Sanbenito - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sanbenito was a penitential garment, especially during the Spanish Inquisition

Spanish Inquisition

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...

, similar to a scapular

Scapular

The term scapular as used today refers to two specific, yet related, Christian Sacramentals, namely the monastic and devotional scapulars, although both forms may simply be referred to as "scapular"....

either yellow with red St. Andrew's cross

Saltire

A saltire, or Saint Andrew's Cross, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross or letter ex . Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred on such a cross....

es for penitent heretics

Heresy

Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...

or black and decorated with friar

Friar

A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...

s, dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

s and devil

Devil

The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

s for impenitent heretics to wear at an auto da fé

Auto Da Fe

Auto Da Fe were an Irish new wave musical group formed in Holland in 1980 by former Steeleye Span singer Gay Woods and Trevor Knight. The band's sound incorporated keyboards and electronics. Woods stated "It was the happiest musical time I ever had so far. I learned so much. I was ridding myself...

(meaning acts of faith).

The heretics, found guilty by the inquisitors

Grand Inquisitor

Grand Inquisitor is the lead official of an Inquisition. The most famous Inquisitor General is the Spanish Dominican Tomás de Torquemada, who spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition.-List of Spanish Grand Inquisitors:-Castile:-Aragon:...

, had to walk in the procession

Procession

A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...

wearing the sambenito, the coroza, the rope around the neck, and in their hands a yellow wax candle.
The tunic of yellow cloth reaching down to the knees of the wearer, with figures of monks, dragons and demons in the act of augmenting flames, signifies that the heretic is impenitent and is condemned to burn at the stake. If an impenitent is converted just before the procession, then the sanbenito is painted with the flames downward, which is called fuego repolto, and it means that the heretic is not to be burnt alive at the stake, but to have the sympathy of being strangled before the fire is applied to the stake.

The third type of penitential garment was for those who repented before they were sentenced. It was a simple yellow scapulary with a red cross, and a conical cap, dominated coroza, which was formed of the same material as the sanbenito, and decorated with similar crosses but no paintings, figures or flames and the wearer is only to do penance

Penance

Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...

.
The sanbenito should not be confused with the yellow robes worn by some monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

s; which are also garments related to penitence and which is one reason that made the Inquisition to prefer common woollen dyed yellow with red crosses for the sambenito. Such were the penitential robes in 1514, when Cardinal Francisco Ximénez de Cisneros transformed the common crosses for those of Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...

. The inquisitors afterwards designated a different tunic for each class of penitents.

Originally the penitential garments were hung up in the churches as mementos of disgrace to their wearers, and as the trophies of the Holy Inquisition

Inquisition

The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...

. The lists of the punished were also called sambenitos. The bearers of the surnames of those listed in the church of Santo Domingo in Palma de Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca

Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...

were discriminated against as xueta
Xueta
The Xuetes , were a social group on the island of Majorca, descendants of Majorcan Jews who either converted to Christianity or were forced to keep their religion hidden...

s (the local name for Converso Jews), even when those surnames were also born by Old Christian

Old Christian

Old Christian was a social and law-effective category used in the Iberian Peninsula from the late 15th and early 16th century onwards, to distinguish Portuguese and Spanish people attested as having cleanliness of blood from the populations categorized as New Christian, mainly persons of partial...

s and the surnames of other Majorcan Judaizers were not preserved at the cathedral.

Etymology

In Spanish, San Benito

San Benito

San Benito can refer to:* San Benito, El Petén, a municipality in Guatemala* Colonia San Benito, a neighborhood of San Salvador, El Salvador* San Benito District, a district in Contumazá province, Peru, also:** San Benito, Peru, capital of the district...

means "Saint Benedict". An alternative etymology by Covarrubias

Covarrubias

Covarrubias is a village and municipality in the province of Burgos in the Spanish autonomous community of Castile and León.It has 640 inhabitants, and it is near Mecerreyes and Hortigüela....

and former editions of DRAE has it from saco bendito ("blessed sack"). Américo Castro

Americo Castro

Américo Castro y Quesada was a Spanish cultural historian, philologist, and literary critic who challenged some of the prevailing notions of Spanish identity, raising heated controversy with his conclusions that Spaniards didn't become the distinct group they are today until after the Islamic...

"proved that it does not come from saco bendito".

In the 1945 edition of México Viejo, Luis González Obregón shows images from Felipe A. Limborch's Historia Inquisitionis, dated 1692, which were images of Sanbenitos used in the Inquisition.

González Obregon describes the three basic types of tunics used to distinguish those being punished by the Inquisition. These were the Samarra, Fuego revolto, and the Sambenito. The Samarra was used by those condemned to death, frequently through the burning at the stake; it featured painted dragons, devils, and flames amongst which the image of the prisoner could be distinguished. The Fuego revolto was used for those who had repented. The flames would be painted downwards, thus indicating that they had escaped death through fire. Finally there was the Sambenito used commonly by those in penitence and which featured the cross of Saint Andrew, eventually became known to designate all three types.

Other garments worn by the prisoners included pointed hats, rosaries, and green or yellow candles.

In popular culture

In the television series Millennium

Millennium (TV series)

Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...

, created by Chris Carter

Chris Carter (screenwriter)

Christopher Carl Carter is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is the creator of The X-Files and Millennium.- Ten Thirteen Productions :...

, (episode Kingdom Come), a serial killer

Serial killer

A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...

use a sanbenito on a Catholic priest he burns at the stake outside his church.

Etymology

In popular culture

See also