3. Becoming Established
Among the positive influences on Spain were the efforts of Jayme Enzias, one of three brothers who left Spain to study in Louvain. While in Paris he was influenced by the heroism of Protestant martyrs. He drew up a Protestant catechism and had it printed in Antwerp. However, in Rome he was denounced to the Inquisition and was sentenced to death by burning. He remained faithful unto death, suffering martyrdom in 1546.
One of the other brothers, Fransisco, translated the New Testament into Spanish, unaware that there had been previous translations. His work was printed in Antwerp in 1543. A monk to whom it was submitted for comment before publication rejected it out of hand when he found the words “new covenant” on the title page. The phrase was removed, but the expression “our only Redeemer” caused further difficulty. In fact, he objected to so many passages that he was in the end ignored. Charles V arrived in Brussels soon after this New Testament was printed, and a copy was presented to him with the request that he give permission for it to be circulated in Spain. He promised to do so, provided nothing contrary to the faith was found in it. Charles gave it to his confessor, de Soto, to examine.
Fransisco Enzias called on de Soto a number of times, seeking a verdict, but in the end he was accused of being an enemy of religion and was thrown into prison. He was charged with the offence of translating the Scriptures, and also of translating a book by Luther and of visiting Melanthon. When his father and uncles visited him, they upbraided him for bringing reproach on his family. Fransisco spent his time in prison translating the Psalms. But after spending 15 months there, he one day found the doors open, walked out and escaped to Germany.
Others too who were living in exile produced books for Spanish readers. Roman Catholic theologians in Spain, however, were particularly vociferous in opposing translations of the Scriptures. One, Alfonso de Castro, even claimed that this “is the true fountain of all heresies” (p 202). Enzias’ translation was one of those which circulated in Spain. The authorities put measures in place to ensure that no copy of the Bible or Protestant literature would be brought in by sea or land, but they were not entirely successful.
Books produced by Spanish refugees sat in Geneva for some time awaiting delivery; no one was prepared to take the huge risks involved in smuggling them across the Pyrenees. At last, in 1557, Julian Hernandez, a Spanish national, an unusually small man, bravely undertook to bring a consignment of books, in two large casks, to Seville. He arrived safely and deposited his load in the house of one of the leading Protestants in the city, from where they were distributed to various parts of the country.
The condemnation and weakening of Egidius2 was a severe blow to the infant church in Seville. Though he was released from custody, the restrictions placed on him and his low spirits hindered his effectiveness. Yet his continuing attachment to sound doctrine was a positive feature. Shortly before Egidius’ death, Constantine Ponce de la Fuente returned to his native country. M’Crie describes him as “unquestionably the greatest ornament of the reformed cause in Spain” (p 206). While abroad he had met a German, James Schopper, through whom his views of scriptural doctrine had been enlarged and strengthened.
Constantine’s return to Seville in 1555 provided a major boost to the Protestant cause there. He was appointed a professor of divinity in the College of Doctrine, and through his lectures on the Scriptures, many young men were brought to believe the truth. He was also chosen to be a preacher in the cathedral. Although the service did not begin till 8 am, the building was full by 4 am when he was to preach. He was persuaded to apply for the position of canon magistral. In the end, because of his exceptional abilities, only one other stood against him. Constantine was elected to the post, but supporters of the other applicant made various allegations against him, including the charge of heresy.
He continued to be a popular preacher, but he also tried to spread the truth through the printed page. He was not seeking a reputation for his literary abilities but rather to meet the spiritual needs of the people in a style that the least educated could follow; his only concern was to be understood. His objective was not to teach distinctively Protestant doctrine but to present the basic truths of the gospel. He wrote a catechism in which the truth was presented in an extremely simple fashion; another of his writings took the form of the confession of a sinner, expressed in a humble and contrite spirit. His Summary of Christian Doctrine was intended for the more educated. Only the first part was printed; the second, which dealt with good works and the sacrament, was held back until a time when it would be safer to publish it, but such a time never came.
His writing was viewed with great suspicion by the more powerful clergy; there were private consultations on denouncing him to the Inquisition. Reasons behind the suspicions were: he had not condemned what they considered to be Lutheran errors; he had not defended the supremacy of the Pope; and if he mentioned purgatory, indulgences and human merit, it was only to warn people not to rest on them for salvation. Constantine defended himself by saying that he would handle these subjects in his second volume. And this was sufficient to silence his critics for the time being.
Francisco Zaffra was a priest in Seville with secret Lutheran leanings. Recognised as a man of learning, he was often called on to give advice to the Inquisition on the charges laid against individuals and was often the means of rescuing from death those who would otherwise have been condemned as heretics. He received into his house a widow, Maria Gomez, who used to attend secret Protestant meetings. In 1555 she became deranged and began to talk about taking vengeance on heretics. She went to the Castle of Triana, where the Inquisition sat. She told them that the city was full of Lutherans and that they, whose duty it was to guard against this plague, were asleep at their post. She gave them the names of more than 300 people whom she alleged to be Lutherans.
