Definition of Auto-dafe

Definition of Auto-dafe

Auto-da-fé, or Act of Faith, a ceremony held by the court of the Inquisition in Spain, preliminary to the execution of a heretic, in which the condemned, dressed in a hideously fantastic robe, called the San Benito, and a pointed cap, walked in a procession of monks, followed by carts containing coffins with malefactors' bones, to hear a sermon on the true faith, prior to being burned alive; the most famous auto-da-fé took place in Madrid in 1680.

- Wikipedia

||Au"to-da-fé" (&?;), n.; pl. Autos-da-fé (&?;). [Pg., act of the faith; auto act, fr. L. actus + da of the + fé faith, fr. L. fides.] 1. A judgment of the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal condemning or acquitting persons accused of religious offenses.

2. An execution of such sentence, by the civil power, esp. the burning of a heretic. It was usually held on Sunday, and was made a great public solemnity by impressive forms and ceremonies.

3. A session of the court of Inquisition.

- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

The public announcement of the sentences imposed by the Inquisition on supposed heretics
The public execution of those sentences often by burning at the stake

- The Nuttall Encyclopedia

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