Galileo affair
Encyclopedia
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
came into conflict with the Aristotelian
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
scientific view of the universe (supported by the Catholic Church), over his support of Copernican astronomy
Heliocentrism
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism, is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a stationary Sun at the center of the universe. The word comes from the Greek . Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center...
.
In 1610, Galileo published his Sidereus Nuncius
Sidereus Nuncius
Sidereus Nuncius is a short treatise published in New Latin by Galileo Galilei in March 1610. It was the first scientific treatise based on observations made through a telescope...
(Starry Messenger), describing the surprising observations that he had made with the new telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
. These and other discoveries exposed severe difficulties with the scientific understanding of the universe that had existed since the beginning of science, and raised interest in new ideas such as the heliocentric
Heliocentrism
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism, is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a stationary Sun at the center of the universe. The word comes from the Greek . Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center...
theory of Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
(published in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus...
in 1543).
Many scientists attacked the theory because it disagreed with Aristotle's model of the universe, as well as several passages of Scripture
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Notable among these was Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe , born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations...
, one of the most prominent astronomers of his day, who had pointed out what he saw as problems of physics and astronomy in the theory of Copernicus, as well as problems of religion. Galileo's part in the controversies over theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
culminated in his trial and sentencing by the Roman Inquisition
Roman Inquisition
The Roman Inquisition was a system of tribunals developed by the Holy See during the second half of the 16th century, responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes related to heresy, including Protestantism, sorcery, immorality, blasphemy, Judaizing and witchcraft, as...
in 1633 on a grave suspicion of heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
.
1600 revolution in cosmology
Galileo began his telescopic observations in the later part of 1609, and by March of 1610 was able to publish a small book, The Starry Messenger (Sidereus NunciusSidereus Nuncius
Sidereus Nuncius is a short treatise published in New Latin by Galileo Galilei in March 1610. It was the first scientific treatise based on observations made through a telescope...
), relating some discoveries that had not been dreamed of in the philosophy of the time: mountains on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, lesser moons in orbit around Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
, and the resolution of what had been thought cloudy masses in the sky (nebulae) into collections of stars too faint to see individually without a telescope. Other observations followed, including the phases of Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
and the existence of sunspot
Sunspot
Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as dark spots compared to surrounding regions. They are caused by intense magnetic activity, which inhibits convection by an effect comparable to the eddy current brake, forming areas of reduced surface temperature....
s.
None of these findings, which were difficult at first for other astronomers to verify, proved that the Earth moved, or directly contradicted either Aristotle's model or Christian doctrine. However, they caused difficulties for natural philosophers of the time, as they contradicted scientific and philosophical ideas based on those of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
and Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
and closely associated with the Catholic Church then (despite their being pagan authors). In particular, the phases of Venus, which showed it to circle the sun, and the observation of moons orbiting Jupiter contradicted the geocentric model
Geocentric model
In astronomy, the geocentric model , is the superseded theory that the Earth is the center of the universe, and that all other objects orbit around it. This geocentric model served as the predominant cosmological system in many ancient civilizations such as ancient Greece...
of Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
, in which the motion of all celestial bodies was centered on the Earth.
Jesuit astronomers, experts both in Church teachings, science, and in natural philosophy, were at first skeptical and hostile to the new ideas; however, within a year or two the availability of good telescopes enabled them to repeat the observations. In 1611, Galileo visited the Collegium Romanum in Rome, where the Jesuit astronomers by that time had repeated his observations. Christoph Grienberger
Christoph Grienberger
Christoph Grienberger was an Austrian Jesuit astronomer, after whom the crater Gruemberger on the Moon is named.-Biography:Born in Hall in Tirol, in 1580 Christoph...
, one of the Jesuit scholars on the faculty, sympathized with Galileo’s theories, but was asked to defend the Aristotelian viewpoint by Claudio Acquaviva
Claudio Acquaviva
Claudio Acquaviva was an Italian Jesuit priest elected in 1581 the 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus...
