Extracts From the Register of the Prisons
March, 1730.
No. 8. Juan Panisso. Prison of the Martyrs. Maintenance, two sueldos and the bread of the Contractor.
Juan Panisso, a native and inhabitant of this city, a married man, in custody in the secret Prison of this Holy Office, with his property sequestrated, for uttering heretical speeches. Respecting this prisoner, information was forwarded last January, that proceedings were on foot for taking the depositions of the witnesses against him, with a view to their publication. The audience for this purpose was held on the twentyninth of this month, and the prisoner answered to the charges with a full denial. In this state the case remains at present.
April, 1730.
The prisoner was furnished with the publication of the testimony, and allowed to confer with his counsel. He drew up articles of defence, and in this state the case remains.
June, 1730.
The prisoner’s defence was received on the third of this month, and the audience for communication with his counsel was held on the eighth, when his final defence was made. On the ninth, sentence was passed with the assistance of the Ordinary, unanimously, that the prisoner should be put to the regular torture, before the execution of which, it was resolved that the case should be referred to your Highness, which was done on the tenth. The matter remains in this state waiting for the decision of your Highness.
August, 1730.
On the first of July we received the order of your Highness to put the prisoner to the torture ad arbitrium. On the twelfth an audience was held, in which a sentence to that effect was passed. The prisoner was informed of the same, and admonished in the customary manner, but persisted in his denial. He was then put to the torture,18 but suffered the whole without confessing anything. On the fifteenth, with the assistance of the Ordinary, his case was definitively judged by a sentence pronounced unanimously, that the prisoner hear his own condemnation read in the hall of the Tribunal with open doors; that he make an abjuration de levi, be severely reprehended and warned, absolved ad cautelam, and be banished from this city, Madrid, and the court of his Majesty, to a distance of eight leagues, for the space of five years, the three first of which to be spent in the royal garrison of this city. This sentence was referred to your Highness the same day, and on the fourteenth of August, the answer received in which your Highness ordered that the prisoner be brought into the hall of the Tribunal, and there, with closed doors, be severely reprehended and warned, that he be admonished to abstain from the like offences in future, and forthwith dismissed. This was executed on the same day, together with the audience for binding him to secrecy, and making inquiries respecting the prison. The prisoner was then dismissed.
Dr Don Miguel Vizente Cebrian y Augustin.
March, 1730.
Isabel Boxi, alias Modroño. Prison of Sta. Maria. Maintenance, two sueldos and the bread of the Contractor.
Isabel Boxi, alias Modroño, widow, native of Vilaseca, in the diocese of Tarragona, aged sixtythree years, confined in the secret prison of this Holy Office, with her property sequestered, for witchcraft and superstition. Respecting this prisoner your Highness was informed in the month of January, that the witnesses were giving their testimony against her for publication. Nothing was done in all February, and part of the present month, with respect either to this or the other cases, for this reason; the Inquisitor, Licentiate Don Balthasar Villarexo has been out of health most of this month, and I have been in the same state all the month of February. For the same reason, also, no account was transmitted the last month, there being no proceedings to relate. At present, we have done nothing more than hold an audience for the publication of the testimony against the above prisoner, and shall proceed with this case after the holidays.
April, 1730.
The publication of the testimony was done on the eighteenth and twentyfourth of this month, on which occasions the prisoner made her answers to the charges, and denied the whole. In this state the case remains at present.
May, 1730.
The publication was communicated to the prisoner, and she conferred with her counsel, and drew up her defence. Sentence was passed, and the same referred to your Highness.
June, 1730.
On the third of this month, the order of your Highness respecting the prisoner was received, which having confirmed the sentence, an auto was given in the church of Santa Agueda on the eighteenth of this month, the prisoner being present in penitential garments, with the insignia of her offences. Her sentence was read and she made an abjuration de levi, after which she was absolved ad cautelam.19 On the nineteenth, she received a scourging, and on the twentieth, after being reprehended, admonished, and threatened, she was informed that she must pass three years of confinement, in Vique, and be banished seven years more from Tarragona, Barcelona, and Madrid. On the same day, the audience was held for binding her to secrecy and ascertaining the state of her connexion with the prison. The day following she was despatched to Vique where she now remains in the custody of a learned person who is to instruct her in the Catholic Faith.
Dr Don Miguel Vizente Cebrian y Augustin.
March, 1730.
