THE INDEX
Everything thus centred in the Suprema, whose action was required in even the most trivial matters, and its correspondence on these affairs was incessant. As condemnations and expurgations multiplied, it became impossible to trust the records of the tribunals or the memory of the faithful. Some authentic list or catalogue was required to aid inquisitors in their work, and to warn booksellers and readers, and thus gradually was developed theIndex Librorum ProhibitorumorExpurgandorum, which has become one of the most efficient of instrumentalities for repressing the human intellect and aiding the forces of reaction. Henry VIII has the credit of setting the example, in a brief list of prohibited books, issued in 1526, although in the same year Charles V published in the Netherlands aplakaatnaming half a dozen authors whose books were to be burnt. The earliest allusion that I have met to such a catalogue in Spain occurs in a letter of September,1540, from the Suprema to Loazes, then Inquisitor of Barcelona, complaining of the inefficiency of the efforts to prevent the importation of prohibited books, which the Germans were using every means to disseminate, while merchants and booksellers felt no fear of the penalties imposed by the Inquisition. Greater activity and heavier punishment were necessary, for which instructions were enclosed, with a list of prohibited and suspected books, to which Loazes was to add his suggestions.[1292]
This was merely for use within the Inquisition. The first formal printed Index was compiled, in 1546, by the University of Louvain. A copy of this was sent, in 1547, to Inquisitor-general Valdés, at Seville, who forwarded it to the Suprema. This had it printed, with an Appendix containing the books prohibited in Spain, and sent it out, September 1st, to the tribunals, with some MS. additions of later prohibitions.[1293]This is the earliest Spanish Index, hitherto unknown, which has left no other trace, and it serves to mark the commencement of another duty undertaken by the Suprema, that of examining books for the purpose, without awaiting denunciations, for, in 1545 there is an order to pay Dr. Alvaro de Moscoso forty ducats for labor of this kind.[1294]Then, in 1550, the University of Louvain issued an enlarged list and this, by order of Charles V, was reprinted and circulated by the Inquisition in 1551, with its own additions, constituting what has been reckoned as the first Spanish Index.[1295]
The energies of the Suprema were now turned to the Scriptures. Vast numbers of Latin Bibles had been circulated, correct as to the text, but rendered insidiously dangerous by heretical notes and commentaries. Many of these were contained in the Index of 1551, and diligent search was made for others at Salamanca and Alcalá, and their errors were scrupulously noted. The results of these labors were communicated to the tribunals, with orders to examine all the Bibles seized under the Index of 1551; if among them were found editions not in the list enclosed, they were to be scrupulously examined by learned men and be sent to the Suprema, which would then determine what was to be done with the great accumulation of corrupt Bibles in the land. It concluded not toorder a wholesale destruction and, in 1554, it issued the first Expurgatory Index, devoted to the Scriptures, specifying the edition and the passages to beborradoor blotted out; this was sent to the tribunals with orders for its publication everywhere. All the Bibles seized and all that might be brought in were to be expurgated and returned to their owners, with a certificate. After the expiration of the term of grace allowed, the most strenuous efforts were to be made to ascertain whether any prohibited or unexpurgated Bibles remained in the hands of individuals or institutions, the owners of which were to be punished with the utmost rigor.[1296]
GENERAL INSPECTION
It was evidently the books conveyed by Julian Hernández that furnished a fresh list sent to the tribunals, October 22, 1557, of works described as printed in Venice and brought from Flanders and Germany by a Spaniard to Seville. Edicts concerning them were to be published everywhere, the book-shops were to be sedulously searched and any one found in possession of them was to be punished with the greatest severity. This was followed, September 2, 1558, by an additional list of books ordered to be burnt.[1297]The Suprema was thus obtaining material for an independent Index. Paul IV had caused one to be compiled in 1557, which was printed and suppressed, to appear, in 1559, in an authentic form.[1298]The Spanish Inquisition, however, already asserted its independence of the Roman Holy Office in these matters; the excitement over the Lutherans of Valladolid and Seville suggested a comprehensive prohibition of heretic books; Valdés procured from the pope the necessary delegation of power and, in 1559, the first indigenous Index appeared. It was distributed to the tribunals with instructions that all books contained in it were to be called in; those of heretic authors were to be publicly burnt in the autos, and the rest carefully stored, making lists of them and of their owners, which were to be sent to the Suprema for its action. Books on the humanities and Catholic books with heretic notes, if the latter could be effaced, were to be returned to the owners; all anonymous books and books without imprint of place and printer and all books printed abroad since 1519 were to be seized and examined and, if found suspicious, were to be detained. Thegeneral clause in the Index, covering all books savoring of heresy, was explained to mean that everything not contained in it that was heretical or suspect was to be seized, and whenever there was doubt the Suprema was to be consulted.[1299]
