should pray that his necessity may be considered prouided for they shape him such an answer as serueth theÌ„ both for winter suÌ„mer And their answer in summer is thus in very mild fatherly terms Well say they now the weather is warm you may liue full well without either clothes or couch And for winter in this sort True it is it hath bin a great frost of late but now that it thaweth and the cold is come downe and resolued into snow and raine so that the ayre is open and cleared you shall haue a more seasonable time Care you for the garments wherewithall you should cloth your soule which standeth in vttering the truth and discharging your conscience before this holy House for this should be your speciall care And here is all the prouision which they make for them for all their questioning at the first and so departing as they came their visitation in the end turneth but to a iest so that if their visitations were dayly ye see all the comfort that the prisoners should haue at these holy Fathers hands Yet notwithhanding true it is that some such whom they owe speciall fauour vnto receiue some curtesie at their hands and easie it is to iudge who they be that find it where coueteousnes and cruelty keep their Court. Likewise if any of the prisoners either learned or vnlearned desire to haue some good book or the holy bible permitted them to read to the intent to pass that troublesome and carefull time away to some profit they shift him off with the like answer for a book as they vse before to him that was naked and without garments For the Inquisitour will answer him-like a graue counseller That the true booke is to speake the truth and to discharge his conscience in that holy Court and that hee ought to bee occupied in that booke that by recounting and recording thereof hee might lay open his wounds and soares to their Lordships that were most readie to giue him a plaister and this say theâ— is the true booke c. But if the pris 〈…〉 bee 〈…〉 and importunate in crauing the same either at 〈…〉 the next visitation hee shall be taught to hold his peace and to be answered with reason For if hee be so 〈…〉 ke what liketh him they will bee so good as to deny what liketh not them To bee short they seeme to be wholly bent vpon his thing of purpose diligently to see vnto it that the prisoner haue nothing to looke or think vp but only his present estate in misery that the grief thereof grating vpon him may force him the rather to satisfie their requests as much as may be Howbeit if the prisoner haue any friends or kinsfolke that aâ—e able to relieue his misery by any meanes perhaps they will send the Inquisitour some prettie present or other to obtaine his fauour good will that their kinseman may be somwhat more fauourably entreated Now all the hardnesse of this matter resteth on this point to get the Inquisitour to take it But for any other vnder-officers it is an easie matter to bribe them so it be done priuily or by night for such fellows will soon be corrupted Marrie their maisters make it somwhat more daintie and strange yea it were a thing impossible if a man would take their first nay Which commonly is after this sort that this holy Court is a Court incorrupt that can away with bribes in no case c. But sith their answers are but from the teeth outward all this adoo in excusing themselues and refusing the proffer is a plaine token that they would bee content to haue it with all their hearts Therefore is the Inquisitour for the most part neuer without some of his brethren or sisters children about him or some one seruant to whom hee sheweth speciall fauour and good will the which seruant must be tendered and regarded as much as himselfe Then is there also another wayter that standing by and seeing this great adoo betwixt the Inquisitour and the other party the one proffering and the other refusing as fast when the party beginneth to relent shall come vnto him immediatly and teach him a trick how to obtain his purpose entring talk with him without any manner of occasion wil point him to one with his finger and say Sir see ye yonder the young gentleman that standeth at my Lords elbow He is my Lords Nephue Now is there none so very an Asse that hauing made so much adoo in tempting the Inquisitour but hee may easily perceiue that there is one ready to hold the poke and to receiue his proffer though the other refused it And so by this meanes at the length the poore prisoners get somewhat released Whereby it is apparant what spirit this holy House is gouerned by when couetousnesse is able more to preuail with them to further a deed of charity than charity for her owne sake could euer haue gotten or obtained at their hands CHAP. XII The act contayning the publication of the Sentences THere remaineth now the last Act of the Tragedy which is the very winding vp of all that is to be done in this holy Court Wherein both parties are pleased haue their desire The Inquisitours in obtayning their prey the prisoners seeing the terrible and continuall torments the subtill sleights and practices of the Inquisitours with their extream and cruell dealings grow to an end For then doe they heare their finall iudgements after their matters haue been tossed to and fro many yeares in open Court and in so great an audience and assembly as there hath not been seen a greater no not at Olimpus it self This Act of Faith they commonly called Auto. And surely good cause why For then is the prisoners faith tried to the vttermost and sheweth it selfe what it is either by denying and abiuring Gods truth in open and solemne audience or else by standing stoutly and manfully therein in like solemnity of shew and view of all the people thronging together purposely Let the inquisitours therfore deriue the word and descant of it as they please we doo construe it thus as in a sence most agreeable to Gods iudgement This act hath many idle deuices or to speake more aptly this Pascall of Gods people Pelah that is to say this passage out of Egypt to the land of promise I meane from the world to God hath his Euen his preparation Ios 13. For a few dayes before this feast the Inquisitours vse to call into the Court seuerally one after other all such persons whose goods are confiscate examining them what lands or goods they haue and where they lie charging them earnestly that they conceale not one iot declaring vnto them further that if afterward it can be proued that they haue kept any thing back both fellonie shall be laid to their charge and they also in whose hands it is found shall pay for it most assuredly After they haue confessed
good Lord if any other had beene so saucie but an Inquisitor specially if he had had any Iewes blood in him how would they haue handled him trow you Indeed Molonio was put out of office but he tarried not many dayes ere he was sent to be Inquisitour at Siuil for they might not lose so stout a souldier of the Inquisition for a trifle What should we here talke of the Popes authoritie they extoll and abase him they adore him and contemn him they reuenge his wrong and doe him wrong euen as hee serueth or hindreth their holy office Wee purpose not to prosecute these matters any further meaning only to touch them in way of Preface to declare by what beginnings and occasions the Inquisition is growne what antiquitie and holinesse it carryeth and what profite it hath brought to the world vnder the title of reforming religion These things being as we haue declared them so true in deed and such in qualitie as no honest man can either plainely denie them or justly excuse them no man ought to maruell if the people which haue otherwise hitherto beene most dutifully obedient to their Magistrates to driue so horrible a pestilence from their countrie haue be taken themselues to their weapons and defence of armes as hauing none other more reasonable meanes to helpe themselues They protest that they seeke not to auoide the reformation of religion which they heartily wish for so that it be such a one as is worthy of so good a name and bee directed by the prescript word of God which ought to be the onely rule of religion to all that loue true religion And in that behalfe what can they hope for of the Inquisition besides that it hath already yeelded They protest further that they owe to their lawfull gouernours and that by the expresse word of God obedience honour and tribute the which they are most ready to performe with their accustomed chearefulnesse and hearty good will Only they humbly pray and beseech that it may be taken of them without the dishonour of God and the most miserable captiâ—itie and thraldome of their consciences the which ought to bee more recommended and deare to good and godly men then their very liues They protest besides that they will not any manner of wayes shake off the yoake of just obedience to their Magistrates but they complaine and that not without great cause that besides the easie and gentle yoke which they haue hitherto borne with that meekenesse of heart that became them they are scourged with the Iron whips of the Inquisition which seeketh nothing but the slaughter of innocent Citizens and the confiscation and spoile of their goods They might haue in times past with some colour blamed the men of Arragon which receiued not the Inquisition without tumult and bloudshed for it was then couered with that goodly and fresh name and shew of holinesse neither as yet had it raged against all indifferently but only against the Iewes and Moores and that also for very plausible and apparant causes But now since it hath not ceased to bring forth such fruites as wee haue rehearsed for these threescore and fifteene yeares I thinke they shall not seeme to be madde that seeke by all meanes to them possible to driue it from their borders Nay they might rather be truly judged to bee madde men if in stead of their faithfull fathers and good shepheards and preachers of true religion they would wittingly and willingly receiue into their houses the very enemies and most cruell destroyers of all faith and religion And if there be any that know them not to bee such as wee terme them let them read but part of their sleights and manner of proceedings discouered in this booke for wee could not learne them all and let them well waigh and consider them and then judge A DISCOVERY AND plaine declaration of sundry policies practised in the Spanish Inquisition CHAP. I. The ordinary manner and forme commonly vsed as well in cyting as apprehending such persons aS are accused WHensoeuer any denunciation as they terme it or rather information is giuen against any person be it onely for matters of no great importance as nothing commeth into this court so small or simple but the parties accused are very greatly endamaged thereby the Inquisitors accustomably vse this kind of practice First they suborne some one out of a number such as have learned their lessons for the nonce commonly called Familiars who of purpose shall cast himselfe to meet one and being prouided afore hand what to say shall greet him on this wise Sir yesterday it was my chance to bee with my Lords the Inquisitors and as they happened to have speech of you they said they had to talke with you about certain of their affaires and therfore gaue me in charge to summon you to appeare before them to morrow at such an hour Now the party may not being once warned either refuse or differre to come but at his very great perill Whereupon the next day hee repaireth to the place where the Commissioners sit and requireth the porter to signifie vnto the Lords that he is come Whereof as soon as they haue intelligence all three if they be present or at least two of them meet in a Counsell chamber where the Court is commonly kept as at Siuil in the castle Triana and such like places else where in other Cities abroad and calling the party in before them they demand of him what his sute is Who answereth that yesterday he was warned vnder their precept to come and speake with them Then inquire they his name and that knowne what he would for as for vs say they we wot not whether you be the same man that we commanded to be here with vs yea or no. Marry now sithens you are come if you have any thing to enforme vs of in this holy Court either of your selfe or of any other in discharge of your conscience man let vs hear it Wherunto the party either answereth that he hath no such matters to enforme them of as indeed to stand vpon that point to the end with them who seeke nothing els but his vndoing and such as he shall appeach is the wisest safest way that may be taken or els of meere simplicity not knowing how he entangleth himselfe rashly vnaduisedly vttereth some thing of himselfe or of some other Then my Lords the Inquisitors glad that they haue caught him to the intent the more easily to fear and amase him that thus foolishly hath made himselfe so fit a morsell for them to prey vpon cast lookes one at another and reioycing as though they had smelled the rat all at once fix their eyes vpon him and behold him earnestly and whispering together a little while Iwot not whether they say ought or nought at the last either award the party to prison if the matter that he discloseth of himselfe seem any thing waighty or if
