T HE manner in which the originals of the following work came into the hands of the translator may be described in a few words. These papers are a part of the Records of the Inquisition of Barcelona, and were obtained during the revolution which broke out at Cadiz in 1819. The province of Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital, was one of the most forward and zealous to embrace the cause of freedom. Its inhabitants have, in all times, been distinguished for their daring and determined spir

T HIS establishment had its origin in the endeavours of the Roman pontiffs for the suppression of heresy. In the year 1184, Pope Lucius II., alarmed at the appearance of the new religious sects in Dauphiny and Provence, called a great council at Verona, where a severe decree was issued against them, and the power of the secular princes called to aid in their discovery and punishment. In this decree we perceive the embryo of the Inquisition, although its proper foundation is commonly fixed some y

TRIAL OF PEDRO GINESTA, NATIVE OF THE VILLAGE OF ST QUINTI, IN THE DIOCESE OF ST FLOR, FOR EATING BACON ON A PROHIBITED DAY I N the Royal Palace of the Inquisition of Barcelona, on the fourth day of September, one thousand six hundred and thirtyfive, present, the Inquisitor Dr Domingo Abbad y Huerta, officiating alone in his morning audience; having examined the information received against Pedro Ginesta, native of the village of St Quinti, diocese of St Flor, and Joan Mella, of the village of S

I, the Fiscal of this Holy Office, state that from information received, it is made manifest that Juan Duran, blacksmith, a native of Manresa, and a resident of Villaredonda, in the bishopric of Barcelona, has committed offences against our holy faith; on which account, I purpose to bring a formal accusation against him. For which reasons I request your Excellency to order the said person to be arrested and confined in the secret prison of this Inquisition, for the purpose of accomplishing fully

MOST ILLUSTRIOUS SIR , I, the undersigned Secretary, who, in the absence of the Fiscal of this Holy Office, exercise his duties, appear before your Excellency, and declare, that, from the information which I now present, it appears, and is manifest that Phelippe Leonart, a needlemaker, and a Frenchman by birth, now resident in the city of Tarragona, is a Lutheran heretic, commonly swearing, and denying God and the Saints, ridiculing the Holy Sacraments of the Church, never confessing himself, fo

In the city of Valencia, on the thirteenth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and fiftysix, before Dr Lorenzo Ballester, Presbyter, Confessor to the secret prison of the Holy Office, and before the Extraordinary Commissary for this investigation, appeared voluntarily, and made oath to declare the truth, and preserve secrecy, a person calling himself Joaquim Gil, scrivener, residing in the house of Felipe Matheu in the Calle del Mar of this city, a native of Puebla de Arenoso, in this archb

March, 1730. No. 8. Juan Panisso. Prison of the Martyrs. Maintenance, two sueldos and the bread of the Contractor. Juan Panisso, a native and inhabitant of this city, a married man, in custody in the secret Prison of this Holy Office, with his property sequestrated, for uttering heretical speeches. Respecting this prisoner, information was forwarded last January, that proceedings were on foot for taking the depositions of the witnesses against him, with a view to their publication. The audience

Augustin Tamarit, a physician, of the town of Salas, was imprisoned in the Inquisition on the third of July, 1757, and tried for heretical speeches. The following are some of the articles of the accusation, with the imputed assertions qualified; that is, their character and tendency formally pronounced by the officers of the Inquisition. In the Royal Palace of the Inquisition of Barcelona, on the twentyninth day of March, one thousand seven hundred and fiftysix, at the morning audience, the Inqu