The preparation of the Index had been a work of no little labor and perplexity. Among others, the learned Doctor Francisco Sancho had for some years been employed by the Suprema in examining and seizing books and, early in 1559, he wrote that he had a large number in his possession and that, in the course of his duties many doubts had arisen, which he set forth in a series of questions. One of these suggests the difficulty of censorship applied to a theology undergoing reconstruction at the Council of Trent, but which was assumed to have been unalterable from the beginning. Sancho calls attention to the clause in the edicts forbidding all books containing any thing against the faith and the Church and its observances. There are many books, he continues, containing such errors, as those of Richard of Armagh, Durandus, Caietano, the Master of Sentences, Origen, Theophylact, Tertullian, Lactantius, Lucian, Aristotle, Plato, Seneca and others, much used both in and out of the schools, and it is doubted whether they can be permitted under condition of noting the errors. The Suprema shrank from the absurdity of suppressing the works of the most eminent medieval theologians and the leading classics, and it graciously allowed their circulation until further orders.[1300]
The issue of the Index was followed by a vigorous search through all the book-shops and libraries of Spain. Examiners or revisors were appointed everywhere, with instructions to scrutinize all collections of books, whether in shops, monasteries, universities and private libraries, to detect not only those named in the Index but all others containing suspicious matter. All owners of books were commanded to submit them for examination, under penalty of excommunication and two hundred ducats. Not only the prohibited books but all regarded as suspicious were to be sent, together with information as to their owners, to the Suprema, which would do justice in the premises.[1301]
The examination of all the books accumulated in Spain was aformidable undertaking, but it was attempted to the discomfiture of all men of culture and learning, and the raising of innumerable questions which gave ample occupation to the Suprema. A specimen of this is found in the report of Fray Pedro de Quintanilla of Valladolid, concerning books in his hands belonging to Bartolomé de Robles, a prominent bookseller. Most of these, he says, are of Erasmus, such as the Adagia, Paraphrases and Anotaciones which are not prohibited, and he thinks may be returned to the owner, to which the response is that books of Erasmus not in the Index may be returned. Then there is Conrad Gesnerde Piscibus et de Avibus, containing only the painted bird and fish, which he thinks may be returned, which is assented to. Then there is a book called Petrus Galatinus, containing a tract “De Arte Cabalistica;” if this were removed, some who have examined it say that the rest is good, to which the reply was to take out the cabalistic tract and return the book. Then there are other books, which have prologues or annotations by heretics, and he thinks that if the names of such authors were blotted out, the books might be returned, as to which he was told to specify the books.[1302]We can readily conceive the exasperation caused by this laborious and meddlesome trifling, and its repressive influence on the studies of the learned.
SECULAR LEGISLATION
All this was in furtherance of a savage pragmática evidently motived by the Lutheran scare. It was issued September 7, 1558, by the Infanta Juana in the name of Philip II, and shows that the civil power coöperated with the Inquisition, while providing an effective machinery for a state censorship. It recited that, in spite of the law of 1502 and the labors of inquisitors and bishops, there were many heretical works in circulation, and that foreign heretics were making great efforts thus to disseminate their doctrines, while there were also many useless and immoral books, so that the Córtes had petitioned for a remedy. It was therefore ordered, under penalty of death and confiscation, that no bookseller or other person should sell or keep any book condemned by the Inquisition, and all such books should be publicly burnt. The Index of prohibited books must be printed and every booksellermust keep a copy exposed, where the public could consult it. No books in Romance printed abroad, even in the kingdoms of Aragon, were to be imported, under the same terrible penalty, unless they had a printed licence from the Royal Council, but books in Romance previously printed abroad, and not prohibited by the Inquisition, were to be presented to the local magistrates, who were to send lists of them to the Royal Council for decision, pending which they were not to be kept for sale under pain of confiscation and exile. Moreover, a general inspection was ordered of all books in the kingdom; those in book-shops and private libraries by the bishops, in conjunction with royal officials and universities, and those in religious houses by the superiors of the Orders. Everything regarded as suspicious or immoral was to be sequestrated, until judgement should be passed upon it by the Royal Council, and this was to be repeated annually.