thus to molest and trouble her Indeed saith she I confesse that the Church of Rome hath so determined and therefore I pray you enter in mine answer to be so and let me depart quietly and afterward as you shall see cause determine what shall become of me or mine at your pleasure Whereunto they gaue her neuer a word but only wrot as she had said and sought no further For whether it were so yea or no what care they so the party say so much that they may haue the spoyles whatsoeuer either by hooke or by crooke CHAP. VIII Certaine other deuices to driue the prisoners to confesse such matters as the Inquisitors are desirous to vnderstand of WHen the extreamity of torments with the subtill practices before expressed will doe no good but that the party constantly endureth the one and anoydeth the other very cunningly then fall these good Fathers to other farre better fetches to their thinking wherein whoso is able in a deuice to go beyond the rest is counted a chief Champion and therfore hath yielded vnto him the preheminence of place aboue other in this holy House Being therefore past all hope of hauing any thing at the parties hands by foule meanes they deuise to compasse him by faire shewing themselues very mild and mercifull and so affectioned as though the misery and affliction which they see the other in went to their own hearts They weep with him they entreat him they cōfort him they giue him their aduice and deuise for him some secret meanes to rid him out of his misery making him beleeue that they tell him that in secret which they would scarce tell to their owne fathers or brethren or dearest friend that they haue aliue with many other like words And this they vse commonly to doe to such as bee the simpler sort of people but specially to women which for the most part are not so cunning to discerne forced and fayned tears Therfore when the Inquisitors begin to vse them so gently and to proffer them such kindnesse then let the party see to himselfe warily and learne betimes to discerne whereabouts they goe in vsing such flattering speeches assuring himselfe that they are but faire baites put vpon sharpe hookes whereof I will of a number report vnto you one example The very first time that they began to burne for religion at Siuill which was diuerse yeares since among certaine other that were for the same cause apprehended there was a very godly Matrone with two of her owne Daughters and one of her sisters children who hauing passed all these aforesaid pikes with manlike constancy were pressed very sore to betray some of their brethren but especially one to appeach another One of the Inquisitors counterfaiting a maruellous kind of compassion towards these silly women sent for one of the daughters to come vnto him And when shee was come they two being alone together hee began to make a long speech vnto her in way of consolation and afterwardes sent her to prison againe This he vsed to doe diuers times and vpon seuerall dayes alwayes towards the euening and there held her a great while declaring vnto her how great a griefe it was to him to see her in these troubles and therewithal would interlace some other pleasant communication more familiarly many times than did well become him Which tended to none other end as it fell out in proofe but to perswade the mayden that he of very good affection sorrowed to see her in such distresse that in seeing him so fatherly aduise her what the best were both for her self her mother sister to do in this case she should wholly commit her selfe and her cause to his ordering After that two or three dayes had been thus spent in such like conference and familiar communication weeping as it were ouer her for the misery which she was in with other many moe arguments and tokens of compassion wherin he vttered the affections and sorrowes of his heart for her pitifull estate with often protestation of his good will and best furtherance to his power after all these polices I say when the wilie Wolfe was sure that the simple sheepe was within his reach he beginneth to perswade with her to disclose vnto him the truth of the matter aswel in such things as touched her mother sister and aunt as any other that were not as yet apprehended binding himselfe by an oath that if she would so do and disclose to him whatsoeuer she knew concerning these matters hee himselfe would stop all these gappes well enough and find a meanes that they should all depart home againe quietly to their own houses The maiden being but simple witted was soone induced to credit the faire promises and allurenents of this flattering Father and thereupon beginneth to open vnto him certaine points of religion whereof they were wont to conferre among themselues in maner almost as if one should giue holy things to a dogge or cast pearles before a swine The Inquisitour hauing gotten this thred by the end laboured to vnwind the whole clew and therefore calling in the maiden many times before him to the end that her depositions might bee entred by order of law made her beleeue that hee would take it vp and end it so reasonably that she should receiue no manner of harme thereby and in the last day of hearing made a repetition vnto her of all his former promises as to set her at liberty againe and such like But when the time came that she looked verily for the performance thereof there was no such matter but contrariwise my Lord the Inquisitour and his adherents perceiuing how this deuice had brought somwhat to light which al their extremities otherwise could in no case doe to the end to make her confesse◠the residue determined once againe to haue her vpon the rack wherein she indured most intolerable paynes both vpon the Pullie and the Trough vntill they had as it were in a presse wrung out of her aswell her beliefe as also forced her to accuse those persons whom they had hunted after so long For the damosell through very extremity of pangs and torments was driuen to betray her owne naturall mother and sisters and diuers others that were thereupon immediately apprehended and afterward put to the torments and at the length sent to the fire Moreouer the selfe same maiden within a while after plaied a notable part in testimony of her beliefe For when shee was brought vp vnto the solemne scaffold with other ofher companions there to be seene of all the people and euery one to heare sentence of death pronounced vpon them as shee returned thence to her place againe hauing heard her iudgement which was to bee burned shee came to her Aunt who had beene her Schoolemistresse and taught her her catechisme and beliefe for the profession whereof shee should presently bee executed and with a bold courage without change of countenance bending her head downeward
liberality gracious goodnesse vseth to grant vnto diuerse such money as should bee leuied for pardon of the Sambenite and other punishment towards the redeeming of their brethren and allies being taken prisoners by the Turkes or Moores And yet whosoeuer sueth vnto the King for anie such pardon must first in any case make the Inquisitours and the Clerks or other Officers of that Court his friends otherwise both the Kings owne charter and the payment made by the partie besides notwithstanding they will auoide him by hooke or by crooke and tell him plainly be it the King or the Pope himselfe that granted the pardon he must bee better enformed how the case standeth ere he may depart so lightly Then if the matter be brought to that passe it is an easie thing for them to imagine that the partie is not so cleared but that there was good cause a while to make a stay But when anie hath iudgement of Imprisonment during the chiefe Inquisitours pleasure who for certaine secret occasions to him knowne will not bee entreated and yet cannot well with honestie repulse the suters albeit hee doe them manifest iniurie to detaine them so long hee will conuey the matter full cunningly saying that he is content to referre it to the Inquisitours by whom the iudgement was giuen And when the partie resorteth to them then straight-way is he posted ouer from them backe againe to the high Inquisitor alledging that the determination hereof belongeth vnto him and so by meanes that one of them vnderstandeth the others meaning they dally and prolong the poor mans imprisonment driuing him off from day to day so long as it pleaseth them In like maner the punishment is limited by the inferiour Inquisitours For when they are loth to be entreated they pass it to the high Inquisitor and so one of them serueth another and therefore except the partie goe cunningly to worke and bribe eyther the Clerke or some other Officer of the holy House that with no small gubbe and there begin the ground of his sute all his labour and cost bestowed vpon the redeeming of his imprisonment is quite lost But if any of the Inquisitors or any chiefe Officer of the Court doe make intercession for the partie then straight-way the other vnderstand that it is done vpon some such speciall occasions as they know whereupon the suter is moued to pittie the state of the poor prisoner specially if he vse the ordinary words known and vsed among themselues in cases of petition Which is on this sort My very good Lordes my humble sute to your good Lordships is that such a prisoners cause may bee fauourably considered of whose good life and conuersation but specially of his patience in the time of his imprisonment I haue beene sufficiently and substantially enformed Here are intermedled two or three good words in his commendation but moderately lest it should be thought that hee were too carefull ouer him The conclusion then is that it would please their Lordships to determine whether the partie shall bee released yea or no. And of such as escape thus hardly through the bryars it costeth some the one halfe of their goods some all and some a peece as it pleaseth the Inquisitours to deale with them For they are perswaded this to be the nighest way to bring them home again that are any thing gone astray or become aliens from the faith Or perhaps the holy House thinketh it to be against Gods Lawes that an hereticke should haue whereupon to liue Or else belike they haue found out an Aphorisme for their purpose that as a surfetter must vse a temperate and a thin diet so must an heretick also be kept low lest he swell and grow vp therein and therefore take it for a soueraigne medicine to keepe him so hungrie that he must be faine to begge his bread Moreouer of these as is abouesaid some haue iudgement besides the wearing of the habite and suffring imprisonment to be also whipped Some both to be whipped afterward set to the Gally But these sharper kinds of punishments they commonly vse to strangers be they neuer so small offenders to bee euen with them this way because they make so light of wearing the Sambenite for most of them make but a iest of it And all these proceed from the Inquisitours owne mercie The last and least penaltie is appointed for such as in their iudgements haue committed but a light offence that is to bee brought vpon the scaffold bare-headed and without anie cloake hauing in his hand a waxe taper whereof some are commanded to make Abiuration ex vehementi Some ex levi Abiuration de vehementi they call when it appeared not in the hearing and debating of anie mans cause what is certainely to bee determined for want of sufficient proofe and because the partie himselfe confessed nothing that deserued anie maner of punishment Therefore vpon such a fellow whom they may neyther by iustice condemne for an hereticke nor of their consciences can absolue and set at libertie specially hauing some apparant tokens of scarce good beliefe they giue sentence vpon him as vpon one vehemently suspected and so according to their suspicion they cause him to abiure And such a man being afterward found guilty be it in the least tittle of papistrie they take for a relapse and condemne to the fire Abiuration de levi is much after the same maner but that it is enioined vpon smaller offences in their iudgements whether the matter hath been apparant or no. Howbeit no such person though he be taken with the same maner againe shall be reputed for a relapse or haue iudgement of death therefore albeit the qualifying of the second offence that is to say the iudgement and estimation thereof bee referred to the Inquisitours And this kinde of abiuration is for the most part vsed in other matters then concerning Luthers doctrine as for example fornication forsooth betwixt single persons as though it were no sin therefore it is accustomably punished but as a trifling toy by carrying of a waxe candle and by abiuration deleui Yet at some times they punish this sin with the whip and that verie extreamly but if the party offend a thousand times after so that he put himselfe vpon the Inquisitours mercie he is sure neuer to dye therefore Loe these be the goodly means wherby these good fathers bring into the right way the weaklings as Paul tearmeth them And thus much concerning their deuices practised in the Inquisition till the time come that we may see the fall of that arke of Iniquitie with the hidden secrets and mysteries thereof further disclosed and all those things fulfilled and accomplished which in time no doubt must be reuealed and come to passe vpon this holy Inquisition these good Fathers and their holy House finally vpon the whole man of sin which God threatneth by his Prophet shall fall vpon all such wicked hypocrites which to the ouerthrowing of
