Did he confess, and forswear his heresy, whether actually innocent or not, he might then assume the sacred shirt, and escape with confiscation of all his property.

Did he persist in the avowal of his innocence, two witnesses sent him to the stake, one witness to the rack.
He was informed of the testimony against him, but never confronted with the witness.

That accuser might be his son, father, or the wife of his bosom, for all were enjoined, under the death penalty, to inform the inquisitors of every suspicious word which might fall from their nearest relatives.

The indictment being thus supported, the prisoner was tried by torture.

The rack was the court of justice; the criminal's only advocate was his fortitude--for the nominal counsellor, who was permitted no communication with the prisoner, and was furnished neither with documents nor with power to procure evidence, was a puppet, aggravating the lawlessness of the proceedings by the mockery of legal forms: The torture took place at midnight, in a gloomy dungeon, dimly, lighted by torches.
The victim--whether man, matron, or tender virgin--was stripped naked, and stretched upon the wooden bench.