Existing and foreign books being thus provided for, a stringent censorship of the press was organized. Death and confiscation were decreed for any one who should give out for printing a book without first submitting it to the Royal Council for examination when, if found unobjectionable, a licence would be issued. To prevent alterations, every page of the MS. must be signed by a secretary of the royal chamber, who must rubricate every correction and state at the end the number of pages and corrections. After printing, the MS. must be returned with one or two printed copies for comparison. Every book must have in front the licence, thetassaor price at which it was sold, the privilege, if there was one, and the names of author, printer and place of publication. New editions were subject to the same regulations, but legal documents and official papers of the Inquisition and the Cruzada Indulgence were excepted. Even writing was subjected to the same restrictions as printing, for death and confiscation were threatened for all who should own or exhibit to others a MS. on any religious subject without submitting it to the Council, which should either license it or destroy it. This ferocious law was confirmed, in 1627, by Philip IV and remained unrepealed until the Revolution, its enforcement being rigorously enjoined by Carlos IV, in 1804.[1303]That any one suffered death for its violation isunlikely, and inquisitorial trials of theologians show that they accumulated masses of papers on religious subjects without thought of submitting them to the Royal Council, but the impediments which it threw in the way of authorship were rigidly enforced and coöperated with the Inquisition in exercising a most repressive influence on the intellectual progress of Spain.
It was not difficult to secure from the papacy its aid in rendering this censorship effective. The Suprema, in its letter of September 9, 1558, to Paul IV respecting the Lutheran development, called attention to the negligence of confessors in requiring their penitents to surrender prohibited books and to denounce offenders, and Paul, in a brief of January 5, 1559, commanded all confessors in the Spanish dominions to enquire of penitents whether they owned or read such works, or knew of any one owning or printing or selling them, when absolution was to be refused, unless the books were surrendered or the culprits denounced. For obedience to this, on the part of confessors, remission of sins was promised, while negligence was threatened with fines, deprivation of functions and benefice and disability for reinstatement, penalties which were discretional with the inquisitor-general.[1304]
CAPTIOUS EXPURGATION
Thus papal, royal and inquisitorial powers were concentrated in the effort to purify the land of heretical literature. By the Edicts of Faith and by the confessional the whole population was enlisted as spies and informers on those who contravened theprohibitions, which rapidly succeeded each other in the inquisitorial edicts, and all readers of books were required to denounce any passages which might seem to them suspicious or offensive. It is probably to this latter source that are attributable most of the incredibly trivial expurgations with which the later Indexes are burdened. How it sometimes fared with authors, indubitably orthodox but careless in expression, is exemplified in the case of the Maestro Fray Hernando de Santiago who, in 1597, published at Salamanca, of course after the preliminary censorship, hisConsideraciones sobre todos los Domingos y Fiestas de la Quaresma. It was denounced to the Inquisition as containing some heretical propositions and many that were erroneous and scandalous. The Toledo tribunal summoned him and after examination voted to suspend his case with a reprimand and order to be more reticent in his sermons and to write no more scandalous books, which was an admission that the work contained nothing especially objectionable. The Suprema, however, set the vote aside and ordered his trial to be vigorously pushed and all his papers to be seized. A struggle, prolonged until 1602, ensued over an infinite number of expressions to which the calificadores took exception, resulting in his being severely reprimanded in the presence of representatives of all the religious Orders, with banishment from Castile and suspension from preaching for three years, the first year of which was to be passed in reclusion in the monastery of Cuenca as a penitent. From his book were to be expurgated all the passages noted as objectionable by the calificadores, and the list of these as printed in the Indexes is formidable in length rather than in quality, for captious criticism had wreaked itself on the minutest points. It was justified in correcting “Assur King of Persia” to “Assur King of Assyria;” possibly also in altering “the day when Peter renounced Christ” to “denied Christ,” but only slavish adulation could require that “the day when a tyrant king” should be changed to “tyrant captain.” Still, the indomitable maestro was not silenced, for in the following year, 1603, he issued another book,Consideraciones sobre los Evangelios de los Santos, for which he escaped prosecution, though his book likewise found its way into the Index, with, however, a smaller array of expurgations.[1305]
Inquisitorial censorship, it will thus be seen, by no means confined itself to suppressing the works of foreign heretics, for whichit was primarily instituted. Had it done so, it would have exercised a sufficiently benumbing influence on Spanish intelligence, for it excluded many works because of their authors rather than of their contents and it never was able to settle definitely the troublesome questions arising from works of high scientific and intellectual merit, in which the authorship or an occasional passage might offend the hyper-sensitiveness so zealously cultivated. This was sufficiently restrictive on culture, not only in itself but in the obstruction which, as we shall see, it imposed on the introduction of all books from abroad, but even more unfortunate in its influence was the censorship extended over the whole field of native literature, interposing barriers on authorship seeking publicity, and exposing even the most orthodox writers to the danger of seeing their works suppressed, or to the humiliation of having them disfigured with blotted passages in which the perverse ingenuity of some theological expert might detect possible danger to the unwary.
