Emergence and actions of an award of Jesuits

The dominating point of view in the Middle Ages was that it is admissible to suffer non Christians (otherwise in general there would be impossible any forms of coexistence with Islam), but in any way not the Christians who fell into heresy. Thomas Aquinas learned that heretics deserve the death penalty — betray to such punishment of counterfeiters, “and the perversion of belief which provides soul life is much more serious crime, than a fake of money which is necessary for our terrestrial needs”. Pagans did not behold light of truth whereas heretics turned away from it and by that committed crimes against the Holy Spirit and own conscience. Therefore, Thomas Aquinas added, heretics “should be forced, further using physical coercion, to carry out what they promised and to keep what they recognized once”. Catholicism carried by this position in centuries. On this basis Grigory XVI in 1832 declared madness a freedom of worship, and in 1864 it was officially condemned by the Roman throne. Expansion of the century conflict caused serious changes in policy of papacy. In decades before the Reformation it was defined nearly more by interests of the papal state, than universal interests of church. It also induced fathers to look for the union with any enemies of Charles V and to rejoice to failures of the emperor. In the second half of the century there is a reorientation in policy of papacy, despite the proceeding serious friction to Gabsburgami (considerable value disintegration of the empire of Charles V and division of a dynasty Gabsburgov on the Spanish and Austrian branches had). The Tridentsky cathedral sitting with breaks from 1545 to 1563 sharply otmezhevat Catholicism from all currents of the Reformation, recognized all volume of powers of the father, its supremacy which is expressed in the right to repeal even cathedral resolutions. Furious prosecution of Protestants, suppression of all types of freethinking to which also the most part of heritage of humanists, a course towards creation new and reorganization of old church awards, all stimulation of plans of violent restoration of Catholicism in the countries where the Reformation triumphed was carried — all this becomes the main orientation of policy of Rome. However even solutions of the Tridentsky cathedral were ambiguous from the point of view of the century conflict: whether they were directed to consolidation of Catholic camp or to strengthening of the power of the father that could only fuel tension between Rome and Gabsburgami — two main support of Counter-Reformation. During the Tridentsky cathedral of the father used the espionage network for the best manipulation debate on a cathedral. By means of a secret service intentions of oppositional circles of clergy came to light, discussions were reduced to disputes over dogmatic questions to avoid discussion of burning problems of reform of church, the majority was provided during the vote, the “necessary” rumors, etc. were spread. It as if foretold what big part Counter-Reformation will begin to assign to secret war against the enemies. In the middle of the 16th century to replace the fathers of the Renaissance trying to use position of the head of church for expansion of the secular possession, to fast livers, judges of humanistic education the furious fanatics dreaming to turn back history by means of an auto-da-fe, grubbings of harmful literature, the murder mysteries and the armed interventions undertaken to God’s greater glory come. How the latest Catholic historians against such “simplification”, a gloomy Trinity — an index, inquisition were indignant, Jesuits — expresses the essence of policy of papacy in the second half of the 16th century. The intensity of an internal political situation connected with participation in the century conflicts intertwining among themselves was especially brightly shown in Spain the 16th century — the country, apparently, of the reached top of power gaining enormous income from recently open and won territories in the New World unprecedented before. And at the same time it was the country of the inquisition as if representing and irrepressible aspiration of the Spanish crown to searches all of new sources of the income (in this case — from confiscation of property of convicts), and uncertainty in the fortress of “back”. The whole mountain of books is written about the Spanish inquisition — both accusatory, and apologetic (it the Catholic historiography of the last decades especially differed). The famous Catholic historian R. Trevor-Devis, listing advantages of sacred tribunal, emphasized that inquisition did not reckon with privileges of the nobility: “It stood up for social justice. It tended to reduce all people … to one level before the law”. The American historian P. J. Haubin writes: “The Spanish inquisition was called differently — from the resolute defender of Catholicism to early option of nazi Gestapo. To defining its development often ranked racism, religious