Selcart (28)

As Cors entered the hall, he noted a number of men, sitting upon a slightly raised podium. The members of the Inquisition council included the priests whom we have met before, all clothed in white, surrounding the General of the Inquisition in Holland. Other members were clothed in ornate robes. To the right and left of these important men were councilmen and aldermen, as well as mayors and sheriffs. A sheriff took his place next to the prisoner while the officers stood behind Cors.

Cors looked about him calmly and noted many men of importance who had been invited to help pass judgment on him, the prisoner. Most of them were mentioned by name, but we will forego that since they have been forgotten with the passing of the years. Suffice it to say that they all considered themselves very important, and they also wanted to stay in the good graces of the Inquisition.

Cors’s face exuded calm and peacefulness. He drew his strength from the words of his Saviour who had said, “But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost” (Mark 13:11).

Upon a motion by the General of the Inquisition all small talk ceased, and there was complete silence in the great hall. The public prosecutor, Mr. Reynier Brunthus, stood up and began to speak.

“Honorable, wise, providential, and discreet Sirs, it is well known to all of you that his most Christian majesty, Charles the 5th, Catholic king and extender of the German nation, Lord of the Netherlands, was pleased on the 29th day of April, in the year of our Lord, 1550, to proclaim statutes to eradicate all sects and errors which have risen up against our holy Christian beliefs and the ordinances of our Mother, the holy Church. It is also known by you that there has been more and more of an increase in various sects and how the poison of heresy has spread through the dissemin ation of the writings of the apostate monk, Martin Luther, the writings of Oecolampadius, Zwingli, Bucer, and Calvin, all of whom are heretics and prophets of evil and false sects, and how their errant doctrines have found root outside of our Holy Church.

“You all have been witnesses of the blasphemous breakdown of our sacred images and the rebellion which it has awakened among these heretics, and it is our holy calling that in this land, and especially within this city, to root out these heretics who are so dangerous for our country and our church. Our Lord and King Phillip—may God lengthen his days—has therefore commanded our mighty governor not only to enforce the ordinances of Charles the 5th but also to reinforce them further and has given us the command, as you well know, to examine all those who are suspected of heresy and afterwards turn them over to the judge where according to the customs of the nation they are to be heard and judged.

“This man,” here the prosecutor pointed to Cors Stevens, “standing before you, after many admonitions, disputing, and attempts in a fatherly manner to mend his ways, has been found to be a stiff-necked heretic, who has not only spread the sand of heresy with both hands but has also held gatherings in his home in Naaldwijk, has had children baptized, and has celebrated Holy Communion with his unclean hands, which are all atrocious sins. His accuser, his landlord from Naaldwijk, has affirmed these charges under oath and they have also been confirmed by many who live in this village. He has already been kept a prisoner in jail for some time, and we may rejoice that the torture which we have applied with care, and also the many discussions which Pastor Harmensz and other brothers have had with the prisoner have not been without effect; he has retracted many of his errors.”

Cors, who had listened quietly to the proceedings, could not contain himself upon hearing these falsehoods so that he called out, “That is a lie.”

The hearers were distracted for a moment, for they were accustomed to hearing the accused deny the charges against them. The prosecutor then continued, “Therefore, a merciful punishment can be recommended as a righteous judgment. Upon the basis of the second article of the aforementioned ordinances, I am demanding for the prisoner Cors Stevens, farmer from Naaldwijk and selfproclaimed deacon of the congregation under the cross, death by means of the sword.”

At that moment the Inspector General of the Inquisition asked the secretary to read the article. We will not include all of the details in this lengthy article, but we can summarize that when a person was found guilty, in addition to the sentence of death, all of his worldly goods were confiscated, and any documents which he may have signed and executed were declared null and void. Cors, who had not understood all of the words which were read, grasped that he had been condemned to death with the sword.

At the end of the reading, the Inquisitor General stood up and pronounced, “In the name of the most Christian Majesty and upon the orders of the highest and mightiest governor, I hereby remand Cors Stevens, of late living in Naaldwijk, who calls himself a deacon, to the justice of his district, declaring him guilty of heresy and demand that he be put to death with the sword.”

Then, all of the members of the church stood up and following a young boy, carrying a large cross, exited the room via a side door. p

(To be continued)

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