A FVLL AMPLE AND PVNCTVALL DISCOvery of the Barbarous Bloudy and inhumane practises of the SPANISH INQUISITION against Protestants With the originall thereof Manifested in their proceedings against sundry particular persons aswell English as others upon whom they have executed their Diabolicall TYRANNIE A Worke fit for these times serving to withdraw the affections of all good Christians from that Religion which cannot be maintayned without those â—ropâ— of 〈…〉 First written in Latin by Reginaldus Gonsaluius Montanus and after translated into English PSAL. 74. Arise O Lord and judge thine owne cause LONDON Printed for Iohn Bellamy and are to be sold at the three golden Lions in Corne-hill neere the Royall Exchange 1625. ⧠The speciall matters contained in this Treatise placed orderly in such wise as the Inquisitours proceed in their Court. Chap. 1. THe ordinary manner and forme commonly vsed of the Inquisitours as well in citing as apprehending such persons as are accused in their consistorie Fol. 1. 2. The Sequestration of their goods commonly called the Sequester 9. 3. The seuerall dayes of hearing 11 4. The publication of the witnesse as they terme it 27 5. The confutation of the same 36 6. The judgements and condemnation to the racke and the manner of execution thereof 42 8. Other practises of the Inquisition to driue the Prisoners to confesse such matters as the Inquisitors are desirous to vnderstand 56 9. Certaine other more secret then the rest 59 10. How the prisoners bee entreated concerning the whole manner of their diet 71 11. The visitations of the prisoners 84 12. The Acte containing the Publication of the sentences 88 13. The Interpretation of the sentences 110 14. Speciall examples plainely shewing the treacheries and legerdemaines of the Inquisition in practice and exercise 117 15. A list of certaine godly Martyrs who constantly dying for the truth the Inquisitors notwithstanding laboured to slander with apostasie and revolting 134 This Table is according to the chapters as they are printed the seuenth being mistaken for the eighth c. The translatour to the Reader THere is no good nature gentle Reader that beholding on a stage an old Tragedie wherein be represented the miseries of any one man or the ruine and desolation of a whole countrie will not accompany the outward motions of the players with some inward affection yea sometimes with teares and vehement compassion Which if we doe in a play whereof the matter is many times but inuented and howsoeuer it be true yet happened in Countries farre off and long agoe the parties neither touching vs in kindred nor the matter in example surely the dangerous practices and most horrible executions of the Spanish Inquisition declared in this booke which now is brought with fire and sword into the low Countries the sodaine imprisonment of honest men without processe of law the pitifull wandring in exile and pouertie of personages somtime rich and wealthy the wiues hanging on their husbands shoulders and the poore banished infants on the mothers brests the monstrous racking of men without order of law the villanous and shamelesse tormenting of naked women beyond all humanitie their miserable death without pitty or mercy the most reprochfull triumphing of the popish Synagogue ouer Christians as over Painimes and Ethnicks the conquering of subiects as though they were enemies the vnsatiable spoyling of mens goods to fill the side paunches of ambitious idle shauelings the slender quarrels picked against kingdomes and nations and all this onely to hoise vp a pild polling priest aboue all power and authoritie that is on earth these things ought surely much more to moue vs to compassion Being no stage-play but a matter fit for any Poet to make a Tragedie of hereafter either for that it will bee an argument most lamentable or most incredible to them which shall not haue seene it The persons which suffer being our neighbours by their habitation and dwelling place our acquaintance by entercourse our friends by long acquaintance of the same houshold of faith and our very brethren in Christ And if we weepe when we see cruelties set forth in playes because the like either hath happened to vs heretofore or hereafter may betide vs then have we not ouely good cause in these calamities of our poore brethren to bewaile that which happened to them but also to feare what will follow vpon vs. For if we that not many yeares since felt but a taste of this Iron whippe and since haue enioyed quietnesse and leisure to serue God thinke our selues sure and the storme passed and that wee be but hearers and seers and haue no parts in this Tragedie besides that we are vncharitable in so lightly esteeming the griefes of others we doe also foolishly and dangerously abuse our selues For who is so ignorant of the holy Complot and Conspiracie agreed on by the Pope and his Champions for the execution of the Councell of Trent and the generall establishing of this Inquisition Behold the attempts in Scotland the proceedings in France the executions in Flaunders and if we Englishmen haue one of the last parts let vs bee sure as in Tragedies the last parts and Actes be most dolefull so wee neuer knew yet what persecution meant in comparison to that is meant and threatned vs now If the Diuels holinesse and his lieutenant generall the Popes maiestie were a little moued then they bee now doubt ye not enraged and transubstantiate into furour and horne woodnesse to see their reuenues decay their Monasteries and Synagogues defaced their villanies detected their noble champions slain And therefore you must set before your eyes the Diuell in person and the Pope his chaplaine and Confessour gotten vp into the top of some high mountaine and from thence shewing the kingdomes of the earth to such Princes as will themselues fall downe and worship and thereto driue the world Which is so farre off from any figuratiue speech as it is knowne to be the very Platforme and foundation of all these broyles and troubles Be not deceiued good Reader vnderstand the world these men seeke no religion For how can they seeke Religion that thinke there is no God They seeke the honour and wealth of the world If the Gospell would allow ambition pleasure profite the Pope would haue long since beene a protestant If Popery had allowed preaching of the truth reformation of life pouertie Popery had beene esteemed as it is Heresie and so persecuted But the Pope would bee thought most holy and be indeed most mightie the world is falne from him he hath spent all nought comes in to supply he hath a great sort to entertaine a great sort to reward a great pompe and state to maintaine Trow yee these things will bee raised of the spoile of poore Protestants Nay be thou sure of it Papist or Protestant if thou be rich and hast any fleece it will be all one Thy land will vndoe thee thy goods will condemne thee Euen as the good Citizen of Rome Q.
Aurelius in Scyllas time that was neither of the one side nor the other but lamented the spoile and misery of his countrie when as he came into the market place and heard hiâ— name read among them that were proscribed to death cryed out O vnhappy man that I am my house at Alba is the cause of my death and by and by was openly slaine If euer there were time like to Scyllas it is now in our dayes in which hungry need and vnsatiable couetousnesse armed with crueltie will spare nothing The seruant will betray his master the friend his friend and acquaintance the brother shall murther his brother As in the same time L. Catilina he that after would haue set fire on the Citie slew his owne brother and after prayed Scylla that hee might bee proscribed The which being granted him he recompenced with killing another M. Marius one of the contrary faction and bringing his head the blood running along his armes presented it in the market place to Scylla and ranne to the holy water-pot of Apollos temple which was hard by to wash his hands a very fit vse of such holy water The which storie I the rather recite sparing an infinite sort of our times because yee may vnderstand by the way that Idols and holy water bee ancient things such as were before Christs comming and will be continued by his enemies till he come againe and that knowing the Papists religion to be no better then those heathenish peoples was their couetousnesse greater their need more their cruelty farre passing not onely all present example but also all written history you may daily looke for worse then Scillas time if they ouercome hauing on the other side no fierce or cruell Marius to withstand them nor to quarell with them for the gouernment but a poore flock of silly sheepe behinde their shepheard affraid of the wolues halfe yeelding halfe defending their liues and on their sides thousands of desperate Catilines that to repaire their decayed states will not spare neither to kill their owne brethren nor to fire their countrie and hauing at all times but specially now such a Scilla vnder whose banner they fight as the old Scilla may in respect of this be both forgiuen and forgetten Take heed we haue now to our holy Father a Frier no secular priest but a regular Hâ—lhound who though he think it no robbery to be equall in pompe with his predecessours and in malice with the diuell his father yet hath he vouchsafed to take vpon him the shape of a man and goeth they say on foot and maketh his tenants the stewes keepe-in like good huswiues which is no small reformation and doth good deeds at home and worketh wonders forsooth whiles he vndoeth all abroad and openeth such a gap for the great Seigneur the Turke as neuer was yet made But what will not these fellowes do to reuenge their fall and what ought not we rather to endure then to admit these spirituall tyrants who would not rather be conquered of a mightie Prince and honourable in comparison then of a villaine bankrupt priest who hath for these eight or nine hundred yeares occupied the whole world of credite and now he should come to accompt killeth his creditours A miserable choice but yet a ready choice For the Turke contenteth himselfe with honour and tribute permitting religion The Pope no honour will satisfie him no riches suffice him no blood asswage him neither the death of the liuing nor the soules of the dead will content him Whose very name should not be spoken of without Surreuerence and great contempt for the basenesse and vilenesse of his counterfeit state were hee not so iustly to be hated and abhorred as the great abuser and very vndoubted Antichrist of the world and sworne enemy of God and man The cruell and tyrannicall outrages of whose Inquisitours founded and established by the Diuell and this Antichrist if we conferre with the milde proceedings and discipline of Commissioners appointed by God and his Anointed we shall thereby see euidently by the heauenly iudgement and sentence of wise Salomon to which mother the liue childe appertaineth To the Romish whore who in despite that she cannot possesse the poore infants that belong not to her to smother them sleeping with the huge and filthy body of her traditions and ceremonies seeketh by all meanes possible to diuide and mangle them or to the naturall and pitifull mother the true Church of the faithfull whose fathers and ministers knowing of whose spirit they are seeke with all gentlenesse to call home the lost ones and watchfully to nourish them Whose prince imitating the peaceable raigne of Salomon hath not so much as executed the false Prophets not killed the wolues not destroyed the foxes Onely they are tyed vp short which though it bee no such suretie for the little ones as worldly wisdome doth require and necessitie long since hath cried out for yet is it to them no small griefe to see the Lambes feed before their eyes and the poorest shepheards least whelpe baying at them whilest they in the middest of their gluttony and drunkennesse houle for hunger of their brethrens flesh and thirstinesse of their blood and pine for very enuie of the proceeding of Gods word If the poore ignorant people will but compare the imprisonmenâ—s of the persecuted Protestants with the restraints of the bridled Papists their famine with these mens fatnesse their tongues fettered with Iron torments with the libertie of railing that our men haue and vse seditiously against their Prince blasphemously against God their most miserable and strange kindes of deathes with our mens liuing and liking they shall easily know the tree the persons by the fruit Wherefore good Reader hauing so euident markes of their woluish and rauening natures and so good notice of their bloody conspiracie so waying the very true cause of all these troubles and wars that be in Christendome and thereto conferring the present executions slaughters euen in our neighbours house the fire whereof may soone imbrace our owne let vs be stirred vp to pray for their deliuerance and that it would please God to turne from vs the same iustly deserued plague for our vnthankfulnesse Let vs be strong in faith and couragious in deed to repell these common enemies from our countrie whensoeuer they shall offer that they haue so long determined And if in this translation there shall happen to be some faults pardon them till the next impression for the meaning of the translatour was onely to make thee speedily vnderstand of so great and so imminent a perill besides that thou mightest vse this booke as a taste in the meane space whiles the booke of Martyres be reprinted wherein there is a most plentifull and notable History of the like matter and argument The Preface of the Author IN so great a hurly-burly of ciuill dissensions wherein so many people and nations bend force against their owne companions and