, the Father General of the Jesuits. Not all of Galileo's claims were completely accepted: Christopher Clavius
Christopher Clavius
Christopher Clavius was a German Jesuit mathematician and astronomer who was the main architect of the modern Gregorian calendar...
, the most distinguished astronomer of his age, never was reconciled to the idea of mountains on the Moon, and outside the collegium many still disputed the reality of the observations. In a letter to Kepler
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
of August 1610, Galileo complained that some of the philosophers who opposed his discoveries had refused even to look through a telescope: Geocentrists who did verify and accept Galileo's findings had an alternative to Ptolemy's model in an alternative geocentric (or "geo-heliocentric") model
Tychonic system
The Tychonic system was a model of the solar system published by Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century which combined what he saw as the mathematical benefits of the Copernican system with the philosophical and "physical" benefits of the Ptolemaic system...
proposed some decades earlier by Tycho Brahe—a model, in which, for example, Venus circled the sun.
Galileo became involved in a dispute over priority in the discovery of sunspots with Christoph Scheiner
Christoph Scheiner
Christoph Scheiner SJ was a Jesuit priest, physicist and astronomer in Ingolstadt....
, a prominent Jesuit. This became a bitter lifelong feud. Neither of them, however, was the first to recognise sunspots—the Chinese had already been familiar with them for centuries.
At this time, Galileo also engaged in a dispute over the reasons that objects float or sink in water, siding with Archimedes
Archimedes
Archimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an...
against Aristotle. The debate was unfriendly, and Galileo's blunt and sometimes sarcastic style, though not extraordinary in academic debates of the time, made him enemies. During this controversy one of Galileo's friends, the painter, Lodovico Cardi da Cigoli
Cigoli
Lodovico Cardi , also known as Cigoli, was an Italian painter and architect of the late Mannerist and early Baroque period, trained and active in his early career in Florence, and spending the last nine years of his life in Rome.Lodovico Cardi was born at Villa Castelvecchio di Cigoli, in Tuscany,...
, informed him that a group of malicious opponents, which Cigoli subsequently referred to derisively as "the Pigeon league," was plotting to cause him trouble over the motion of the earth, or anything else that would serve the purpose. According to Cigoli, one of the plotters had asked a priest to denounce Galileo's views from the pulpit, but the latter had refused. Nevertheless, three years later another priest, Tommaso Caccini
Tommaso Caccini
Tommaso Caccini was an Italian Dominican friar and preacher.Born in Florence as Cosimo Caccini, he entered into the Dominican order of the Catholic Church as a teenager. Caccini began his career in the monastery of San Marco and gradually became renowned for his passionate sermons...
, did in fact do precisely that, as described below.
Bible argument
From antiquity, the majority of educated people subscribed to the Aristotelian view of geocentrism that the earth was the center of the universe and that all heavenly bodies revolved around the Earth. Despite the use of CopernicanCopernican
Copernican means of or pertaining to the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus* For the Copernican system of astronomy, see heliocentrism* For the philosophical principle, see Copernican principle* For the lunar geological period, see Copernician...
theories to reform the calendar in 1582,
this agreed with a literalist interpretation of Scripture in several places, such as 1 Chronicles
Books of Chronicles
The Books of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Masoretic Text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim . Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings...
16:30, Psalm 93
Psalm 93
Psalm 93 is the 93rd psalm in the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the psalm of the day for the Shir Shel Yom on Friday....
:1, Psalm 96
Psalm 96
Psalm 96 is one of the psalm in the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the second paragraph of Kabbalat Shabbat....
:10, Psalm 104
Psalm 104
Psalm 104 is a poem from the Book of Psalms in the Hebrew Bible, describing the ongoing act of God continuously bringing the world into existence. German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder remarked, "It is worth studying the Hebrew language for ten years in order to read Psalm 104 in the original"...
:5, Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
1:5. Further, since it was believed that in the incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
the Son of God
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
had descended to the earth and become man, it seemed fitting that the Earth be the center around which all other celestial bodies moved. Heliocentrism
Heliocentrism
Heliocentrism, or heliocentricism, is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a stationary Sun at the center of the universe. The word comes from the Greek . Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center...
