Denying a simple dying request for an important sacrament seems like a terribly cruel thing to do given the religious context. I suspect the locals thought so too. I don't know if anyone expected him to be freed, but denying the request seems to undermine the religious nature of the event.

That act may have been the straw that broke it. The religious justification for the whole thing may have fallen apart right there if they're not going to grant someone a sacrament just before their death.

This is hardly surprising in a context where the whole crime being discussed is failure to pay lip service to religious norms.

Keep in mind the context — a testimony being given to the inquisitor for someone accused of heresy, in a situation where the inquisitor may have designs to woo the accused sister!

Since when were the masses ever concerned with the moral principles of their religion or ideology? They only care about whatever the contemporary popular interpretation is because they want to fit in with their peers and avoid the burden of having to make moral decisions themselves and avoid the guilt of feeling like they did something wrong.