The holy office invaded the prince in his palace and the beggar in his shroud.

The corpses of dead heretics were mutilated and burned.

The inquisitors preyed upon carcases and rifled graves.

A gorgeous festival of the holy office had, as we have seen, welcomed Philip to his native land.

The news of these tremendous autos-da fe, in which so many illustrious victims had been sacrificed before their sovereign's eyes, had reached the Netherlands almost simultaneously with the bulls creating the new bishoprics in the provinces.