tyranny, reprehensible legal practice, continuous control of modernization of Spain and others the same sort regress factors”. Haubin, on the contrary, considers that inquisition is an integral part of last greatness of Spain. “In a peculiar form — he writes, is so emotional term, as probably “free business” for many Americans, “freedom, equality and a brotherhood” for many French and “dictatorship of the proletariat” for communists around the world” *. One of widespread, though not inherent in professional historians, mistakes is removal of continuity of inquisition of the end of the 15th and 16th centuries in relation to the church institute which appeared more than in two and a half centuries before for fight against medieval heresies. The first inquisition which creation belongs to 1233 set as the purpose eradication of Albigensian heresy in Southern France. Rome operated this inquisition through the general and other heads of a Dominican award. Inquisition of the 13th century left gloomy memory, on its account tens of thousands of the innocent victims. And still its activity was limited to mainly southern part of France. In the 16th century inquisition becomes the establishment seeking to extend the ominous investigation to all Europe and overseas possession of the European powers. Such claims were defined by the fact that the sacred tribunal became one of the leading forces in the century conflict. The royalty in many countries with mistrust and discontent looked at this tool of papal policy. In the 15th century inquisition was considered as the establishment which long ago lost former value and hardly someone then could imagine what gloomy role the new court which appropriated the old name was urged to play lives of a number of the subsequent generations. The inquisition created in 1478 in Spain was entirely business of the royalty, though received Sikst IV’S sanction and the father was formally the head of new tribunal. In practice the Spanish inquisition was from the very beginning protected from intervention of Rome. (The Roman inquisition arose more than in half a century after Spanish, in 1542, in the middle of the century conflict.) The Spanish inquisition consisted of 22 tribunals which were located in Spain and in its European and overseas possession, the Supreme tribunal — Suprema. The personnel of inquisition were divided into regular officials, including judges, theological consultants, jailers, and “non-staff” — familyar. Usually familyara, unlike judges, did not belong to clergy and quite often hid the service in tribunal. These persons which were on price-work payment carried out a role the police, secret agents who are finding out against whom it was favorable to turn the punishing inquisition sword. Inquisition sought to ensure high public prestige. The organizations created by it, like “Saint Pyotr martyr’s brotherhood”, included even such people as the glorified playwright Lope de Vega. Old inquisition pursued those who openly disappeared from Rome after their ancestors for centuries professed Catholicism. The Spanish inquisition turned the punishing right hand against the Mauritian and Judaic population (morisk and marran), force — on pain of death or exiles — converted to Christianity. These “new Christians” (it is possible that some part of them internally remained it is faithful to the former belief and kept the native language, habitual customs and clothes) externally usually in every possible way tried to show the devotion to Catholic church. Old inquisition punished heretics. New inquisition it was necessary to turn still considerable number of the victims into heretics — more precisely even not in heretics, and in come back to confession of Islam or Judaism again — to receive the basis for punishment of them. For one this reason torture was not just a tribute to “customs of an era” as apologists of sacred tribunal from among the latest clerical historians, and the main means of achievement of the purpose like to write. And terror against “new Christians”, and their robbery in favor of royal treasury under a specious excuse eradications of heresy were the purpose also. Torture was not means, so to speak, of preliminary punishment obviously guilty, it created the fault of any arrested, allowing to extort from it any necessary recognitions. Receptions at the same time were so frightening that provided false testimonies and even “voluntary” self-accusations. To the same purpose served also public executions — an auto-da-fe. Torture was the prerequisite for successful application of all other methods of an inkvizitsionny consequence — even when did not resort to it. The solitary confinement, full isolation from family members, preservation in secret of names of prosecution witnesses, an opportunity to address services only of the lawyer appointed by inquisition and seeing the role in inducing the defendant to self-accusation — all these and other well-known lines of inkvizitsionny procedure were based eventually on fear