Chapter 32

[755]Medina, Lima, II, 466-7.[756]José Manuel Groot, Historia eclesiastica y civil de Nueva Granada, I, 1, 7, 98 (Bogotá, 1869-71).[757]J. A. García y García, Relaciones de los Vireyes del Nuevo Reyno de Granada, pp. xvi-xix (New York, 1869).[758]Groot, I, 84, 504.[759]J. T. Medina, Historia del Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisicion de Cartagena de las Indias, pp. 19-23, 430 (Santiago de Chile, 1899).[760]Ibidem, pp. 27, 29.[761]Ibidem, p. 423.[762]Medina, pp. 37-41.[763]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 45, fol. 182.[764]Medina, p. 434.[765]Medina, p. 46.[766]Medina, p. 433.[767]Ibidem, pp. 155, 163.[768]MSS. of Library of University of Halle, Yc, 17.—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 60, fol. 352; Lib. 61, fol. 524, 534.It does not seem that the tribunal of Cartagena had any part in a curious attempt to introduce the Inquisition into Louisiana, which was ceded to Spain by the Treaty of Paris in 1762. The disaffected colonists drove out their new masters in 1768, but were subdued the next year by O’Reilly. In 1772 the Governor, Don Luis de Unzaga, in a report to the Bishop of Havana, said “It is not the practice here to force any one to submit to the Church, and the process of excommunication is held in utter abomination.” This toleration continued and, in 1789, the Governor Estevan Miró was surprised to receive from Fray Antonio de Sedella—one of a band of Spanish Capuchins who had been sent to New Orleans in 1772—a communication stating that, in a letter of December 5th, he had received from the proper authority a commission as commissioner of the Inquisition, with instructions to perform his duties with the utmost zeal and fidelity; that, having made his investigations with the greatest secrecy and precaution, he notified the governor that, in execution of his instructions, he might soon, at some late hour of the night, deem it necessary to require some guards to assist him in his operations. That same night, April 29th, he was aroused from sleep to find at his door an officer with a file of grenadiers, when he thanked them and said that he had no use for them that night. To his astonishment he was told that he was under arrest; he was hurried on board a vessel which sailed the next day for Cádiz, and the Inquisition was nipped in the bud. Miró seems to have been called upon for an explanation, for in a despatch of June 3d he declared that he shuddered when he read Sedella’s note. He had been ordered to foster immigration from the United States, under pledge of no molestation on account of religion, and the mere name of the Inquisition in New Orleans would not only check immigration but would be capable of driving away those who had come, and, in spite of his action with Sedella, he dreaded the most fatal consequences from the mere suspicion of the causes of his dismissal. His justification seems to have been accepted, for the attempt was abandoned.—Gayarré, History of Louisiana. The Spanish Domination, pp. 56, 69, 269-71 (New York, 1854).—Fortier, History of Louisiana, II, 62, 140, 327.It may be assumed that the motive of commissioning Sedella was rather political than religious. The uprising in France was calling for active measures by the Inquisition in Spain to keep out revolutionary principles; Louisiana was French and its loyalty to Spain was doubtful, so that the Inquisition would be useful both as a source of information and an instrument of repression.[769]Medina, pp. 42-50, 76.—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Leg. 1465, fol. 23.[770]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 51.[771]Medina, pp. 82-96.[772]Medina, pp. 100-1.[773]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 30, fol. 180.[774]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 30, fol. 178.[775]Medina, pp. 211-19, 225-6.[776]Medina, pp. 118-19.[777]Ibidem, pp. 158-9.[778]Ibidem, pp. 175-94.[779]Medina, pp. 222-7.[780]Groot, II, 473. This is not strictly correct. After an interval of many years, Inquisitor Valera published the edict in Lent, 1684, when it brought in denunciations which doubled the number of cases in hand (Medina, p. 308). Probably this was the last until the nineteenth century.