, the theory that the Earth was a planet, which, along with all the others, revolved around the Sun, contradicted both geocentrism and the prevailing theological support of the theory.
One of the first suggestions of heresy that Galileo had to deal with came in 1613 from a professor of philosophy (what we would now call a professor of scientific theory), Cosimo Boscaglia
Cosimo Boscaglia
Cosimo Boscaglia was a professor of philosophy at the University of Pisa in Italy. He is the first person known to have accused Galileo of possible heresy for defending the heliocentric system of Copernicus, in 1613.-References:...
, who was neither a theologian nor a priest. In conversation with Galileo's patron, Cosimo II de' Medici, Boscaglia gave the opinion that the telescopic discoveries were valid, but the motion of the Earth was obviously contrary to Scripture. Galileo was defended on the spot by a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
, Benedetto Castelli
Benedetto Castelli
Benedetto Castelli , born Antonio Castelli, was an Italian mathematician. He took the name "Benedetto" upon entering the Benedictine Order in 1595....
, who was also a professor of mathematics and a former student of Galileo's. This exchange, reported to Galileo by Castelli, led Galileo to write a letter to Castelli, expounding his views on what he considered the most appropriate way of treating scriptural passages which made assertions about natural phenomena. Later, in 1615, he expanded this into his much longer Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina
Letter to Grand Duchess Christina
The Letter to The Grand Duchess Christina, written in 1615 by Galileo Galilei was an essay on the relation between the revelations of the Bible and the new discoveries then being made in science....
.
Tommaso Caccini
Tommaso Caccini
Tommaso Caccini was an Italian Dominican friar and preacher.Born in Florence as Cosimo Caccini, he entered into the Dominican order of the Catholic Church as a teenager. Caccini began his career in the monastery of San Marco and gradually became renowned for his passionate sermons...
, a Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
, appears to have made the first dangerous attack on Galileo. Preaching a sermon in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
at the end of 1614, he denounced Galileo, his associates, and mathematicians in general (a category that included astronomers). The biblical text for the sermon on that day was Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
10, in which Joshua makes the Sun stand still; this was the story that Castelli had had to interpret for the Medici family the year before. It is said, though it is not verifiable, that Caccini also used the passage "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?"
First meetings with theological authorities
Galileo argued that his telescopic observations favored the Copernican heliocentric theory as a physical truth.In late 1614 or early 1615, one of Caccini's fellow Dominicans, Niccolò Lorini, acquired a copy of Galileo's letter to Castelli, which he considered of sufficiently doubtful orthodoxy to bring to the attention of the Inquisition. In February 1615 he accordingly sent a copy to the Secretary of the Inquisition, Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati
Paolo Emilio Sfondrati
Paolo Emilio Sfondrati was an Italian Cardinal.Born to a noble family in Milan and the nephew of Pope Gregory XIV, he was the cardinal priest of Santa Cecilia, papal legate in Bologna, member of the Congregation of the Sant'Offizio and a good friend of San Filippo Neri.He was bishop of Cremona,...
, with a covering letter critical of Galileo's supporters.
On March 19, Caccini arrived at the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
's offices in Rome to denounce Galileo for his Copernicanism and various other alleged heresies supposedly being spread by his pupils.
Galileo soon heard reports that Lorini had obtained a copy of his letter to Castelli and was claiming that it contained many heresies. He also heard that Caccini had gone to Rome and suspected him of trying to stir up trouble with Lorini's copy of the letter. As 1615 wore on he became more concerned, and eventually determined to go to Rome as soon as his health permitted, which it did at the end of the year. By presenting his case there, he hoped to clear his name of any suspicion of heresy, and to persuade the Church authorities not to suppress heliocentric ideas. In this he was acting against the advice of friends and allies, and the Tuscan ambassador to Rome, Piero Guicciardini.