The inquisitors were aware that Lutheranism was rife and realised that Maria was mentally disturbed, but they followed their rigid principle that no accusation was to be disregarded. Zaffra was summoned and decided that the wisest course was to go to the tribunal at once. He emphasised Maria’s state of mind and he was allowed to go free. God in His providence was watching over His flock, who may not yet have been mature enough to endure persecution. If Zaffra had then been condemned, it is likely that many more would have been caught in the Inquisition’s net.
The Protestants of Seville were now organised in a formal way as a congregation, and they chose Christopher Losada as their pastor. They met in the home of a rich lady, one of the nobility. Another of high rank was Don Pedro Ponce de Leon, who was so liberal in his kindness to the needy that he left himself relatively poor. Another was Domingo de Guzman, who had an extensive library which included the main Lutheran volumes; these he readily shared with others.
The new doctrines had also spread into most of the monasteries and convents around Seville. Garcia de Arias was one of those who were sympathetic to the new teachings, but he was extremely cautious and was even prepared to speak in support of Roman doctrines. Yet this was the man God used to bring the truth to the monks in the monastery of San Isidro, near Seville, who were steeped in the deepest ignorance and superstition. Although continuing to speak cautiously, Arias taught that true religion was very different from what people generally thought it was. It did not consist in outward action, he pointed out; they needed to go to the Bible to know God’s mind. His words produced, in the minds of the monks, a sense of dissatisfaction with their monotonous devotions. Then Arias turned around and began to promote the strictest forms of bodily mortification, such as sleeping on the bare earth during Lent.
This produced a reaction among the monks; they decided they would be wiser to listen to Egidius and his friends. Later, the monks received a supply of Bibles and of Protestant books and read them eagerly. Those who had already been enlightened were confirmed in their faith and others were delivered from their prejudices against the truth. Prayers for the dead were dropped; indulgences, which had provided them with a considerable income, were abolished; superstitious fasting was replaced by a constant restraint on their appetites. Images, however, remained – though they were no longer worshipped – and, most seriously, the mass was still practised. Through speaking to people outside the monastery and circulating good literature, the monks spread the Reformation faith over a wide area, including a number of other religious houses.
Yet some who advanced part of the way in a Protestant direction turned back. Among them was Juan de Regla, the head of the Order of St Jerome in Spain. He had a great reputation for learning, but was reported to the Inquisition, who condemned him to do penance and repudiate 18 statements with a Lutheran flavour. He did so and ever after was a most bitter persecutor of those suspected of Protestant sympathies. Here was a clear case of the good seed of the gospel being “sown on stony ground, where it had not much earth”, and so it lasted only “for a while” (see Mark 4).
The Protestants in Valladolid chose Domingo de Roxas as their pastor. He was an able man who had been educated under Bartolomé Carranza, who became Archbishop of Toledo. “But”, says M’Crie, “the disciple did not confine himself to the timid course of his master” (p 225). Carranza warned him to distrust his own judgement on religious matters and submit to the decisions of the Church, but Roxas boldly repudiated, among other teachings, purgatory and the mass. His writings included an Explanation of the Articles of the Faith, which stated and defended the new opinions. Through his zealous efforts, many joined his congregation.
Among them was Augustin Cazalla, who was considered one of the ablest pulpit orators; he had travelled to Germany in 1546 as a chaplain to Charles V. There he was tasked with opposing the Lutherans but, as others had done, he instead embraced the doctrines of the Reformation. Although he continued as a royal preacher, his real beliefs were discerned by his more observant hearers; yet, because of his reputation, he was not charged with heresy. After Cazalla settled in Valladolid, the Protestant church normally met in his mother’s home and most of his relations belonged to the congregation; he himself was persuaded to take charge of its spiritual interests. His fame and ability were factors in the increase it then enjoyed.
As in Seville, monks and nuns came under the influence of the true faith. Indeed the Reformation movement spread through many parts of the country. Perhaps it was because so many of its followers were learned or belonged to the higher echelons of society that over 2000 people, widely scattered over the country, should have been able to maintain loose contact with each other and keep meeting in private without being detected by the Inquisition. Yet the slightest public expression of support for biblical teaching was likely to be immediately suppressed by that powerful and ruthless body.
Humanly speaking, M’Crie believes, had this obstacle been removed from Spain, “though only in part and for a short time, it would have burst into a flame, which resistance would only have increased and which, spreading over the Peninsula, would have consumed the Inquisition, the hierarchy and the Papacy, and the despotism by which they had been reared and were upheld” (p 236). He bases these remarks on the words of the enemies of the Reformation; one of them said, “Had the Inquisition not taken care in time to put a stop to these preachers, the Protestant religion would have run through Spain like wildfire; people of all ranks and of both sexes having been wonderfully disposed to receive it” (quoted, pp 236-7).
1Last month’s article described the work of those of first sowed the seed of the Word in the cities of Seville and Valladolid. For some of them it was at the cost of their lives, at the hands of the Inquisition. Page references in the text are to Thomas M’Crie, The Reformation in Spain, 1824.
2A preacher in Seville Cathedral who was condemned for heresy but seems to have succumbed to performing the penance to which he was sentenced. After a period of imprisonment, he associated with the Protestant congregation and died soon afterwards.