TITLE XXVI.

Concerning Heretics.
Heretics are a species of insane people who endeavor to pervert the
sayings of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and impart to them a different construction
from that which the Holy Fathers gave them and whIch the Church of Rome
believes, and orders to be observed. Wherefore, since in the preceding Title
we spoke of the Moors, we desire here to speak of heretics. We shall show
why they have this name; how many kinds of them there are; what injury
results to men from their society; who has the right to accuse them, and
before whom this can be done; and what punishment they deserve after their
heresy has been proved.
LAW I.
From What Source Heretics Derive Their Name; How Many Kinds of Them
There Are; and What Injury Results to Men by Associating
with Them.
Haeresis, in Latin, means, in Castilian, a separation, and a heretic derives
his name from this source because he is separated from the Catholic faith of
the Christians; and although there are several sects and kinds pf heretics there
are only two principal ones. The first includes every belief which a man has
which does not agree with the true faith which the Church of Rome orders to
be acknowledged, and observed; the second includes the disbelief which some
wicked and incredulous men entertain, who think that the soul dies with the
body, and that a man will not be rewarded or punished in the next world for
the good or evil which he does in this; and those who hold this opinion are
worse than beasts. Great injury results to a country from heretics of every
description, for they constantly endeavor to corrupt the minds of men and
cause them to err.
LAW II.
Who Can Accuse Heretics, Before Whom This Can Be Done, What Penalty
They Deserve After Their Heresy Has Been Proved, and Who
Is Entitled to Inherit Their Property.
Heretics can be accused by anyone of the people before the bishops or the
Copyright © 2001. University of Pennsylvania Press. All rights reserved.

vicars who occupy their places, and they should examine them in the Articles
of faith and the sacraments, and if they find that they err with respect to them
or any other matters which the Roman Church accepts and orders to be
delivered and observed: they should then attempt to convert them, and with-
draw them from said errors by means of good arguments and gentle words,
and if they are willing to return to the faith and believe it, after they have
been reconciled to the church they should be pardoned.
If they are not willing to abandon their obstinancy, they should be con-
demned as heretics, and afterwards delivered to the secular judge, and the
latter shall punish them in the following way: that is, if the heretic is a
preacher, or what is called a comforter, he should be put to death by fire; and
the unbelievers whom we mentioned in the preceding law, who do not think
that any reward or punishment exists in the other world, shall suffer the same
penalty. If the heretic is not a preacher, but merely a believer who associates,
or ~s present with those who perform sacrifices at the time when this is done,
and listens daily, or whenever he can do so to their preaching; We order that
he shall be put to death in the same manner, since he believes in, and is present
at the sacrifices which are performed. Where he is not a believer in their
1443

Las Siete Partidas, Volume 5 : Underworlds: the Dead, the Criminal, and the Marginalized (Partidas VI and VII), edited by Robert I. Burns, University
of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unal/detail.action?docID=3441860.
Created from unal on 2018-03-03 14:56:16.
 1444 LAS Su:m PARTlDAS

doctrines, but practices them by attending their sacrifices, we order that he

shall suffer perpetual banishment from our dominions, or be put in prison until
he repents, or returns to the faith.
We also decree that the property of persons condemned as heretics, or
who arc known to die in heretical belief, shall belong to their children or to
the descendants of the latter. If they have no children, we order that it shall
belong to their next of kin who are Catholics; if they have no such relatives
and are laymen, we decree that the king shall inherit all their property; and if
they belong to the clergy, the church can claim and take possession of their
estates within a year after their deaths; but the royal treasury shall be entitled
to them after that time if the church was guilty of negligence in not claiming
them within that period. If the heretic was a believer, and was not present
at the sacrifices, as aforesaid, but went to hear the doctrines, We order he shall
pay ten pounds of gold to the royal treasury, and if he should not have the
means with which to do so, he shall receive fifty lashes in public.

LAW III.
Children, Who Are Not Catholics, Cannot, with the Others, Inherit the
Property of Their Father, Who Was a Heretic.
\Vhen a man has been condemned as a heretic, and has some children who
are heretics and some who adhere to the Catholic faith and ohserve it, we
order that those who remain steadfast in our religion shall inherit the entire
estate of their father, and shall not be bound to give the others any portion of
the same. If, however, the others, acknowledging their error, subsequently
become converted and return to the Catholic faith, their brothers will then
be bound to give each one of them' his share of the estate of their father; but
the rents and profits of the property which the said Catholic brothers collected
during the time that the others were heretics, they shall 110t be obliged to
account for to the latter, or to give them any portion of the same, if they do
not wish to.
LAW IV.
A Man Who Is Proclaimed a Heretic Cannot Hold Any Dignity or Public
Copyright © 2001. University of Pennsylvania Press. All rights reserved.

