Antonio Herrezuelo

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Antonio Herrezuelo (* around 1513 in Toro (Spain) near Valladolid ; † May 21, 1559 in Valladolid), also called Antonio de Herrezuela or Germanized Anton Herrezuelo , was a baccalaureus , licentiate and lawyer in Toro. He is considered an evangelical martyr .

Life

Establishment of a Protestant community

Around 1551, the Italian Carlos de Seso, considered a son of the Bishop of Piacenza (at that time Catalano Trivulzio), founded a Protestant community in Valladolid, the seat of the Spanish court at the time. Last year, probably under the influence of the works of Juan de Valdés , he converted to the Protestant faith and brought the relevant literature with him to Spain. Carlos de Seso's reformatory work began in Logroño and then continued in Toro.

In 1554, thanks to the influence of his wife Isabella de Castilla, who was of royal descent, Carlos de Seso became a corregidor (mayor) of Toro. There he won Antonio Herrezuelo and his wife Leonor de Cisnere , who had married Herrezuelo around 1553, and some other people, some of noble descent, for the Protestant faith. In Pedrosa , a place between Valladolid and Toro, Carlos de Seso was able to win over pastor Pedro de Cazalla for the Reformation. The community finally comprised about 70 believers.

Discovery and arrest of the community

The Reformation movement in the Valladolid area with its secret services remained undiscovered for two or three years. In Zamora , however, Cristobal de Padilla, the caretaker of the Marquesa of Alcañizes, expressed himself carelessly, so that after the proclamation of the edict of the Faith around Easter 1558 there were two reports of the arrest of Cristobal de Padilla by the Bishop of Zamora , Antonio del Aguila Vela y Paz (tenure 1546–1560), and Padilla's incarceration in the general prison. From there, Padilla informed his fellow believers. Antonio Herrezuelo then reported to Pedro Cazalla that one could not rely on Cristobal de Padilla's secrecy.

On January 4, 1559, at the Spanish request, Pope Paul IV authorized the Grand Inquisitor and the Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición to condemn persons considered heretics as such even if they wanted to swear if it could be accepted, that this departure was only to avoid punishment.

On Maundy Thursday , March 23, 1559, there was finally a raid during the Protestant service. Most of the members were arrested, including Antonio Herrezuelo and Leonor de Cisnere. They were detained in separate cells in the Inquisition's secret prison in Valladolid. As usual, both Antonio Herrezuelo and Leonor de Cisnere were asserted that the other, as well as friends who had been arrested, had recognized their mistakes and retracted them. Herrezuelo stood firm during interrogations, confessed to his evangelical faith and also stated that he wanted to spread it in his hometown of Toro. However, despite promises, requests, threats and torture , he refused to reveal the names of other evangelical Christians.

Methods of the inquisition

In order to understand the following events, it is necessary to become familiar with the procedure of the Inquisition and in particular the autodafé ("act of faith"). Endowed with great power, the Inquisition initially concentrated on prominent Jews, since a guilty verdict led to the confiscation of the property. This alliance of church and state soon expanded its range of activities to include other groups of people, with old bills being settled. Hundreds, eventually thousands, saw their freedoms shattered, their land confiscated and their households ransacked.

Detainees were routinely alleged that others had withdrawn; they were encouraged to betray their friends for extenuating circumstances. Once caught, only a few survived. On the day of the public car dairy, the accused were brought out of their dungeon and only then were they to learn of their true fate, as well as that of their friends and family. Detainees were never allowed to face their accusers or see the allegations against them in writing. They were simply told that they would not have been arrested unless the authorities had sufficient evidence to convict them. Their only choice was to retract or face death.

A car dairy was held on Sundays, usually in the city's central public square, attended by church and government dignitaries. A 40 day indulgence was often given to the spectators to add to the crowd. The prisoners were dressed in the sanbenito , a yellow, sleeveless piece of wool with an opening for the head that hung loosely down to the knees at the front and back, comparable to a scapular . The term Sanbenito is derived from the expression saco bendito for a consecrated penitential dress. The prisoners had to wear a so-called tiare, a high, pointed cap, on their heads; her hands were tied with ropes in front of her body. They had to carry burning green wax torches.