Yet, to do the Spanish Inquisition justice, in this it was more considerate than the Roman censorship. In 1564 appeared the Index of Pius IV, known as the Tridentine Index. This is the basis of all succeeding Roman Indexes, which are strictly of prohibited books—that is, all books, to which exception of any kind could be taken, were prohibited, whether their errors were systematic or only occasional. No indication was given as to what were the objectionable points, although the author, by humble supplication to the Congregation of the Index, might obtain information and reprint his book with corrections, at the risk of its being again prohibited.[1306]The Spanish Inquisition was more laborious, for it prepared Expurgatory Indexes, in which, when books were not absolutely prohibited, the objectionable passages were designated and, when these wereborrado, or blotted out, the book could be circulated.
THE INDEXES
Working thus on different lines, there was little harmony between Spain and the Holy See. In fact, as we shall have occasionto observe, the Inquisition asserted entire independence of the Roman censorship, disregarding its prohibitions and issuing its own without reference to Rome. This commenced early, as is shown in some curiously contradictory utterances, in 1568, respecting the Tridentine Index. February 7th, a carta acordada orders the observance of the Spanish Index of 1559; then another, of June 14th, recites that the Tridentine Index is not observed and that persons are using books prohibited in it, wherefore inquisitors are to order it to be obeyed and to tell preachers to urge this from their pulpits; finally a third carta, a fortnight later, on June 29th, practically revokes this by commanding that the Index of 1559 is the only one to be followed.[1307]
What between the activity of the press, the widening knowledge of heretical literature, and the increasing sensitiveness of criticism, the work promised to be endless and preparations were soon under way for the preparation of a new Index. The labor proved to be no light one. The tribunals, the prelates and the universities were called upon for information; as this was received it was sent to Maestro Francisco Sancho, who selected from the University of Salamanca a junta to frame from these materials the new Index. Then Sancho left Salamanca and recommended as his successor his assistant Doctor Diego de Vera. The Suprema grew impatient and, in a letter of December 6, 1572, it charged the theologians of the university with the prosecution of the work; in view of its importance and the urgency of speedy completion, it was to be preferred to all other business and was to be pushed forward unremittingly.[1308]They doubtless labored conscientiously and disputed zealously, but the result was still far off. In 1574 we hear that the Index was expected to be completed shortly; in 1575, the Licenciado Velarde, in charge of the matter, was urged to complete it; in 1578 it was so far advanced that it was submitted to the Universities for their revision and in 1579 they were asked for their opinions on the general rules drawn up to accompany it.[1309]Still there was delay, for the outcome of this careful and prolonged labor was a vast increase over previous indexes, appearing in two volumes, known as the Indexes of Quiroga, the inquisitor-general. The first was an Index of prohibited books, issued in 1583, consisting mostly of the names of authors all of whose works were forbidden.This was followed, in 1584, by an Expurgatory Index—the first of its kind—giving the expurgations necessary to render current the works enumerated. A carta acordada of October 16th contained directions for the enforcement of its prescriptions. Although it had been published in the principal towns, it was to be published again, on a Sunday or feast-day, after convoking the people by proclamation, when it was to be read after the sermon in the same way as the Edict of Faith. The preacher was to announce that all persons having prohibited books were to deliver them at once to the tribunal, or to a person designated in each town; those having books to be expurgated could do so in their own houses, but within six months must submit them to the said persons for approval and signing, without which they would not be considered as expurgated. Obedience seems to have been slack; on June 13, 1585, the time limit was extended for four months; then successive prorogations followed and, in 1587, a further delay was accorded until the end of 1588.[1310]
The business was as interminable as the labors of the Danaïdes. Already, in 1586, the theological faculties of Salamanca, Alcalá and Valladolid were informed that omissions had been reported, and they were asked to assemble and consider what should be done. In 1594 we hear of preparations on foot for another Index and Doctor Neroni, Abbot of Alcalá was instructed to form a junta of doctors and masters competent for the work.[1311]Progress, however, was interrupted by the strife which arose between the Dominicans and the Jesuits over the propositions of Molina and the insoluble questions connected with sufficing and efficacious grace. The correspondence on the subject was continuous and voluminous; all the theologians of Spain, who were numerous and highly vocal, were involved in a prodigious uproar which monopolized the energies of the censorship. Even the Inquisition was powerless to restore peace between the raging factions and, in 1598, the strictest orders were sent to all the universities, forbidding debate or discussion on the subject and any allusion to it in lectures. Yet the tempest continued to growl and even in 1612 we find an edict concerning it.[1312]
