appointing the inquisitors, and of controlling their entire
action. For this reason Catholic writers regard the Spanish
inquisition as a state tribunal, and refer to the bull of the
Pope, Sixtus IV., protesting against it. Notwithstanding this
protest, however, the Spanish Crown maintained its assumption.
Inquisitors were appointed, and in 1483 the tribunal commenced its
terrible career, under Thomas de Torquemada.

The inquisition arrested on suspicion, tortured for confession,
and then punished with fire. One witness brought the victim to the
rack, two to the flames. The prisoner was not confronted with his
accuser, nor were their names ever made known to him. The court
was held in a gloomy dungeon at midnight, a dim light gleamed from
smoking torches, and the grand inquisitor, enveloped in a black
robe, glared at his victim through holes cut in the hood. Before
the examination, the accused, whether man, maid or matron, was
stripped and stretched upon the rack, where tendons could be
strained without cracking, bones crushed without breaking and the
body tortured without dying.

When the prisoner was found guilty, his tongue was cut out, so
that he could neither speak nor swallow. On the morning of the
execution a breakfast of rare delicacies was placed before the
sufferer, and with ironical invitation he was urged to enjoy his
last repast. Then the prisoner was led to the funeral pyre, where
an address was given, lauding the inquisition, condemning heresy,
and commanding obedience to the Pope and the Emperor. Then, while
hymns were sung, blazing fagots were piled about the victim, until
his body was reduced to a heap of ashes.