Inquisition, not only in Rome, but in every land, the papacy considered its master- piece, '• the firmest and most solid support of its power, both spiritual and temporal. Hence it put all things under the feet of its tribunal in the countries subject to its authority. There the most extravagant maxims were held to be incontestable, and the most unfounded pretensions established beyond dispute. Thus the in- falUbility of the popes, their superiority to general councils, their dominion over the possessions of all the churches in the ■svorld, the power to dispose of them as
INQUISITION
604
INQUISITION
they pleased, their pretended authority over the tempo- ral concerns of sovereigns, the right which they claim of deposing them, of absolving their subjects from the oath of allegiance, and giving away their dominions, are maxims which none dared to doubt in the countries of the Inquisition, much less to contest them, lest they should expose themselves to all the horrors of that de- testable tribunal. No wonder that the popes, in return, so warmly supported all its pretensions, and earnestly and incessantly labored to procure for it so extei^ive an authority, that it at length became formidable to the very princes by whom it was adopted" (Shoberl, Perse- cutions of Popery, i, 113 sq.). These assertions, written (in 18i4) long before the occiu-rence of the late so au- spicious events, deserve especial consideration, as among the first changes which the downfall of the temporal power of the papacy must inevitably bring is religious freedom all over the world. (Comp. also Guettee, The Papacy [N. Y. 18G7, 12mo], Introd. p. 4 sq.)