No. 3 Ana Vila y Campas. Prison of La Cruz. Maintenanace, two sueldos and the bread of the Contractor.
Ana Vila y Campas, a native and inhabitant of this city, aged thirtyfive years, and a widow, confined in the secret prison of this Holy Office, with her goods in sequestration, for witchcraft and superstitious impostures. With relation to this prisoner, your Highness was informed in the month of January, that the depositions were collecting against her. The audience has since been held, and after the holidays, the cause will be carried on.
April, 1730.
On the seventh and twentyfirst of this month, the audience for publication was held, in which state the case remains at present.
May, 1730.
The prisoner communicated with her counsel, answered to the charges, and was sentenced. The sentence was referred to your Highness.
June, 1730.
On the thirteenth day of this month, the order of your Highness confirming the sentence, was received, in consequence of which an auto was given in the church of Sta Agueda, where the prisoner was present, in penitential garments, with the proper insignia of her offences. Her sentence was read, she made an abjuration de levi, and was absolved ad cautelam. On the nineteenth, she was scourged, and on the twentieth, was reprehended, admonished, and severely threatened, after which the audience was held for binding her to secrecy, and making inquiry respecting the prison. On the night of the same day, she was carried to the casa de la Galera, where she is to be confined for ten years, at the expiration of which term, she is to be banished perpetually from this city and Madrid, for the distance of eight leagues. She remains at present in the charge of a learned person, who will instruct her in the Catholic Faith.
February, 1736.
Joseph Fernandez in the secret prison of this tribunal, for having written and spoken divers heresies, blasphemies, and insults against our Holy Faith. Distitute. Maintenance, two sueldos, and the bread of the Contractor. Prison of the Innocents.
Joseph Fernandez, a native of the town of Santa Llina, in the bishopric of Urgel, aged eighteen years, formerly an apothecary, and latterly a soldier in the cavalry regiment of Calatrava, taken from the Royal prison of this city of Barcelona, and transported to the secret prison of this tribunal, on the twentieth of the present month of February. This prisoner made a spontaneous confession on the fifteenth of January of the present year, declaring that he had made an explicit league with the devil, and had granted him his soul. He furthermore stated that he had uttered, on many occasions, divers impious and heretical sayings against God, and against Christ and his Holy Mother. This confession was ratified on the eighteenth and twentyfirst of the month; and on the twentyeighth, in consequence of his confession, a sentence was passed, that the said Joseph Fernandez be reprehended, admonished, and warned; that he make an abjuration de vehementi, be absolved ad cautelam, and intrusted to the charge of a Calificador or learned person, for the purpose of being instructed in the mysteries of our Holy Faith, ratifying his previous confession, which sentence was ordered to be referred to your Highness, and transmitted the same day.
On the eighteenth of February, the answer of your Highness was received, with a confirmation of the sentence, which was not put in execution, in consequence of the prisoner’s having written several letters to the Inquisitor Don Balthasar Villarexo, which letters contained insulting, heretical, and blasphemous matter against our Holy Catholic Religion, as well as contemptuous and insolent language against the said Inquisitor. For this reason an order was issued for his imprisonment, and the said Joseph Fernandez was, on the twentieth of the same month, taken from the Royal Prison, where he was then confined. On the twentysecond and twentythird, an audience was held, in which he confessed that the letters were his, and that he had written them for the purpose of getting free from the Royal Prison, and the garrison where he was confined for desertion. He having named several persons in prison, before whom he had uttered heretical speeches, a commission was expedited on the twentyeighth to take their depositions. The cause is delayed till the depositions are completed.
April, 1736.
On the twentysecond of March, the depositions of several witnesses were received, and some of them were ratified ad perpetuam rei memoriam, as the deponents in question were about to depart for the garrisons, to which they were condemned. A meeting of the Calificadores was held on the twelfth of April, and the proceedings examined. On the thirteenth, an order was issued that the prisoner should be taken from the intermediate prison, which he then occupied, and transferred to the secret prison. On the seventeenth, nineteenth, and twentieth, audiences were held, in which he confirmed what he had before declared in the audiences of the twentysecond and twentythird of February; namely, that his confession of leaguing with the devil and giving up his soul, was wholly fictitious, having been fabricated by him for the purpose of getting free from the garrison of Oran, where he was confined. He further confessed, that he had, in reality, uttered speeches against our Holy Faith, but that this also was done for the purpose above stated, and not with any belief in his own assertions. On the twentyseventh of the present month, an audience was held, in which the prisoner nominated for his Curador, Dr Joseph Viñals, who accepted the trust, and was allowed to exercise it. On the same day, the prisoner, in the presence of his Curador, ratified his confession without adding or diminishing anything, and the prisoner having been admonished in the regular manner, the accusation against him was presented.