Those found guilty of deathly crimes were informed of their impending executions the previous night and given one last chance to repent. When they used this, they were given the grace of being strangled from being burned. The next morning they had to march out of the dungeon. Those who did not repent carried the image of a person surrounded by flames and devils on Sanbenito and Tiare, and were delivered alive to the fire. Those who were previously strangled had the tips of the flames depicted on the robe pointing downwards. Whoever got away with life wore only a reddish St. Andrew's cross on Sanbenito and Tiare, or, in the case of minor offenses, only part of the cross. The torches were only lighted on those sentenced to death.

Inquisition process

On May 21, 1559, Trinity Sunday , the defendants from Antonio Herrezuelo's circle were also publicly tried in the large market square of Valladolid as Lutherans before a court of the Inquisition. For this purpose, grandstands were built in a semicircle. On one of the stands the Inquisitor General and Archbishop of Seville , Fernando Valdés (term of office 1546–1566), sat with the entire College of Inquisitions, four other bishops and the College of State Officials. The spectators crowded the square, the streets, all the windows and even on the roofs. The hearing is said to have had 200,000 spectators, including ministers and representatives of the secular authorities, as well as many other influential personalities. Every house along the route the prisoners were supposed to walk was provided with a stage. Some spectators had come specially from a distance of 60 to 70 km and camped in the open air. Only a few trustworthy persons were allowed to ride or carry weapons; others were forbidden with the death penalty and loss of property. The royal box was located on a special stage in front of the palace. Before 6 a.m., the regent, Infanta Juana , sister of King Philip II , her nephew, the Prince of Asturias (Crown Prince), the 13-year-old Infanta Don Carlos , the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela , Gaspar Zúñiga Avellaneda, marched there (Term of office 1558–1569), the entire court and many nobles . It was the first car dairy in Valladolid. The event was also immortalized in copperplate engravings and other works of art. (See pictures.)

Cremation of the condemned on May 21, 1559 in Valladolid
Presentation of Juan de Austrias on the occasion of the Autodafé

Next, from the Inquisition building, gunmen paved an alley through the crowd followed by the prisoners, guarded by Inquisition servants. The processional path was marked by stakes driven in so that the three participants could walk side by side. The prisoners were dressed in sanbenitos as described, and almost all of them bore the marks of massive torture. A cross wrapped in black cloth and the red flag of the Inquisition were carried in front, bearing the names of the Pope and the King; these items were eventually placed on their own scaffolding. At the head of the prisoners were five siblings, including two clergymen and a nun. (For details, see chapter Some Other Convicts .) The highest place on the stage went to one of these five, Dr. Agustín de Cazalla , who led the evangelical parish of Valladolid and was once the preacher of Charles V , followed by his brother Francisco de Vibero Cazalla. Next to it was a statue of a woman standing on a wooden box and dressed like the prisoners. The picture showed Eleonore de Vibero, the mother of the five siblings, who had died in prison. Her remains were in the box. The deceased mother was to be cremated with her children. The inquisitors sat under a canopy, opposite was an altar on which a crucifix, candlesticks and the other altar utensils needed for the sacrifice stood. Next to it was a pulpit from which Melchior Cano , a well-known, learned Dominican and Bishop of the Canaries, gave the hour-long sermon on the car dairy.

Then the Inquisitor of Valladolid, Franz Baca, went to the tribune of the Infante and the Infanta and asked both of them to take an oath that they would protect the Inquisition and denounce anyone who would speak out against the Roman Catholic faith. (A translation of the formula of the oath can be found in the Staats-Lexikon given under Sources .) The reason for this procedure was the regulatory, with which the Spanish Inquisition was introduced by the royal couple Ferdinand and Isabella . This required a corresponding oath from the magistrate who had to carry out the auto-da-fe. However, this formality had already been fulfilled when the Inquisition was introduced in Valladolid, and it was doubtful whether members of the ruling family also had to take such an oath. Carlos and Juana complied with the request and had the Archbishop of Seville swear the oath on the image of the cross in the missal, then they were rewarded with a blessing. After this oath to protect and promote the Inquisition, the audience chanted: "Until death!" Other people present also had to take the oath. Baca's approach has often been viewed as an affront to the crown. Don Carlos' attitude towards the Inquisition was to remain negative for life, until he died shortly before the planned treason trial against him in 1568.

