Noticias reconditas do modo de proceder a Inquisição de Portugal com os seus presos [information on the Portuguese Inquisition's treatment of its prisoners], by António Vieira. Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional, 1821. First Portuguese edition.
Sharp critical report against the Portuguese Inquisition and its manner of persecuting Jewish conversos. The report was made by the Jesuit priest António Vieira (1608-1697), at the request of Pope Clement X.
Vieira, who was himself jailed and tortured by the Inquisition for three years, reports on the unending persecution of the Portuguese Inquisition against the Jewish conversos and their families, who were suspected of disobedience to Christian laws and preservation of Jewish customs. He describes at length the arbitrary procedure of imprisonment and the shameful jail conditions, the seizure of property, the lengthy interrogations and harsh torture, the obtainment of testimony, the evidence and the forced confessions, the sentences, and more. Vieira notes the ethical-religious and economic questions raised by this conduct, and demands an immediate end to the use of these methods. As a result of the report's conclusions, Pope Innocent XI suspended the Inquisition in Portugal for seven years (1674-1681).
The report was distributed for many years only in manuscript, and was not well known to the public. In 1808 the report was published in London in English translation, and in 1821 the report was first published in the original Portuguese in Lisbon, the same year that the Portuguese Inquisition was permanently terminated.
[5], 3-272 pages. 15.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and light damage. Uneven trimming. New binding.
Rare. To the best of our knowledge and research, this has never before been auctioned.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
