Reverend Brother Crespo. Excuse me.
The Dominican Father Vincente da Silva requests an audience.
Tell him that it is granted.
Father Vincente? What could he have for us?
We're delighted to see our brother here with us.
- Forgive me, Your Eminence. - Speak frankly.
A matter of great urgency brings me to you.
A novice of our convent is suspected of dishonouring our faith
and being in league with the devil.
- She hasn't confessed yet. - And you think we will make her confess?
l don't see any other way of saving her soul.
lt would be extremely helpful if you could take care of her.
A heretic who is suspected of being a paramour of the devil
should be granted the mercy of the lnquisition.
That's true, but not everyone approves of us. Devout faith is often scorned.
lt is becoming difficult to execute sentences, even if the accused has been found guilty.
The Grand lnquisitor's power is wearing off...
..in the battle with the secular powers.
Mother Alma! Sisters, call the abbess. His Eminence the lnquisitor is here.
Hurry up! Go and get the abbess and the novice Marie.
Hurry up!
- Call Mother Alma. - What's the matter?
- The lnquisitor is here. - He's come here himself?
Let's hurry.
Antonia, Martina, go and get the novice Marie from her confinement cell.
l'll make sure she won't even get a word in edgeways.
Your Eminence.
- Eminence? - My child?
Thank you for coming. ln our helplessness, we really need you.
lt is duty that brings me here, Mother, official duty.
But, as you know, it's a great pleasure for us to see you again.
My Father.
How unfortunate.
She's barely 14 years old, and she's already a sinner.
Please give me your blessing, Father.
Conte de Ariano, have the carriages stop.
Stop the carriages.
ln the name of His Majesty Prince Manuel, stop.
Are you deaf? Stop in the name of His Majesty!
Outrageous! They're simply carrying on.
- Who was that? - His Eminence, the lnquisitor.
- And the girl? - Probably a so-called witch.
- l'll put a stop to this. - But how, Your Majesty?
Until you can prove that witches don't exist, the church will continue to burn them.
l shall teach them otherwise.
You are Marie Rosalia Coutinho, and you're 14 years old?
Yes, Your Eminence.
ls it true or false that you are possessed by the devil?
l am. lt is true.
Have you had unchaste relationships to your fellow sisters under his influence?
Yes, l have.
ls it true or false that you have sacrificed your virginity to Satan
and that you could be called a paramour?
Yes, Your Excellence, it is true. That is what l am.
You are an apostate heretic, which is perfectly sufficient for the sentence.
Take her back to the dungeon until we execute her.
Before you do that, you should interrogate the ones who were accessories to my fall -
the abbess, who calls herself ''High Priestess'', and the disciplinarian.
They asked me to do evil things. lt is they who are possessed by evil.
They seduced me, violated me and sacrificed me to him in a sinful manner.
- Are you going to listen to any more of this? - Slanderer!
To the dungeon with her. Even at the stake she will insist on her lie.
The devil's spirit is within her. She's a perverted witch.
Reverend Abbess, dear Brother Vincente, there's no need for further evidence.
We've already passed judgement on her.
There is no doubt that she is guilty.
Which means that she'll be burnt publicly as a recidivous heretic.
The accusations against you will be dealt with in a separate trial later.
- You dare to put us on trial? - Then l ask you to begin immediately.
- Quiet! - Keep calm, dear Brother and Sister.
We don't believe the statement of a witch who is possessed by the devil.
But the Brother Secretary is right to request this trial. lt's in the interest of our church.
lf he has overzealously overestimated his duty in this case,
we'll find a better solution for you.
lt should be possible to convince the accused
to withdraw her false allegations against you by signing a document.
These will then be deleted from the transcript.
That is the common procedure, isn't it?
So l suggest you get this signature
and thus spare us a bothersome interrogation.
No effort is wasted if you manage to bring this sinner closer to the Lord again...
..before He delivers her from her sins in the fire.
- So, will you withdraw your allegation? - What allegation? That you violated me?
Punish her for this lie. Tighten the chains.
Tighten them.
You will sign. Tighten them!
Yes.
This signature will have brought you closer to the Lord.
The Lord will release me.
- Yes. - Let's go, Father.
All right.
No, not yet.
The church, which grants sanctuary to every penitent conscience,
has sentenced you through the judges of the Holy lnquisition.
Because you are a paramour of the devil and a heretic,
you shall be burnt at the stake, standing upright on the place of your execution.
No. No.
O Lord, help me.
Forgive me, God. l know You have more important matters to attend to than me,
a sinner.
But l must write to You.
Beloved Lord, l must tell someone who will listen to me.
The abbess of Serra d'Aires and Father Vincente have involved me in great guilt.
l cannot believe that l am possessed by the devil, as they say,
for l love only You, Heavenly Father.
l wish l had remained Your child because l do not want to belong to anyone but You.
Now l will be burnt at the stake. The agony of torture will be over then.
But l will go to hell, and from there l will not be able to contact You again.
We will be separated forever. Thus l will never see You.
My mother has often told me that You were omnipresent.
How can You be when l am in eternal perdition, atoning for my sins?
You are punishing me very severely, but l shall do it out of love for You,
to prove to You that l truly love You more than anything else in the world.
Yours, Maria Rosalia Coutinho,
a Portuguese nun who greets You from the bottom of her heart.
The dungeons of the Vatican, Conte de Ariano.
From the windows of his castle, the lnquisitor sees them every day.
A man who has to judge good and bad, true and false,
mustn't dread the sight of the acts of cruelty with which he seeks to uncover the truth.
Was it a pigeon that just fell on those bushes?
Unless l'm blind, it was a piece of paper, Your Majesty.
We'll go and have a look.
A message...from heaven.
lt is indeed a piece of paper, my Prince.
Read it.
''Forgive me, God, but l must tell someone who will listen.
''The abbess of Serra d'Aires and Father Vincente have involved me in great guilt.
''Tomorrow l will be burnt at the stake. Heavenly Father, l love only You.
''Yours, Maria Rosalia Coutinho.''
Stop! Do you want to end up on the woodpile too?
- Are you all possessed by the devil? - Not us, her.
Quiet now!
Make way.
Make room for His Majesty Prince Manuel Gon�ales of Portugal.
Quash the sentence immediately.
lt was imposed by the Judge of the lnquisition. Who...?
His Royal Majesty.
There must be another hearing in the trial of Maria Rosalia Coutinho.
Furthermore, the ones who are really guilty must be brought to trial.
The accused has confessed her guilt. Who else is supposed to be guilty?
Those two.
- Arrest them. - Who?
You failed to bring them to trial, Eminence. You shall do it now.
ln the name of His Majesty, stop!
You are his prisoners.