the holy 〈◊〉 of a Saint but he had also vnder his other garments a short hanger by his side and that forsooth only hâ—ndred his absolute honour This Inquisition you will say was not brought in to the end that any should thereby be instructed in the principles of true religion but onely that heresie by meanes hereof might bee abolished Marry so much we yeeld vnto them indeed For it appeareth plainely by the zeale that was in those good Princes that they had a better meaning with them at the first then that which through their wicked counsellours afterward was put in execution The Inquisition being th 〈…〉 established for the same ends and purposes which I haue before mentioned as some affirme before the battell at Granata which maketh nothing against me if it be so the charge of instructing the people in the principles of religion was first referred to I Tears and Curates and from them translated to the Wardens of the Church and afterward to the Clerkes in euery towne and parish who taught the simple abused people their Aue Maria Pater noster their Credo with Salua regina 〈…〉 in Latine shall I say nay in a barbarous kinde of Latine and that with sporting themselues and mocking the poore silly soules without any deuotion or zeale not without reward neither but very dearely and at a high price many times besides their common wages they were payd with the goodwiâ—es honestie or the daughters virginitie For the other fiue coÌ„mandements of the holy Church which they sâ—ad were necessarie to saluation that is to say the hearing of Masse on holy dayes and sundayes The going to shrist and holy confession The receiuing of holy bread the due obseruing of Fasts enioyned by the Church and the true paying of their tithes and Church-duties these things I warrant you were beaten into their heads in plaine words and mother-tongue By which kinde of discipline what other thing I pray you could seeme to be sought thâ—n to bring men into a heape of perpetuall errours And the court of Inquisition being erected on the other part for reformation of errours they might be sure like good hunters to lodge the Deere and take their stand and so to obtaine a continuall prey But to proceed let vs grant them thus much that the Inquisition was ordained to none other end and that they be two seuerall and distinct offices to teach the faith and to roote out heresies yet were it the part and dutie of good and discreet counsellours to prouide that the authoritie committed to Bishops by the holy Scriptures of God should not thereby be taken from them neither should any other perswasion enter into their heads that there were any other fire or sword to root out heresies but only the sword of Gods word both the which things the holy Apostle did most euidently teach in the Epistle to Titus where among other qualities required in a Bishop hee would haue him embrace the word of God fit for instruction that he may be able to exhort by wholesome doctrine and to conuince the gainsayers and aduersaries For surely a true and iustifying faith cannot be forced the nature thereof is such no more can heresie be destroyed by the heretickes death But the word of God is most apt and sit for both purposes For thereby faith is not only engendred but increased and multiplyed meruellously and whatsoeuer is not agreeable to true faith if it be examined and tried by the light of this word shall soone be bewrayed Wherefore they ought first to haue resorted to the Scriptures and taken counsell of them whether they had limited any punishment for such as should shew themselues wilfull and obstinate against the truth or the most cruell execution that can be by fire For as concerning the confiscation of goods what can be thought more wretched and couetous or more vnjust and shamelesse or further from the profession of a Christian man And to let passe their open infamy the staine whereof will hardly be spunged out againe who can worthily speake enough against them that vse the same kinde of punishment euen against those poore wretches whâ—â— they haue perswaded to recant their errours Paul in the place aboue mentioned appointeth no penaltie for as much as it may well be that the partie condemned may in time be reclaimed and therefore mercy ought rather to be practised of euery good shepheard with all gentlenesse and loue then any such extremitie But let vs enter further and see what Paul appointeth for such as are obstinate persons Auoide the company of an hereticke saith he after one or two admonitions First hee would haue him charitably admonished of his error twice or thrice and that by the Bishop not cited into the court not put to the torments or otherwise punished for his erronious opinions with such extremitie and so continually Then if gentle admonition will reclaime him there is good cause why both the Bishop and the whole congregation may rejoyce of the winning of a brother to be a member of Christ But if such admonitions will not preuaile he counselleth vs to proceed to excommunication that is to say to cut him off and exclude him the company and fellowship of the Christians the which notwithstanding must not be executed in way of reuenge of his error but ministred as a medicine for his amendment And this judgement of the Disciple agreeth with the rule of his Master If hee wil not giue eaâ—e to thee nor other saith he that is to say them that haue giuen him admonition the second time Let him be thence forth accompted of as an Ethnicke or Publican Which is as much in vnderstanding as if he had neuer receiued the faith In this degree of seueritie which being duely considered is sharpe enough Christs discipline stayeth and proceedeth no further And this is the Court these be the lawes thereof and the whole manner of proceeding wherewith a true Christian man if there had beene any such among them should haue contented himselfe in proceeding against his brother being beside the right way or against any heresies of what sort or condition soeuer they be because Christ hath thought them to be sufficient and prouided these remedies which the Church hath alwayes vsed from time to time to great profite in the rooting vp of all heresies that at any time grew therein As concerning the putting of heretickes to death it is like altogether as if a Phisician to the intent to rid the patient of his disease should for the nonce rid him also of his life Moreouer they that doe pretend most of all now adayes the rooting vp of heresies by such meanes do not only not attaine thereunto for as yet the world is blinded to take falshood for truth but if it were so then by taking away his life they cut him off from all those meanes and possibilities whereby he might attaine his owne saluation For it might very well come to passe
points concerning saluation by their only questionings collections illations brought either in forme or out of forme haue departed thence very well instructed wherof this rude fellow of the countrey of whom I last made mention may bee a sufficient testimony Moreouer if he party chance to confesse ought they vse to haue another hooke ready bayted sharpe and perilous enough I warrant you to wit they enquire of him whatsoeuer it be of whom he learned or heard it or if he haue haply read it in some booke or if hee haue had any conference with any other about the same matter or he himselfe haue been an instructer to others or by any meanes haue mentioned it in the presence of any in what place he did so and who they were that stood by For whosoeuer was present whether they liked his talk or no yea though it were his owne father or nigher him if nigher could be they are sure to buy it full dearly the Inquisitors will haue a fâ—irt at them because they came not foorth with made complaint thereof vnto them All which things it behooues a man greatly to be cunning in that if it be Gods will that he fall into their hands he may learne before hand out of his holy word and will how to preuent them and prouide an answer to such demands lest he vndoe both himselfe and others through his owne folly and negligence At the last when his accusation is read if the party be an infant as we tearme one within age they prouide him a Patron whom they call a Tutor A very godly way no doubt if such a man were appointed to that place as would play his part stoutly and as it becometh him in respect of his office Howbeit he is no such manner of man as the infant would and should haue for the better bringing of his matters about but one of their own choce which either is a very wolfe to ioyn with them against the simple lambe or at the most to stand like a cipher in Arithmetick and doe nothing but fill vp a place and for fashion sake and order stand in stead of a Tutor to performe the ceremonies and circumstances of the law For most commonly the Porter of their holy house serueth that turne or in his absence some other of the Porters lodge and indeede but onely that he beareth the bare name and title of a Tutor dealing in nothing that appertaines to the office my Lords Muleter may easily be Tutor in such sort to the whole company of the prisoners all at once By reason whereof the Porter cannot alwayes bee ready to answer euery body that knocketh at the gate And on this sort do these holy Fathers fulfill the commandements of God and the laws of man touching poore infants and orphanes who as well by the law of God as of nature are commended so specially to the consideration and regard of all men but most chiefly to Iudges Neither rest they here contenting themselues to mocke the law in this point alone but in another of more importance wheras the law prouideth that euery defendant shall haue his Aduocate some man expert in the law to pleade his cause and order it discreetly according to law and conscience and to defend their right if any they haue or at the least to temper the rigor of the law lest it be construed and ministred with extremity in this so waighty a matter and the onely succour that these silly soules haue to helpe themselues withall they deale with them in like sort as they do in the former for appointing them a Tutor and so shift it off with a meere shadow and a bare ceremony onely because it is a very waighty matter therefore they would seeme full of curtesie and humanitie and would faine cloke their wicked contempt of lawes with some goodly pretence For they name vnto the party 3. or 4. of the most famous men toward the lawes to chuse out of them some one to pleade his cause and besides all this their gentlenesse of fatherly affection I dare say they aduise him to take such a man who in their iudgements is the best learned And what would a man desire more Yet whosoeuer is chosen to be his Aduocate will bee sure that he tell not his Clyent any point of law that may doe him ease any way For he knoweth right well that if the Inquisitors haue intelligence thereof he shall not scape scotfree seeing their meaning is nothing lesse then to prouide him an Aduocate to defend his cause but onely to bleare the common peoples eyes withal and make them beleeue that they proceede by order of law like good conscionable Fathers where in very deede they compasse their matters both against Gods lawe and mans For the Aduocate and his Clyent may not so much as haue a word together secretly of any matter but in presence and hearing of the Inquisitours or of some Notary And what doth the Aduocate then would a man thinke Marry he receiueth his Clyents answer to the accusation rude and rough hewn as it were and that doth he smooth and set together in forme of lawe yet ilfauouredly framed full oft God wot and all this while taketh vpon him the name of an Aduocate onely to delude the lawe withall But forward to our purpose Within 2. or 3. dayes after the party hath had the copy of his accusation he is called into the court where his aduocate standeth like one that would stoutly defend his Clyentes cause and saue all such matters as should seeme to make against him Then the Inquisitour as though hee had done the party an high pleasure discharged his conscience wholly for that part of the lawe pointeth out the Clyent his Aduocate with his finger and straightway falleth into his old note exhorting him to vtter the truth and take heede to his conscience and if hee haue any more to say to say it at once All which time the Aduocate sitteth or standeth mute and if he haue ought to say yet dare hee not let it come out before hee haue made the Inquisitours of his counsell For the Aduocate all the while that hee is telling his tale so eyeth the Inquisitours that one of their eyes is neuer off from the other the Inquisitour is so much afraid lest the prating Aduocate vtter something rashly vnawares wherin the Clyent might espy somwhat for his aduantage in lawe and so auoyd the danger of their secret and hidden snares The Aduocate on the other side is as much afraid and quaketh euery part of him lest any word chance to slip him suddenly that the Inquisitours happly shall not well like of and therefore dare say nothing for his Clyent but onely giue him a few wordes of comfort and bid him bee of good cheer and tell the truth in any case saying that that is the onely way to preuaile in this Court and as for me saith he I will be