THE INDEXES
Still the work was making progress, with enormous labor. We happen to learn that, in 1596, the tribunal of Murcia was instructed to confide to Dr. Arce and his brother the expurgation of Theodore Zwinger’sTheatrum Vitæ Humanæ, an enormous work, in eight folio volumes, published in Basle in 1565. How long they were engaged upon the task may be inferred from the fact that, in 1610, the tribunal was ordered to give to Padre Arce the copy of the book on which he had labored, and the result appears in thirty-eight pages of the Index, occupied by his expurgations.[1313]In 1605 we find commissions granted to sundry calificadores to take from the book-shops whatever books they needed for examination. A junta was formed, probably in 1608, the members of which received the liberal salary of a ducat a day and, in 1610, lists of books were sent to all the tribunals, with instructions to submit them to learned men for consideration.[1314]The expenditure was large for it was not until 1612 that the new Index, known by the name of Sandoval y Rojas, the inquisitor-general, saw the light. It was both a prohibitory and an expurgatory Index in one stout volume.
The next Index was issued under the authority of Inquisitor-general Zapata, in 1632, forming a large folio. Then, in 1640, another appeared in a still larger volume, known as the Index of Sotomayor. Sixty-seven years elapsed before the publication of another, in 1707, under Inquisitor-general Vidal Marin. Its preparation had been entrusted to Antonio Alvárez de la Puente and Fernando Gallego Calderon, the latter of whom died and the work was carried to completion by the former. It contained not only the list of Sotomayor and the works condemned or expurgated during the interval, but many others discovered by the industry of the compilers or by the revisors appointed by the various tribunals, under orders of May 31, 1706, to examine all book-shops and libraries.[1315]It occupied two folios of rather smaller size than the single one of its predecessor. The next Index was issued in 1747, under Inquisitor-general Prado y Cuesta, in onelarge folio. Its preparation had been committed to two Jesuits, without supervision, who abused their position by gratifying the interests of the Society of Jesus through including a large number of authors who had never been condemned, giving rise to a long debate, of which more hereafter.[1316]
EXPURGATION OF BOOKS AND LIBRARIES
Although this Index was thoroughly discredited, it was not until 1782 that the Suprema invited proposals for a new one. A memorial, apparently by a member of that body, in response to this, pointed out the inconvenience of the previous issues, with their constant growth, rendering them costly and difficult to consult. The writer suggested the Roman Index of Benedict XIV as a model—all the works to be gathered into one alphabet; the long lists of expurgations to be replaced with the Romandonec corrigaturand a reference to the edict denouncing them. Allusion was made to the many intricate and delicate questions involved, largely owing to the irreconcilable pretensions of the Roman and Spanish Inquisitions, and to the conflict between the royal prerogative and the papal claims. Thus he says that the Roman condemnations were not to be regarded unless they emanate from the Congregation of the Index (not the Roman Inquisition) or a papal brief, and even the Congregation prohibited many books meriting no theological censure, because they were adverse to the assumptions of the curia. Then there was the difficulty of preserving an impartial balance between the rights of the crown and the power of the Church, and of determining the numerous questions presented by many books—the circumspection necessary to distinguish between rights and claims, between exterior and interior discipline, and between discipline and dogma. In fact, the construction of an Index involved much beyond the mere definitions of theology, for it affected the large issues of national policy as well as the multitudinous interests of whole classes of society and religious organizations. As the writer said, the task was too great for any one man, however wise and learned; it could only be performed by a carefully selected junta.[1317]Most of these suggestions were adopted in theIndice Ultimo, which appeared in 1790, in a moderate-sized volume, easy of reference, although the absence of expurgations deprived the possessors of books requiring correction of the facilities afforded by the ponderous tomes of the older Indexes.