Office, but Shall Lose All Which He Formerly Held.

A man who has been condemned as a heretic shall not hold any dignity or
public office, alHl therefore he cannot be a Pope, a cardinal, a patriarch, an arch-
bishop, or a bishop, nor can he enjoy any of the honors or dignities which
belong to the Holy Church. We also decree that a persOll of this kind cannot
be an emperor, a king, a duke, or a count, nor shall he hold any office or
honorable position appertaining to secular sovereignty.
We also decree that if anyone is proved to be a heretic, he shall lose, for
this reason, any dignity which he formerly held, and, in addition to this, he is
forbidden by the ancient laws to make a will except where he desires to leave
his property to his Catholic children; and no bequest can be left him by the
will of anyone, nor can he be appointed the heir of another. We also decree
that after the day on which he was condemned for heresy no will of his shall
be valid, and that any sale or donation made to him shall be void, as well as
any which he may make to another of his own property.

Las Siete Partidas, Volume 5 : Underworlds: the Dead, the Criminal, and the Marginalized (Partidas VI and VII), edited by Robert I. Burns, University
of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unal/detail.action?docID=3441860.
Created from unal on 2018-03-03 14:56:16.
 PART. VII, TIT. XXVI 1445

LAWV.
What Penalty Those Deserve Who Conceal Heretics.
Some men conceal and receive in their houses heretics who go about the
country by stealth, preaching and disturbing the hearts of the people, and
leading them into error, and those who do so commit a serious offense. For
which reason we forbid all persons in our dominions knowingly to receive a
heretic in their houses, or to consent that he explain his doctrines or preach to
others there, or to permit heretics to assemble in their houses to consult and
hold their meetings; and if anyone knowingly violates this law, we order
that he shall lose the house in which he received said heretics for the purpose
of doing any of the things aforesaid, and that it shall belong to the Church; for
it is but proper that the place where enemies of the Catholic faith assemble
should serve the Church, and that loyal Christians who believe, defend, and
protect said faith should sometimes congregate there.
Where, however, a party has charge of a house belonging to another and
receives heretics in it, without the order or knowledge of its owner; although
the heretics may do the things which we mentioned in the preceding law, the
owner of said house shall not, for that reason, lose it; for, since he was no~
aware of the facts, he is in no way to blame. Wherefore we order, and con-
sider it proper that the party who receives them shall pay, on that account, ten
pounds of gold to the royal treasury, and if he has not the means wherewith
to make payment that he shall be publicly scourged through the entire town
where this occurred, the crier proclaiming before him the reason why this is
done.
LAW VI.
What Penalty Those Deserve Who Harbor Heretics in Their Castles
or on Their Lands.
No Christian shall harbor heretics in his house or in his castle, or in any
other place which he owns, and those who do harbor them in this way sin
against both God and the lord of the land, and provide means for them to
practice their wickedness; for there are some who would shrink from being
heretics through fear of punishment, but do not hesitate to be such when they
Copyright © 2001. University of Pennsylvania Press. All rights reserved.

can find anyone to protect them; for which reason we decree, that if anyone
receives and shelters them on his lands, after he has been warned by a sentence
of excommunication pronounced against him by any prelate of the Holy
Church, and he proves obstinate and does not obey the sentence of the prelate,
and continues in said obstinacy for a year; after said time he shall be con-
sidered infamous, so that he can never hold an office, or honorable position.
And, in addition to this, if he is a nobleman, and the lord of the land, or of
any castle, he shall lose for this reason the sovereignty which he exercised over
~aid land or castle, and it shall belong to the king; and, in addition to this, he
shall be banished from the country; and if he is a man of inferior rank, his
person and all his property shall be at the mercy of the king, who may inflict
such punishment as he thinks he deserves for a crime of this kind.

Las Siete Partidas, Volume 5 : Underworlds: the Dead, the Criminal, and the Marginalized (Partidas VI and VII), edited by Robert I. Burns, University
of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unal/detail.action?docID=3441860.
Created from unal on 2018-03-03 14:56:16.