Learn about the Spanish testimony of faith to Protestantism and religious freedom in the 16th century. By Ellen White, Clarence Crisler, HH Hall

Reading time: 10 minutes

This chapter of the book The Great Controversy exists only in the Spanish version and was compiled by her secretaries on behalf of Ellen White.

Forty years had passed since the first publications of Reformation teachings found their way to Spain. Despite the combined efforts of the Roman Catholic Church, the clandestine advance of the movement could not be stopped. From year to year Protestantism grew stronger until thousands of people joined the new faith. From time to time, some of them went abroad to enjoy freedom of religion. Others left their homes to help create their own literature, specifically aimed at furthering the cause they loved more than life itself. Others, like the monks who left the monastery of San Isidoro, felt compelled to leave because of their particular circumstances.

The disappearance of these believers, many of whom had played prominent roles in political and religious affairs, had long aroused suspicion from the Inquisition, and in time some of the absent were discovered abroad, from where they endeavored to promote the Protestant faith in Spain. This gave the impression that there were many Protestants in Spain. However, the faithful had acted so discreetly that no inquisitor discovered their whereabouts.

Then a series of events led to the discovery of the centers of this movement in Spain and of many believers. In 1556 Juan Pérez, who was living in Geneva at the time, had completed his Spanish translation of the New Testament. He planned to send this edition to Spain along with copies of the Spanish catechism he prepared the following year and a translation of the Psalms. However, it took him some time to find someone willing to embark on this risky venture. Finally, Julián Hernández, the faithful bookseller, agreed to give it a try. He hid the books in two large barrels and managed to escape the Inquisition's sleuths. He reached Seville, from where the precious volumes were quickly distributed. This edition of the New Testament was the first Protestant version to be circulated fairly widely in Spain.

'On his journey, Hernández had given a copy of the New Testament to a blacksmith in Flanders. The blacksmith showed the book to a priest and described the donor to him. This immediately alerted the Inquisition in Spain. Thanks to this information, "on his return, the inquisitors waylaid him and arrested him near the city of Palma". They took him back to Seville and imprisoned him within the walls of the Inquisition, where they tried everything they could to get him to betray his friends for more than two years, but to no avail. He remained faithful to the end and bravely endured martyrdom at the stake. He was glad that he had the honor and privilege of "bringing the light of divine truth into his stray country." He looked forward to the Day of Judgment with confidence: then he would appear before his Maker, hear the words of divine approval, and live with his Lord forever.

Although they failed to obtain information from Hernández that might have led to the discovery of his friends, "they finally learned what he had kept secret for so long" (M'Crie, chapter 7). At that time, those in charge of the Inquisition in Spain “received news that the secret communities of Valladolid had been discovered. They immediately sent messengers to the various inquisitorial courts in the kingdom, asking them to conduct clandestine investigations in their jurisdictions. They should stand ready for joint action as soon as they received further instructions' (ibid.). In this way the names of hundreds of believers were quietly and quickly ascertained. At a certain point, they were then simultaneously captured and imprisoned without warning. Noble members of the thriving communities of Valladolid and Seville, monks who remained at the monastery of San Isidoro del Campo, faithful faithful living far north at the foot of the Pyrenees, as well as others in Toledo, Granada, Murcia and Valencia, suddenly found themselves within the walls of the Inquisition, only to seal their testimonies with their blood.

“Those condemned for Lutheranism […] were so numerous that they were enough to serve as victims at four great and somber auto-da-fé [public burnings] over the next two years […]. Two were held in Valladolid in 1559, one in Seville the same year, and another on December 22, 1560” (BB Wiffen, note in his new edition of the Espístola consolatoria by Juan Pérez, p. 17).
Among the first to be arrested in Seville was Dr. Constantino Ponce de la Fuente, who had been working unsuspected for a long time. "When the news reached Charles V, who was at the Yuste monastery at the time, that his favorite chaplain had been arrested, he exclaimed: 'If Constantino is a heretic, then he is a great heretic!' And when an inquisitor later assured him that he had been found guilty, he replied with a sigh: 'You cannot condemn a greater one!'" (Sandoval, History of the Emperador Carlos V, Vol. 2, 829; quoted from M'Crie, Chapter 7).

However, it was not easy to prove Constantino's guilt. In fact, the inquisitors seemed unable to prove the charges against him when they accidentally "discovered, among many others, a large volume written entirely in Constantino's handwriting. There he formulated clearly, as if writing only for himself, and dealt chiefly with (as the Inquisitors explained in his judgment later published on the scaffold) the following subjects: on the state of the Church; about the true Church and the Church of the Pope whom he called Antichrist; about the sacrament of the Eucharist and the invention of the Mass, about which he claimed that the world was captivated by ignorance of the Holy Scriptures; about the justification of man; about the purifying purgatory, which he called the wolf's head and an invention of the monks for their gluttony; on papal bulls and letters of indulgence; about the merits of people; on the confession [...] When the volume was shown to Constantino, he said: »I recognize my handwriting and openly confess that I have written all of this and sincerely declare that it is all the truth. You need look no further for evidence against me: you have here already a clear and unequivocal confession of my faith. So do what you want.« (R. Gonzales de Montes, 320-322; 289, 290)

