Characters of the Inquisition by William Thomas Walsh

Author:William Thomas Walsh [Walsh, William Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: TAN Books
Published: 2015-02-03T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Cardinal Ximenes

AN interesting book could be written on the influence of the Sacrament of Penance upon the course of history. The kings who contributed most to the greatness of Spain, surely, were careful in their choice of those who directed their consciences; for on the words of such men depended not only the monarch’s salvation, but the destiny of his people. Even so wretched a king as Enrique el Impotente had holy men to advise him, however indifferently he followed their precepts. Queen Isabel la católica of course was most particular. She had chosen Fray Hernando de Talavera because he had shown complete disregard for her royal dignity and her personal feelings at their first interview, insisting that she kneel beside him like any other penitent. “This is the confessor I have been looking for,” she said; and she confessed to Talavera for several years.

In 1492, on conquering Granada, she was desirous of showing her gratitude to him; and she insisted (much against the good old man’s inclinations) on having the Pope make him Archbishop of the recovered see in the south. After he went there, she used to write him long letters, asking his advice about matters of conscience; and she would accept his counsel and reproof as humbly as if she were a scullery maid. In one letter she apologized for some compliance with the French custom of allowing ladies and gentlemen to dine together, and for yielding somewhat in her opposition to bullfighting, an amusement that Talavera disliked even more than she did. Once the Archbishop noted that she had received the French ambassadors in a somewhat more sumptuous gown than seemed necessary for a Christian ruler; and Isabel replied, in her own defense, that it was really an old dress, made of simple silk, with only three gold bands on it—indeed, she had worn it before in the presence of the same diplomats.

Now she required a new confessor, and she wanted someone who, like Talavera, would hold before her soul nothing less than the stern justice of God. As usual, she turned for advice to her old friend and counsellor, El gran cardenal.

As usual, Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza knew the very man Her Majesty was looking for. There was a Franciscan monk in the little monastery of Salceda, who was learned and intelligent, humble, discreet, fearless and incorruptible, loyal to the death. Such must have been the character that His Eminence gave to Fray Francisco Ximenes de Cisneros. But the Queen was not the one to accept a confessor without seeing him. The Cardinal must summon him to Valladolid, where the court then was, and arrange for her to meet him, as if by accident.

Presently there appeared in the palace at Valladolid a strange figure, at which men turned to look as it glided noiselessly by on sandaled feet. Not that a man in a Franciscan robe was a novelty in those days. Penitents often put on brown robes more or less resembling those

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