Heretics Suffered Through The Auto Da Fé

Heretics Suffered Through The Auto Da Fé

The Auto Da Fe was a ceremonial procession and burning at the stake during the Inquisition most notably in Spain and Portugal.

 The ceremony was used partially as a punishment for all heretics, a recognition and display of sin for those who repented, a symbolic reaffirmation of religious faith for all within society, and lastly an execution of those who refused to repent.

The ceremony was not execution simply for the sake of killing those who were found to be heretics but as a form of punishment, which incorporated the whole society in the cleansing of heresy.   

Heretics were lined up according to the hierarchy of their guilt. They included Jews, Muslims, Protestants, foreigners, sodomites, and blasphemers.

Those with lesser crimes started the procession while those with greater crimes were last. They were led in procession throughout the city, both in an act of repentance and humiliation.

They were given opportunities to repent their heresies, but at the end of the procession, those who did not repent were led out of the city and burned