May, 1736.
The prisoner answered to the accusation on the twentyseventh and thirtieth of April, confessing the charges to be true, repeating as before, that he had spoken the words as a means of being liberated from his confinement in the garrison of Oran, and without any bad intention. Having appointed the abovementioned Dr Joseph Viñals for his counsel, he conferred with the prisoner respecting his case on the second day of the present month. The counsel declared that he was ready for the proofs and a definitive decision, whereupon a commission was ordered for a ratification of the testimony in plenario. On the eleventh, the ratifications were received, and on the twentyfifth and twentyninth, audiences were held, in which a regular and formal publication of the testimony was performed.
September, 1736.
On the first of June, publication was made of several letters written by the prisoner to different persons. On the fifth, the answers of the prisoner to the charges were ratified before Dr Joseph Viñals, his Curador, and the prisoner communicated with the counsel respecting his defence. On the thirtieth, the defence was offered by the prisoner’s counsel, and a commission was granted to make the inquiries requested therein. On the eighteenth of July, the twentyeighth of August, and first of September, the result of these inquiries was received in the tribunal. On the fourth of September, an audience was held, and the prisoner informed that the matters for his defence were arranged, to which he answered, that he had nothing further to offer, and was ready for the decision. One of the charges against him, being that he had affirmed the physicians had pronounced him disordered in his mind, sometime in the last year, an order was issued for the physicians of the prisons to examine him. On the twentyfifth of September, a paper was received from the two physicians declaring that they had examined him, and that he was not then, nor had been at any time previous, in a state of mental alienation.
December, 1736.
On the eleventh of October, an audience was held, at which the Ordinary attended, and sentence was passed, that the condemnation of the prisoner be read before him in the hall of the tribunal with open doors; that he make an abjuration de levi, and be banished eight leagues from this city and Madrid, for the space of three years, the first of which to be passed in confinement in some garrison to be fixed upon for that purpose; also that he be severely reprehended, admonished, and warned, and returned to the confinement from which he was taken, when brought to the prison of this tribunal. Ordered also, that before the execution of the above sentence, it be referred to your Highness, which was done on the thirteenth of October. The matter is now in waiting for the answer.
January, 1737.
On the eleventh of this month, the answer of your Highness was received with the order respecting the prisoner, in execution of which, his sentence was read to him in the hall of the tribunal, and he made an abjuration de levi, was absolved ad cautelam, admonished, reprehended, and warned, after which he was sentenced to ten years banishment from this city and the Court, to the extent of eight leagues, the first five years of his banishment to be passed in confinement in the garrison of Oran. The same day an audience was held to bind the prisoner to secrecy, and make inquiries respecting the prison; after which he was sent to the Royal Prison of this city.
Secret prison of the Inquisition of Barcelona, January thirtyfirst, 1737.
Don Francisco Antonio de Montoyer.
January, 1737.
Miguel Antonio Dundana, alias Miguel Antonio Maleti, in the secret prison of this tribunal, for heretical speeches. Prison of St. Bartholomé. Destitute. Maintenance, two sueldos, and the bread of the Contractor.
Miguel Antonio Dundana, alias Maleti, a native of the city of Coni, in Piedmont, aged twentyfour years, a soldier in the regiment called the Queen’s Dragoons, confined in the secret prison of this tribunal on the sixth day of December last, for heretical speeches. On the tenth, fourteenth, and seventeenth of the same month, the customary audiences were held, in which the prisoner confessed nothing to the point. On the last day he nominated for his counsel, Dr Manuel Bonvehi, who accepted the trust, and the confessions of the prisoner were ratified. The accusation was then presented, to the several articles of which the prisoner replied on the sixteenth and nineteenth of the same month, declaring that some of them were false, and some true; but that he had uttered the words in mere jest. On the twentieth, an audience was held, in which the prisoner conferred with his counsel concerning his defence, and ratified the answers made to the articles of the accusation, making an end by calling for the proofs. On the same day, letters were sent to the other Inquisitions, requesting that their records might be inspected to know if any proceedings existed against this person. On the eleventh of the present month, a commission was granted to ratify the testimony for a decisive trial.