Bellarmine's view
Robert Cardinal BellarmineRobert Bellarmine
Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was one of the most important figures in the Counter-Reformation...
, one of the most respected Catholic theologians of the time, was called on to adjudicate the dispute between Galileo and his opponents, including both religious and secular university professors. The question of heliocentrism had first been raised with Cardinal Bellarmine, in the case of Paolo Antonio Foscarini, a Carmelite
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
father; Foscarini had published a book, Lettera ... sopra l'opinione ... del Copernico, which attempted to reconcile Copernicus with the biblical passages that seemed to be in contradiction. Bellarmine at first expressed the opinion that Copernicus's book would not be banned, but would at most require some editing so as to present the theory purely as a calculating device for "saving the appearances."
Foscarini sent a copy of his book to Bellarmine, who replied in a letter of April 12, 1615. Galileo is mentioned by name in the letter, and a copy was soon sent to him. After some preliminary salutations and acknowledgements, Bellarmine begins by telling Foscarini that it is prudent for him and Galileo to limit themselves to treating heliocentrism as a merely hypothetical phenomenon and not a physically real one. Further on he says that interpreting heliocentrism as physically real would be "a very dangerous thing, likely not only to irritate all scholastic philosophers and theologians, but also to harm the Holy Faith by rendering Holy Scripture as false." Moreover, while the topic was not inherently a matter of faith, the statements about it in Scripture were so by virtue of who said them—namely, the Holy Spirit. He conceded that if there were conclusive proof, "then one would have to proceed with great care in explaining the Scriptures that appear contrary; and say rather that we do not understand them, than that what is demonstrated is false." However, demonstrating that heliocentrism merely "saved the appearances" could not be regarded as sufficient to establish that it was physically real. Although he believed that the former may well have been possible, he had "very great doubts" that the latter would be, and in case of doubt it was not permissible to depart from the traditional interpretation of Scriptures. His final argument was a rebuttal of an analogy that Foscarini had made between a moving Earth and a ship on which the passengers perceive themselves as apparently stationary and the receding shore as apparently moving. Bellarmine replied that in the case of the ship the passengers know that their perceptions are erroneous and can mentally correct them, whereas the scientist on the Earth clearly experiences that it is stationary and therefore the perception that the Sun, moon and stars are moving are not in error and have no need to be corrected.
Bellarmine found no problem with heliocentrism so long as it was treated as a purely hypothetical calculating device and not as a physically real phenomenon, but he did not regard it as permissible to advocate the latter unless it could be conclusively proved through current scientific standards. This put Galileo in a difficult position, because he believed that the available evidence strongly favoured heliocentrism, and he wished to be able to publish his arguments, but he did not have the conclusive proof necessary to satisfy Bellarmine's requirements.
Inquisition examination
On February 19, 1616, the Inquisition asked a commission of theologians, known as qualifiers, about the propositions of the heliocentric view of the universe. Historians of the Galileo affair have offered different accounts of why the matter was referred to the qualifiers at this time. Beretta points out that the Inquisition had taken a deposition from Gianozzi Attavanti in November, 1615, as part of its investigation into the denunciations of Galileo by Lorini and Caccini. In this deposition, Attavanti confirmed that Galileo had advocated the Copernican doctrines of a stationary Sun and a mobile Earth, and as a consequence the Tribunal of the Inquisition would have eventually needed to determine the theological status of those doctrines. It is however possible, as surmised by the Tuscan ambassador, Piero Guiccardini, in a letter to the Grand Duke, that the actual referral may have been precipitated by Galileo's aggressive campaign to prevent the condemnation of Copernicanism.On February 24 the Qualifiers delivered their unanimous report: the idea that the Sun is stationary is "foolish and absurd in philosophy, and formally heretical since it explicitly contradicts in many places the sense of Holy Scripture..."; while the Earth's movement "receives the same judgement in philosophy and ... in regard to theological truth it is at least erroneous in faith."
