determined the type of offense com-
mitted—wrote a report about the
accused, his deeds, and the ideas he
espoused to the women.
What the women did not know was
that the ideas Juan Elías had explained
to them reminded the inquisitors of
a heretical doctrine: quietism, a phi-
losophy with medieval roots, later
refined by the 17th-century Spanish
mystic Miguel de Molinos.Quietism
taught that one could achieve grace
through passive contemplation rath-
er than active prayer. Although Mo-
linos’s thinking was well regarded
for a short time, the church turned
against it,and arrested its initiator in- During the investigation, Mo-
linos was accused of deviant sexual
acts that he claimed were sinless. He
was found guilty of heresy in 1687,
and Pope Innocent XI condemned
his teachings that same year. Moli-
nos died in prison in 1696.
Juan Elías’s “seductions” brought
to light what was—in the eyes of the
Holy Office of the Inquisition—a far
greater crime: evidence that he was
a follower of Miguel de Molinos and
therefore a heretic. He was found
guilty and imprisoned. As disgrace-
ful as Juan Elías’s actions appear to
modern eyes, the inquisitors feared
the doctrine he preached more than
the actual violations he committed
against two women.According to the inquisitors, Juan Elías was a
disciple of the mystic Miguel de Molinos, accused of
teaching that sex outside of marriage was not sinful.
THE TOWER AND THE GLORY
The Spanish Inquisition set up an office
in Seville in 1481. In the foreground is the
dodecagonal Tower of Gold, built in the
13th century by the city’s Arab rulers. In the
background is Seville Cathedral, the largest
cathedral in the world, and the resting place
of Christopher Columbus.
SEBASTIANO SCATTOLIN/AGE FOTOSTOCKNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 73