PROTESTANTISM - The Library of Iberian Resources Online

een necessary to enable Philip III to enter into the treaty of 1605; now that the peace had been broken
and the causes of the papal permission had ceased, he was, as inquisitor-general, obliged in conscience
to obviate the evils of Catholic intercourse with such pertinacious and pernicious heretics as the
English and Scotch, by not permitting them to remain in his Majesty's dominions, for otherwise he
would be lacking in his duty to the king and to his office. He had therefore ordered an edict to be
published that all Englishmen and Scotchmen, who were not Catholics, should leave the king's
dominions within twenty days, notifying them that after that date they would be punished by the Holy
Office. As it was a weighty matter, of which the king should be notified, Pacheco added that he had not
wished to execute it without informing him and he could issue such orders as he saw fit. (131) It may be
assumed that Philip did not approve of this insolent invasion of the royal power, for it was not till April
22, 1626, that he issued a proclamation forbidding all commercial intercourse with England and
ordering the confiscation of all English goods imported in contravention of its commands, when the
Inquisition followed by a carta acordada of May 29th, prescribing the prosecution, in the regular way,
of all English heretics who had sinned against the faith. (132)
When peace was restored, in 1630, article 19 of the treaty revived the article of 1604 and Philip, as
before, promised to provide that English subjects should not be molested so long as they caused no
scandal. (133) As before, the Suprema followed this, January 28, 1631, with detailed instructions that
those who kept house should be treated as Spanish subjects and be subjected to special surveillance.
(134) This unjustifiable distinction between transient and [467] resident foreigners gave ample
opportunity for molestation and blackmail. It was construed as applying the Index of prohibited books
to residents for, in 1645, we find the Canary tribunal ordering its commissioner at Orotava to search the
houses of the English merchants and report whether they found any forbidden books or books that had
not passed the censure. The duty was performed and lists were forwarded, not only of books but of
pictures and prints and, as nothing objectionable was reported, we may not uncharitably surmise that
the commissioner's labor was not unprofitable. (135) As the rule had no legal basis, it probably called
forth protests for, in 1652, the Suprema submitted the question of its legality to a number of
calificadores, who unanimously agreed that it was not in accordance with the treaties, when presumably
it was withdrawn. (136) The espionage to which foreign merchants were exposed is portrayed, in 1648,
by Pedro de Villareal, commissioner at Bilbao, who reports that there were sixteen houses in which the
English and Dutch traders were lodged; he was confident that nothing heretical could escape his
knowledge, for the keepers of the houses were faithful spies and very zealous in matters of religion.
(137)
A treaty of commerce with Denmark, in 1641, placed the Danes on the same footing as the English and,
in the treaty of Munster, January 30, 1648, the Dutch obtained the same terms, while a special article
placed the Hanse towns on the same footing as Holland. (138)
Meanwhile, in 1645, the English merchants in Andalusia, by a payment of twenty-five hundred ducats
in silver, had secured certain commercial privileges, one of which indicates how grudgingly their treaty
rights had been interpreted. A foreign heretic [468] appearing in court, either as party or witness, was
asked whether he was a Catholic; if he replied in the negative, his oath was not received. This
humiliating and injurious distinction was abrogated, and the Englishman's oath was declared to be legal
and binding, like the Spaniard's, but it was difficult to make the courts accept the innovation, and the
royal order, issued March 19th had to be repeated June 26th and again November 9th. By the Munster
treaties this privilege was extended to Holland and the Hanse towns, and it was confirmed by the treaty
of Utrecht in 1713. (139)