Auto-da-fé: history, ritual, famous cases and decline

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Having become the grand showcase of the Holy Office, the auto-da-fé was a imposing public ceremony which concluded the inquisitorial process with a liturgy designed to move, instruct, and, let's not kid ourselves, command respect. It began as a religious-judicial act and eventually acquired the air of a baroque festival, with processions, music, proclamations, and a monumental scaffold in emblematic squares, from Bibarrambla to Madrid's Plaza Mayor.

Despite its pomp, it carried within it a very clear purpose: to affirm the Catholic order Before the crowd, they staged penances and punishments to serve as examples. Jurists like Francisco Peña justified making it public "for the edification of all and to instill fear." Humanists and foreign visitors, from Henry Kamen to Jean Lhermite, saw it as a spectacle as solemn as it was disturbing, and the printed accounts disseminated every detail of what had happened.

What was an auto-da-fé and what was its function?

In practical terms, it was the solemn reading of summaries and sentences Before the assembled people, with the presence of civil and ecclesiastical authorities. The Inquisitor General Juan Antonio Llorente defined it as the public act in which guilt and punishments were proclaimed, and where those condemned to death were handed over to the secular arm (ordinary justice), which carried out the punishment with the means provided: garrote, bonfire, etc.

The typology, in the words of Llorente himself and the inquisitorial regulations, distinguished between general car (many prisoners and a large apparatus), special or private car (with less solemnity), singular car (a single prisoner) and owl (held in courtrooms, openly or privately). This classification explains why not all events achieved the same pomp or impact.

The ultimate goal was not to “save souls” in the abstract, but to protect the common good by eradicating heresyThat is why people were forced to abjure their beliefs aloud, to answer "yes, I believe" along with the public to the dogmas, and to publicly accept the punishment. The act thus functioned as both mass catechesis and a theater of power.

Medieval origins and early plays in Castile

Its origins lie in the Sermo Publicus or Sermo Generalis Fide of the medieval papal inquisition in the Toulouse area, during the Cathar repression. In the Crown of Castile, the first documented auto-da-fé was held in Seville on February 6, 1481: those first acts were sober, with little popular attendance and a more austere rite than the later Baroque one.

An early chronicle from Toledo (February 12, 1486) narrates how hundreds of reconciled converts They marched in procession in the bitter cold, weeping more from public disgrace than from religious conscience, received the sign of the cross on their foreheads, heard Mass, and accepted penance after their Judaizing practices were read to them. This disciplinary format, still restrained, would soon acquire a different scale.

In Córdoba, the inquisitor Diego Rodríguez de Lucero —nicknamed “the Dark One”— He instigated mass executions: in 1501 and 1502 dozens were put to death, and in December 1504 an execution held outside the city walls resulted in the burning alive of 107 people, perhaps the largest such event of its time. Social reaction erupted in 1506 with the assault on the Holy Office prison and Lucero's escape; the scandal led to the General Congregation of Burgos (1508), which reviewed trials, reinstated honors, and reformed procedures.

From ritual to grand baroque spectacle

Throughout the 16th century, the auto-da-fé evolved from a judicial ceremony to large-scale urban partyThis was aided by the iconography of Pedro Berruguete (his "Auto de fe presided over by Saint Dominic of Guzman", although imaginary, inspired ceremonies) and, above all, by the Instructions of 1561 dictated by the inquisitor general Fernando de Valdés, which established the ceremonial.

The 1559 decrees in Valladolid and Seville, intended to suppress Protestant communities, were landmark events. In Valladolid, on May 21 and October 8, [names of individuals] were burned at the stake. numerous convicted —among them Agustín and Francisco de Cazalla, Constanza de Vivero, Isabel (wife of Carlos de Seso) and Marina de Guevara— and dozens of people were given penance. The presence of Juana of Austria and, later in October, of Philip II —newly arrived from Flanders— raised the solemnity to an unprecedented level.

From 1598, the assistance of the authorities to the car It became mandatory under penalty of excommunication. The Inquisition reserved the presidency for the high nobility and, if it was held at court, ensured the king's attendance. Philip II attended several (Lisbon 1582, Toledo 1591), Philip III presided over the one in Toledo in 1600, and Philip IV facilitated the one in 1632 at court. The one in Madrid in 1680—with the wedding of Charles II as its backdrop—became famous thanks to Francisco Rizi's painting and José del Olmo's meticulous account.

Madrid, 1632: the play in the Plaza Mayor and a dark tale

In the capital, a particularly memorable car was seen on July 4, 1632The case began with a complaint from a teacher against a family of Portuguese crypto-Jews who ran a haberdashery on Infantas Street. According to the records, the youngest son had revealed the desecration of a crucifix in the house; the story, difficult to believe, gained traction before the Holy Office.

