The Spanish Inquisition, 1478-1614: An Anthology of Sources by Lu Ann Homza

Author:Lu Ann Homza [Homza, Lu Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781624666469
Google: 7aCgzgEACAAJ
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company
Published: 2006-11-15T23:38:36.045519+00:00

The calificadores’ vote on the case of María de Cazalla20

April 16, 1531 In the very noble city of Toledo, being present in the hearing of the Holy Inquisition, the reverend lords Friar Antonio de Picarro and Friar Diego de Alcántara, friars from the Order of St. Dominic, and Franciscan friars Alonso de Ocaña, guardian of the monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, and Juan de Mondragon—all being theologians—saw the {119} information that exists against María de Cazalla, wife of Pedro de Rueda,21 resident of the city of Guadalajara, and all four unanimously voted as follows on the propositions against María de Cazalla.

First, that this defendant and Pedro Ruiz de Alcaraz said they would give greater authority to Isabel de la Cruz than to St. Paul and all the saints.

This proposition is injurious to the saints and to evangelical doctrine, and is very scandalous and heretical besides, because this defendant holds the authority of Isabel de la Cruz as greater than the Holy Spirit’s, in which the doctrine of St. Paul and the saints is grounded.

The second proposition: this defendant said she was more united to God when she was having sex with her husband than when she was engaged in the loftiest prayer in the world. The defendant also said that when she paid the marital debt to her husband, it was completely holy.

As for the first part, the proposition is horrific, scandalous, heretical, and condemned by this Holy Office. The second part is offensive and scandalous and has the flavor of heresy.

The third proposition: this defendant had a book of letters, and a certain person saw there was not one thing Catholic in them, but only teachings of the alumbrados. One of the letters said that this defendant had conceived all her children without pleasure, and that she loved them no more than the children of her neighbors; she also deprecated the state of virginity because she said one gained more merit in the state of matrimony since she felt no pleasure in the carnal act.

The first part is very suspicious; the second is a very arrogant and horrific statement, and it has the flavor of heresy…. The third is heretical because it deprecates the excellent state of virginity, which was approved by Christ Our Redeemer as an excellent thing…. As far as the reason for preferring matrimony to virginity, the first phrase—which says that marriage is worth more than virginity—is heretical and against the Gospel, which attributes a hundred-fold benefit to the celibate, and a thirty-fold to the married. The [very] idea has also been condemned. As far as the other statement is concerned—that since she felt no physical pleasure, etc.—it is offensive and has the flavor of heresy.

The fourth proposition: this defendant said that people sinned mortally every time they loved something well, whether husbands or children or anything else, according to the love of God. She continued to hold this opinion even after she was challenged over it.

This proposition is very dangerous, very scandalous, and heretical, and is condemned by this Holy Office.

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