At Zaragoza in Aragon, Spain, Saint Peter of Arbués, priest and martyr, who, a canon regular of the Order of Saint Augustine, labored in the kingdom of Aragon against superstitions and heresies, and was struck down by certain persons under investigation before the altar of the cathedral church.
Lifespan: c. 1441/2–1485
Beatified: 17 April 1662 by Pope Alexander VII
Canonized: 29 June 1867 by Pope Pius IX
Memoria liturgica: 17 September
Peter of Arbués was born at an uncertain date between 1441 and 1442. His father, of noble lineage, was named Antonio Arbués, and his mother was Sancia Ruiz. He studied philosophy, probably at Huesca, then completed his studies at the Spanish College of St. Clement at the University of Bologna, where he took degrees in theology and law.
Returning to Spain, he entered the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Saragossa, making his religious profession in 1474. At that time, the Most Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile had obtained from Pope Sixtus IV, on 1 November 1478, a bull establishing the Inquisition in Castile and authorizing the Catholic Monarchs to appoint in their territories certain trusted inquisitors with jurisdiction exclusively over baptized Christians.
The tribunal’s mandate was directed toward seeking out heretics — and in particular Jews who, after receiving baptism, had returned publicly or in secret to the Jewish faith (the so-called marranos). No Jew as such, therefore, could be condemned or brought to judgment by the Inquisition.
The renowned Dominican Thomas de Torquemada was appointed Inquisitor General of Castile in 1483. A certain historiography hostile to the Church has built around this friar an authentic black legend, spreading numerous falsehoods. He was confessor to Queen Isabella, a man of irreproachable character — gentle and generous — and one of the foremost patrons and protectors of artists of his age. As Inquisitor, he also worked to secure wide-ranging amnesties, such as that of 1484.
Informed of Peter’s learning and virtues, Torquemada summoned him to his side and elevated him to the rank of provincial inquisitor of the Kingdom of Aragon. This was in 1484.
Peter discharged the office entrusted to him with zeal and justice. Although the enemies of the Inquisition and detractors of the Church accused him of cruelty, it is historically established that he never pronounced any sentence of death, always allowing mercy and clemency to prevail.
The marranos whom he had punished and censured, however, hated him and resolved to do away with him. One night, while Peter was kneeling in prayer before the altar of the Virgin Mary in the metropolitan church of Saragossa, where he was accustomed to recite the divine office with his confreres, he was set upon by hired assassins and mortally wounded. His agony lasted two days. At last he yielded his soul to God, claiming the reward of the just. It was 17 September 1485.
The murder was followed by a sensational trial that concluded with the imposition of very severe penalties.
It was not immediately possible to proclaim Peter’s sanctity, owing to the powerful influence of the marranos at the Spanish court. One need only recall that the chancellor of King Ferdinand’s treasury, Luis de Santangel, was the nephew of one of those implicated in the murder.
On 17 April 1662, Pope Alexander VII granted permission for the veneration and liturgical feast of Peter in Saragossa and in the places where the general and Aragonese provincial inquisitions had operated. He was canonized by Pius IX on 29 June 1867.