Chapter XV · THE KABBALA AND MESSIANIC FANATICISM. THE MARRANOS AND THE INQUISITION. (continued 2)

Yet another circumstance compelled Paul III to show a yielding disposition. Charles V, inspired thereto by his victory over the Protestants (April, 1547), sought to set himself above the papacy, and would have liked to see a new ritual established, agreeable to Protestants as well as to Catholics. This was tantamount to declaring war against the pope. The latter was, therefore, forced to break with the emperor, and that he might not stand unsupported against so powerful a foe, Portugal and the central Catholic states had to be won over to his side. To conciliate Portugal he sent thither a special commissary provided with bulls and briefs, wherein he partially sanctioned the Inquisition, though requesting that it be used with mildness. Above all, however, new-Christians accused of heresy and so-called relapse were not to be sentenced, for the present, but to be made answerable for their conduct in the future. Even then, for the first ten years, the property of relapsed heretics was not to be touched, but to descend to their heirs. He consented to the restriction of Marrano emigration, so strenuously insisted upon by the Portuguese court.

Prisons of the Inquisition at Lisbon, Evora, and other cities were thrown open in obedience to the pope's general absolution for new-Christians, and eighteen hundred set at liberty (July, 1548). Soon after this all the Marranos were called together, and forced to abjure their Judaizing tendencies. From that moment only were they recognized as complete Christians, and liable to be punished in case of heretical transgression. The pope, in a brief, desired the king to see that the tribunals deal mercifully even with the heretics, since they fulfilled Jewish observances only from habit. Thus, throughout his life, Pope Paul III took the part of the Marranos. Nevertheless, they fell victims to their tragic fate. It was cruel injustice to demand an open confession of Catholicism from them, when they protested against it with all their hearts, and then to punish them when detected in the performance of Jewish rites or ceremonies. On the other hand, the state could never allow a whole class of the population outwardly belonging to the church to be left in a certain sense free to hold the church in derision. Justice certainly demanded that the Marranos should have liberty of choice either to emigrate or confess themselves genuine members of the church. But, as the court acknowledged, their loss meant ruin to the state, for the Marranos of Jewish descent formed the most profitable class of the city population. Their capital and far-reaching business transactions increased the revenue, caused a general circulation of money, and made raw materials imported from the Indian and African colonies available. Without them the wealth of the whole country would be capital idly and unprofitably stored. Marranos were also the only artisans, and on them depended industrial prosperity. Plainly, the state could not afford to lose them, and, therefore, the king tried to turn them into good Christians by the terrors of the Inquisition, so as to keep a certain hold on the profit and utility of their presence. He labored in vain. Every year fresh victims perished at the stake; yet the survivors did not become more faithful believers. The Portuguese court, unlike the Spanish, never derived enjoyment from the Inquisition. Portuguese new-Christians, in spite of their confession, were not yet true Christians, on whom the penalty of heresy could legally, according to canonical laws, be inflicted by the Inquisition. After Paul's death, (November, 1549), Julius III was petitioned to give absolution to the Marranos. Even the succeeding popes, who favored reaction and persecution, allowed the Portuguese Inquisition to continue more as an accomplished fact than as a legal institution. Half a century later, a pope (Clement VIII) condemned the judicial murders of the Inquisition, and once more issued a general amnesty for condemned Marranos.