almost identical terms.[155] It seems scarcely possible to show less
tact in the conduct of a difficult case. No doubt the explanation is
that none of the Valladolid judges was sufficiently independent to set
a precedent of his own.

Large allowances must be made for those unhappy men. They cannot
reasonably be blamed for not taking it upon themselves to alter the
established procedure of the Court in which they sat. Their position
was always difficult, and it did not become easier as time went on.
They had good reason to know that a vocal group of influential persons
in Salamanca confidently expected them to condemn Luis de Leon; yet
some of them, at least, were uncomfortably aware that the evidence
before them would not warrant a conviction on the major charges. The
most damaging witnesses--Medina, Castro, and Zúñiga--had been called
at a very early stage of the proceedings. These heavy guns had been
fired without destroying the adversary. There was nothing for it now
but to hope for the worst from the reports of the official
_calificadores_, Dr. Cáncer, Fray Nicolas Ramos, and Dr. Frechilla,
who did their utmost to fulfil expectations.[156] Lest the
pronouncements of this trio proved unconvincing, the precaution was
taken of excluding evidence. At the beginning of the case, any sort of
second-hand gossip was admitted as evidence on the chance that its
cumulative effect might be damaging to the accused. At Murcia, on
February 4, 1573, a hostile Augustinian, Fray Juan Ciguelo, a man of
doubtful character, was permitted to retail idle chatter on the part
of another Augustinian who averred that Luis de Leon was prone to
saying _Requiems_ too often, and was in the habit of reading Latin
too quickly.[157] Ciguelo's testimony, though malignant, had done no
harm; later on, it was thought more prudent to adopt the opposite
policy and to prevent as many as possible of the witnesses for the