Judgments

Agustín de Cazalla, Francisco de Vibero Cazalla and Alonso Pérez were stripped of their spiritual dignity. Then the judgments of the Inquisition and the secular judgment were read out. All were declared dishonorable; their property was confiscated. Antonio Herrezuelo was the only one of the accused who had not revoked, and thus also the only victim of this auto-da-fe, which in the strict sense can be regarded as an evangelical martyr. Everyone else had expressed repentance, asked for mercy, and made full statements against their friends and fellow believers. According to the laws valid at the time, only two or three of the accused could have been punished with death , since only these had actively worked to spread the Reformation.

Instead, the papal brief of January 4, 1559 (see above) was followed, an example should be made: 50 of the members of the Protestant community, including Leonor de Cisnere, got away with heavy fines and were returned to the Roman Catholic Church, 16 of these, including Leonor de Cisnere, had to publicly renounce their Protestant faith, but 13 of the accused, including a Portuguese Jew, otherwise Protestant Christian, were handed over to the secular judge and pardoned as described in the form that they were before were strangled from their burning. Antonio Herrezuelo was the only one of the defendants to be cremated alive. As described above, his sanbenito was provided on the front with a depiction of the hell punishment allegedly awaiting him, in order to mark him as unrepentant.

Executions

To the place of execution in front of the Puerta del Campo, those sentenced to death were accompanied by many armed men and had to ride on donkeys with their backs facing forward. On this way Herrezuelo passed his wife and saw that her Sanbenito was not marked like his. He knew from this that his wife had withdrawn and became angry about it. He kicked her and said (based on the translation by Höck): "Is that the value you place on the teaching in which I have taught you for six years?" Leonor de Cisnere made no reply.

Still on the way to the place of execution, Herrezuelo sang along with the psalms and quoted from the Bible , whereupon he was gagged with a spiky iron set in order not to be able to preach his evangelical faith. The condemned to incineration after strangulation , Dr. Agustín de Cazalla tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to withdraw. There is an eyewitness account of Herrezuelo's relentless behavior in this situation by Abbot Dr. Gonzalo de Illescas before. Herrezuelo was chained to one of the stakes, which were each in the middle of 14 pyre piled equally spaced , the other people sentenced to death were strangled after being chained. A stone hit Herrezuelo on the forehead, causing blood to run down his face. Another report, to which Llorente refers, tells that one of the Hartschiere who guarded the place of execution became angry about Herrezuelo's inflexibility and stabbed him with the lance. Herrezuelo is said not to have shown any emotion, not even when the wood was lit until death occurred from the fire. Illescas later reported that Herrezuelo was as motionless as a flint, without uttering complaint or regret, although he is said to have had a strangely sad expression at the moment of death.

Remembrance day

September 26th in the Evangelical Name Calendar , together with his wife Leonor de Cisnere, who on September 26th, 1568, after her return to the open Protestant confession, was also cremated as a "backslider" and is therefore considered a Protestant martyr.

Some more convicts

The following people were also sentenced in Valladolid on May 21, 1559:

Death by strangulation

  • Dr. Agustín de Cazalla (priest, Canon of Salamanca , almsman and court preacher to Emperor Charles V)
  • Francisco de Vibero Cazalla (brother of Agustín de Cazalla, priest, pastor in Hormigos in the diocese of Palencia )
  • Beatrice de Vibero Cazalla (sister of Agustín and Francis de Cazalla, religious sister)
  • Eleonore de Vibero (mother of the Cazalla siblings, already deceased, represented at the trial by her statue)
  • Dr. Alonso Pérez (priest in Palencia , doctor of theology)
  • Cristobal de Ocampo (from Seville , Knights of St. John , almsman Anton de Toledos, the Grand Prior of Castile and Leon)
  • Cristobal de Padilla (knight, inhabitant of Zamora, caretaker of the Marquesa of Alcañizes)
  • Juan Garcia (gold worker in Valladolid)
  • Perez de Herrera (Licentiate, judge of the surreptitious traffickers in Logroño , brother of the royal court fouriers D. Vincent)
  • Gonzalez Baez (a Jew from Portugal )
  • Catherine de Ortega (widow of Commander García Jofre de Loaísa , daughter of the Fiscal Office of the Royal Council of Castile, resident of Valladolid)
  • Catherine Roman de Pedrosa
  • Isabella d'Estrada
  • Jane Blazquiez (Servant of the Marquesa of Alcañizes)