The event was organized "in a big way": Juan Gómez de Mora The platform was prepared; fourteen days earlier, 95 "relatives" on horseback announced the summons with drums and trumpets; Cardinal Antonio Zapata presided, with Philip IV and Isabella of Bourbon in the tribune and the entire court elite crowding the balconies. There were 40 prisoners in person and 4 in effigy; 27 for minor offenses, 9 Judaizers sentenced to life imprisonment, and 7 to be burned at the stake. Among those executed were names such as Jorge Cuaresma, Miguel Rodríguez, Isabel Núñez Alonso, Fernán Vaez, Leonor Rodríguez and Beatriz Núñez.

A contemporary letter describes oaths, processions, protocols, and a platform covered with awnings “to tame the harshness of the sun.” Following the decree, the queen ordered demolish the haberdasheryThey built the Capuchin convent of the Patience of Christ there—to house the ashes of the crucifix—and placed a commemorative plaque. The street eventually became known as Calle de las Infantas; the convent was badly damaged in the War of Independence and demolished during the Mendizábal confiscations.

How an auto-da-fé was prepared and experienced

Eymerich's Manual of Inquisitors endorsed the celebration on Sunday or holidays to attract the crowds. A month beforehand, platforms and bleachers were erected, penitential robes and corozas were painted, effigies and urns were made with the bones of the deceased, and awnings and hangings were displayed. Sometimes the expense was prohibitive for the inquisitorial coffers, which did not always receive support from the municipalities.

Days before, the town criers invited the people. The day before, the procession of the green Cross Carried by a principal figure—in 1680, the Duke of Medinaceli—the cross, veiled in black, was placed on the platform, watched over all night by family members and nuns. At dawn, the procession emerged. White cross, which symbolically displayed wood destined for the burning, and behind it advanced effigies of fugitives and the deceased —with trunks painted with flames— and the prisoners with pointed hats, penitential garments, ropes or muzzles according to their procedural status.

El order of the procession It was almost theatrical: the prosecutor (on horseback) led the way, followed by those reconciled with candles, then Dominicans, then those condemned to death, later relatives of the Holy Office, and finally, mounted troops and local clergy. Upon reaching the platform, a preacher inflamed the faith and urged the unrepentant to repent: if they did, they were garroted before being burned at the stake; if they persisted, they could be allowed to climb onto the embers alive. To prevent any public pronouncements, some of the unrepentant appeared gagged.

After sermon The sentences were read: each accused person heard their guilt, abjured if necessary, and the inquisitor absolved those who reconciled. Hymns such as the Miserere or the Veni Creator were sung, the Green Cross was unveiled, and those released were taken to the secular arm. The proceedings could last for hours—there were cases with a break for the authorities' lunch—and even resume the following day.

It should be remembered that the execution was not strictly part of it of the auto-da-fé. Often the condemned were paraded through the streets for public humiliation and then taken to the burning site outside the city walls (in Seville, the Prado de San Sebastián; in Córdoba, the Marrubial; in Granada, the Beiro). In Logroño, in 1610, tens of thousands of people attended an auto-da-fé with witchcraft at its center; there were penitents with ropes around their necks, effigies with exhumed bones, and a reading of sentences so long that it continued into the following Monday.

Costs, logistics and crowds: impressive figures

Organizing a car was expensive. Some estimates put the cost at... 396.376 maravedís The expenses in Seville (1642), 811.588 in 1648, and no less than 2.139.590 in Cordoba (1655). It was necessary to pay for platforms, carpets, wax, fabrics, food for ministers and prisoners, town criers, trumpets, drums and travel, in addition to defraying effigies, painters of penitential garments and carpenters.

To amortize, it is They rented out bleachers and balconiesPlazas with platforms costing 12, 13, or 20 reales per person; shade cloths were strung across rooftops; and sturdy barriers stretched from the jail to the platform to control the flow of people. Even so, the crowds overflowed the enclosures, and the locals had to contain the pushing and shoving and stone-throwing. Accounts tell of cities without free inns, people sleeping in the fields, and visitors traveling from 40 or 50 leagues away.

Granada, 1593: a very well-documented auto

Several spaces converged in the Nasrid capital: Houses of the Inquisition (next to Santiago), Plaza Nueva, Bibarrambla, and the Beiro burning ground. A center of Judaizing activity was detected in 1591, and the largest public execution of the century (97 penitents) was "publicized" on May 7, 1593, accompanied by trumpets, drums, and shawms. The scaffold, "very high," was exceptionally erected in Bibarrambla.

