Maria de Bohorques

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Maria de Bohorques (* around 1539 in Seville ; † September 24, 1559 ibid), also written Marie (de) Bohorques , Spanish María (de) Bohórquez , was a Protestant martyr .

Life

Maria de Bohorques was born the daughter of Pedro Garcia de Xerez Bohorques, making her one of the most distinguished families in Seville. The Marquises de Ruchena also descended from this family. She was trained by Juan Gil , also known as Dr. Egidio, the designated bishop of Tortosa , supported by Charles V , who came into conflict with the Inquisition instead of being able to take office. Maria de Bohorques mastered Latin and understood Greek. Numerous Lutheran writings were in their possession. She also tried to memorize the Gospels and some of the scriptures that interpreted them in the Lutheran sense.

In 1559 Maria de Bohorques, who was not yet 21 years old at the time, met with other Lutherans in house groups. There they read the Bible and Reformation writings. Such groups were persecuted by the Inquisition , although they did not spread the evangelical faith, but kept to themselves. Maria and 18 other members of her group were arrested. In the secret prison she confirmed her evangelical opinion and defended it as a Catholic. She advised the inquisitors not to punish them for their beliefs but to follow their example, and confessed to some of the allegations while denying others, partly because she forgot about the relevant events and partly to avoid betraying others. So because she did not confirm all of the allegations, she was tortured. She only admitted that her sister, Johanna Bohorques, knew her views and would not have disapproved of them. Since she did not want to revoke her evangelical faith, she was sentenced in absentia to be burned alive as a "persistent heretic". As is customary in inquisition trials, she herself should only find out about the judgment on the day before it is carried out. In the meantime, before the Autodafé , attempts were made to dissuade them from their evangelical convictions. So she was visited one after the other by two Jesuits and two Dominicans. They were just as impressed by their education as they were annoyed by their stubbornness: they interpreted the Bible texts with which they were confronted by the monks in the Lutheran sense.

On the evening before the execution , the two Dominicans and two others were sent to her for a final attempt at conversion, followed by numerous theologians from various orders. She received them politely, but said that they could save the time to present their teachings to her, since she was more certain of her salvation than the theologians. She would be revoked if she was unsure, but her opinion was strengthened after so many Roman Catholic theologians were unable to convince her. You have clearly refuted every argument of the theologians.

A member of her group who had withdrawn, Juan Ponce de Léon, also advised her to withdraw at the place of execution. Maria refused and instead called Ponce an ignoramus, idiot and babbler. After gathering herself, she added that the time for discussion was over and that they should use the few moments that remained to meditate on the Savior's sufferings and deaths to strengthen their faith. who alone will lead them to redemption . Some priests and monks assured her that if she would just speak the Creed, she would be spared because of her youth and education. The inquisitors confirmed this promise. No sooner had she finished the creed than she began to interpret the articles of the creed, such as the judgment on the living and the dead, in the spirit of Martin Luther . Before she could finish, she was strangled and burned . Ponce was pardoned because of his revocation in the form that he was also strangled before his cremation, which was common in the case of a revocation.

Johanna Bohorques

Because of Maria's testimony, her sister Johanna Bohorques, wife of Francis de Vargas, Lord of Heguera, was imprisoned by the Inquisition in a usual cell immediately after her sister gave her testimony, although she was six months pregnant. In this dungeon she gave birth to her child; her only support was her cellmate, who was also imprisoned for her evangelical belief. After eight days the child was taken away from her; the cellmate was tortured only a little later and taken back to the dungeon with battered and dislocated limbs. Although she was exhausted from birth, Johanna Bohorques was tortured as well. A blood vessel burst during the torture , and she died after two days. She was posthumously acquitted of the charge of heresy at the next Autodafé .

reception

The novel Cornelia Bororquia . Historia verdadera de la Judith española by Luis Gutiérrez , written around 1799, is based in a very free treatment of the biographies on the lives of Maria de Bohorques and Maria Cornel, whom the author unites into a fictional person, perhaps out of ignorance. Gutiérrez constructed a love affair there between the Lutheran and the Inquisitor General and investigations that never took place. His intention was to criticize the Inquisition and expose it to ridicule. He had to flee to Bayonne for fear of punishment . The novel is available today in paperback under the title:

Luis Gutiérrez: Cornelia Bororquia o La víctima de la Inquisición , Ediciones Cátedra, Sa, 1st edition (June 30, 2005), ISBN 84-376-2252-2

Remembrance day

September 23 in the Evangelical Name Calendar .

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johann Lorenz von Mosheim: Complete Church History of the New Testament , Volume 5, Leipzig 1773, p. 66, note 55
personal data
SURNAME Bohorques, Maria de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bohorques, Marie de; Bohorques, Marie; Bohórquez, María; Bohórquez, María de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION evangelical martyr in Spain
DATE OF BIRTH around 1539
PLACE OF BIRTH Seville , Spain
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1559
Place of death Seville , Spain