THE ODYSSEY OF RENÉ DU CHASTELET DES BOYS – PART 11

(This post is a continuation of The Odyssey of René du Chastelet des Boys – Parts 1 through 10. If you haven’t done so already, it’s probably best to read at least the more recent of those posts before continuing on here.)

This episode from René du Chastelet des Boys experience in Algiers tells the story of a priest who converted to Islam and then had an attack of conscience and recanted—with dire consequences.

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Two days after our return to Algiers, news reached us of a man named Mustapha, who had been a Christian monk but had renounced his faith, doffed his habit, and become a Muslim. After six months,  he repented of his infidelity and went before Issouf Pasha [the Ottoman Governor of Algiers] to announce the reversion to his old faith.

In order to properly explain this man’s misfortune and eventual martyrdom, it is necessary say a few words about his life.

He had been an Augustinian monk named Father Dominique, originally from Gandia, a small town in the kingdom of Valencia, in Spain. Algiers corsairs captured him while he was serving as a missionary to the Cape Verde Islands. In Algiers, Ali Bitchenin, general of the galleys, bought him in the expectation of receiving a large ransom for him.

Father Dominique, however, was a notorious libertine. The Fathers of the Mercedarian Order assembled a goodly sum of money from public alms to ransom him, but after ransoming him, they would then have handed him over to his superiors. Father Dominique feared that those of his order would behave as Inquisitors rather than fathers of redemption, and so he went before Issouf Pasha and proclaimed his intent to become a Muslim. After the ordinary ceremonies, in which he asserted that he hated his own religion and embraced Islam instead, the thing was done.

This unexpected conversion became news in all the cities of North Africa, and Marabouts, dervishes, and other solitaries rejoiced. Mustapha (for so he was now called) lived quite happy for some time. After a while, though, he began to repent. And so he went before Issouf Pasha once more and announced his intent to return to his former faith.

Issouf Pasha, a man of age and experience, guessed that lack of funds had weakened Mustapha’s fervor for his new profession of faith, and so Issouf Pasha promised to raise his remuneration by four reals [Spanish pieces of eight] per moon (the Turks count their months by the phases of the moon) as well as a promotion to Deputy Governor of the garrison and fortress of Gigeli or Bougie. These advantageous offers would have shaken Mustapha’s firmness of purpose if his design had only been the search for temporal conveniences. But having fully committed himself, he was not tempted.

Issouf Pasha did not immediately condemn him. Instead, he gave him three days to deliberate. During that time, the dervishes, marabouts, saints, and chiefs never ceased to besiege his mind. Finding him unshakable, though, they handed him over to the Divan [the ruling council of Algiers] and demanded his condemnation and a fitting punishment for his treachery, for he was, they said, no longer worthy to bear the turban or the name of Mustapha.

After the three days of delay granted by Issouf Pasha had passed, the Divan duly met and, at the request of those zealous in the Mohammedan religion, condemned Father Dominique to the fire—the standard punishment of those who convert to Islam and then recant afterwards.

The judgment of the Divan being pronounced and made public, the area just outside the Bab Azzoun [the Gate of Grief, one of the city gates of Algiers] was chosen as the site for the cruel ceremony to take place.

An official order was given to bring wood to that spot outside the gate, and slaves were designated to haul the wood. It was my misfortune to be chosen as one of those slaves. I was forced to carry three bundles, along with two English and a Portuguese slave. Between us, we hauled fourteen or fifteen large bundles of firewood, which we placed in a circle, ready to be set alight when Father Dominique should appear.

As Father Dominique was being led to the place of torture, he was informed, by order of Issouf Pasha, that if he publicly renounced his old Faith and re-embraced the turban, he could still be saved. But he stayed firm in his resolve and refused to listen to them.

Shortly after that, Father Dominique was stripped and tied to a ladder. Sausages of mixed sulfur and gunpowder were bound around the neck, his arms, and his legs. They then detached him from the ladder and led him to the designated place of torture.

When he arrived there, one of their famous marabouts, whose hermitage (to which I had been) is situated on the seashore near Bab al-Oued [another of the city gates of Algiers], approached him, stretching out his hand, and conjured him not to expose his body and soul to torture. Father Dominique only looked up to heaven, and the marabout abandoned him.

Father Dominique was then bound to the stake erected in the middle of the pyre, where the firewood was laid out. The wood were lit, and many in the crowd rushed off to collect stones.

The smoke of the burning hid from our eyes the sight of Father Dominique, who suffered three kinds of martyrdom: being burned, being suffocated, and being stoned.

Some parts of the body were recovered by his comrades. I myself brought his hand to a Carmelite missionary, who took it with him on his journey to Genoa and from there to Mallorca.

Thus ended the life of this unfortunate man.

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For the next installment of René du Chastelet des Boys’ adventures, see The Odyssey of René du Chastelet des Boys – Part 12

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For those who may be interested…

The above excerpt (which, as usual, has been somewhat abridged) comes from des Boys’ L’Odyssée ou diversité d’aventures, rencontres et voyages en Europe, Asie et Affrique, pp. 72 – 76.