ready to do for you the best that I can Then commeth the Inquisitour in with his part singing the same note and so is the prisoner sent to his prison againe After this day of hearing the party beginneth to bee of better courage hoping that his matter draweth nigh to an end but it is farre otherwise God knoweth For many of them are forgotten some for a yeare or halfe a yeare or perhaps for three or fowre yeares as it pleaseth these good Fathers to deale with them and there they lie in prison as it were a peece of leather that lieth steeping in the tanners fatte During all which time they neither are called any more nor one word mentioned for their deliuerance Then if any for very lothsomnes and intolerable filth by reason of their long imprisonment do craue to come to their answer some perhaps obtaine it and some go without it but in the end both their luckes are alike For they that after long suite get a grant thereof are commanded into a Parler where they haue such countenances made them and such speach vsed towards them that it is easie to be espied that they haue no manner of regard vnto them at all and there forsooth they put them a question a great deale meeter to be asked of men in a farre better case then they are in As for the purpose what their sute is or what they would haue Whereunto each answereth that he would bee glad to haue some end and determination of his trouble Marry and thereabouts we go say they as carefully as wee can and assure your selfe we will not forget you But if he be earnest to haue it determined they bid him bethinke himselfe then and say the truth asking him why hee no more regardeth his conscience c. At the length laying the fault of his long imprisonment to himselfe whereas hee poore man would haue been content if hee might haue had his choyce to come forth to the stake rather then to continue there so long they send him to prison againe And albeit they afterward do grant him diuers other daies of hearing yet as he continueth his sute so keepe they him off with their accustomed delaies till they thinke it bee time to communicate vnto him the depositions made against him which they terme the publication of the witnesses CHAP. IIII. The publication of the witnesses AFter a long loathsom time of imprisonment in such sort as maÌ„s nature is not able to endure it any longer when the poor soule in their iudgements is brought so low that he could be content to be delivered with all his heart though it cost his life therfore likely to tell all more too yea euen as much as they themselues can demand or desire they call him yet again before them in a speech framed as it were a mean betwixt a sharp rebuking a gentle admonition doe aske him how it happeneth that hee hath slipt his owne matters so long and now at the length would haue him come in and tell the truth Vpon which point they stand very long in perswading him and then eyther on this or the next day of hearing the Fiscall entreth his action against him praying that publication may bee made of the witnesses which being granted forthwith the depositions are deliuered to the party but yet without any names subscribed The order and penning whereof is a sufficient declaration what great zeale this holy Court hath to bring the truth to light For all things are so difficultly reported and so abruptly so wrested and wrung with such doubtfull tearmes of double sense and vnderstanding that a man would iudge him sure neuer well in his wittes that vttered them And this is a peece of the Legerdemaine of that holy House purposely inuented to driue the party alwaies into a doubt euen of those points which hee knoweth are alreadie deposed against him Secondarily that so nigh as may be he should haue no maner of knowledge of the witnesses who they were that did depose against him lest happly hee should take some exception against them Finally that if he haue conferred with any other then his accusers concerning those matters whereof hee is accused and knowing not who were his accusers but labouring to find them out should perhappes reckon vp all and so by that meanes bring a great sort of mo fishes to the Inquisitours holy Angle And here would I be glad to know of these Fathers of the Faith seeing they are so well learned in the laws if they would be so good as to tell vs how it commeth about that whereas the Publication of witnesses is ordeyned of common right to bee vsed sincerely and plainly yet in this holy Court it hath no place neither is allowed for lawe by reason that the names of the witnesses are suppressed and so the one halfe of the law yea the better halfe of it is curtalled and quartered and the residue neither vprightly handled nor faithfully but most craftily and falsly abused as I will make relation hereafter And if an exception will lie against witnesses not onely by order of law but in other respects vpon very good and necessary considerations because knaues and villaines should not any way trouble nor molest honest men that are guiltlesse and innocent why is there no place in this most holy Court for such exceptions For in ciuill causes but of small importance they will not admit a mans enemy nor a lyer nor a defamed person nor an Idiot nor a Bedlam nor a drunkard nor a â—ew nor a villaine nor any such kind of people to bee sworne as witnesses and who then I pray you hath enabled all this route of Rakehels in matters of religion and the weightiest causes that can bee to bee accepted and admitted for witnesses and that their testimony shall bee receiued and reputed in matters touching life and death seeing they are disabled by all lawes to condemne any man in the least trifles that may come in question betwixt man and man But here perchance they will say they deny not but the party hath very good liberty of challenge against the witnesses if he could learne by any meanes or coniecture who they be that deposed against him Therefore if hee chance at any time to gesse him right that hath thus testified against him so that the Court iudge him insufficient and doth therefore refuse him they haue done notable iniury to both parts or to one of them at the least First of all to the witnesse by refusing him now if they did right before in suppressing his name because the party should not know him next to the party himselfe being now at the length content to admitte his exceptions so he can gesse or by some other meanes learne his name and haue sufficient matter to charge him withall and such as may bee thought good cause of challenge which surely in all indifferent mens iudgements that haue any consciences at
linnen garment with a red crosse called a Sambâ—â—it and last of all a perpetuall slander and ignominy to all his stocke and posterity such as never will be worne out as shall be hereafter declared But if the party shrinke not for the matter but constantly continue so confessing the truth or disaffirme the depositions that be against him hauing not excepted against the witnesses he is sure â—o try the torments whereof I haue now to say somewhat CHAP. VI. The condemnation to the racke and the manker of the execution thereof THe state and condition of the godly gentle reader hath beene euermore from the beginning hard and very miserable in comparison of the prosperitie which the wicked and vngodly enioy in this world For according to Christs owne saying in his Gospell after Iohn they thinke they doe God great good seruice which slay them vpon euery light occasion and study daily by new deuices and practices to circumuent them whereof you haue heard some sufficient proofe before And albeit the iniurious dealings and subtile practices which I haue declared already be such as any good natured people or that can be content to be ordered by law reason or equitie would worthily thinke intolerable yet in respect of these that shall ensue hereafter which I am now to shew they will seeme not onely sufferable but very reasonable and full of equity and good conscience For they doe farre exceede all barbarousnes yea I may well say all brutish and beastly madnes that a man cannot more aptly liken them to any thing in the world then to that which they do most liuely resemble and from whence they proceede that is to say Sathan their Syre so that the diuell though hee should force himselfe thereto is not able in matters touching men no nor in any thing else in the whole world to goe beyond them in these their most monstrous and diuellish examples of tyranny neither hath he any mans heart in his belly that can without teares reade or heare these things that hereafter ensue which in rifling this butchery wherein many a good soule vpon trifling occasions yea diuers of them guiltlesse God knoweth are made away we will lay open before the face of the whole world and plucke off their hood of holinesse wherewith they haue bleared all mens eyes and abused the whole world hitherto After the sentence be once giuen except it be to the racke the party is not sent for againe till the great day of their glorious shew at what time he commeth out into open audience with the other prisoners that come to heare their iudgements pronounced vpon them and euery man foorthwith to receiue his punishment accordingly vnlesse hee be found not guilty and so quit by proclamation For then is he kept in prison still by the space of 2. or 3. dayes after the triumph that the world may thinke that he also departed out with the rest And this forsooth is one of their holy deuices because they would not be thought to lay their hands vpon any person rashly or without good cause why as they are wont oftentimes to tell the parties by the way in such exhortations as they make vnto them to vtter the truth The holy house is so perswaded of their owne doings that what extreamity soeuer they shew vnto the prisoners yet they think they do vnto them no iniury Howbeit diuers of them whom they shew speciall fauour vnto for certaine causes to them knowne are set at liberty and sent away to their owne houses two or three dayes before the great day of their solemnities causing it to be noysed abroad that they were accused by false witnesses Yet is this their slye dealing open enough to any man that list to mark it euen by this one thing that a man shall neuer fee any such false witnesses openly punished therefore which in all other cases are accustomably most sharply seen vnto But if they be determined to put any man to the rack at such time as he least looketh for it then shall he be sure to be brought into the Audience where all the Inquisitors or the greater part of them sit in their seates of Maiestie and besides them the Prouisor as they tearme him or deputy Ordinary of the Diocesse like a shepheard ready to flea one of his own flock who of duty ought to be present as well to heare the sentences giuen as to see execution ministred And at this Court-day they declare vnto the prisoner how the Inquisitours with all the learned Councell haue deepely considered his whole case bearing him in hand that they haue found it out for a surety that he will not wholly declare the truth therefore are resolued that he shall ride the racke and there be spurred certaine questions and so by hooke or by crooke will wring it out of him will he nill he therefore they aduise him to do it voluntarily as he will avoyde the paine and perill of the racke Whereunto they ioyne a certaine exhortation which they intermingle with some sowre speech of high and threatning words and set it out with great seueritie of countenance rehearsing vnto him all the seuerall torments of the racke as terribly as they can describe them to make him quake in euery ioynt of him Yet whether he confesse or not confesse all is one for to the rack he must go Wherupon they send for the Officer command him to haue the party into that place where the Racke standeth which commonly is a deepe and a darke dungeon vnder the ground with many a doore to passe thorow ere a man can come vnto it because such as are put thereto should not be heard to shrike or cry In the which place there is a scaffold reared where the Inquisitour the Prouisor and the Clerke do sit to see the Anatomie made of him that is brought to them Then the linkes being lighted and all the players entred that haue parts in this Tragedy the Executioner who tarrieth last to make all fast as they say and to see euery man in before him commeth also at the length and of himfelfe alone maketh a shew worthy the sight more then all the rest of that rout being wholly arrayed all ouer from the top of his head to the sole of his foote in a sute of blacke canuas such as the superstitious Spaniards weare on Maundy-thursday when they scourge and whip themselues as the custome is in most places vnder Popery if not in all much like that apparell that the diuells in stage-playes vse here with vs in England Moreouer his head is couered with a long black hood that reacheth ouer all his face hauing two little peep holes to see through and all to this end to make the poor soule the more afraid both in body and mind to see one torment him in the likenesse of a diuell O Lord such are their holy guiles After that the Lords be set downe each in