Life imprisonment and wearing the sanbenito

  • Pedro Sarmiento de Roxas (from Valencia , knight of the Order of Santiago , commander of Quintana, son of Johann de Roxas, the first Marquis of Poza)
  • Mencia de Figueroa (wife of Pedro Sarmiento de Roxas, lady-in-waiting to the queen)
  • Juan de Vibero Cazalla (brother Agustín de Cazallas, born in Valladolid)
  • Juana Silva de Ribera (wife Juan de Vibero Cazallas, born in Valladolid, daughter of Johann de Riberas, the Marquis of Montemayor and his slave Marie Florin)
  • Constance de Vibero Cazalla (sister Agustín de Cazallas, widow of the notary Hernand Ortiz, mother of 13 children)
  • Juan de Ulloa Pereira (knight and commentator of the Order of St. John, inhabitant of Toro, son and brother of the Barone de la Mota, chief general in Germany under Charles V)
  • Leonor de Cisnere
  • Franziska Zuñiga de Baeza (daughter of Alfons da Baezas and Marie Zuñigas)
  • Marina da Saavedra (born in Zamora, widow Johann Cisneros de Sotos)
  • Isabella Minguez (servant of Beatrice Vibero Cazalla)
  • Daniel de la Quadra (from Pedrosa)

Lighter penalties

Three-year prison sentence with Sanbenito:

  • Antonio Minguez (brother of Isabella Minguez, inhabitant of Pedrosa)

Imprisonment in a monastery:

  • Anne Henriquez de Roxas (daughter of Alfons Henriquez d´Almansas and Elvire de Roxas, granddaughter of the first Marquis of Poza, wife of a Baron of St. Euphemie, 24 years old)

One year incarceration in a monastery and Roman Catholic religious instruction:

  • Anthony Wasor (from England , servant of Louis de Roxas)

Imprisonment in their monastery, withdrawal of voting rights and demotion to the lowest monastic rank:

  • Maria de Roxas (nun in the monastery of St. Catherine in Valladolid, 40 years old, sister of Elvire de Roxas, the Marquise of Alcanizes, daughter of the first Marquis of Poza)

Prohibition to inherit the Marquise title or to leave the country and banishment from Madrid, Valladolid and Valencia:

  • Louis de Roxas (nephew Pedro Sarmiento de Roxas, eldest son of Sanchez de Roxas Sarmiento and Franziske Henriquez d´Almansa, grandson and major heir to the Marquis of Poza)

reception

MV von Féréal described the trial of Antonio Herrezuelo in the historical novel The Secrets of the Inquisition and Other Secret Societies of Spain . In 1852 a translation by Dr. L. Meyer in the literary sheet Die Fackel (Vol. 6-7) by Samuel Gottlieb Ludvigh, which is available as a free e-book at. A reprint was published in April 2000 by Reprint-Verlag Leipzig with ISBN 3-8262-0602-9 and ISBN 978-3-8262-0602-3 , a reading sample can be found at.

Simon Vestdijk dealt with the fate of Antonio Herrezuelo and Leonor de Cisnere in his novel about El Greco , see.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ MV of Féréal, Samuel Gottlieb Ludvigh (translator): "The secrets of the Inquisition and other secret societies of Spain," e-book
  2. ↑ MV of Féréal, Samuel Gottlieb Ludvigh (translator): "The secrets of the Inquisition and other secret societies of Spain", Reprint-Verlag Leipzig, Apr. 2000, ISBN 3-8262-0602-9 and ISBN 978-3-8262-0602- 3
  3. ↑ Simon Vestdijk: The fifth seal (Het vijfde zegel, 1937)
personal data
SURNAME Herrezuelo, Antonio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Herrezuelo, Anton; Herrezuela, Antonio de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish evangelical martyr
DATE OF BIRTH around 1513
PLACE OF BIRTH Toro (Spain)
DATE OF DEATH May 21, 1559
Place of death Valladolid