It was a euphemism for being handed over to be burned
Inquisition records used the bland phrase 'relaxado en persona' — relaxed in person — for the harshest outcome of all. Once the Church 'relaxed' a prisoner, civil officials took custody and carried out the execution, typically transporting the condemned to the quemadero outside the city to be burned, sometimes before a small crowd at night rather than the festive daytime ceremony. The soft wording hid a brutal reality and shifted the visible act of killing onto the state.