their places they begin with him againe and exhort him afresh to speake the truth freely and voluntarily otherwise at his owne perill be it For if either his arme or his legge or any other ioint be broken in the Rack as it happeneth to diuers so that hee chance to dye thereof for more gently than so they mean not to deal with him let him blame no man but himselfe For they think that after they haue giuen him this faire warning they are now discharged in conscience both before God and man and therefore are guiltlesse what harm soeuer come vnto him by meanes of the Rack yea though he dye thereon as innocent as the child newly borne After this with sharp rebukes and menacing words they command that the party bee stripped starke naked be it hee or shee yea though it were one wel knowne to be the most honest and chaste mayden or matron in all the city as they bee neuer lightly without sundry such in this their shambles whose grief I dare wel say is not halfe so great in respect of any torments that presently they endure as it is to be seen naked in such a presence and of such maner of persons For these wicked Villaines without any regard of humanity or honesty which mee thinkes they should somwhat respect if it were but onely for their long beardes and side-gownes with the name countenance of grauity and holines which they pretend seeing that neither for Gods sake nor for the honesty of the good and godly matrons and sober maydens they wil not forbear one iote of that barbarous impudency cause them first to be stripped into their shirts and smockes and then out of them also welnigh sauing your reuerence vp to their priuities drawing on a close linnen breech after that make bare their arms also to their shoulders as tho the Wrench and Rack wherewith they are about to torment them were not able to pearce their linne or as tho their linnen breeches would more manerly couer those partes which they may bee ashamed to discouer then could their side-shirts or smockes And here those ranke Râ—mmes declare how they will not lose that diuellish pleasure which they take in that shameful and vnseemly sight though the poore wretches that suffer this buy it both with paine and shame enough full dearely The which thing surely is a good occasion why that after this shamefull and impudent dealing of these Fathers of the faith bee once noysed and bruted abroad they whose wiues or daughters eyther haue already or may hereafter fall or presently are in this the holy Fathers foule handling suffering this shamefull villany should be vtterly abhorred and shunned of all the people wheresoeuer they goe aswell of Papists as of other because they ought to esteeme the honesty and chastity of their daughters and wiues aboue all other treasures But to returne to our purpose When the parties are thus stripped out of all their clothes be it he or shee into their linnen breeches they signifie unto the Tormenter by some token in what sort they would haue the party ordered For this is one other peece of their art to talke by signes and watch-words like to pedlers french wherein from the highest to the lowest all the pack of them in that cursed Court as well Iacke layler as my Lord Iudge can vnderstand one another very readily As for the torments by the which these holy Fathers vse to bring men to their beliefe as they be many in number so in sorts they are sundry yea moe by a great many than any poore soule is able to endure or can come to the knowledge of But the most vsuall be the Ieobit and Pullie with water cordes and fire whereof I meane to speake seuerally And yet haue they one other cast at him first ere he goe to his punishmeÌ„t perswading him afresh to vtter whatsoeuer he knoweth either by himselfe or by others of his acquaintance In the mean space while they are thus communing with him one commeth behind him and bindeth his hands with a cord 8. or 10. times about and because nothing should be thought to be done without authority and order of law the Inquisitour calleth vpon him to straine each harder than other Being thus bound to the Racke they begin yet once againe to perswade with him and besides the binding together of his hands they also cause his thumbes to be bound with some smaller line drawne very straite and so fasten both the lines that tye both his hands and thumbes to a certaine Pullie which hangeth on the Ieobit Then knocke they great and heauy bolts vpon his heeles if the party haue none already or else hang betwixt both his feete vpon those bolts which he hath certaine waights of Iron at the first time but of fiue pound and so hoyse him vp from the ground Whiles the poore wretch hangeth in this plight they fall to their perswasions once againe commanding the hangman to hoyse him vp on high to the very beame till his head touch the Pullie Then cryeth the Inquisitor and the Clerk vpon him to confesse somewhat promising to let him downe out of hand if so be that he will be ruled otherwise they tell him that he is like to tarry there till hee would be glad to declare whatsoeuer they would haue him After he hath hung thus a good space and will grant nothing they command him to be let downe and twice so much Iron more to bee layde on his heeles and so hoysed vp againe one inch higher if it may be threatning him that he shall dye none other death except he declare vnto them the truth in such matters as they demand of him therefore charge the hangman to let him vp and downe that the waight of the Iron hanging at his heeles may rent euery ioynt in his body from other At which intolerable paines piercing all the parts of his body if the party shrike or cry out as he hath good cause to doe they are as loude on the other side roaring and yelling vpon him to declare the truth then or else they tell him hee shall come downe with a vengeance Neither will they onely say so but the party shall find it so For if hee continue in the same mind they goe on forward as fast in their mad moodes and bid the hang man to slip the ropes suddenly that he may fall downe with a sway and in the halfe way to stop giue him the Strappado which being done with a trice all his whole body is out of frame both armes shoulders back legs and all the rest of his ioynts by reason of the exceeding great waight hanging at his heeles and the sudden sway tearing each part from other And yet here is no ho with them neither For renuing their exhortation and threats if he will not yield vnto them they cause more Iron to bee added the third time so that the poore wretch being
so that such as haue the easiest punishments goe next in order vnto the Children and are to bee discerned from other by these tokens tapers in their hands vnlighted ropes about their necks Barnacles vpon their tongues with hats of paper bare-headed except they put on those hats but without clokes like slaues the better or richer man commeth alwaies hindmost Next vnto these goe they that are disguised in Sambenites that is to say a linnen garment shaped like a coat-armour with a red crosse ouerthwart obseruing the state and condition of euery person as is said before But such as haue bin berayed with their Orders are preferred before others both for estimation place Lastly coÌ„meth in the third rank those that are condemned to the fire of the which sort so many as haue refused Gods truth and betaken themselues in steed thereof to lyes in hope of mercy at mans hand doe well deserue to goe before the rest that remained constaÌ„t to the end whom the Inquisitors place in the rereward as the fittest place for them euen in their own iudgements in respect of their vertue and faith Also on each hand of euery prisoner there goeth a Familiar all armed to gard him and besides them two Monks or Theatiâ—i as they term them attending on euery one that is ready to suffer to perswade them tooth naile not to cleaue vnto that doctrine now at their departure out of this world wherein they haue bin trained and taught hitherto Which wicked importunity is as great a grief in my faÌ„cy to him that constantly hath perseuered hitherto as any torment that hee hath endured Immediately after the prisoners doe follow in order as the maner is in all solemnities first the whole state of the City which consisteth vpon Alguaziles Constables Gouernours of the 24. Wards the Iudges of euerie Court the Regent or Viceroy and Assistant and after them a great troupe of noble gentlemen on horseback next vnto them the State ecclesiasticall In the first rank the Clerks Vicars and Curats in the second the whole Chapiter of the Cathedrall Church commonly called Cabildum Ecclesiae maioris In the third place the Abbots and Priors with their Couentes and last of all after all these followeth the holy House which triumpheth indeede and is in iolly state that day Before whom as they passe there is a way made in respect of their honours and a compasse kept wherein the Fiscal one that taketh no small paines in the holy Houses behalfe towards the obtaining of this victory hauing a flagge of red damaske displaied in warlick fashion for all the world occupieth the place of the Standard-bearer The flag is of turky worke full of much good workmanship and hath on the one side the Popes armes that first granted the charter of the Inquisition and on the other the image of King Ferdinando that first admitted it all verie sumptuously embrodered with silke and purple and in the top of the Standard is fixed a rich crosse of siluer and gilt with the crucifixe which the people make after more superstitiously a great deale than they doe after anie other crosse onely because it is the crosse pertaining to the holy Inquisition Last of all come the Fathers themselues a verie soft set pace for grauity sake triumphantly as chiefe Emperours of that conquest Hard at their heeles follow the Familiars and Promoters belonging to the holy House all on horseback as the maner was in the triumphes at Rome for euery Captaine conquerour to haue his souldiers hard at his elbow After the which come the common people hand ouer head with a wonderfull presse With this pomp they passe from Triana where the Inquisitours prison is to a certain scaffold made of wood and reared vp a good height in the middest of the high street and chiefe of all the citie for the Penitentiaries to stand vpon in view of all the people there to hear the sentence pronounced vpon them Being come vpon the scaffold they cause them to sit downe euery man and woman in the same order that he or she came in Right ouer against the which there is also another stage set vp of like quantitie wherein is erected a stately kinde of Consistory for the Inquisitours where they sit in their maiestie like gods with all their traine about them that followed them thither Here it would not be impertineÌ„t as I iudge to discourse a little in comparing the Triumph of our aduersaries with the publicke Penance vsed in the primitiue Church and set out by these godly Bishops and Pastours in those daies wherein was nothing but meere Godlinesse sought with a feruent and vnfained zeale of the amendment and saluation of the repentants into the which neuer anie entred but hee departed thence to his great comfort though with some shame And his shame was for his offence but the ease of his griefe and the plaister which the Pastours and Preachers applied to his ruptures was the perfect Plaister and true Sanatiue that healed his wounded and corrupt conscience Neyther was it their maner that prescribed the penance to triumph on that day or to send for their brauest sutes out of their wardrobes to goe and shew themselues abroad-in in token of ioy and victorie but came themselues in mourning weede and so likewise did the whole congregation declaring by that outward shew of sorrow that their hearts were touched inwardly with the fall and infirmities of their brethren Insomuch that manie times the Censors themselues haue been seen to shed moe teares than haue the Penitentiaries vnfainedly sorrowing the shame which the other sustained as right and reason was for their misdeeds Neither was any of them put to any kind of death one or other or so smartly scourged that by meanes of the stripes pearcing so deep a man might haue seene the bare bone nor the vtter shame discredite both of themselues and their whole posteritie sought hereby but whatsoeuer was done it was referred to this end that they might recouer the good name again among the congregation which they had lost before by their misdeameanor As for any of the Preachers or Ministers none of them had any allowance or fees from the Eschecquer or any one fleece or locke of wool from the backes of any of his flocke neyther was any thing found in their houses that came by spoile of the poore Ezechiel 34. Esay 3. Woe be to you shepheards c. Against the which albeit there be good cause to complain and cry out presently yet may there perhaps be some other oportunitie elswhere to do it My meaning in this place is onely to make a plat without any order or fashion that such as haue any sense at all left within them in this vniuersall time of ignorance and dotage may beginne to weigh and consider what difference there is betwixt these triumphes set out with such preparation and iollitie and the publick penance vsed in the Primitiue