At a meeting of the cardinals of the Inquisition on the following day, Pope Paul V
Pope Paul V
-Theology:Paul met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus. Whether there was also an order not to teach those ideas in any way has been a matter for controversy...
instructed Bellarmine to deliver this result to Galileo, and to order him to abandon the Copernican opinions; should Galileo resist the decree, stronger action would be taken. On February 26, Galileo was called to Bellarmine's residence, and accepted the orders. On March 5, the decree was issued by the Congregation of the Index, prohibiting, condemning, or suspending various books which advocated the truth of the Copernican system.
Galileo met again with Bellarmine, apparently on friendly terms; and on March 11 he met with the Pope, who assured him that he was safe from persecution so long as he, the Pope, should live. Nonetheless, Galileo's friends Sagredo
Giovanni Francesco Sagredo
Giovanni Francesco Sagredo was a Venetian mathematician and close friend of Galileo, who wrote:Many years ago I was often to be found in the marvelous city of Venice, in discussions with Signore Giovanni Francesco Sagredo, a man of noble extraction and trenchant wit. He was also a friend and...
and Castelli reported that there were rumors that Galileo had been forced to recant and do penance. To protect his good name, Galileo requested a letter from Bellarmine stating the truth of the matter. This letter assumed great importance in 1633, as did the question whether Galileo had been ordered not to "hold or defend" Copernican ideas (which would have allowed their hypothetical treatment) or not to teach them in any way. If the Inquisition had issued the order not to teach heliocentrism at all, it would have been ignoring Bellarmine's position.
In the end, the mission was a failure. Galileo did not persuade the Church to stay out of the controversy, but instead saw heliocentrism formally declared an idea that could not be held as truth, for lack of evidence. It was consequently termed heretical by the Qualifiers, since it contradicted the literal meaning of the Scriptures, though this position was not binding on the Church. Foscarini's book was banned; while Copernicus' De Revolutionibus
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus...
, though not formally banned, was removed from circulation pending revisions, and in fact was not fully cleared until the 19th century. Though Galileo was personally safe, and his works had not been banned, there was now much doubt (felt by other astronomers as far away as Germany) whether it was possible to do serious work in Copernican astronomy.
Dialogue
In 1623, Pope Gregory XVPope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV , born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V on 9 February 1621...
, died, and was succeeded by Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
, who showed greater favor to Galileo, particularly after Galileo traveled to Rome to congratulate the new Pontiff.
Dava Sobel explains that during this time, Urban had begun to fall more and more under the influence of court intrigue and problems of state. His friendship with Galileo began to take second place to his feelings of persecution and fear for his own life. At this low point in Urban's life, the problem of Galileo was presented to the pope by court insiders and enemies of Galileo. Coming on top of the recent claim by the then Spanish cardinal that Urban was soft on defending the church, he reacted out of anger and fear. This situation did not bode well for Galileo's defense of his book.
In his 1998 book, Scientific Blunders, Robert Youngson indicates that Galileo struggled for two years against the ecclesiastical censor to publish a book promoting heliocentrism. He claims the book passed only as a result of possible idleness or carelessness on the part of the censor, who was eventually dismissed. On the other hand, Jerome K. Langford and Raymond J. Seeger contend that Pope Urban and the Inquisition gave formal permission to publish the book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic & Copernican
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
The Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems was a 1632 Italian language book by Galileo Galilei comparing the Copernican system with the traditional Ptolemaic system. It was translated to Latin as Systema cosmicum in 1635 by Matthias Bernegger...
. They claim Urban personally asked Galileo to give arguments for and against heliocentrism in the book, to include Urban's own arguments, and for Galileo not to advocate heliocentrism.