[781]Medina, pp. 346-51, 364.—Groot, I, 331-6.[782]Medina, pp. 369-70.[783]Medina, pp. 358, 371.[784]Medina, pp. 359-61.[785]Ibidem, pp. 374-6.[786]Ibidem, p. 378.[787]Medina, pp. 379-80, 390.—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 25, fol. 52.[788]Medina, pp. 380-6.[789]Ibidem, pp. 387-9. During the suppression of the Inquisition, it was reprinted and largely circulated, forming the subject of a severe edict in 1814 (Ibid., p. 390).[790]Ibidem, p. 390.—Suplemento al Indice Expurgatorio, p. 10 (Madrid, 1805).—Index Pii PP. VII, p. 53 (Romæ, 1819).[791]Medina, pp. 74-8, 80.[792]Medina, pp. 129-31.[793]Ibidem, p. 134.[794]Medina, pp. 135-45.[795]Ibidem, pp. 103, 154-55.[796]Ibidem, p. 112.[797]Medina, pp. 146-9, 160.[798]Ibidem, pp. 152-3.[799]Archivo de Simancas, Gracia y Justicia, Inquisicion, Leg. 621, fol. 26.[800]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 20, fol. 59.[801]Medina, pp. 201-3,—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 20, fol. 177, 299.[802]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 51; Lib. 21, fol. 8.—Medina, pp. 204, 207.[803]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 21, fol. 82, 88, 196.[804]Medina, pp. 233-7.[805]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 270.—Medina, pp. 238-9.[806]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 38, fol. 122.[807]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 130.[808]Medina, pp. 239-45, 247-8, 257.—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 130, 270.[809]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 164, 175.[810]Archivo de Simancas, Inq., Lib. 61, fol. 251.[811]Medina, pp. 249-50.[812]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 38, fol. 31; Lib. 61, fol. 251.[813]Medina, pp. 260-1.[814]Ibidem, pp. 250-59.[815]Medina, pp. 261-3.[816]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 251.[817]Medina, pp. 263-5.[818]Medina, pp. 280-88.[819]Medina, pp. 297-301.[820]Medina, pp. 302-5.[821]Of this quarrel we have two accounts. That of Sr. Medina (pp. 311-24), drawn from the records of the Inquisition, is naturally favorable to Valera. The other side is given by Groot (I, 286-306; II, 584) from a MS. relation. I have endeavored to elicit the truth from the conflicting statements.[822]MSS. of Library of Univ. of Halle, Yc, 17.—Medina, p. 324.[823]Cuaderno de Cumplimientos, fol. 62 (MSS. of White Library, Cornell University).[824]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 60, fol. 352.[825]MSS. of the Library of the Univ. of Halle, Yc, 17.[826]Medina, pp. 365-7.[827]Ibidem, p. 368.[828]Ibidem, pp. 372-6.[829]Medina, p. 157.[830]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 20, fol. 59.[831]Medina, p. 230.[832]Ibidem, p. 231.[833]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 36, fol. 74.—Medina, pp. 262, 265-66.[834]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 112, 120.[835]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 122, 132.[836]Ibidem, fol. 139, 54.[837]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 155, 151.[838]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 116.[839]Medina, pp. 367, 400.[840]Groot, II, 230.[841]Ibidem, pp. 226, 232.[842]Ibidem, pp. 230-1.[843]Medina, pp. 398-407.[844]Medina, pp. 408-12.—Groot, II, 473.[845]Groot, II, 472-3.[846]Medina, pp. 414-16.[847]Groot, III, 124, 142-3, 151.[848]Ibidem, pp. 143-44.[849]MSS. of Library of University of Halle, Yc, 17.[850]Relaciones de los Vireyes del Nuevo Reino de Granada, pp. 26-8, 41-3, 67, 95, 97.[851]Ibidem, pp. 112-14.[852]Noticias secretas de America, pp. 489-536, 382-3 (Londres, 1826).Juan and Ulloa were distinguished men of science,Tenientes Generalesof the Navy and members of the British Royal Society and of the Royal Academies of Paris, Berlin and Stockholm. Their report was so damaging as to the defenceless condition of the ports that it was jealously kept secret until, after the independence of the colonies had rendered this unimportant, a copy was procured by Don David Barry and printed in London. From casual allusions by the authors, they seem to have been good Catholics and punctual in religious observance.[853]I give the reference to the numbers in the archives prior to their dispersion in 1881.