March, 1737.
On the sixteenth of this month, the ratifications of the testimony were received in the tribunal, the business having been delayed on account of the great diversity of quarters occupied by the regiment of the Queen’s Dragoons.
May, 1737.
On the eighth, ninth, and tenth of April, the testimony was given in publication, and a copy of the same given to the prisoner, that he might arrange his defence by the help of his counsel. On the eleventh, an audience was held, in which he conferred with Dr Manuel Bonvehi, his advocate, and on the second of May, an audience was held, in which his defence was received. On the ninth of the same month, the commission and papers relating to the affair, were sent for.
June, 1737.
The papers were not received this month, on account of the difficulty in finding the requisite persons, but it is expected the business will be accomplished shortly.
July, 1737.
On the sixth of this month, the papers were received, and on the eighth the prisoner communicated with his counsel. On the seventeenth, the testimony against him was attested in plenario, and his condemnation confirmed. On the twentyninth, the proceedings of the trial were examined, and the Reverend Father M. Fr. Mariano Anglasell being present in the capacity of Judge Ordinary of the bishopric of Solsona, it was unanimously ordered that the prisoner be put to the regular torture; which sentence was ordered to be previously submitted to your Highness.
September, 1737.
On the thirtieth of August, your Highness confirmed the above sentence, and ordered that the torture should be given ad arbitrium, to extort a confession of the acts and intentions of the prisoner. The papers relating to the trial which had been forwarded, were received back on the seventh of the present month. The prisoner being under the hands of the physician, on account of his health, the torture could not be applied till the twentieth, when the physician having certified that he was then in a condition to endure it, an audience was held, and the charges against the prisoner repeated, to which he answered that he had nothing to reply, further than what had been already said. He was then apprised of the sentence against him, and despatched to the torture room, where he confessed that he had uttered many of the assertions imputed to him, but that it was done in sport, and at times when his companions had intoxicated him, and he was not conscious of what he said, believing in his heart the contrary to what he had uttered.
On the twentyfifth, an audience was held, in which he confirmed without alteration, what he had confessed under the torture, adding that he had made other assertions of the like nature, all for the motive above stated, and without entertaining inwardly any belief contrary to the precepts of the Holy Mother Catholic Church. In this manner the prisoner attempted to palliate his heretical speeches. On the twentyseventh, his confessions having been examined, they were attested, and the censure previously passed upon him confirmed, by which he was declared to be strongly suspected in the faith. On the twentyeighth, a final decision was given in the presence of Father P. Mro. Fr. Mariano Anglasell as Ordinary, and the prisoner was sentenced unanimously to be brought into the hall of the tribunal, and there, with open doors before the Secret Ministers, and with the insignia of his offences, to hear his condemnation read, make an abjuration de vehementi, be absolved ad cautelam, be severely reprehended, admonished, and warned, and then to be banished from this city, Madrid, the Court of His Majesty, and the town of Guisona and Tarragona, to a distance of eight leagues, for the period of eight years; the first five of them to be spent in confinement, in some garrison in Africa, to be fixed upon for this purpose, and that he be previously intrusted to the care of some learned person to receive instruction in the faith.
November, 1737.
On the sixteenth of October your Highness was pleased to order that the prisoner attend at an auto de fe if one should occur soon, otherwise to be led to some church in the guise of a penitent, and there hear his sentence read, make an abjuration de levi, be severely reprehended, admonished, and warned, and banished for life from Spain, after passing five years of confinement in the garrison of Oran, where he should be put under the care of some learned person, to receive instruction in the mysteries of our Holy Faith. On the third of November, the sentence was executed in the church of Sta Agueda. The same day he was sworn to secrecy, and despatched to the Royal Prison of this city, thence to be transported to his confinement in Oran. A letter was sent to Father Fr. Pablo de Colindus at that place, intrusting to him the instruction of the prisoner.
Inquisition of Barcelona, Nov. 28th, 1737.
Don Francisco Antonio de Montoya y Zarate.
July, 1739.
Juan Bautista Segondi, imprisoned for the crime of searching for treasures. Prison of San Francisco Xavier. Maintenance, two sueldos, and the bread of the Contractor.