of a rack, of torture by water or extension of joints which were especially recommended by “loveful” tribunal as not followed by bloodshed. The fear of a consequence was stronger than fear of the subsequent punishment, whether it be castigation, sending by oarsmen for galleys or even painful death on a fire. In inkvizitsionny process the main thing that is evident, is at all not aspiration to define guilt of the defendant — even if “guilt” only from the point of view of Suprema, but system of getting of recognition in guilt of everyone whom this court would wish to see guilty. Inquisition furiously pursued as “Lutheran heresy” everything that at least on an iota deviated from not always is clear to the formulated orthodoxy. It is enough to tell that the sacred tribunal threw for a lattice Ignatiy Loyola twice — in the near future of the founder of a Jesuit award, suspecting him of heretical views. Even the head of the Spanish church, the archbishop Toledsky, and that spent 17 years (from 1559 to 1576) in prisons of inquisition on obviously fabricated charge of tendency to heresy. Excited mistrust of people quite often not because of the views, and because of the family tree. And this mistrust to sincerity of confession of Catholic belief turned out equivalent to doubt in its loyalty to the state, suspicion that it is a hidden agent or the potential ally of the external enemy. Meanwhile there were very few real “heretics”. In 1558 in Seville and Valdolita small groups of Protestants were revealed (strictly speaking, it was talked just of supporters of separate reforms in Catholicism). Cruel repressions followed. On October 8, 1559 the king Philip II accompanied by the son and the brother of Don Juan Avstriysky was present at one of an auto-da-fe. Philipp bared a sword and declared: “If my son falls into heresy, I will personally bring brushwood to burn it”. Some of convicts when they were conducted on a fire, inserted into a mouth a wooden gag that they could not express the heretical views to temptation of the gathered crowd. Protestants were burned in Seville and Toledo, in Zaragoza and other cities. Recently in the western historical literature the tendency to understating of number of the victims of the Spanish inquisition obviously appears. By the latest estimates, from 1550 to 1700 inquisition considered 150 thousand cases. From 42 thousand which protocols remained in archives three – quarters concerned charge of heresy, the others — in a morality insult; 687 defendants were executed, 619 more sentenced to death either ran, or died in prison. Even if to trust these figures, it is impossible to underestimate the huge demoralizing influence of sacred tribunal on public life of Spain and other countries in any way. distribution of heresy caused establishment of inquisition, it is rather on the contrary — establishment of inquisition promoted preservation of heresy. It was talked not of elimination of heresy among morisk and marran, and of elimination of morisk and marran as certain ethnic groups. As a matter of fact, for them there were no ways to avoid entering into that fatal list, from included in which inquisition by all not truths got recognition of fault. In other words, inquisition pursued persons who could not avoid prosecution because the criterion by which they were among fateful, was defined not by their actions, but their origin. The enemy who was pursued by Suprema was an enemy against the will, not as a result of some acts, and owing to belonging to a certain group of the population. The criterion’ was not subject to the person. And it meant that the enemy of church and the state was found even in case there was no hint on conscious opposition, whether it be heresy or any other acts which were considered reprehensible also. Suprema provided herself with enough heretics in advance, as if they sought to be devout Catholics. In a case with Spain it demonstrated that demand exceeded the offer that “voluntary” heretics were obviously not in enough and the inquisition had to create them. (Not without reason the extorted recognitions steadily included instructions on usually considerable circle of imaginary accomplices, and besides the behavior of each specific person, as a rule, did not influence that at all, got or he did not get to their number.) Officially inquisition never recognized that it pursues someone for some other motives, except consciously committed crimes against belief. Prosecution of people not for beliefs, and for an origin generated in Spain the 16th century and view, and to practician, in many respects similar to racism of the 19th and 20th centuries. At a class system of the Middle Ages the origin predetermined situation in society. However purity of blood was appreciated first of all as purity of a notable, noble blood regardless of a nationality. The medieval system of values quite allowed international marriages between equal according to the social status, but excluded the interclass marriage unions. Proceeding from