THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
Auto da Fe
or marriage of a prince; the "Auto Particular," at which the inquisitors and the criminal judges alone
were present; the
"
Autillo " (little auto), which was held in the precincts of the palace of the Inquisition in the presence of the ministers of the tribunal and some invited guests and lastly the " Auto Singular, held in the case of a single individual. After having been immured for months or even years in the dungeons of the Inquisition, and after the trial, the condemned persons whose sentences were to be read were taken out of prison on the night preceding the auto and led to a place where they were prepared for the ceremony. special dress was given them, consisting of a Costume of vest, the sleeves of which came down the Con- to the wrists, and a pair of trousers demned. reaching to the heels, both made of black stuff striped with white. Over this was thrown a scapular, called " sanbenito " usually made, for those accused of some crime against the church, of yellow cotton marked both on breast and back with the St. Andrew cross painted in red. For those, however, who had been convicted and who persisted in their denial, or who had relapsed, the scapular was gray and was called "samarra," and there was figured on it both in front and behind the likeness of the prisoner resting upon burning torches and surrounded by devils. Often the name of the prisoner and the crime for which he was convicted were written beneath the picture. For those who had accused themselves the flames were inverted and for such as had been convicted of sorcery a bonnet of paper in the form of a sugarloaf was also prescribed, upon which were figured These bonnets were called devils and flames of fire. "carochas." The culprit's feet were bare, and in his hand he carried a taper of yellow wax. In the solemn procession which was formed, the banner of the Inquisition with its inscription " Justitia et Misericordia " was carried foremost then came the officers of the Inquisition and other dignitaries. One or two citizens were assigned to each culprit to act as godfathers, whose duty it was to see that those given in their charge were returned safely to the prison. In the procession were also carried the bones of those who had died before sentence could be pronounced upon them; for, says Bernardus Comensis ("Lucerna Inquisitor," p. 52), "Mortui hseretici possunt excommunicari et possunt hoeritici accusari post mortem et hoc usque ad quadraginta annos. .The procession also included effigies of those who had been condemned in absentia. The reason for this course was because the Inquisition, when it condemned a person, was able to sequester his property. As Bernard Gui expressly states in his "Practica Inquisitionis," "The crime of heresy must be proceeded against not only among the living, but even among the dead, especially when it is necessary to prevent their heirs from inheriting, because of the
A
.
from whom they inherit " (Molinier, "L' Inquisition dans le Midi de la France," p. 358). In the church elaborate preparations had been made for the ceremony. The great altar was draped with black cloth, and upon it were placed two thrones, one for the Inquisitor-General, the other A large for the king or for some high dignitary. beliefs of those
340
was also erected: those to whom its face was turned were to be spared while those to whom its back was shown were to die. Before Procession the actual ceremony took place the
crucifix
and secular authorities had solemnly Ceremony, swear to lend all their aid to the quisition
and
to
In-
to carry out its behests.
Along sermon was then preached for the purpose of exhorting those who still remained obdurate to conand of inciting the onlookers to the profession which was made at various intervals. On this account the auto was sometimes called " sermo publicus, " or " sermo general de fide " (Molinier, ib. p. A good example of this preaching may be seen 8). in the sermon of Don Diego Annunciazaro Justinianus, at one time archbishop of Craganor (translated by Moses Mocatta, and published in Philafess,
of faith
A bibliography of such sermons preached at the autos in Portugal is given by I. F. da Silva (" Diccionario Bibliographico Portuguez," Lisbon, 1858 et seq., s.v. "Autos da fe"). A chance was also given to those so inclined to make abjuration of their heresies, this being done Two at a table on which lay several open missals. clerks then read the report of the trial and the punishment meted out, the reading of which often occupied a whole day. As each report was read, the culprit was led out by one of the familiars of the Inquisition into the middle of the gallery, where he remained until the sentence had been pronounced. The same ceremony was gone through when the Here a large service was held in a public square. amphitheater was erected with all the necessary appurtenances for the service, and with temporary dungeons beneath the platforms for the condemned. The punishments meted out by the Inquisition were of four kinds according to the official enumerdelphia, 1860).
Citation before the Inquisition; (2) the performance of pious deeds; (3) pubPunish- lie pilgrimages, flagellations, and the wearing of large crosses; and (4) conments. fiscation of goods, perpetual imprisonment, and death. All those found guilty at the trial were led back again in the same solemn procession the heretic penitent and relapsed, the heretic impenitent and not relapsed, the heretic " impenitent and relapsed," the heretic negative (who denied his crime), and the heretic contumacious, were all delivered over to the secular arm, as the Inquisition itself technically refused to carry out the death-senation:
(1)
tence on the principle
" ecclesia
non
sitit
sanguinem
"
The various sentences of death always ended with some such formula as "For these reasons we declare you relapsed, we cast you out of the forum of the church, we deliver you over to the secular justices; praying (the
Church
thirsts
not for blood).
them, however, energetically, to moderate the sentence in such wise that there be in your case no shedding of blood nor danger of death." Bellarmin says expressly, "That heretics deserve clearly seen, or at least is referred to 6 et seq." The doctors of the Church were merely divided on the question whether those convicted should be put to death by the sword or by fire (compare Julien Ha vet, " L'Heresie et le Bras Se-
the sentence in Deut.
culier
is
xiii.
au Moyen Age,"
Paris, 1881).
Death by
fire
