Dear Sapna,
I think the Rough Guide took the rough information. People were burnt at the
stake in England and Europe, but apparently this has been overlooked by all and
sundry, especially by the Rough Guides.
"
It is not known when burning was first used in Britain, but there is a recorded
burning for heresy in 1222, when a deacon of the church was burnt at Oxford for
embracing the Jewish faith so he could marry a Jew.
In 1401, the king authorised a Statute of Heresy which gave the clergy power to
arrest and try those suspected of heresy. The first to suffer under the new act
was one William Sautre, a priest, who was executed at (Kings) Lynn in 1402.
This statute was repealed in 1553, but burning was re-introduced by Henry VIII.
His daughter, Mary Tudor ("Bloody Mary"), was also very keen on this method and
274 burnings of both sexes for heresy were recorded during her 5 year reign
(reign of terror) in the mid 16th century. In most cases their only "crime" was
following the Protestant faith. The normal place of execution in Londonbeing at
West Smith Field (now called just Smithfield). An engraving of the period shows
that these unfortunates were stood in empty tar barrels at the stake and then
had faggots heaped round them. It was not the practice to strangle heretics
before they were burnt so they died slow and horrible deaths - being literally
burned alive.
Burning was in use throughout Europe at this time and was particularly favoured
by the Spanish Inquisition as it did not involve shedding of the victim's
blood, which was disallowed under the prevailing Roman Catholic doctrine, and
because it ensured that the condemned had no body to take into the next life
(which was believed to be a very severe punishment in itself). It was also
thought at that time that burning cleansed the soul which was considered
important for those convicted of witchcraft and heresy.
...
The last person to be burned as a witch in Scotlandwas Janet Horne at Dornoch
in Ross shire in 1727. Janet had been accused of witching her daughter to make
her hands and feet grow into horses hooves, so that she could ride her. The
daughter had a deformed hand, due to being “shod by the Devil”! She was also
tried but acquitted. She later had a child who exhibited the same kind of
congenital hand deformity. A stone at the place of execution commemorates her
death. The witchcraft Acts were repealed there in 1736.
Go to http://www.witchesway.net/links/burningtimes/executed.htmlfor a listing
of witch executions. It is claimed that some 200,000 people were burned for
witchcraft in Europein 16th and 17th centuries. "
See http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/burning.html for the above quoted
paragraphs.
So I cannot see that the Inquisition in Goa was in any way any worse than in
the rest of the world of the times. The above, BTW, does not talk of
Inquisition in the Americas. You can do more reasearch about this topic if you
wish, as it is rather abhorrent to me. Besides, another practice common in
England of the times was to be "hung, drawn and quartered" - you may have seen
the sanitized version in the movie Braveheart.
To be fair, the Portuguese were the first in India to:
1. ban the then current practice of Sati (a practice worse than the Inquisition
IMHO)
2. empower women allowing them equal rights of succession.
3. ban capital punishment (1867). India still carries on with capital
punishment
Gabriel.
----- Original Message ----
From: Sapna Shahani <sapnashah...@gmail.com>
To: Jason Keith Fernandes <jason.k.fernan...@gmail.com>
Cc: goanet@lists.goanet.org
Sent: Saturday, 13 June, 2009 2:50:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Goanet] Comment about Bom Jesus Basilica among 7 wonders of
Portuguese origin
I was just struck when I learned that the Inquisition in Goa was possibly
one of the worst in the world (according to the Rough Guide).
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