During the long intervals between the successive issues, the tribunals were expected to compile for themselves lists of the books condemned in the frequent edicts sent to them. In 1781 we find the Valencia tribunal taken to task for not knowing that a French translation of Robinson Crusoe had been prohibited by decree of January 16, 1756, and it was told that, if it had not kept such a list, it must seek for one in some tribunal that had done so.[1318]Booksellers likewise were expected to note all new prohibitions in the copies of the Indexes which they were required to keep, and a decree of 1627 instructed the tribunal to furnish to them copies of all edicts as they appeared, so that they could not plead ignorance and escape punishment.[1319]
As regards the performance of expurgation, so long as the published Index was merely prohibitive, it was necessary for the owner to deliver the book to the tribunal or to a commissioner to have the objectionable passages blotted out and some documents of 1563 and 1568 show this to be the practice.[1320]When the expurgatory Index of Quiroga appeared, in 1584, we have seen that owners were empowered to do this and that they were negligent, which perhaps explains why the privilege was subsequently withdrawn. It was difficult to enforce obedience and the duty was troublesome, leading to the expedient of licensing professional expurgators, who were authorized to do the work and give certificates of its due performance, with the condition that, when working in libraries, if they found prohibited books, they would seize and deliver them to the nearest commissioner.[1321]When books were delivered to the tribunals for expurgation, the habitual delays must have been exasperating. In 1688 we find Don Juan de la Torre, whose patience was exhausted, obtaining from the Suprema a letter to the Valencia tribunal ordering it to expurgate a book of his and deliver it to him.[1322]
We can scarce wonder that owners were negligent, as a remedy for which a carta acordada of October 5, 1712, ordered the tribunals to state in their edicts that the expurgations were on record there, and all owners were to send their books to have the offendingpassages blotted out by persons deputed for the purpose.[1323]Then, in 1790, the owner was again permitted to do it on condition of presenting the book within two months to show that it had been done, but, as the Indice Ultimo gave no indication of the expurgations required, it was left for the owner to discover them.[1324]No matter what plan was adopted, expurgation rendered the ownership of books a source of anxiety and trouble, and exercised a deterrent influence on the diffusion of culture, for there was no class of literature, whether fiction, poetry, history, devotion, statecraft, law or science, as well as theology, in which some lynx-eyed critic could not discover a phrase or sentiment which called for revision. Edicts were continually being issued prescribing the expurgation of individual books, sometimes thirty or forty years after their publication, and frequently on the most trivial grounds, and the lover of literature or science had to be constantly on the watch to escape the penalties of neglect.
The process of expurgation was the application with a brush of a coat of printing ink to the peccant word or passage, so as to render it perfectly illegible. When the Mexican tribunal took a notion to condemn all engraved portraits of the saintly Juan de Palafox, Bishop of Puebla, the face was thus daubed over with ink so as to render the features indistinguishable. When, in a book, the length of the offending passage made this too troublesome, the ruder process was adopted of tearing out the pages, regardless of the innocent matter thus removed and destroying the connection of the parts thus sundered.[1325]Literature was of small account to the butchers of books.
EXPURGATION OF BOOKS AND LIBRARIES
Booksellers and book-buyers were subjected to constant investigation conducted in the rudest manner, the influence of which could not fail to be most depressing. The examination of book-shops and public and private libraries, which we have seen attempted as early as 1530 and resolutely prosecuted in 1559, was a settled policy and was pushed with especial vigor after the issueof every new Index, but it was not limited to those times. The correspondence of the Suprema is full of letters and instructions showing the unremitting vigilance with which the work was carried on. In 1600 the tribunals of Valencia, Barcelona and Murcia were ordered to send to the Suprema the books of the Constable of Castile—a work of some duration for, in 1602, there is still a box of them on the way. Then the Seville tribunal was instructed to examine the books of Fray Diego Davila and forward those which Montoya had indicated. Then the Murcia tribunal was told to send to Doctor Montoya the books of Don Juan de Hoces. In 1602 the books of the confessor to the queen were ordered to be sent to the Suprema. All these were private collectors, whose tastes or zeal for learning subjected them to these vexations and humiliations, to the unlimited detention of their cherished books, to loss from carelessness or pilfering and to the irreparable damage of artistic bindings. The mere possession of books rendered the owner an object of suspicion and investigation. If this was the case with private collectors of all ranks, we can readily appreciate the endless troubles and ruinous prosecutions to which booksellers were exposed. In this same year 1600, the Suprema advised the Toledo tribunal that Doctor Juan Martínez had been examining the book-shops of Madrid, resulting in the statement enclosed, as to which it was to do justice—the customary formula in prosecutions.[1326]
