Many Goans, including me, are sometimes confused by what is written on the inquisition IN GOA. Most of us can only rely on what other authorities have written on this subject. Yet there is great dichotomy in their writings. As I read the various texts, I find that many of the writers confuse the issues. Some authors cannot confine themselves to the "religious inquisition" in Goa. They digress (and fill their writing space) with what happened in Portugal / Europe and mix some of the military actions and government decrees going on in colonial Goa - contemporaneously. Some rehashed write-ups, extensively rely on a Frenchman Dellon's description of the Goan inquisition. Yet, between those, Alfred De Mello's write ups in TGF and those written in ChristianAggression.org web site, IMHO their conclusions do not match the published raw data on the number of victims of the inquisition. I had posted the raw data (to the surprise of many) on this cyber Goa site a few years ago. I fully realize that I have to continue to do my research especially of the RAW DATA to fully engage the various write-ups. Yet, for now, we have to just "get confused" by what some have written as, "The Goan inquisition is regarded by all contemporary portrayals as the most violent inquisition ever executed by the Portuguese Catholic Church." ....
AND that written by Denis Louis Cottineau de Kloguen in his book "An Historical Sketch of Goa, the Metropolis of the Portuguese Settlements in India" (collected from "the most authentic sources") and presented to the British Asiatic Society and published in 1831. (reference courtesy of Frederick Noronha). http://books.google.com/books?q=Goa&btnG=Search+Books&as_brr=1 To quote: "Though we are far from justifying its (the inquisition) proceedings, we are at the same time obliged to declare, that many falsehoods and exaggerations have been advanced respecting it." page 61. and later, "tortures it inflicted ... in common with all the civil tribunals existing in the time it was erected." page 62 and later "the rigors of the inquisition were never exercised but against the Christians, and not even against individuals out of the Catholic communion..." page 63. Regards, GL PS: I would encourage the various authors and moderators whose published works have been edited and taken out of context to opine with data on this bulletin board (the largest cyber-Goan site) so that all Goans can know the correct facts about the GOAN inquisition. Cottineau de Kloguen wrote his detailed historical account of Goa not long after the inquisition ended in 1812. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