[755]Medina, Lima, II, 466-7.

[756]José Manuel Groot, Historia eclesiastica y civil de Nueva Granada, I, 1, 7, 98 (Bogotá, 1869-71).

[757]J. A. García y García, Relaciones de los Vireyes del Nuevo Reyno de Granada, pp. xvi-xix (New York, 1869).

[758]Groot, I, 84, 504.

[759]J. T. Medina, Historia del Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisicion de Cartagena de las Indias, pp. 19-23, 430 (Santiago de Chile, 1899).

[760]Ibidem, pp. 27, 29.

[761]Ibidem, p. 423.

[762]Medina, pp. 37-41.

[763]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 45, fol. 182.

[764]Medina, p. 434.

[765]Medina, p. 46.

[766]Medina, p. 433.

[767]Ibidem, pp. 155, 163.

[768]MSS. of Library of University of Halle, Yc, 17.—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 60, fol. 352; Lib. 61, fol. 524, 534.It does not seem that the tribunal of Cartagena had any part in a curious attempt to introduce the Inquisition into Louisiana, which was ceded to Spain by the Treaty of Paris in 1762. The disaffected colonists drove out their new masters in 1768, but were subdued the next year by O’Reilly. In 1772 the Governor, Don Luis de Unzaga, in a report to the Bishop of Havana, said “It is not the practice here to force any one to submit to the Church, and the process of excommunication is held in utter abomination.” This toleration continued and, in 1789, the Governor Estevan Miró was surprised to receive from Fray Antonio de Sedella—one of a band of Spanish Capuchins who had been sent to New Orleans in 1772—a communication stating that, in a letter of December 5th, he had received from the proper authority a commission as commissioner of the Inquisition, with instructions to perform his duties with the utmost zeal and fidelity; that, having made his investigations with the greatest secrecy and precaution, he notified the governor that, in execution of his instructions, he might soon, at some late hour of the night, deem it necessary to require some guards to assist him in his operations. That same night, April 29th, he was aroused from sleep to find at his door an officer with a file of grenadiers, when he thanked them and said that he had no use for them that night. To his astonishment he was told that he was under arrest; he was hurried on board a vessel which sailed the next day for Cádiz, and the Inquisition was nipped in the bud. Miró seems to have been called upon for an explanation, for in a despatch of June 3d he declared that he shuddered when he read Sedella’s note. He had been ordered to foster immigration from the United States, under pledge of no molestation on account of religion, and the mere name of the Inquisition in New Orleans would not only check immigration but would be capable of driving away those who had come, and, in spite of his action with Sedella, he dreaded the most fatal consequences from the mere suspicion of the causes of his dismissal. His justification seems to have been accepted, for the attempt was abandoned.—Gayarré, History of Louisiana. The Spanish Domination, pp. 56, 69, 269-71 (New York, 1854).—Fortier, History of Louisiana, II, 62, 140, 327.It may be assumed that the motive of commissioning Sedella was rather political than religious. The uprising in France was calling for active measures by the Inquisition in Spain to keep out revolutionary principles; Louisiana was French and its loyalty to Spain was doubtful, so that the Inquisition would be useful both as a source of information and an instrument of repression.

[768]MSS. of Library of University of Halle, Yc, 17.—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 60, fol. 352; Lib. 61, fol. 524, 534.

