Bartolomé Carranza 1559 to 1576: The Inquisition held the Archbishop of Toledo prisoner for almost seventeen years without proving him guilty of heresy

What happened to the people

How were they charged and sentenced?

1. Because of his commentary on the catechism, published in Antwerp in 1558, the grand inquisitor Valdés brought charges. Two theologians of his own order drew numerous objectionable propositions from the book; sermons, manuscripts and letters were also used against him. A rumour that he had led the dying Charles V into heresy is called pure invention by the Catholic Encyclopedia; it nevertheless provided a further ground for the proceedings. The Inquisition had him arrested at Torrelaguna, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia on 22 August 1558, according to the Britannica in 1559 by order of Philip II.
   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „A number of views suspected of heresy were found in the book, and the Grand Inquisitor Valdés brought an action against the author.“

   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „This rumour was pure invention, but it gave a new ground for the process before the Inquisition which had already begun against him.“

   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „the grand inquisitor had the archbishop arrested at Torrelaguna, 22 August, 1558, and brought a prisoner to Valladolid“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Absatz 2

   „by whose order he was arrested at Tordelaguna (1559) and imprisoned for nearly eight years, and the book was placed on the Index“

2. Although the Index commission of the Council of Trent approved the commentary in 1563 and council fathers repeatedly urged the pope to bring the case to Rome, the Spanish proceedings continued; even the four judges appointed by the pope in 1565 were not allowed to act independently of the Inquisition. Only on the order of Pius V was Carranza brought to Rome in May 1567 after about eight years of imprisonment, where he was held in the Castel Sant'Angelo. There the proceedings lasted another nine years.
   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Absatz 2

   „which in 1563, however, was approved by a commission of the council of Trent“

   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „Nevertheless the Spanish process pursued its tedious course.“

   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „they were not permitted to proceed independently of the officials of the Inquisition“

   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „Carranza, who had been in prison eight years, was taken to Rome, where he arrived 28 May, 1567“

   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „Once more the case lasted a long time, being nine years before the Curia.“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Absatz 2

   „confined for ten years in the castle of St Angelo“

What happened to those affected?

1. Under Gregory XIII the judgment was given on 14 April 1576: Carranza was not found guilty of heresy but had to abjure sixteen Lutheran propositions, was not allowed to govern his diocese for another five years and had to do penance in the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. He died on 2 May 1576. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia the imprisonment lasted almost seventeen years. According to the Britannica the propositions were rather extorted than extracted from his writings; his real crime was not heresy but reform.
   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „It was not until the reign of Gregory XIII that a final decision was reached, 14 April, 1576.“

   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „Carranza was not found guilty of actual heresy, but he was condemned to abjure sixteen Lutheran propositions of which he had made himself suspected“

   Evidence: Johann Peter Kirsch, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „He had borne the imprisonment of nearly seventeen years“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Absatz 2

   „compelled him to abjure sixteen errors, rather extorted than extracted from his writings, suspended him from his see for five years“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Absatz 2

   „Seven days after his abjuration he died, on the 2nd of May 1576.“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Absatz 2

   „His real crime was not heresy but reform.“