Juan Bautista Segondi, a native of the town of Perpignan in France, and an inhabitant of this city, aged fortytwo years, a married man, and by trade a watchmaker, confined in the secret prison of this tribunal, with a sequestration of his property, on the fourteenth of July, for superstitious and necromantical practices. He was assigned two sueldos and the bread of the Contractor, on account of the Treasury, as little of the prisoner’s property was secured. On the fifteenth, the first audience was held, in which he confessed that he had used the hazel rod for the purpose of discovering the situation of water, metals, and mines, inheriting the capacity to practise this art, from his being a seventh son, without the intervention of a female, and being born in the month of May. He stated that he had heard his father declare such persons could make the abovementioned discoveries, by holding the hazel rod in their hands. On the twentieth and twentyfourth, audiences were held, in which he confessed nothing more. The accusation was then presented against him, the several specifications of which he granted to be true. On the twentyfourth, he was furnished with a copy of the accusation, and nominated for his counsel, Dr Joseph Vila. On the twentyseventh, an audience was held, in which he communicated with his advocate, respecting his defence, and the cause was received for proof in a full trial. A commission was granted for the ratification of the testimony.
August, 1739.
The testimony having been ratified, it was given, in publication, on the nineteenth of this month, at which time, and on the twentyfirst, the prisoner replied thereto, by confessing the truth of the charges, and an additional one, of the same kind, being produced against him, it was also given in publication. On the twentysixth, an audience was held, in which the testimony, and the responses of the prisoner were read to his advocate, Dr Joseph Vila, and arrangements were made for the defence.
September, 1739.
On the ninth of this month, the defence was offered, and on the twelfth, the cause was judged before Father Mro. Fr. Mariano Anglasell, as Judge Ordinary, and sentence was passed upon the prisoner; which was, that he be brought into the hall of the Tribunal, and there, with open doors, hear his condemnation read, make an abjuration de levi, be severely reprehended, admonished, and warned, and apprised, that if he commit the smallest act of the nature of his former offences, he shall incur the penalty of two hundred lashes. It was also ordered, that the sentence, before execution, be submitted to your Highness.
October, 1739.
The confirmation of the sentence having been received on the ninth of this month, it was put in execution on the thirteenth, on which day audience was held to swear secrecy respecting the prisons.
Inquisition of Barcelona, Oct. 31st, 1739.
Don Francisco Antonio de Montoya y Zarate.
July, 1731
Joseph Oliver. Prison of La Cruz. Destitute. Maintenance, two sueldos, and the bread of the Contractor.
Joseph Oliver, a native of this city, aged twentyseven years, a married man, and by occupation a husbandman. Proceedings were instituted against this person, and his actions having been attested to, he was ordered, on the eleventh of this month, to be imprisoned, with a sequestration of his property, for performing superstitious and magical cures. On the fifteenth of this month, he was confined in the secret prison of this Holy Office; and on the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth, audiences were held, in the last of which, the accusation against him was presented. In the aforementioned audiences, and in his answers to the accusation, he confessed the most of his crimes. On the twentieth and twentyfirst, he communicated with his counsel, and the case was admitted for proof in a full trial. The customary preparations being made, and the testimony ratified, the proofs are preparing for publication, and in this state the case remains.
August, 1731.
On the eighteenth and twentyfirst of this month, the audience for publication was held, and the prisoner having answered to the charges, the audience for communication with his counsel, was held on the twentyseventh. By the advice of his advocate, the prisoner concluded his defence without alleging anything in his own justification. In this state the case remains.
September, 1731.
On the sixth of this month, judgment was pronounced before the Ordinary, and the prisoner was unanimously sentenced to attend at an auto de fe if one should take place soon, otherwise at some church, in penitential guise, with the insignia of his crimes; and there hear his condemnation read, make an abjuration de levi, be severely reprehended, admonished, and warned, and be banished eight leagues from this city, Madrid, and the Court of His Majesty, for the period of ten years, being first confined three years in the garrison of this city of Barcelona. It was also ordered, that, before the execution of the sentence, it be submitted to your Highness.
October, 1731.
On the first of this month, the answer of your Highness was received, ordering that the prisoner should hear his condemnation, and undergo the first part of his sentence in the hall of the tribunal, then to be banished as above specified, for the period of five years. This order was executed on the fifth, when the prisoner was sworn to secrecy respecting the prisons, and forthwith despatched.
Dr Don Miguel Vizente Cebrian y Augustin.
December, 1732.
