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→Sentence and Auto de Fe: +img
==Sentence and Auto de Fe==
==Sentence and Auto de Fe==
[[Image:Auto de Fe.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Engraving of an ''auto de fe'' in Spain (1559)]]
As the arrest took place after assessment of the evidence, the prisoner was effectively found guilty at the instant of his arrest. Interrogation served not to prove guilt or innocence, merely to obtain a confession, after which penance could be assigned. Kept in ignorance of the precise charge and so unable to formulate a plausible defence, the prisoner was advised "''to search his conscience, confess the truth, and trust to the mercy of the tribunal.''"<ref>'''Kamen''', ''op cit.''</ref> Theoretically this could last for months, even years, before finally the prisoner was informed of the charges. There were defence lawyers available, known as ''abogados de los presos'', but as they were themselves full-time officials of the Inquisition, they were particularly ineffective and distrusted by prisoners.
As the arrest took place after assessment of the evidence, the prisoner was effectively found guilty at the instant of his arrest. Interrogation served not to prove guilt or innocence, merely to obtain a confession, after which penance could be assigned. Kept in ignorance of the precise charge and so unable to formulate a plausible defence, the prisoner was advised "''to search his conscience, confess the truth, and trust to the mercy of the tribunal.''"<ref>'''Kamen''', ''op cit.''</ref> Theoretically this could last for months, even years, before finally the prisoner was informed of the charges. There were defence lawyers available, known as ''abogados de los presos'', but as they were themselves full-time officials of the Inquisition, they were particularly ineffective and distrusted by prisoners.