the Spanish idea of purity of blood the ban and on intra class marriages between old Christians and “new” — moriska and marrana or their descendants is imposed. And it, in turn, interfered with assimilation of “new Christians” and as if immortalized danger which they in the opinion of the mighty of this world constituted for church and the state. It is curious what for purity of an origin was required that among ancestors there were no “new Christians” not only (especially Muslims or Jews), but also the persons condemned by inquisition. Gradually besides to “new Christians” it was forbidden to be members of inkvizitsionny tribunals, university professors; the circle of the state positions, forbidden for them, extended more and more over time. Of course, exceptions of the rule became — further at “Catholic monarchs” Ferdinand and Isabella and at Philip II among the highest dignitaries there were “new Christians”. The first general inquisitor Torkvemada also treated them. But these exceptions did not influence the happening replacement of the persons which are not able in any way to brag of purity of blood. More than 300 thousand from them nevertheless managed to escape, despite all prosecutions. Whether it is worth saying that “purity” of blood in all cases was fiction in Spain where throughout centuries there were intensive processes of ethnic mixture. System of issue of certificates on purity of an originI on the basis of testimony and at payment of special collecting became a source of bribery, perjury, all forgeries, squaring of accounts. And the certificates received in such a way, in turn, became a pretext for blackmail and all of new extortion. During Philip II’s government the Spanish officials gradually got used to look at the population of the territories operated by them — whether it be in Europe or in America — as at people of the lowest grade. One contemporary, the Spaniard, in 1557 wrote that his compatriots, especially Castilians, “pretend that they one come from the sky, and all other human race — dirt under legs”. The duke Alba called members of city magistrate of Brussels “drop”, and he had no more high opinion in general of Netherlanders what they neither held positions and what ranks nor carried. Along with inquisition the Jesuit award worked. The name “Jesuits” became nominal in many languages. About “Jesus’s Society” is written much. It was convicted by liberal historians of the last century, and conservative authors admire it clerical and today in general. The America magazine wrote principal organ of the American Jesuits to the heat of “cold war” about Ignatiy Loyola and other founders of “Jesus’s Society”: “In America the middle of the 20th century … these names with a new force and brightness light to us a way”. And in September, 1984 in the speech at the 39th session of General Assembly of the United Nations the U.S. President called Loyola “the great spiritual leader of mankind”. To whom are methods of Jesuits unfamiliar in general? In one of Bérenger’s songs the Satan recommends to the troops to follow in the footsteps of Holy Fathers from “Jesus’s Society”:

As an example take those foxes,

Whom Loyola gave.

Everyone be in appearance simple

Also hide far away a tail.

Whether it is necessary to tell about attempts of Jesuits to take education of the youth which is especially belonging to tops of society in the hands, to take places of royal confessors at the majority of the European yards, to sentence the whole people to death as it was made concerning the risen Netherlands in 1568, or to train impostors for occupation “vacant” — from the point of view of an award — the Moscow throne, to organize underground printing houses in the Protestant countries, to direct court courtesans, to accept a mask of Buddhists or fire worshippers in overseas lands, to turn into slavery of Paraguayan Indians — yes unless you will list everything! The numerous plots which are directly organized by an award or inspired by it were a keynote in all this tireless activity. At all variety of specific goals and the applied tactics the victory in the century conflict was the main rate of a Jesuit award. Therefore attraction on the party of Counter-Reformation of all forces which could be mobilized for so charitable purpose was an invariable most important task of an award. Situation in any country was considered by an award from the point of view of the solution of the main task. Catholicism celebration in this or that country did not arrange an award just, it needed a celebration of Catholicism militant, first of all militant against the Protestant states. With extreme eagerness Jesuits also joined in fight of papacy against “harmful” compositions. It is necessary to notice that from the very beginning of the century conflict to the worst the situation for the publishers publishing literature of humanists sharply changed. In 1530 book sellers complained to Erasmus that in the south of Germany it was easier to sell three thousand volumes earlier, than