auto-da-fé
Inquisition's public execution
Auto-da-fé was the public ceremony in which the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions pronounced judgment on accused heretics.
The phrase is Portuguese for "act of faith." Those condemned might be burned at the stake, though the ceremony itself was the sentencing, not the execution.
The term now applies figuratively to any ritualized destruction, especially the burning of books or ideas: The bonfire became an auto-da-fé of banned literature.
Combustion in progress
- stakeSharpened post or share
- executionCompleting a planned task
- pyreFuneral burning heap
- immolationSacrificial killing, often burning
garrote · strangulation · flames · death · torture · sanction · penalty · condemnation
Formal moving line
- spectacleVisually striking event
- pageantryElaborate ceremonial display
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
- publicAvailable to all
plaza · scaffold · sermon · proclamation · condemnation · crowd · solemnity · torch
Belief opposing official doctrine
- TorquemadaNotorious Spanish religious enforcer
- SpainIberian Peninsula country
- PortugalIberian Peninsula republic
- tribunalJudicial decision-making body
accused · trial · confession · interrogation · denouncement · relaxation · Seville · Lima
Belief opposing official doctrine
- faithTrust without proof
- orthodoxyAdherence to accepted beliefs
- apostasyRenunciation of former beliefs
- blasphemyIrreverence toward the sacred
dogma · absolution · penance · reconciliation · abjuration · Catholicism · salvation · excommunication
burning
Combustion in progress
immolation · garrote · strangulation · flames · death · torture · sanction · penalty · condemnation · sentence
procession
Formal moving line
- spectacleVisually striking event
- pageantryElaborate ceremonial display
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
public · plaza · scaffold · sermon · proclamation · condemnation · crowd · solemnity · torch · pyre
heresy
Belief opposing official doctrine
- TorquemadaNotorious Spanish religious enforcer
- SpainIberian Peninsula country
- PortugalIberian Peninsula republic
tribunal · accused · trial · confession · interrogation · denouncement · relaxation · Seville · Lima · Goa
heresy
Belief opposing official doctrine
- faithTrust without proof
- orthodoxyAdherence to accepted beliefs
- apostasyRenunciation of former beliefs
blasphemy · dogma · absolution · penance · reconciliation · abjuration · Catholicism · salvation · excommunication · anathema
auto-da-féfair trial
Impartial judicial proceeding
due process · habeas corpus · presumption of innocence · rule of law · acquittal
auto-da-féreligious freedom
Right to practice faith
ecumenism · pluralism · freedom of conscience · interfaith dialogue · separation of church and state
auto, automatic, autonomy, automobile, autograph, autonomous, automation, autocratic, autopsy