Sanbenito

Sanbenito (Spanish: sambenito;Catalan: gramalleta, sambenet) was a penitential garment that was used especially during the Spanish Inquisition. It was similar to a scapular, either yellow with red St. Andrew's crosses for penitent heretics or black and decorated with friars, dragons and devils for impenitent heretics to wear at an auto da fé (meaning "act of faith").

"San Benito" is the Spanish name of Saint Benedict. An alternative etymology by Covarrubias and former editions of the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española has it from saco bendito ("blessed sack"). Américo Castro "proved that it does not come from saco bendito".

González Obregon describes the three basic types of tunics used to distinguish those being punished by the Inquisition. These were the Samarra, Fuego revolto, and the Sambenito. The Samarra was used by those condemned to death, frequently through the burning at the stake; it featured painted dragons, devils, and flames amongst which the image of the prisoner could be distinguished. The Fuego revolto was used for those who had repented. The flames would be painted downwards, thus indicating that they had escaped death through fire. Finally there was the Sambenito used commonly by those in penitence and which featured the saltires, eventually became known to designate all three types.

The tunic of yellow cloth often reached down to the knees of the wearer, with figures of monks, dragons, and demons in the act of augmenting flames, signifying that the heretic is impenitent and is condemned to burn at the stake. If an impenitent is converted just before the procession, then the sanbenito is painted with the flames downward, which is called fuego repolto, and it means that the heretic is not to be burnt alive at the stake, but to have the mercy of being strangled before the fire is lit.

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