Hi Maurice,Gilbert, Stephen Neill in his book ˜A History of Christianity in India" has the following information: In 1560 Archbishop of Goa, Gaspar de Leao Piemental arrived in Goa with the additional title of Grand Inquisitor accompanied by 2 other priests as Inquisitors Alexis Dias Falcao and Francis Marques Botelho. The book says it is impossible to give any precise account of the operation of the Inquisition in Goa; since its records have been destroyed; no trace of them has been found either in Goa or in Lisbon. But proceedings varied so little from country to country that a general idea of what happened in Goa and the other Portuguese possessions can be arrived at cross reference or interference. However, he says that a careful calculation shows that in the 63 years between 1561 and 1623, a total number of 3,800 cases were tried by the Holy office in Goa or almost 60 in a year. From its establishment in 1561 to until its abolition in 1774, a grand total of 16,172 cases or an average of 76 cases in an year came before the tribunal. Between 1562 to 1567, 11 autos da fe took place. In number of cases, only one was actually put to death, the number of victims rarely exceeded 3 at the most and rarely a living body was committed to flames. This estimate is confirmed by the figures for Brazil provided by C.R. Boxer between 1591 and 1763. 400 Judaisers were shipped from Brazil to Lisbon and out of these, only 18 were condemned to death and just one person was confined to flames alive. Niell further clarifies that even confident statements by many writers can not be taken as evidence in the absence of corroborative documentary evidence. The first ecclesiastical council of the Roman Catholic Church in India was held at Goa in 1567. The first council of Goa marks the official arrival in India of TRIDENTINE ideas and the imposition on the Church of an inflexible order which was not to vary in any single point from what they do at Rome. The main desire of the council was that the Catholic Faith should be saved. Maurice Machado Thanks for your post about Goa's inquisition. First we are told, for a whole variety of reasons, there is only a limited primary source data publicly available. And the primary sources are best channeled via few highly trained professionals. Then you kindly present the information below. I am told, the vast majority of cases brought before the Inquisition, were for civil and criminal cases; that one expects to see in any society (property disputes, stealing and burglaries). Hence to me this figure (75 cases per year) is not surprising during the early colonization period (as Prof Madden puts it, for that "period of time"). Looking at actual numbers subjected to capital punishment, they are few. Similar numbers have been reported by other sources, which I posted on the website few years ago (none to three cases per Auto de Fe). So my dilemma is: How do we get the following from Goan author Alfred de Mello? "In another chapter dealing with the nefarious, fendish, lustful, corrupt religious orders which pounced on Goa for the purpose of destroying paganism and introducing the true religion of Christ (poor Jesus, if He only knew what was done in His name!), I have dwelt briefly on the Inquisition, which was introduced in 1560 and lasted until the year 1812, that is a span of 252 years, during which period it held its sway with a power that Stalin and other tyrants would have liked to hold. Stalin was a tyrant, murderer, but at least he was not a hypocrite. ..... The Inquisition in Goa, on account of its rigors, was reputed to be the worst of the existing inquisitions in the catholic orb of the five parts of the world, as felt unanimously by national and foreign writers." And how do we get the following from a Portuguese historian?
"Another author, in the 19th century, Joao Felix Pereira, coincides with Pyrard’s statement and wrote: “The inquisition of Goa, distinguished itself on account of the greater rigors than those of the tribunals of the metropolis; thousands of victims died at the stake in flames; and when these bloody executions brought fears of a seditious movement, the viceroys and governors, who did not enjoy the power of force openly, employed the dagger of the assassins and poison." Very interestingly Alfred De Mello while providing a lot of prosaic account, does not give any hard numbers. The same applies to Joan Felix Pereira. These and others are extensively quoted by the Hindutva websites and even reproduced on Goan web sites. So compliments to you for your research on the published hard data. I do wish the Goan experts, instead coming down hard on a few of us, should really be challenging their peers and likely their personal friends, for their accounts for this Inquisition period of Goa's history. As you correctly point out, "Neill further clarifies that even confident statements by many writers can not be taken as evidence in the absence of corroborative documentary evidence." So much for all those names of 'historians' recently posted on Goanet. Regards, GL
