Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Inquisition
'After the earthquake, which had destroyed three-fourths of the city of Lisbon, the sages of
that country could think of no means more effectual to preserving the kingdom from utter
ruin than to entertain the people with an auto-da-fé, it having been decided by the
University of Coimbra that burning a few people alive by a slow fire, and with great cere-
mony, is an infallible secret for preventing earthquakes.'
Candide (Voltaire, 1759)
One of the darkest episodes in Portugal's history, the Inquisition was a campaign of church-
sanctioned terror and execution that began in 1536 and lasted for 200 years, though it was
not officially banned until 1821. It was initially aimed at Jews who were either expelled
from Portugal or forced to renounce their faith. Those who didn't embrace Catholicism
risked facing the auto-da-fé (act of faith), a church ceremony consisting of a Mass, a pro-
cession of the guilty, the reading of their sentences and later, their burning at the stake.
'Trials' took place in public squares in Lisbon, Porto, Évora and Coimbra in front of
crowds sometimes numbering in the thousands. At the centre atop a large canopied plat-
form sat the Grand Inquisitor, surrounded by his staff of aristocrats, priests, bailiffs, tortur-
ers and scribes, who meticulously recorded the proceedings.
The victims usually spent years in prison, often undergoing crippling torture, before see-
ing the light of day. They stood accused of a wide variety of crimes - such as skipping
meals on Jewish fast days (signs of 'unreformed' Jews), leaving pork uneaten on the plate,
failing to attend mass or observe the Sabbath, as well as straight-up blasphemy, witchcraft
and homosexuality. No matter how flimsy the 'evidence' - often delivered to the tribunal
by a grudge-bearing neighbour - very few were found innocent and released. After a dec-
ade or so in prison, the condemned were finally brought to their auto-da-fé. Before meeting
their judgement, they were dressed in a
san benito
(yellow penitential gown painted with
flames) and
coroza
(a high conical cap) and brought before the tribunal.
The last auto-da-fé was held in 1765, which ironically enough was levied against 10 Jesuit priests who
dared oppose the autocratic and anticlerical Marquês de Pombal.
After the sentence was pronounced, judgement was carried out in a different venue. By
dawn the next morning, for instance, executioners would lead the condemned to a killing
field outside town. Those who repented were strangled first before being burned at the
stake. The unrepentant were simply burned alive.