The day before (May 26), the Green Cross procession began; the crimson damask banner bore verses from the Psalms, the royal coat of arms, and the arms of the Inquisitor General. On Ascension Day, the procession traveled through Elvira and Zacatín. raised platforms For the public, who had traveled from all over the region. The total cost amounted to 117.584 maravedís, with detailed payments: 1.020 to town criers, 136 to three mounted drummers, and 204 to three trumpeters. There is also mention of singers and a choirmaster in other nearby plays. The crowd, as was customary, shouted and insulted the condemned, and those arrested were executed in Beiro.

Religious themes on stage: Corpus Christi, Holy Week and the Baroque style

The auto-da-fé fits into a culture of public exhibitions Golden Age devotions included Holy Week processions, mass sermons, and Corpus Christi. In Toledo, on the eve of Corpus Christi, giant papier-mâché figures and the Tarasca, carrying "Anne Boleyn" on its back—an allegory against heresy—paraded through the streets. The following day, religious orders, confraternities, universities, military orders, and authorities guarded the monstrance, all in a festive atmosphere. Participation was almost obligatory then to avoid raising suspicion; today, only folklore remains, but before, it was part of social control.

External perspectives, criticism and figures

For authors like Henry Kamen, what began as penance and religious justice It ended up becoming a mass spectacle, comparable to bullfights or fireworks displays. Among foreign travelers, the combination of presiding clergymen and terrible punishments caused astonishment and disgust; even so, public executions in Europe were no less brutal, and sometimes more so.

The figures help to provide context: it is estimated that the Holy Office prosecuted about 150.000 peopleAnd the executions did not exceed several thousand (fewer than 10.000). The Spanish “witch hunt” was minor compared to other regions. It is also worth highlighting a significant legal criticism: the inquisitor acted as both judge and jury, there was no defense attorney, the accusations were secret, and confessions were sought, sometimes resorting to torture.

Real assistance, decline and last cars

Philip II enjoyed the ceremonial pomp The auto-da-fé—processions, mass, sermon—as Joseph Pérez recalled; the year after Valladolid in 1559, Toledo organized another on the occasion of his wedding to Isabel de Valois; in 1564 there was an auto-da-fé in Barcelona during the Cortes. Philip III presided over the one in Toledo (1600), and Philip IV, the one organized in 1632 for the recovery of Isabel de Borbón. The great auto-da-fé of Madrid (1680) was the swan song of this most spectacular format.

In the 18th century, already in decline, cars became scarce and discreetThe costs were high and funds were not always available; in Madrid, none were held between 1632 and 1680. In Portugal, a 1774 decree by Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo required royal sanction for inquisitorial sentences, which in practice deactivated the Portuguese autos.

In Spain, the last auto-da-fé took place in Seville, 1781, with María de los Dolores López, accused of false revelations and practices with confessors. Dressed in a penitential garment and a coroza with flames and devils, she was handed over to the secular authorities: garrote and her body to the stake. The case of Cayetano Ripoll in Valencia (1826) is often cited, but by then the Inquisition no longer existed (it had not been restored after the Liberal Triennium).

Types of autos-da-fé

• General admission: large number of prisoners, maximum solemnity, presence of authorities and corporations.
• Special or particular: with a few prisoners and less apparatus; it could do without civil authorities.
• Singular: a single prisoner, in a temple or square, depending on the circumstances of the case.
• scops owl: in courtrooms; open or closed, with a limited number of attendees.

A stage set of power between the sacred and the profane

If anything defined the auto-da-fé, it was its multisensory aestheticsLuminaries, music, the smells of incense and smoke, the colors of damasks and penitential garments, tense silence during the sentences, and popular clamor during abjurations. It was a "festival for contemplation" that reinforced the authority of the inquisitors, displayed hierarchies (not without protocol conflicts), and functioned as propaganda and institutionalization of the memory of the Holy Office.

There was also control of the “narrative”: from the mid-17th century, the printing of official relations They meticulously reconstructed preparations, processions, crimes, names, punishments, and edifying commentaries. Paradoxically, when the autos-da-fé dwindled in number and retreated to enclosed spaces, these accounts multiplied, seeking to perpetuate the prestige of the ritual.

Viewed through today's eyes, this whole display mixes devotion, fear, and politics. The Inquisition converted the car It became an instrument of social discipline, a liturgy of orthodoxy, and a theater of sovereignty. At its height, monarchs, nobles, friars, town criers, and multitudes mingled; in its decline, costs, the new winds of enlightenment, and the erosion of its charisma took their toll. What remains is the imprint of a ritual that, like few others, shaped the urban culture of the Hispanic Monarchy.