Thus the Inquisition fully performed its part in stimulating the aversion of the Moriscos to Christianity and in rendering impossible the amalgamation of the races on which depended the peace and prosperity of Spain. medico and the barbero for curing Alegria and of ninety to him for confinement to his bed for many days.-Ibid. CHAPTER VI. CONVERSION BY PERSUASION. It is not to be supposed that Spanish statesmen relied wholly on persecution to win the unwilling converts to the faith. It is true that in the earlier wholesale baptism under Isabella, in 1502, no traces have been left of any organized attempt to instruct the Mudéjares, save the perfunctory orders of Ximenes and Ferdinand (pp. 47, 48), but when the events of the Germanía led to the edict of 1525 it was recognized that a grave responsibility was incurred and that if the instruction which should precede baptism was impossible, the sacrament should at least be followed by earnest and systematic efforts to render the neophytes Christians in fact as well as in name. These efforts were constant and prolonged and, if they were futile, the cause is largely attributable to the incurable vices of Spanish administration, the greed and corruption which rendered the Moriscos a subject of speculation and the impossibility of following a consistent course of kindly persuasion and toleration when the fierce fanaticism of the age insisted upon regarding all aberrations as crimes for which God demanded instant punishment. Clement VII., in his brief of May 12, 1524, had merely alluded to preaching by the inquisitors as a preliminary to giving the Moors the choice between conversion and exile. It is true, as we have seen, that, after the Germanía, missionaries had been sent to do what they could by disputation and persuasion (p. 69) but if they effected anything it has not been recorded, and Charles preceded his edict of 1525 with commands that priests should be provided and instruction be given in the dogmas of the faith (p. 85). Guevara, for a time, was transferred from Valencia to Granada where the situation was similar, as described, in 1526, by the shrewd Venetian envoy Navagero—the Moors were Christianized partly by force, but they are so little instructed in the faith and there is so little care about teaching them, priestly gains being the chief object, that they either are as much Moors as ever or have no religion of any kind.1 Those of Valencia seem to have been abandoned to the Inquisition as a missionary agent until the concordia of 1528 suspended it for a time and involved the necessity of milder methods of propagating the faith. Frailes were accordingly selected and commissioned to preach to them. The only one of these whose name has reached us was the Observantine Bartolomé de los Angeles, who had the recommendation of familiarity with Arabic, but unfortunately his evil character unfitted him for the work. A letter of the Suprema, September 27, 1529, to the inquisitors of Valencia, expresses astonishment at the report of his ill doings and orders them at once to send proper persons to the places which he had visited in order to remove the impression created by his scandals, but, with the customary regard for the reputation of the Church and churchmen, he is not to be named and no charges are to be brought against him.2 1 Gachard, Voyages dee Souverains des Bays-Bas, I. 208. This was of evil augury and portended the troubles which never ceased to exist in the dealings with the Moriscos. It soon became evident however that to Christianize a large population, living for the most part in exclusive communities scattered over the land, would require a complete organization of new parish churches with schools and all the appliances for instruction and the administration of the sacraments. The bishops of Valencia had done nothing; it was necessary to take the matter out of their hands and place it under one head, who should be superior to all episcopal authority in the dioceses. Papal delegation was essential for this and application was made to Clement VII., who responded with a brief of December 9, 1532, addressed to Inquisitorgeneral Manrique, in which he accepted for himself the responsibility of Charles's edict of 1525 and its happy result of the general baptism. Subsequently however, he said, in consequence of the neglect and absence of their priests the converts had returned to their vomit, and worse consequences were to be feared unless due provision was made, wherefore he granted to Manrique full power, during his lifetime, to provide persons to teach the converts, to erect and unite churches and chapels, to appoint and dismiss priests, to regulate tithes, in short to organize and govern the whole necessary ecclesiastical establishment, independently of the local bishops. Power was further given to decide all suits that might arise on the part of archbishops, bishops, chapters, abbeys, priests and secular lords, compelling obedience by censures and the secular arm and by depriving recalcitrants of their benefices, with perpetual disability for preferment, and in fine to do whatever was necessary to effect the object. It was a grant of enormous power, including that of crushing resistance expected from the existing hierarchy. There must have been remonstrances, for in about a month, January 11, 1533, the brief was followed by another, limiting to a twelvemonth the faculties for effecting the proposed organization. It doubtless was renewed after opposition had been subdued, for, November 26, 1540, Paul III. issued a brief to Inquisitor-general Tabera in which that of 1532 is recited, adding that the emperor had represented that, although Manrique had accomplished much yet much remained to be done, and doubts had arisen whether his successor as inquisitor-general enjoyed the same powers, wherefore Paul subrogates Tabera and confers on him the same faculties.1 The main trouble now, as it continued to be to the end, was money, for all classes who saw a chance of gain, in the confusion caused by the forcible conversion, grasped at what share of the spoils they could. Clement VII., in the brief of 1524, had ordered all mosques to be consecrated as churches; the Moors had paid tithes only on a few things; they were now to pay on all, not to the Church but to their lords, to recompense the latter for the expected loss of tribute arising from their becoming Christians, for they were promised that in all things they were to be treated as Christians. In return, their lords were to provide the churches with what was requisite for divine service and the revenues of the mosques were to 1 Bulario de la Orden de Santiago, Libro II. fol. 94, 96, 145. The supineness of the Valencia hierarchy was attributed to the Archbishop of Valencia, Everard de la Marche, one of the Flemings promoted by Charles in his younger days. He was non-resident and occupied the see from 1520 to 1538. |