It does not seem that the tribunal of Cartagena had any part in a curious attempt to introduce the Inquisition into Louisiana, which was ceded to Spain by the Treaty of Paris in 1762. The disaffected colonists drove out their new masters in 1768, but were subdued the next year by O’Reilly. In 1772 the Governor, Don Luis de Unzaga, in a report to the Bishop of Havana, said “It is not the practice here to force any one to submit to the Church, and the process of excommunication is held in utter abomination.” This toleration continued and, in 1789, the Governor Estevan Miró was surprised to receive from Fray Antonio de Sedella—one of a band of Spanish Capuchins who had been sent to New Orleans in 1772—a communication stating that, in a letter of December 5th, he had received from the proper authority a commission as commissioner of the Inquisition, with instructions to perform his duties with the utmost zeal and fidelity; that, having made his investigations with the greatest secrecy and precaution, he notified the governor that, in execution of his instructions, he might soon, at some late hour of the night, deem it necessary to require some guards to assist him in his operations. That same night, April 29th, he was aroused from sleep to find at his door an officer with a file of grenadiers, when he thanked them and said that he had no use for them that night. To his astonishment he was told that he was under arrest; he was hurried on board a vessel which sailed the next day for Cádiz, and the Inquisition was nipped in the bud. Miró seems to have been called upon for an explanation, for in a despatch of June 3d he declared that he shuddered when he read Sedella’s note. He had been ordered to foster immigration from the United States, under pledge of no molestation on account of religion, and the mere name of the Inquisition in New Orleans would not only check immigration but would be capable of driving away those who had come, and, in spite of his action with Sedella, he dreaded the most fatal consequences from the mere suspicion of the causes of his dismissal. His justification seems to have been accepted, for the attempt was abandoned.—Gayarré, History of Louisiana. The Spanish Domination, pp. 56, 69, 269-71 (New York, 1854).—Fortier, History of Louisiana, II, 62, 140, 327.

It may be assumed that the motive of commissioning Sedella was rather political than religious. The uprising in France was calling for active measures by the Inquisition in Spain to keep out revolutionary principles; Louisiana was French and its loyalty to Spain was doubtful, so that the Inquisition would be useful both as a source of information and an instrument of repression.

[769]Medina, pp. 42-50, 76.—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Leg. 1465, fol. 23.

[770]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 51.

[771]Medina, pp. 82-96.

[772]Medina, pp. 100-1.

[773]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 30, fol. 180.

[774]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 30, fol. 178.

[775]Medina, pp. 211-19, 225-6.

[776]Medina, pp. 118-19.

[777]Ibidem, pp. 158-9.

[778]Ibidem, pp. 175-94.

[779]Medina, pp. 222-7.

[780]Groot, II, 473. This is not strictly correct. After an interval of many years, Inquisitor Valera published the edict in Lent, 1684, when it brought in denunciations which doubled the number of cases in hand (Medina, p. 308). Probably this was the last until the nineteenth century.

[781]Medina, pp. 346-51, 364.—Groot, I, 331-6.

[782]Medina, pp. 369-70.

[783]Medina, pp. 358, 371.

[784]Medina, pp. 359-61.

[785]Ibidem, pp. 374-6.

[786]Ibidem, p. 378.

[787]Medina, pp. 379-80, 390.—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 25, fol. 52.

[788]Medina, pp. 380-6.

[789]Ibidem, pp. 387-9. During the suppression of the Inquisition, it was reprinted and largely circulated, forming the subject of a severe edict in 1814 (Ibid., p. 390).

[790]Ibidem, p. 390.—Suplemento al Indice Expurgatorio, p. 10 (Madrid, 1805).—Index Pii PP. VII, p. 53 (Romæ, 1819).

[791]Medina, pp. 74-8, 80.

[792]Medina, pp. 129-31.

[793]Ibidem, p. 134.

[794]Medina, pp. 135-45.

[795]Ibidem, pp. 103, 154-55.

[796]Ibidem, p. 112.

[797]Medina, pp. 146-9, 160.

[798]Ibidem, pp. 152-3.

[799]Archivo de Simancas, Gracia y Justicia, Inquisicion, Leg. 621, fol. 26.