Blas Ramirez, a native of the village of Paya, in La Huerta, bishopric of Murcia, a soldier in the regiment of dragoons of Tarragona, aged thirtytwo years. Sent prisoner to this Holy Office, by Dr Jacinto Christofol, Curate of the town of La Selva, in the archbishopric of Tarragona, and Commissary of the Holy Office. A letter accompanied the prisoner from this Commissary, dated the eighth of November, and another of the same date was received from Dr Joseph Solano, chaplain of the regiment abovementioned. In both of these it was stated that the said Blas Ramirez had made a league with the devil, according to his own spontaneous confession. The aforementioned Dr Joseph Solano having communicated the case to the Archbishop of Tarragona, he was directed by him to transmit information of the same to the Commissary Dr Jacinto Christofol, who apprehended the said Blas Ramirez, and sent him under a guard to this Holy Office. On the thirteenth of November, Luis Pusol, the Familiar, gave him in charge to the Alcayde of the secret prisons, and on the same day the Inquisitor Fiscal offered a request that he might be kept in the carceles comunes, till the letter of the above Dr Joseph Solano should be examined, and his reasons explained for putting him into the hands of the Commissary as an offender against the faith, as well as to ascertain if there existed other evidence against him besides his confession. On the sixteenth a commission for making investigations upon this head was granted to Dr Mariano Morlaus, Commissary of the Holy Office, in the town of Tarragona, as the regiment abovementioned was quartered in that town and the neighbourhood. On the twentieth the commission was returned with the information that the abovementioned Dr Joseph Solano had left that place for Logroño, there to remain till Lent.
In the meantime the prisoner requested an audience, which was granted on the nineteenth of November, and he made the following declaration. When he was a youth he lived with the Curate of his village, and performed the offices of cooking, sweeping the house, and such other work as is usually performed by women, on which account some people called him a hermaphrodite, which, however, was not the fact. After his master died he suffered much poverty and mortification on account of the ridicule which this brought upon him. He joined the religious orders of St Francis and St Dominic, but was expelled from both when the report became current that he was a hermaphrodite. Finding himself overwhelmed with vexation and poverty, he at last invoked the devil to assist him in his misfortunes, offering him his soul if he would change his appearance into that of a woman, that he might earn a living by prostitution. The devil accordingly appeared to him several times, first in a human shape and afterwards in that of a monstrous animal. He demanded a certificate of the possession of his soul, which he was unwilling to grant, but offered to give him his word to surrender himself after seven years, if the devil would grant him his conditions. He afterwards repented of his iniquitous practices, and sought a remedy for his soul by following the directions of the Rector of the town of La Selva, Commissary of the Holy Office, and those of the Chaplain of his regiment, Dr Joseph Solano, which persons, in consequence of his confessions, transmitted him a prisoner to this Holy Office. A request has been made that letters be sent to the Inquisition of Navarre, demanding an examination of the said Dr Joseph Solano.
April, 1733.
Letters were sent to the Tribunal of the Inquisition of Logroño, requesting an examination of Dr Joseph Solano, who was residing in that district. On the twentieth of November, a letter was received from Dr Mariano Morlans, Commissary of the Holy Office in the town of Tarrega, bishopric of Solsona, stating that a priest of that town was ready to denounce the prisoner, from what he had heard of the colonel of his regiment respecting his compact with the devil. On the twentysecond of the same month, a commission was demanded for the above mentioned Dr Mariano Morlans to examine the said priest, and summon the colonel referred to, as a witness against the prisoner. On the eleventh of December following, the said Commissary Morlans transmitted the information against the prisoner, gathered from thirteen witnesses, most of whom deposed that they positively knew the prisoner to be a woman, and one of them stated that he had asked the prisoner how she could, being a woman, procure such a thick beard. She replied that she had produced it with the help of an ointment; that she had been seduced and abandoned in her youth; that she afterwards dressed herself like a man, and turned soldier.
Another of the witnesses deposed that the prisoner informed him she was once a boy, and entertained a wish to become a female from her attachment to a young man. That the devil appeared to her in the shape of a handsome youth, and demanded what she wanted; to which she replied that she wished for the shape of a female. This the devil granted her, and they made a compact, by virtue of which she was to be alternately male and female, changing sex every seven years; which alteration she had effected by means of a certain herb.
