PROTESTANTISM - The Library of Iberian Resources Online

whom four or five suffered themselves to be burnt alive. (66) Besides those executed there were eight
Lutherans [445] reconciled, three abjured for vehement suspicion and ten for light suspicion, making
forty in all. Two houses were ordered to be torn down and sowed with salt--those of Luis de Abrego
and Isabel de Baena--which had been used for meetings. There were also thirty-four culprits for other
offences--fourteen Moriscos of whom three were relaxed, one Judaizer reconciled, four bigamists, two
blasphemers, twelve for holding fornication not to be a sin, and one false-witness, making a total of
seventy-four and giving the crowd ample entertainment. (67)
The work went on with unrelaxing vigor, but it was not until December 22, 1560, that another gaoldelivery
could be arranged. Of this auto we have the dry official report, which shows that there were
fourteen relaxations in person and three in effigy, the latter being the deceased Doctor Egidio and
Doctor Constantino, and the fugitive Juan Pérez de Pineda. There were fifteen reconciled and
imprisoned, five abjurations de vehementi and three de levi, and there was one acquittal, making fortyone
in all, but soon afterwards there were sixteen Spaniards and twenty-six foreigners discharged as
innocent, showing how reckless and indiscriminating had been the arrests. Whether any of the relaxed
persisted to the end and were burnt alive is not recorded, for the only remark accompanying the report
is that there were no offensive speeches, because those likely to utter them were duly gagged in
advance. (68)
Of these there were two or three deserving special notice. At the head of the list of sufferers stood
Julian Hernández, who had left his safe retreat in Frankfort on the desperate errand of evangelizing
Spain. He had lain three years in prison and, if González de Montes is to be believed, he bore
unshrinkingly repeated torture without betraying his associates and, when carried back to his cell,
would inspirit his fellow-prisoners by chanting along the corridors
Vencidos van los frayles,
Vencidos van. Corridos van los lobos,
Corridos van.
Montes adds that he persisted to the end, when, after the faggots were lighted, a fraile had his gag
removed in hopes of his yielding [446] and, disgusted with his obduracy, cried "Kill him! kill him!"
when the guards thrust their weapons into him. It may be hoped that he was spared the final agonies,
but there are not wanting indications that, towards the close of his imprisonment, his resolution gave
way and that he furnished evidence against his comrades. (69)
The one acquittal was that of Doña Juana de Bohorques, wife of Don Francasao de Vargas and sister of
the María de Bohorques who had perished in the previous auto. She died in prison and it was her fame
and memory that were absolved. González de Montes says that her death was caused by atrocious
torture and the case has, thanks to Llórente, served as a base for one of the severest accusations against
the Inquisition. In the absence of the documents the truth of the story cannot be ascertained but, if true,
it manifests more readiness to render a righteous judgment at the cost of self-condemnation than we are
accustomed to attribute to the Inquisition. (70)
Seville, as the chief commercial centre of Spain, naturally attracted many merchants and mariners, and
this auto furnishes an illustration of inquisitorial methods in discouraging commerce. Among the
relaxed there were three foreigners--a Frenchman named Bartolomé Fabreo and two Englishmen,
William Bruq (Brooks) and Nicolas Bertoun (Burton or Britton). Of the two former we know only their
fate, but of the latter we chance to have some details. Burton was a shipmaster or supercargo, who
made no secret of the reformed faith in which he had been trained, wherefore he was arrested and all
the merchandize in his charge was sequestrated. One of the owners, seeking to recover his property,