to weigh with themselues whether they fight vnder the Inquisitours banner for Christ or against Christ and so let them keepe or breake their oath as they shall thinke good after they haue debated the matter thorowly Now to our purpose againe After all things thus done and finished if any there bee among the Penitentiaries that deserue to be so serued they are straight-way degraded and the Bishop that ministred the orders to the party plaieth that part arraied all in his Pontificalibus The ceremonies vsed about the actuall degradation as they terme it of him that is to bee executed that day are both strange and tragicall First they apparell him in his massing robes as though he were readie to dâ—â— masse and afterwards dispoile him againe of euery trinket one after another vsing both dog-trickes and termes of coniuration about euerie of the ornaments contrariwise to that that they did before at the first putting on thereof when hee entred into orders Then are his hands lips and crowne scraped with a broken glasse or some sharp knife in token that they scrape off the oyle that hee was greased withall at his first initiation All the which is done in the full view and wonder of all the people some pitying the poore man and some cursing him worse than lew or Pagane being indeede most happie if it bee but for this one thing that in the latter end of his life hee cryeth abrenuntio to that greasie and stinking oyle scraping away that Baals marke and that Apish patch so well as it will be and so departing But such as haue not iudgement of death are degraded onely verbaliter as they term it that is to say by word Which is in effect a suspending from all function preferment during the Popes pleasure Another ceremony they haue that in no case is to be omitted wherin the holy House most shamefully and without any kind of colour in the world mocketh both God man and all the whole company present giuing all men good cause iustly to laugh at their folly that is this In the end of their sentence pronounced vpon such as haue iudgement to be burned their conuersion to the church of Rome notwithstanding they adde moreouer cause there openly to be proclaimed that forasmuch as the holy House mistrusteth that the party is not truly conuerted nor from his heart but counterfaiteth and doe feare therefore lest a wolfe lurke still vnder a sheepes clothing for all his semblance of conuersion they do giue bequeath him to the secular power with this humble request vnto them to shew the partie so much fauour as may be and to breake neither bone nor pearce any skin of his body But such as nothing was able to remoue from their godly profession whom they tearme Wilfull and Obstinate persons they commend to the same power with these words Forasmuch as we haue laboured earnestly and taken great paines with this man to bring him home to our mother-church of Rome and can doe no good on him but that still hee continueth obstinatly in his opinions c. we therfore deliuer this fellow to the secular power to doe execution on him according to order of law yet praying them by the way that if he shew any tokens of true repentance to deal as fauourably with him as they may with other such like speech And what impudencie I pray you is this They haue already giuen sentence vpon him that hee must dye and therupon deliuer him to the secular power to be burnt in so much that if they that should see execution done do eyther suffer the partie to make an escape or else keepe him and not burne him they themselues should bee assigned to supply his place and yet they require thus much at their hands to vse as much mercie towards him as they may But what kinde of pittie or mercie is it I pray you that they shew vnto them themselues which bring the poore soule foorth into that place dismembred and shaken all into peeces in euerie lim 〈…〉 e and iointe of their bodies with neuer a whole bone in their skinne yea the verie sinewes veines and guts within them broken with their most cruell tortures wherewith diuers haue perished presently euen betwixt their hands and yet will they sue to the secular power to breake neyther arme nor legge nor anie other member nor to draw one droppe of bloud on them Forsooth it is because the harme that they haue done to the poore wretches alreadie is wholly within the flesh and because they haue drawen no bloud of them eyther with knife or launce but onely at his mouth with a fine Lawne let down his throat they forsooth are free from bloudshed and breaking of bones They themselues haue entreated him tootoo pitifully without all mercy or good humanity with exquisite deuices such kind of cruelty as was aboue measure more than barbarous and fall they now to entreat the temporall Iudges to shew him as much mercy aâ— may be Perhaps these flouting merchants suppose that by this onely shift of descant in praying mercie for them they haue cleanly auoided their Canon which holdeth them accursed and excommunicate whosoeuer being of the clergy shall shed any bloud or giue any maime for they can wipe away such a foolish penalty in comparison of so great an offence with as foolish and ridiculous a shift And these most impudent toyes of mockery both the Princes and the whole people but chiefly the temporall magistrate heareth and suffereth without saying any thing thereto otherwise there is no man so void of all vnderstanding but he may easily perceiue that their praying of mercy and crauing of fauour for them is but a very iest imagined to flout all the whole companie withall and spoken then when they mean it least Loe here is the pittie and tender compassion and mother-like mercie of their holy mother-Church which this holy House sheweth This also may the reader see and marke by the way were he neuer so blinde that this shift of theirs to send such to the fire of whose conuersion they stand halfe in doubt that is to say lest they leaue a wolfe in a lambeâ— skin is yet one of the cunningest trickes that the holy House hath in all her bouget I told you before that the chiefest part of the Act consisted in the reading and pronouncing of the sentences and therfore most worthie the marking forasmuch as they do not onely by singular falshood mis-report such things as the party vpon examination hath confessed but also father those things vpon him most diuellishly which hee neyther spake nor thought in all his lifetime And these hath the holy House deuised against the partie whereof part is most filthy part shamefull and abominable and part blasphemous to the intent to disgrace his person to make both him and his doctrin the more abhorred of men and encrease their owne estimation and credit as
ours aswell as for your owne Howbeit I will moue the rest of my Lords in the matter and what may be done shall be done But vpon these and such like foolish and blasphemous speeches neuer anie Commissioner made inquirie and thus departed hee out of the Parler wherein he had made such a clerke-like peece of worke to the poore prisoners in way of consolation and so like a gay-diuine casting a word out to the keeper verie solemnly and charging him by vertue of their Office to look to them narrowly that none escaped For if there did he should both seek them at his owne charge and be punished besides for his negligence in looking so slenderly to his duetie CHAP. XIII The interpretation of the sentences THere be also certaine speciall termes which the holy House vseth for euerie kinde of penance seuerally Wherein seeing there lyeth also sorne secret mysterie it shall not bee greatly impertinent to declare them in this place expounding them after the Inquisitours owne sense and vnderstanding First concerning the iudgements some are to bee burned quicke and that is for such as haue constantly perseuered vnto the end in the confession of a pure and perfect faith and these men they call obstinate Others are to bee burned also but after they be dead being first strangled at the stake Such are they that being once wonne by their owne frailtie and weaknesse haue beene content to submitte themselues to the Inquisitours and to footh wahtsoeuer the other will say yet haue by certaine euident and sufficient tokens giuen the Inquisitours good cause of suspicion to thinke that they remaine the same in heart still notwithstanding their mouth hath confessed the contrarie After the same maner are diuers also of the former sort whom they tearme obstinate strangled ere the fire bee kindled to make the people beleeue that so soone as they were sette to the stake they abiured and renouced all their heresies and returned to the holy mother-Church of Rome But of these I haue made mention before Another sort of sentences there are that haue a shew of more mercie which they call reconciliations because such as haue renounced the truth are as it were purged and clensed by doing that penance in way of satisfaction and therby receiued againe into the very bosom of the Romish Church Such for the most part cary in their hands tapers vnlighted on the great day of their Triumph with ropes about their neckes and Sambenites vpon their backes aboue their other garments as badges tokens of guilt these they wear either during life or for some other certaine number of yeares or else are close kept and shut vp in some monasterie or some other priuate places whereof as there be sundry sortes so are there likewise seuerall names Some are Perpetuall without redemption Some onely perpetuall Some for a certaine season the which beeng expired they must notwithstanding remaine there still during the Inquisitours pleasures and some be no longer limited at the first than during the pleasure of the chiefe Inquisitour the Generall they call him because he is chiefe Iudge aboue all other Courts of the holy Inquisition throughout the Realme of Spaine there be also some at the pleasure of the inferiour Iudges that gaue the sentence in their owne Courts and priuate iurisdictions These diuersities of prisons are like the properties of Purgatorie for all the world excepting aswell certaine cases in matter of penance as also degrees of affinitie and bloud in cases of mariage For they are deuised to glean all the mony out of the poor Penitentiaries purses more or lesse according to the quality of the offence and after the rate and proportion of the penalty assessed on each of them therefore And all this forsooth must bee vnderstood to proceede from the Inquisitours owneclemencie and mercie of their own meer good will by the only meanes whereof the party that otherwise must necessarely perish for abiuring the truth may stand in state of grace againe and be in possibilitie to recouer his owne saluation When iudgement is giuen to weare the Habite for so they call the Sambenite by a more cleanly terme to perpetuall prison without bayle or maineprise it is to be vnderstood that there is no talk to be had of any remission thereof till the party hath worn that garment suffered imprisonment the space of nine or ten whole yeares except the partie haue so good hap as by meanes of his friends to obtaine his pardon at the Kings hand who onely may by his prerogatiue pardon it at his pleasure But after the expiration of those yeares vnlesse the party haue giuen some cause of suspicion againe the chiefe Inquisitour is commonly wont to remitte the residue howbeit with great crouching first and much entreatie When they adiudge a man to weare the Sambenite and to suffer perpetuall imprisonment without adding anie more it is commonly taken for 3. yeares if the chiefe Inquisitor doe so think good vpon whose pleasure it resteth either to giue the prisoner his discharge after those 3 years or else to his perpetuall ignominie there to detaine him all his life long But when they say that a man shall wear the Habite and suffer imprisonment so many yeares or moneths so soon as that certaine time is expired the partie is set at libertie except it be added moreouer besides the limitation of time certaine that it shal be further referred to the discretion and appointment of the Inquisitours The which clause they comonly vse to put in the latter end in the winding vp of all to choake men therewith to make them thinke themselues much bound to them while they liue for releasing the same But if the sentence be to weare the Sambenite with imprisonment during the chiefe Inquisitours pleasure it is left to their discretions to pardon or punish accordingly as they shall think good In summe how or after what sort soeuer their sentence be the matter is wholly referred to them and to their ordering Now the meanes to redeeme this imprisonment and to dispense with the wearing of these robes is the more common and ordinarie by reason that the King hath in his Court diuers young gentlemen to whom in respect of their seruice he vseth to grant pardons for those matters Then such as get the grant hereof doe commonly make inquirie for such persons as are therunto adiudged who they be and where they remaine to the intent to make their market of those pardons to their most aduantage as they can agree of price eyther more or lesse respecting alwaies both the abilitie of the person and the qualitie of the sentence For such as had iudgement without redemption pay more other for release of perpetuall imprisonment lesse other for certaine time and during the Inquisitours pleasure lesse againe and least of all that which onely resteth vpon the discretion and will of the Iudge Also at some times the King of his like