The Dialogue, which was published in 1632 to great popularity, was an account of conversations between a Copernican scientist, Salviati, an impartial and witty scholar named Sagredo, and a ponderous Aristotelian named Simplicio, who employed stock arguments in support of geocentricity, and was depicted in the book as being an intellectually inept fool. Simplicio's arguments are systematically refuted and ridiculed by the other two characters with what Youngson calls "unassailable proof" for the Copernican theory (at least versus the theory of Ptolemy—as Finocchiaro points out, "the Copernican and Tychonic systems were observationally equivalent and the available evidence could be explained equally well by either"), which reduces Simplicio to baffled rage, and makes the author's position unambiguous. Indeed, although Galileo states in the preface of his book that the character is named after a famous Aristotelian philosopher (Simplicius
Simplicius of Cilicia
Simplicius of Cilicia, was a disciple of Ammonius Hermiae and Damascius, and was one of the last of the Neoplatonists. He was among the pagan philosophers persecuted by Justinian in the early 6th century, and was forced for a time to seek refuge in the Persian court, before being allowed back into...
in Latin, Simplicio in Italian), the name "Simplicio" in Italian also has the connotation of "simpleton." Although authors Langford and Stillman Drake assert that Simplicio was modeled on philosophers Lodovico delle Colombe and Cesare Cremonini
Cesare Cremonini (philosopher)
Cesare Cremonini, sometimes Cesare Cremonino , was an Italian professor of natural philosophy, working rationalism and Aristotelian materialism inside scholasticism...
, Pope Urban's demand for his own arguments to be included in the book resulted in Galileo putting them in the mouth of Simplicio. It is not clear why Galileo chose to do this rather than create another character to represent Pope Urban's views. In any event, Galileo had mocked the very person he needed as a benefactor. He also alienated his long-time supporters, the Jesuits, with attacks on one of their astronomers. This portrayal of Simplicio made Dialogue appear as an advocacy book: an attack on Aristotelian geocentrism and defence of the Copernican theory, and because Galileo gave Urban's words to Simplicio to espouse, furious cardinals insisted to Pope Urban that Simplicio was intended to represent him. Though this was not the case, as Galileo was a friend of Urban's who was grateful for Urban's support to date, Urban was persuaded of this notion, and months after the book's publication, banned its sale and had its text submitted for examination by a special commission, which reported against Galileo. Most historians agree Galileo did not act out of malice and felt blindsided by the reaction to his book.
Redondi's theory
According to a controversial alternative theory, proposed by Pietro Redondi in 1983, the main reason for Galileo's condemnation in 1633 was his attack on the AristotelianAristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
doctrine of matter
Matter
Matter is a general term for the substance of which all physical objects consist. Typically, matter includes atoms and other particles which have mass. A common way of defining matter is as anything that has mass and occupies volume...
rather than his defence of Copernicanism. An anonymous document discovered by Redondi in the Vatican archives had argued that the atomism espoused by Galileo in his previous work, The Assayer
The Assayer
The Assayer was a book published in Rome by Galileo Galilei in October 1623.The book was a polemic against the treatise on the comets of 1618 by Orazio Grassi, a Jesuit mathematician at the Collegio Romano. In this matter Grassi, for all his Aristotelianism, was right and Galileo was wrong...
, of 1623 was incompatible with the doctrine of transubstantiation
Transubstantiation
In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...
of the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
. At the time, investigation of this complaint was apparently trusted to a Father Giovanni di Guevara, who was well-disposed towards Galileo, and who cleared The Assayer from any taint of unorthodoxy. However, according to Redondi:
- The Jesuits, who had been deeply offended by The Assayer, regarded the ideas about matter expressed by Galileo in The Dialogue as further evidence that his atomism was heretically inconsistent with the doctrine of the Eucharist, and strongly protested against it on these grounds.
- Pope Urban VIIIPope Urban VIIIPope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
, who had been under attack by Spanish cardinals for being too tolerant of heretics, but who had also encouraged Galileo to publish The Dialogue, would have been severely compromised if his enemies among the Cardinal Inquisitors had found out that he had been guilty of supporting a publication containing Eucharistic heresies. - Urban, after banning the book's sale, established a commission to examine The Dialogue, ostensibly for the purpose of determining whether it would be possible to avoid referring the matter to the Inquisition at all, and as a special favor to Galileo's patron, the Grand Duke of TuscanyFerdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of TuscanyFerdinando II de' Medici was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest child of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. His 49 year rule was punctuated by the terminations of the remaining operations of the Medici Bank, and the beginning of Tuscany's long economic...
