Arbitrariedad y misericordia en la Inquisicióncuando el profeta es un iluso ignorante. Thomé García (Toledo, 1671)

Abstract

Through the process of faith of Thomé García, inquired by the Inquisition of Toledo in 1671, we try to approach to the procedural reality of the prophets and the visionaries who were considered simpleton and ignorant.We wonder if the inquisitors were aware of their situation of helplessness, lack of training and/or poor intellectual capacity understood that, despite everything, they were not dangerous people. Therefore, we want to analyse how the Inquisition treated them. It is difficult to appreciate the behaviours within the legal framework that governed the inquisitorial activity, but it is no less true that the inquisitors had a broad power that allowed them to use arbitrarily their authority in the imposition of penalties. Therefore, we suggest a reflection about the commiseration and benevolence in the job of the inquisitor in the prophetic and visionary world of modern Spain.