common purse with a good round summe greased the Pope in the hand so that he was content to grant a general pardon to all the whole company of Confessors of his fatherly love and affection towards them remitting all offences done or committed by them commanding the Inquisitours to surcease from proceeding any further but wholly to suppress such things as were passed alreadie not suffering them in anie case to come to light Howbeit those that are priuy to the Inquisitours dealings say it is an vnlikely matter affirming that if the Pope should make any such grant yet is the holy Inquisition of such preeminence that if they take in hand any matter of weight they will not surcease vpon the Popes inhibition or countermanding and that it is oftener seene that their authoritie preuaileth against the Popes than his against them as by this example following may more plainely appeare Not passing two yeares before this the Bishop of Rome had by a like foolish part and vnawares cut the Inquisitors combes by publishing a generall Iubily which they call a generall charter of pardon for the safetie of all Christendome because Christ belike did not sufficiently prouide therefore besides a number of other pardons indulgences for such as were suspected to be Lutherans so cunningly can this fellow make a gaine of the Gospel to himselfe And wheras he cannot auoid the dart that Christ hath sent into the world to plague him withall but that he must be stricken therwith he ceaseth not to turn it some way to his owne aduantage The words of the pardon were these That whoso in time past had been a Lutheran and would forsake that sect might be absolued thereof by his ghostly father An old deuice of the diuell that in as much as there arose about the same time great trouble in Spaine but specially in Siuill the chiefe city thereof and that a number offended therein and began now to shrink from them they might the more quietly and with lesse danger keepe them in obedience going about to win them by a kinde of clemencie and mercie though fained and counterfait rather then by dealing with them straitly or seuerely Howbeit here was nothing found fault withall saue only the preiudicing of the holy House whereof as it seemed the Pope had no great regard Whereupon they of the Inquisition being somwhat moued by reason that that one only clause had lost them a good booty contemned the Popes pardon resisted it with might and maine commanding peremptorily that no such pardon should be published as should turne the holy House to any preiudice by meanes wherof neither was it receiued ne proclaimed Loe heer may a man see Sathan diuided against himselfe and perceiue thereby that this denying of the Popes absolute authoritie which these good gentlemen punish in others with fire sword as being a necessary article of our beliefe is but a nose of waxe which they turne what way they list so that it serueth them rather in stead of a trap to entangle vs withall then accounted of as an article of our faith in the obseruation whereof consisteth our saluation The propertie of euerie tyrant is specially to hate both mercie and truth and to vse all crueltie and extremity that may be or else to seek vtterly to be hated when he seeth there is none other meanes to vphold him As it was said sometime by one Whom men fear they doe but hate And truly if a man be disposed to mark them well he shall easily perceiue that there hath bin hitherto no tyrant that hath more duely obserued these lawes nor executed them more cruelly than this holy House hath done deuising to doe all iniury and extremity that possibly they can onely to bring men in feare and awe of them so that they seem to desire nothing so much as this that all men may fear them hate them who dare forasmuch as they punish trifling to yeâ— and matters of no importance yea such as are scarce blame-worthy most seuerely and beyond all measure as by the examples here ensuing may appeare most manifestly At what time their Church was in so good and quiet estate that the Inquisitors had leisure enough to take their pleasure abroad it chanced that the Bishop of Tarracon high commissioner in the Inquisition at Siuill of whose holinesse I haue made mention before walked in a summers day for his recreation by the sweet gardens that stand by the Riuer Guadalqueuir accompanied with all his traine and in his state as he was wont at diuers other times to do Hard vpon the banke of a certaine pond that was in the same garden where my Lord Bishop at that time was recreating himselfe by chance there sat a little child playing that was the gardiners sonne not passing two or three yeares of age out of whose hands one of the Inquisitours Pages hapned to snatch a reede wherewith the child was making himselfe sport as children are wont to doe by meanes whereof the child cryed after his reede Tke father hearing the child cry came straight-way to know the cause and vnderstanding it was somewhat offended therewithall prayed the Bishops Page to giue the little child his reed againe but because he made little account of the gardiners words proudly scorning and disdaining the poore man he offred to snatch it from him and by reason that he held somewhat hard a shiuer of the reed raced the Pages hand It was no deaths wound I wis nor any great maime such as should deserue anie great punishment but only a small scratch like as a broken reed could make I wot not well what to make of it nor how to describe it such a thing as the verie childe would haue made no mone for The Page yet goeth to his Lord that walked not far off to make complaint of this bloudshed Whose Lordship commanded that the gardiner should bee taken immediately and carried to Triana where hee was laden with irons and there continued by the space of nine moneths and in the end lost that little that hee had which was not much God knows and yet a hard thing for the poor man to recouer and get before hand againe his wife and children perhaps staruing in the mean time And all this was only because he had no speciall regard to the Bishops Page in forbearing him as a member of the holy House but after the 9. moneths hee released him making him beleeue that he had dealt with him in much more gentle and mild sort than his case deserued There was also in Siuill a certaine poore man that laboured for his owne liuing and for his whole familie full duely and truely and with the sweat of his browes whose wife a certaine Church-man kept against his will and neyther the holy Inquisition nor anie other Court would punish this villanie This poore man on a time being among his companions where one of the companie ministred talke about purgatorie and happened
vpon diuers godly Martyrs of Christ who dying very constantly like good Chrstians for the profession of the Gospel yet the Inquisitors notwithstanding deuised to defame and slander them with Apostacie and reuolting THe Inquisitours thinke it not sufficient to execute such by most cruell death as contemning all their tyrannie remaine firme and constant in the profession of the Gospel of Christ before their faces and in open Court but seek by all meanes possible as much as lieth in them vtterly to extinguish in them the life of their soules which is Christ lesus dwelling in their hearts by faith of whom they haue declared themselues to be faithfull Confessours as well at their death as in their life For when they see all their polices void and to haue none effect because Christ taketh into his mightie protection and safegard all his seruants so that no man is able to take them out of his hands as he saith himselfe then deuise they meanes to rob them as much as in them lyeth of their name and renowne of constancie by scattering abroad false tales and misreports of them after their deaths yea sometimes ere they be dead as they stand vpon the stage clapping their engines vpon their tongues because they should not contrarie them reporting by them that they haue forsaken their former faith and returned to the Romish religion And this is a double deuice of the diuels owne brain for two speciall considerations which doe euidently proue that they are assisted by his wicked spirit For hereby they doe not onely rob the Martyrs themselues of their due deserued praise for their constancie and perseuerance but also the Church of Christ is spoiled of those examples wherin she should otherwise reioice in making her reckoning Therefore sith that in diuers Acts of faith as they tearm them they haue dealt in this sort with diuers of whose constancie God hath many wayes assured vs it will be expedient that vnto this former treatise I doe also adde these seuerall and particular histories to the intent that the honour and estimation that is due to good and godly Martyrs may be yeelded vnto them accordingly the Church like wise reioice as she hath good cause lastly that the memorie of them may be preserued and kept both to the glorie of God the increase of his Church and the vtter shame and confusion of this their holy House Iohn Pontio de Leon. IN the first session holden at Siuill against the Professours of Christian religion whom they call Lutherans there was brought forth in the triumph at the same time one Iohn Pontio de Leon sonne to Rhoderico Pontio de Leon Earle of Balen borne of a noble House and a very good gospeller as well for his learning and knowledge as for the practice thereof with the continuance of many yeares as I my selfe am able to make report for the great familiaritie and acquaintance that I had with him a long season and therefore if need were could giue a true and a faithfull testimonie thereof before God I speake it but that all that euer knew him or that had occasion to marke his conuersation will with one consent I dare say testifie the same Among other vertues that appeared to bee in him vnsainedly and without hypocrisie he was singular in one thing in that he had an exceeding loue compassion towards his poor needy brethrē insomuch that being left very wealthie by his father able to continue that port that his Ancestors kept fell by such meanes almost into starke beggery howbeit such as was to him neither noisome nor grieuous Not with standing diuers haue giuen their blind and foolish verdits of him therefore attributing that to folly prodigalitie which he did of a rare singular vertue But since he liued so well that none could iustly so much as suspect any euill example of life to be in him and many were in their extremities relieued by his goodnesse besides this accepted in so good part his poor hard estate as by all mens iudgements he did very patiently and in such sort as a great deale meaner men would scarce haue taken a farre better estate than hee was in these things must needs be euident proofes of a singular grace of God to be in him and such a perfect kind of vertue as was void of all hypocrisie Yet in recompence of that singular pitty compassion which he shewed in this world towards others he was apprehended by the Inquisitours for professing the Gospel and after he had manfully maintained his quarrell against their malicious falshoods during the time of his imprisonment which was the space of two or three moneths whether it were the very extremitie of their torments that enforced him or their faire and flattering promises of safetie and deliuerance that allured him but hee shrunke at the length and yeelded where erst hee was inuincible stooping and submitting himselfe to the obedience of the Romish Church The first that euer enticed him so shamefully to reuolt was one of these stinging and venemous flies whom they had cast into prison with him in maner as hath beene already declared who being a man verie well learned and besides that a deepe dissembler did rather by his cunning enchantments bewitch him than by any force of reasons disswade or seduce him Howbeit though God suffered him so to fall for a while that hee might somewhat vnderstand the frailtie of man and sensibly feele it in himselfe yet still remembring his owne word and promise that none shall take anie of his flocke from vnder his hands did not long time thus leaue him to himselfe but raising him vp againe most mightily restored vnto him the double strength that he had before For the very night immediately before his execution hee did most manfully defend the truth against his Confessor in the hearing of diuers as well prisoners as also the Officers of the holy House for at such times their confession is not meer auricular insomuch that being demanded by the Priest whether he would bee shriuen or no where before the time of his apprehension and imprisonment hee vsed commonly to goe to shrift he now refused rebuking the Priest for his labour And being vrged with his former doings answered that hee did it to serue the weaknesse of his brethren and for feare of offence to them that as yet were not proceeded so farre and yet made his choice of his ghostly father so as his shrift was more like a godly collation than a popish confession Mary now saith he as the case standeth there needeth no such yeelding The next day when sentence was pronounced vpon him were openly read these articles among others for the which he was chiefly and principally condemned First that he should say that hee from the bottome of his heart abhorred the Idolatrie that was committed in the adoration of the bread therfore so oft as it was his chance to meet it being caried