more than by commendable zeal, are wont to denounce others on the ground that they are confessos, and therefore not entitled to wear silk, carry weapons, ride on horseback, or do other things forbidden to them by laws and royal ordinances of these realms, as well as by the instructions of the Holy Office, as likewise is set forth in the edict. In these cases one ought to be careful not to accept such depositions except from children and grand-children of relaxados, or from children of a relaxada,[1] or from persons who themselves have been reconciled to the Church [reconciliados]. The commissary may receive denunciations from these three classes of persons, and send them to the Holy Office, without making any arrest, issuing interdicts, or taking other steps. On the contrary he will maintain great secrecy, and charge the witnesses to do the same. As for other persons denounced as confessos, since they are not in the said class, nothing will be written. On the contrary, the same secrecy will be imposed upon the witnesses and they shall be very kindly admonished to be silent, and not to slander their neighbors, informing them that the Holy Office will take no offense at what they have testified.
12. The heading of the charge made against any person must begin with the words of the first witness, and not, as is customary with ordinary judges in these regions, the formula, that "it has come to his notice," etc.—inserting first what he has heard concerning the crime from any witness. When the commissary re-
- ↑ Relaxado (feminine, relaxada): a person abandoned by the ecclesiastical judge to the secular arm [al brazo seglar] referring to the obstinate heretic who refused to abjure and do penance, or to him who after abjuration should relapse. Confeso ("confessed") meant a Jew converted to the Christian faith.