On the seventeenth of December, the Inquisitor Fiscal requested that the acts and declarations of the prisoner might be attested, and this having been done in a junta of four Calificadores, the same persons unanimously presented the prisoner as a wizard, sorcerer, and one holding an explicit compact with the devil.
The information above specified having been received distinct from the prisoner’s own declaration, in the audience which he had requested, the Inquisitor Fiscal petitioned that he might not be tried as an Espontaneo,20 on account of what he had concealed in his confession, that he might be removed into the secret prison, and his trial instituted forthwith. On the eighteenth of the same month, orders were issued for confining him in the secret prison, and commencing his trial. Three audiences were held, in which he confessed nothing beyond what he had declared in his first confession on the thirteenth of November. On the twentyfirst of January the accusation was presented, and an audience was held the same day, when the prisoner replied to the charges. On the two following days the acts which he had omitted in his confession were attested, and the prisoner declared that although in the bargain which he had made with the devil he had offered to surrender up his soul, yet he had not paid him any worship, nor abjured our Holy Faith, notwithstanding he internally consented to the delivery of his soul, and in consequence departed from our Holy Faith and God our Lord.
The prisoner was furnished with a copy of the accusation, and on the twentyfourth conferred with his counsel, reserving his defence till after the publication of the testimony. The case was then admitted for proof, and the witnesses residing at a great distance, and in various places, the ratification of the testimony was delayed for some time. The business being finally accomplished, publication of the testimony was made on the thirteenth and fourteenth of April. In the audiences which were held on those days, the prisoner declared nothing of consequence. The audience for communication with his counsel was held on the sixteenth, and that for the defence will be held as soon as possible.
[Here occurs a chasm in the manuscript.]
July, 1740.
Juan Ginesta, confined in the secret prison. Prison of the Martyrs. Maintenance, two sueldos and the bread of the Contractor.
Juan Ginesta, a native of this city, aged twentyfive years, was confined in the secret prison on the sixth of June, with sequestration of property, for performing magical cures and deceptive tricks, and uttering speeches against our Holy Faith. The first audience was held on the eighth, when he confessed that he had taught a person to perform cures by the application of certain remedies, and the uttering of a prayer; and also that he had practised the same arts himself. On the ninth, another audience was held, in which he confessed other practices of the same nature, and that he had uttered many speeches, by way of joke and pastime. On the fifteenth, the third audience was held, in which he declared, that having been questioned several times whether he had been in the Inquisition, he had answered, Yes. The accusation against him was presented on the eighteenth, at which time, and on the twentyfirst and twentyfifth, the prisoner answered to the charges, confessing the performance of the cures imputed to him, and the mode of executing them, denying withal some parts of the accusation. On the twentyfifth, he was ordered to be furnished with a copy of the accusation for the purpose of making his defence within three days. He nominated for his advocate Dr Manuel Bonvehi. On the twentyseventh, an audience was held, in which the prisoner communicated with his counsel respecting his defence. The Inquisitor Fiscal demanded ratification of the testimony, and the case was admitted for proof in a full trial. The testimony was then ratified and given in publication on the thirteenth, fifteenth, and nineteenth of July. On the twentythird an audience was held, in which the prisoner conferred with his counsel. The publication of the testimony was read to him, and he was furnished with the necessary papers for drawing up the defence. On the twentyninth an audience was held, when the prisoner’s counsel presented the defence, and demanded investigations; for which purpose a commission was granted on the same day.
September, 1740.
The result of the investigations was presented on the third of August, and on the eighth, were communicated to the prisoner’s counsel, when the defence was concluded. On the eleventh, before the Judge Ordinary, the Most Reverend Father, M. Fr. Mariano Anglasel Merzenario, sentence was passed that the prisoner be brought into the hall of the tribunal, and there, with closed doors, in the presence of the Secret Ministers, hear his condemnation read, be reprehended, admonished, and warned, and afterwards banished eight leagues from this city, Madrid, and the Court of His Majesty, for the period of two years; which sentence was submitted to your Highness on the thirteenth of the same month, and on the tenth of September the answer was received ordering the first part of the sentence to be executed as above specified, and the prisoner to be banished for one year. This was carried into execution on the eleventh of September, and the audience held for binding the prisoner to secrecy and taking the customary precautions respecting the prison; after which an order was despatched to the Alcayde to take him from his confinement.
Inquisition of Barcelona, Sept. 27th, 1740.
Don Francisco Antonio de Montoya y Zarate.