This is merely an indication of the continuous warfare waged against culture and learning, from which no one was safe. In 1627 a decree commanded booksellers, under penalty of forty ducats and excommunication, to report all prohibited books and those requiring expurgation, which they might meet in private libraries.[1327]In 1618, the Seville tribunal was ordered to seize all the Hebrew books that had belonged to Arias Montano.[1328]Even the royal library of the Escorial was subjected to the most humiliating regulations. When the Index of 1612 appeared, the Geronimite Prior of San Lorenzo petitioned the Suprema, stating the wish of the king that the prohibited books should not be removed or expurgated, as it was distinct from the convent library, and the only keys to it were held by him and the chief librarian. Thereuponthe inquisitor-general sent Fray Francisco de Jesus to examine and report the arrangements of the library, after which, on November 12, 1613, it decreed as follows. All books which are literary and not religious or offensive, by authors of the first class (those of whom all the works were condemned), are to be separated, marked and have a prefatory note that the author is condemned, but permission is given for them to remain where they can be read by the prior, the chief librarian and the professors of the college. All books by such authors, treating of religion and cognate matters, such as chronologies, sacred histories and histories of the popes, seeing that the king does not wish them removed, shall be stored in a separate room, always locked as in an archive, and no one shall read them save the prior and chief librarian, by special licence of the inquisitor-general and Suprema: there shall be two keys (locks) one kept by the chief librarian and the other by the Suprema, and two lists shall be made of them, one kept in the locked room and the other by the Suprema. With these shall also be placed two MSS. by heresiarchs from the MS. department. Rabbinical books and Bibles in Romance can remain, but shall be put in a separate case and be marked as prohibited, but they can be read as hitherto, by the prior, chief librarian and professors. The fraile in charge of the pharmacy of the convent, but he alone, can read books on medicine by authors of the first class, for distillation of quintessences and other matters of importance.[1329]A quarantine against the deadliest infection could scarce have been more carefully devised.
EXPURGATION OF BOOKS AND LIBRARIES
There was a slight relaxation in this when, in 1616, Inquisitor-general Sandoval was at the Escorial and extended to all the professors of the college the privilege of reading books of the first class on religion. After the Zapata Index of 1632 appeared, the question again came up and Inquisitor-general Sotomayor confirmed the arrangement of 1613.[1330]On the publication of his Index, in 1640, the frailes of San Lorenzo petitioned the Suprema that the library, as belonging to the king, should not be expurgatedunder the new Index. To this the Suprema replied in a consulta to the king, November 16, 1641, arguing that, as the library was the greatest in the world and belonged to the king, it was especially important that it should set the example of containing nothing contrary to Catholic doctrine. Still, there might be a secluded place, in which all books by heretic writers and of evil doctrine could be set aside, and the key of it be kept by the inquisitor-general, on condition that the library should furnish to the Suprema whatever books it might need.[1331]There can be little doubt that some such arrangement was reached.
The vigilant supervision over book-shops and libraries was unrelaxing, and the depressing influence which it exercised on the book-trade and on culture in general can be estimated from the regulations accompanying the Index of Vidal Marin, in 1707. The tribunals were authorized to appoint an unlimited number ofRevisores de Libros, empowered, at such times as suited them, to examine the public libraries and auctions and book-shops. The revisor was to require from booksellers inventories of stock and to see that these were complete; he was to order sent to his house or to that of another revisor, all prohibited books and those requiring examination, and report the result to the tribunal; he was to expurgate and certify with his signature all books requiring expurgation. He was to report all omissions or contraventions by booksellers of the rules of the Index, and for this his inspections must be frequent. He was to familiarize himself with these inventories and also with those which the booksellers were obliged to render to the tribunal at the beginning of each year, with details of all sales made during the year, so that he should become thoroughly informed and the booksellers be deterred from committing their customary frauds. All this was to be done at the expense of the owners of the books or, in the case of public libraries, of the town. As this was expected to produce much dissatisfaction, any “licentious” talk against the Index was to be reported for due punishment.[1332]
The expected dissatisfaction was not lacking. The powers granted to the revisors gave so large an opportunity for oppression and extortion that the position was eagerly sought. Commissions were recklessly multiplied, until the number of these literary spiesand blackmailers aroused general complaint. Nor was this a mere temporary abuse, for a letter of the Suprema, October 5, 1712, calls attention to the excessive number of appointees and the evils thence arising, for the palliation of which it proposed to issue an edict.[1333]