[800]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 20, fol. 59.

[801]Medina, pp. 201-3,—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 20, fol. 177, 299.

[802]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 51; Lib. 21, fol. 8.—Medina, pp. 204, 207.

[803]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 21, fol. 82, 88, 196.

[804]Medina, pp. 233-7.

[805]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 270.—Medina, pp. 238-9.

[806]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 38, fol. 122.

[807]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 130.

[808]Medina, pp. 239-45, 247-8, 257.—Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 130, 270.

[809]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 164, 175.

[810]Archivo de Simancas, Inq., Lib. 61, fol. 251.

[811]Medina, pp. 249-50.

[812]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 38, fol. 31; Lib. 61, fol. 251.

[813]Medina, pp. 260-1.

[814]Ibidem, pp. 250-59.

[815]Medina, pp. 261-3.

[816]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 61, fol. 251.

[817]Medina, pp. 263-5.

[818]Medina, pp. 280-88.

[819]Medina, pp. 297-301.

[820]Medina, pp. 302-5.

[821]Of this quarrel we have two accounts. That of Sr. Medina (pp. 311-24), drawn from the records of the Inquisition, is naturally favorable to Valera. The other side is given by Groot (I, 286-306; II, 584) from a MS. relation. I have endeavored to elicit the truth from the conflicting statements.

[822]MSS. of Library of Univ. of Halle, Yc, 17.—Medina, p. 324.

[823]Cuaderno de Cumplimientos, fol. 62 (MSS. of White Library, Cornell University).

[824]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 60, fol. 352.

[825]MSS. of the Library of the Univ. of Halle, Yc, 17.

[826]Medina, pp. 365-7.

[827]Ibidem, p. 368.

[828]Ibidem, pp. 372-6.

[829]Medina, p. 157.

[830]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 20, fol. 59.

[831]Medina, p. 230.

[832]Ibidem, p. 231.

[833]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 36, fol. 74.—Medina, pp. 262, 265-66.

[834]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 112, 120.

[835]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 122, 132.

[836]Ibidem, fol. 139, 54.

[837]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 155, 151.

[838]Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Lib. 40, fol. 116.

[839]Medina, pp. 367, 400.

[840]Groot, II, 230.

[841]Ibidem, pp. 226, 232.

[842]Ibidem, pp. 230-1.

[843]Medina, pp. 398-407.

[844]Medina, pp. 408-12.—Groot, II, 473.

[845]Groot, II, 472-3.

[846]Medina, pp. 414-16.

[847]Groot, III, 124, 142-3, 151.

[848]Ibidem, pp. 143-44.

[849]MSS. of Library of University of Halle, Yc, 17.

[850]Relaciones de los Vireyes del Nuevo Reino de Granada, pp. 26-8, 41-3, 67, 95, 97.

[851]Ibidem, pp. 112-14.

[852]Noticias secretas de America, pp. 489-536, 382-3 (Londres, 1826).Juan and Ulloa were distinguished men of science,Tenientes Generalesof the Navy and members of the British Royal Society and of the Royal Academies of Paris, Berlin and Stockholm. Their report was so damaging as to the defenceless condition of the ports that it was jealously kept secret until, after the independence of the colonies had rendered this unimportant, a copy was procured by Don David Barry and printed in London. From casual allusions by the authors, they seem to have been good Catholics and punctual in religious observance.

[852]Noticias secretas de America, pp. 489-536, 382-3 (Londres, 1826).

Juan and Ulloa were distinguished men of science,Tenientes Generalesof the Navy and members of the British Royal Society and of the Royal Academies of Paris, Berlin and Stockholm. Their report was so damaging as to the defenceless condition of the ports that it was jealously kept secret until, after the independence of the colonies had rendered this unimportant, a copy was procured by Don David Barry and printed in London. From casual allusions by the authors, they seem to have been good Catholics and punctual in religious observance.

[853]I give the reference to the numbers in the archives prior to their dispersion in 1881.

Back to Index Next