Due to the rigors of his imprisonment, Constantino did not even survive two years of his prison sentence. To his last moments he remained true to his Protestant faith and maintained his calm trust in God. It must have been providential that in the same cell in which Constantino was imprisoned a young monk from the monastery of San Isidoro del Campo was placed, who was allowed to look after him during his last illness and to close his eyes in peace (M'Crie, chapter 7).

dr Constantino was not the only friend and chaplain of the Emperor to suffer because of his connection to the Protestant cause. dr Agustín Cazalla, who for many years was considered one of the best preachers in Spain and often appeared before the royal family, was among those arrested and imprisoned in Valladolid. At his public execution, addressing Princess Juana, to whom he had often preached, and pointing to her sister who had also been convicted, he said: "I beseech you, Your Highness, have pity on this innocent woman who is leaving behind thirteen orphans." However, she was not acquitted, although her fate is unknown. But it is well known that the henchmen of the Inquisition, in their senseless cruelty, were not satisfied with condemning the living. They also initiated legal proceedings against the woman's mother, Doña Leonor de Vivero, who died years ago. She was accused of using her home as a "Lutheran temple." 'It was decided that she had died in a state of heresy, her memory to be slandered and her property to be confiscated. It was ordered that her bones be dug up and publicly burned with her effigy. In addition, their house was to be destroyed, salt sprinkled over the property, and a pillar erected there with an inscription explaining the reason for the destruction. All of this has been done' and the monument has stood for almost three centuries.

During the auto-da-fé, the lofty faith and unyielding steadfastness of the Protestants was demonstrated in the trial of "Antonio Herrezuelo, a most wise jurist, and his wife, Doña Leonor de Cisneros, an exceptionally wise and virtuous lady of marvelous fairytale beauty."

“Herrezuelo was a man of upright character and firm convictions, against which even the tortures of the 'Holy' Inquisitorial Court could do nothing. In all his interrogations with the judges [...] he professed to be a Protestant from the start, and not just a Protestant, but a representative of his sect in the city of Toro, where he had previously lived. The inquisitors demanded that he name those he had introduced to the new lore, but promises, entreaties, and threats could not shake Herrezuelo's determination to betray his friends and followers. Moreover, even the tortures could not break his steadfastness, which was stronger than an aged oak tree or a proud rock rising from the sea.
His wife […] also imprisoned in the dungeons of the Inquisition […] eventually gave in to the horrors of the narrow, dark walls, treated as a criminal, far from her husband, whom she loved more than her own life […] and terrified of the wrath of the Inquisitors. So finally she declared that she had given herself over to the errors of the heretics and at the same time expressed her remorse with tearful tears [...]
On the day of the pompous auto-da-fé, at which the inquisitors flaunted their superiority, the accused entered the scaffold and heard their sentences read from there. Herrezuelo was to perish in the flames of a pyre, and his wife Doña Leonor was to renounce the Lutheran teachings to which she had previously adhered and live in the prisons provided for this purpose by order of the "Holy" Court of Inquisition. There she was to be punished for her mistakes with penance and the humiliation of a penitential robe, and re-education to keep her from the path of her future ruin and destruction." De Castro, 167, 168.

When Herrezuelo was led to the scaffold, “he was only moved by the sight of his wife in penitential robes; and the look he (for he could not speak) cast at her as he passed her, on his way to the place of execution, seemed to say: 'This is really hard to bear!' He listened impassively to the monks, who pestered him with their tiresome exhortations to retract as they led him to the pyre. 'The Bachiller Herrezuelo', says Gonzalo de Illescas in his Historia pontifical, 'let himself be burned alive with unprecedented bravery. I was so close to him that I could see him fully and observe all his movements and expressions. He could not speak, being gagged: [...] but his whole demeanor showed that he was a person of extraordinary determination and strength who chose to die in the flames rather than to believe with his companions what was asked of them. Despite close observation, I could not detect the slightest sign of fear or pain; yet there was on his face a sadness such as I had never seen before.'" (M'Crie, Chapter 7)

His wife never forgot his farewell look. 'The idea,' says the historian, 'that she had caused him pain during the terrible conflict he had to endure, kindled the flame of affection for the reformed religion that secretly burned in her breast; and by deciding to "follow the example of the martyr's fortitude, trusting in the power made perfect in weakness," she "resolutely interrupted the penitential path she had begun". She was immediately thrown into prison, where for eight years she resisted every effort by the Inquisitors to have her taken back. Eventually she too died in the fire as her husband had died. Who could not agree with their compatriot De Castro when he exclaimed: 'Unhappy couple, alike in love, alike in doctrine and alike in death! Who will not shed tears for your memory, and feel horror and contempt for judges who, instead of captivating spirits with the sweetness of the divine word, used torture and fire as methods of persuasion?" (De Castro, 171)

Such was the case with many who identified closely with the Protestant Reformation in 16th-century Spain. “However, we must not conclude that the Spanish martyrs sacrificed their lives in vain and shed their blood in vain. They offered up sweet-smelling sacrifices to God. They left a testimony of the truth that was never quite lost” (M'Crie, Preface).

Over the centuries, this testimony has strengthened the steadfastness of those who chose to obey God over men. It continues to this day to give courage to those who, in their hour of trial, choose to stand firm and defend the truths of God's Word. Through their perseverance and unwavering faith, they will be living witnesses to the transformative power of redeeming grace.

end of the series

Part 1

Aus: Conflicto de los Silos, 219-226