nowadays six hundred. The number of editions only of theological compositions grew. In 12 years after the translation of the New testament by Luther ushdet light of 85 editions of it and other translations”. However, naturally, extension of the publication of the theological literature which issued from the pen of Protestants arranged Rome very little. The church for centuries forbade compositions which aitor introduced the ideas which are not coinciding in something with ideological justification of a position of church in the last conflicts. In the middle of the 16th century the Tridentsky index of the forbidden compositions still included Dante’s treatise “Monarchy”. Motive of prohibition — as well as for two and a half centuries before: Dante claims that the emperor receives the power from god, but not from his deputy on the earth. The index turned into the important tool of the century conflict and began to iklyuchat the increasing number of the works which were earlier approved by fathers. After cancellation of the indulgence the brochures advertizing them got to an index, and it was even explained that these compositions are made by the provokers trying to discredit sacred church. Many works of humanists, including works of Erasmus Rotterdamsky who was passionately seeking to prevent the century conflict got to an index. The father Pavel IV (1555 — 1559) ordered to introduce the composition which he wrote itself before election as the head of church in an index. The Roman inquisition forbade the scientific treatise of a certain Vechiyetti in 1622, and the author carried out for many years in a dungeon for the fact that he expressed excellent from usual opinion on date of the Last Supper. The Spanish censors were proud of the liberalism — they allowed some books which are strictly forbidden in Rome, being limited to a vymaryvaniye in them “dangerous places”. As censors even armies of Catholic camp sought to act. In 1589 Geneva was imposed with troops of the duke Savoysky who decided to destroy once and for all it “a heresy nest”. Besieging did not hide the plans to raze the city and especially printing houses where heretical books were printed to the ground. Though Geneva was able to expose only about two thousand soldiers for protection of city walls, the siege dragged on for the whole nine years and terminated in retreat of Savoy army. The Protestant camp was not in debt. Religious intolerance was peculiar to all conflicting forces, and already on one it it is obvious that it had various historical value depending on the one whom she practiced, especially in the 16th century when the religion was other party of policy. Relative toleration of the subsequent time in the countries where won against a bourgeois system, could be approved only as a result of that fight of a people at large in revolutionary time which took place under an intolerance banner. Therefore would be wrong to oppose “conservative” dogmatics of Calvinism of its revolutionary political role that is inseparably linked. However it is necessary to consider that intolerance of Calvinism (and the more so Lutheranism) was turned not only against enemies on the right, but also foes at the left — more radical currents in the Reformation. Undoubtedly, as in Lutheranism, and in Calvinism transition from courageous criticism of foundations of Catholic church to creation of the new orthodoxy, so intolerant, as well as old, and the supported Protestant inquisition, as cruel as Catholic in Spain and Rome, and not less its occupied with prosecution of humanists, former colleagues on ideological battles of the eve and the first years of the Reformation was in advance put. Though each of the main churches pursued “the” heretics, all of them fell upon Anabaptists, antitrinitarians, upon the sects representing a national current in the Reformation. Not without reason during peasant war Luther wrote: “For the Lord trifling business to exterminate a great number of peasants when he flooded the whole world with a flood and destroyed the Row fire”. However it is so undoubted that intolerance extremes in which the burgher current differed — and where its victory was the full as, for example, in Geneva and where it was challenged from within and from the outside — were in many respects a consequence of the century conflict, having added the important external reasons to internal motives. The century conflict strengthened a tendency to dogmatic ossification of Protestant orthodoxy for strengthening of “back”: suppression of all opponents of a new form of the religious device created climate at which recent allies could be presented a hindrance in fight. The century conflict prevented to be shown to those aspects of the Reformation which stimulated laicisation of public life subsequently, in a sense promoted development of the advanced social thought on its long thorny road from a humanity era by century of Education.

Chernyak E. B. Century conflicts

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