The Inquisition was duly established, but for awhile it seems to have been inert for, in 1532, the Captain-general Mondejar suggested to the emperor its suspension, on the ground that it had done nothing for it could find nothing against the converts, to which the Suprema replied that he was prejudiced and the matter was dropped. It is probable that this stimulated the tribunal to greater activity for, in 1537, the Moriscos petitioned that a general pardon should be granted, that fines and confiscations be abandoned and that other means of support be found for the tribunal, to which the reply was that confiscation and pecuniary penance were required by both the canon and secular law and were indispensable; as for the pardon, if they really desired to save their souls by embracing the faith, a term of grace might be conceded during which they could confess in writing before the inquisitors and be absolved. The pressure on the part of the Holy Office seems to have gone on increasing for, in 1539, with the support of Mondejar, the Moriscos again petitioned Charles for a general pardon without the necessity of confession and further that those condemned to burning or reconciliation should not have their property taken by confiscation or composition or consumed by excessive charges for support in prison during trial. This time Charles ordered a junta to consider the matter, consisting of Guevara, now Bishop of Mondonedo with the prelates

1 Confession before an ordinary priest was auricular and was covered by the seal. In the Inquisition all confessions were written out by the notary or secretary and remained of record against the culprit. The one was sacramental, the other judicial. This, together with the obligation to denounce accomplices, explains much of the objection to confess to the inquisitors.

of Granada and other distinguished personages, which reported unanimously against the requests; they had had two terms of grace and if the Emperor desired to be merciful he could grant them a third, during which they could confess in writing and be absolved without confiscation or sanbenito, but that confiscation was a matter of law and could not be abolished.1

In 1543 a more determined effort was made. They arranged to pay six or seven thousand ducats to Christobal Mexia, brother of the royal confessor Pedro do Soto, and twenty thousand to Mondejar, and repeated the prayer for pardon without confession or reconciliation. Inquisitor-general Tavera and the Suprema replied by referring to the report of the previous junta and offering a term of grace on the old conditions. Mondejar replied that they would not accept this, for by written confessions they ran the risk incident to relapse and they preferred to take their chances as they were; that papal faculties could be obtained and the king could waive confiscation whenever

1 Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 926, fol. 80.

2 By this time Mondéjar was no longer captain-general of Granada. He accompanied Charles V. to Tunis in 1535, after which he became Viceroy of Navarre until 1560, when he was made president of the council of Castile, the highest post in the kingdom. It will perhaps make the narrative clearer to explain that Iñigo Lopez de Mendoza, Count of Tendilla, the first Captain-general of Granada, became Marquis of Mondéjar, after which the eldest sons were known as Counts of Tendilla, and held the post of Alcalde of the Alhambra. Iñigo Lopez died in 1512 and was succeeded as captain-general by his son Luis Hurtado de Mendoza, the second marquis. In 1535, the latter was succeeded in the captain-generalship by his son Iñigo Lopez, known as the Count of Tendilla until 1566, when, on the death of his father, he became the third marquis.-Memorial of the Fifth Marquis of Mondéjar (Morel Fatio, L'Espagne au XVIe et XVII Siécle, p. 59).

he pleased.

Powerful influences were brought to bear in the imperial court including the offer of a subsidy of 120,000 ducats and Charles wrote, October 27, 1543, from Avesnes to Mondejar, warmly thanking him, and to Prince Philip and Tavera that the Moriscos could have a general pardon without preceding confession and reconciliation and that there should be no confiscation for twenty-five or thirty years. The Inquisition by this time was not always obedient to royal commands. Tavera and the Suprema replied as they had done before, and that the servicio of 120,000 ducats offered by the Moriscos would be little enough for a general pardon with written confessions and remission of confiscation. They could not in conscience advise suspending confiscation for twentyfive or thirty years, as it would be offering impunity for transgression besides being repugnant to the canons; it would be sufficient mercy to confiscate one-half of the property and give the other half to Catholic descendants, which would encourage the children to be good Catholics. They added that those who interceded for the Moriscos could readily induce them to accept this, but when the proposal was submitted to Mondejar he said it would not satisfy them.1

Charles wrote in reply from Metz, July 6, 1544, insisting on compliance with his orders; his ambassador at Rome, Juan de Vega, had reported that he was obtaining the brief necessary for completing the arrangement. When Juan de Vega sent the brief, however, it proved to be very different from what the Moriscos had demanded. Then a Mudejar Morisco named Antonio Ser

1 Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 926, fol. 81-2.

2 A memorial concerning Vega's negotiations in Rome shows that Charles was earnestly endeavoring to obtain the powers necessary for

rano informed Tavera that the Moriscos would moderate their demands and be content with what was just and would pay the emperor a large subsidy, if a commission was appointed to treat with them. Diego de Deza, Bishop of Canaries, then serving as judge in the chancellery of Granada, was appointed and sent for the principal Moriscos, who, after obtaining permission from the Count of Tendilla, said that they would content themselves with what was just and would pay Charles 200,000 ducats, but when Tendilla heard of the negotiation he set his friends among the Moriscos to work and broke it off, sparing neither threats nor promises. Then, in 1555, he proposed to the Moriscos that he should procure from the pope permission for them to confess to confessors of their own selection who should absolve them without solemnity or penance; that the Emperor should waive the confiscations which they had incurred and that the Inquisition should be wholly suspended for forty years. He sent emissaries throughout the kingdom to explain the advantages of this and persuade the Moriscos to offer all the money they could, so as to furnish a good subsidy and recompense those who should intercede for them with Charles and the pope. The Inquisition took the alarm and interfered with the plan by prosecuting Tendilla's emissaries, and a long correspondence ensued between

conceding the requests of the Moriscos. The cardinals to whom the affair was referred objected to the provisions for the future, regarding them as offering encouragement to sinners, and they desired to retain the penalty of burning for relapse. Many months were spent in discussion and finally a compromise was drawn up.-Ibid. fol. 86-7.

It would not, I think, be doing injustice to the Inquisition to suggest that it had a hand in creating obstacles in the curia. It had a permanent agent in Rome to attend to its business.

Tendilla, Prince Philip, Guerrero, Archbishop of Granada, and Valdés, then inquisitor-general. Meanwhile, in 1549, letters passing between the Archbishop and Valdés show that an effort had been made to quiet the Moriscos by granting a term of grace in which some had come in and confessed. Another was conceded in 1553, when a commission was sent to the inquisitors, empowering them to absolve for relapse.2

After the abdication of Charles V. the Moriscos made another attempt by sending envoys to Philip II. in Flanders. They complained that Mondejar and Tendilla amused them with fair words, but their demands were still greater than before, for they added to their former requests that the seal of secrecy be removed from the prisons and the names of witnesses and that when they sinned they should not be prosecuted but be taught, in return for which they offered a subsidy of 100,000 ducats and a perpetual contribution of three thousand ducats a year for the support of the Inquisition. Philip referred the petition to the Suprema to report to him on his return to Spain. Then the Moriscos asked licence to assemble for discussion and the appointment of delegates with full powers, but the Suprema in granting the permission required the meeting to be held in the presence of the archbishop, an inquisitor and the president and two judges of the chancellery, which was done and the powers

1 Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion, Libro 926, fol. 82-3.

I have no means of controlling these statements which are from an official report of the Suprema. Allowance should be made for the inveterate hostility between the Inquisition and the secular authorities which seems to have been peculiarly bitter in Granada.

2 Ibid. Libro 4, fol. 174, 178, 214.