Homosexuality and Civilization by Crompton Louis

Author:Crompton, Louis [Crompton, Louis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harvard University Press - A
Published: 2003-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

57. Inquisitorial torture. Eighteenth-century prints.

Though the secular powers did not stage formal shows as impressive as the autos of the Inquisition, the march through the streets of Seville to the place of burning was an impressive rite. Mockery intensified the cruelty in the case of a Negro named Mayuca, who was outfitted with a fancy wig and elaborate fake lace and marched to the flames with two pretty boys who were painted and curled. If we can credit León, the sermons at the quemadero (burning place) sometimes attracted thousands of people. The Jesuit was especially proud of the effect of his preaching at Mayuca’s burning. Despite his occasional attempts to mitigate harsh and precipitous justice, León was convinced that burning was necessary. He told men who were about to die that “without being turned to dust and ashes by the fire they would never amend, except through a miracle of God.” 73

In 1561 Philip II moved Spain’s capital to Madrid. Though literary evidence of the treatment of sodomites in the city exists, it has not yet been collected and analyzed. Rafael Carrasco, however, has been able to make a “minimum estimate” of 100 to 150 deaths in Madrid during sixty-five years. 74 In December 1622, five young men were burned for the pecado nefando. Some details are poignant: according to a terse news item for March 1626, a young page accused of relations with Don Diego Gaytan de Vargas, a member of the Cortes family from Salamanca, denied the accusation in a loud voice in the streets “when they took him to burn.” The anonymous reporter adds, “There was much pity throughout the capital.” 75 Perhaps the painful impression produced by this episode helped influence the Suprema in Madrid to cease burning sodomites in autos a few years later.

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