This inspection of public and private libraries and of book-shops continued till the suppression of the Inquisition. We find, June 25, 1817, the Seville tribunal sending to that of Madrid a list of books belonging to Juan Gualberto González, royal fiscal in the Council of Indies and, on August 18th, the fiscal sends to an unnamed tribunal the translation for which it had asked of a list of books belonging to the Marquis of Narros, the linguistic attainments of the inspectors having apparently been insufficient. In the financial distress of the Inquisition, the work seems now to be performed by officials of the tribunals, doubtless eager to do anything that would bring in fees, for, in 1819, we have the report of the secretary of the Valencia tribunal that, in the inspection of the book-shop of Pedro Juan Mallen, he had found a sermon in Italian, which he seized as suspicious and which was duly submitted to calificadores.[1334]
ESTATES OF THE DEAD
Death afforded an opportunity not neglected of expurgating private libraries. When the owner died, the Inquisition stepped in to investigate and control the disposition of his books. In 1651, it would seem that all books had to pass through its hands for, in the case of Don Alonso de la Torre, the Suprema orders the Valencia tribunal to forward to it the packages delivered by the heirs, the prohibited ones separate from those approved.[1335]The instructions of 1707 apparently limit this interference to cases of sale, for they provide that when, on account of death or other cause, a library is sold, the booksellers must furnish the revisor with a list of all books and their prices, so that prohibited or suspected ones may be surrendered, for which the booksellers can take receipts.[1336]In 1748 the case of Doctor Teodoro Tomás, canon of the cathedral of Valencia, indicates that the executors had to render to the tribunal a detailed statement under oath of the disposition made of all books and papers. The prohibited books weregiven to the Dominican convent, which had a licence enabling it to hold them, and the rest were sold to Juan Bautista Malet and Manuel Cortés, booksellers. The papers were also accounted for—those pertaining to cathedral affairs were delivered to the chapter, those which seemed useless were burnt and the servants sold some to an apothecary.[1337]
In this case the necessary preliminary of submitting an inventory to a revisor had evidently been complied with. When this was omitted the resultant trouble is exemplified in the library of Gregorio Mayans y Siscar, the most eminent man of letters of his day, who died in 1781. His library was large and valuable, and his widow sought to make the most of it for his children. She was a pious woman but through ignorance did not observe the requisite formalities. She sold a large portion to the Augustinian convent, which had a licence to hold prohibited books, and when she learned that this was unlawful she made great efforts to get it back; the Augustinians resisted but were finally obliged to submit. Then she applied to the Suprema for a licence to sell the prohibited books, which was referred to the Valencia tribunal. It replied, November 8, 1803, that the Augustinian provincial had exhibited the licence, and had been told that the convent had a right to hold them, but the widow had no right to sell them. The inquisitor sympathized with her, but pointed out that to grant her request would open the door to fictitious transactions, and he recommended that at most she should be allowed to sell those which the Augustinians had bought, for there were others. The library was large; it had taken long to make an inventory and still longer to find a revisor to go over it and note the prohibited books. This, however, had at last been accomplished, and the widow had been furnished with two lists—one of prohibited books to be surrendered to the Inquisition, and the other of those which must be expurgated before she could sell them. The Suprema, before deciding, required to see a list of the prohibited books sold to the Augustinians, which was duly furnished, and we may hope that, in the end, the widow was able to dispose of her husband’s books, although the proceeds must have been wofully diminished by the fees and expenses and the confiscation of those prohibited.[1338]There was scant encouragement in Spain for scholars to accumulate the means of study and research.
While this case was dragging along, irrepressible zeal in pursuit of prohibited books threatened a foreign complication. Leonhardt Schuck, the Dutch consul at Alicante, died, leaving the French vice-consul as his executor. The house and effects were duly sealed with the royal seal during the execution of certain legal formalities, but the commissioner of the Inquisition called on the governor to remove the seal and deliver the keys to him, so that he might inventory the books, papers and prints, for he was informed that there were prohibited articles of all three kinds. The governor refused until he could consult the king, when the commissioner at night broke the seal, made his way in, compiled an inventory and replaced the seal as best he could. The Dutch ambassador complained to Carlos IV, and the minister Urquijo, who was unfriendly to the Inquisition, took occasion to issue acarta ordenof October 11, 1799, severely rebuking it for this and other similar occurrences, which had contributed greatly to increase its evil reputation abroad.[1339]
This supervision over the libraries of the dead continued under the Restoration. In 1815 orders were sent to all commissioners to see that no books belonging to estates were sold at auction until exact lists were submitted to the tribunal and its permission was obtained and, in 1817, when Fray Raymundo García, prior of the convent of Montesa at Onda, died, the Valencia tribunal had his library examined with the result of finding quite a number of prohibited books, mostly of a Jansenist character.[1340]Despite the ceaseless vigilance of the Inquisition, the seekers after forbidden literature took the risk of gratifying their longings.