. Urban's real purpose, though, was to avoid having the accusations of Eucharistic heresy referred to the Inquisition, and he stacked the commission with friendly commissioners who could be relied upon not to mention them in their report. The commission reported against Galileo.
Redondi's theory has been severely criticized, and almost universally rejected, by other Galileo scholars. However, it has been supported recently by science writer Michael White
Michael White (author)
Michael White is a British writer based in Sydney, Australia. He has been a science editor of British GQ, a columnist for the Sunday Express in London and, 'in a previous incarnation', he was a member of the band the Thompson Twins and Colour me Pop...
.
Trial
Melchior Inchofer
Melchior Inchofer or Imhofer was a Hungarian Jesuit. He played an important part in the trial of Galileo, by his arguments that Galileo was an advocate of the Copernican system in Tractatus Syllepticus...
, Agostino Oreggi and Zaccaria Pasqualigo, reported on the Dialogue. Their opinions were strongly argued in favour of the view that the Dialogue taught the Copernican theory.
Galileo was found guilty, and the sentence of the Inquisition, issued on 22 June 1633, was in three essential parts:
- Galileo was found "vehemently suspect of heresy," namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies motionless at the center of the universe, that the Earth is not at its centre and moves, and that one may hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture. He was required to "abjure, curse, and detest"AbjurationAbjuration is the solemn repudiation, abandonment, or renunciation by or upon oath, often the renunciation of citizenship or some other right or privilege. .-Abjuration of the realm:...
those opinions. - He was sentenced to formal imprisonment at the pleasure of the Inquisition. On the following day this was commuted to house arrest, which he remained under for the rest of his life.
- His offending Dialogue was banned; and in an action not announced at the trial, publication of any of his works was forbidden, including any he might write in the future.
According to popular legend, after his abjuration Galileo allegedly muttered the rebellious phrase And yet it moves
Eppur Si Muove
Eppur si muove is the third full-length album by the German symphonic metal band Haggard. It was released on April 26, 2004 by Drakkar Entertainment....
, but there is no evidence that he actually said this or anything similar. The first account of the legend dates to a century after his death.
After a period with the friendly Archbishop Piccolomini in Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
, Galileo was allowed to return to his villa at Arcetri
Arcetri
Arcetri is a region of Florence, Italy, in the hills to the south of the city centre.-Landmarks:A number of historic buildings are situated there, including the house of the famous scientist Galileo Galilei ,...
near Florence, where he spent the remainder of his life under house arrest. He continued his work on mechanics, and in 1638, he published a scientific book in Holland. His standing would remain questioned at every turn. In March 1641, Vincentio Reinieri
Vincentio Reinieri
Vincentio Reinieri was an Italian mathematician and astronomer. He was a friend and disciple of Galileo Galilei....
, a follower and pupil of Galileo, wrote him at Arcetri that an Inquisitor had recently compelled the author of a book printed at Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
to change the words "most distinguished Galileo" to "Galileo, man of noted name."
However, partially in tribute to Galileo, at Arcetri the first academy devoted to the new experimental science, The Accademia del Cimento
Accademia del Cimento
The Accademia del Cimento , an early scientific society, was founded in Florence 1657 by students of Galileo, Giovanni Alfonso Borelli and Vincenzo Viviani. The foundation of Academy was funded by Prince Leopoldo and Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici...
was formed, which is where Francesco Redi
Francesco Redi
Francesco Redi was an Italian physician, naturalist, and poet.-Biography:The son of Gregorio Redi and Cecilia de Ghinci was born in Arezzo on February 18, 1626. After schooling with the Jesuits, he attended the University of Pisa...
performed the first controlled experiment and many other important advancements were made which would eventually help usher in The Age of Enlightenment.
Modern Catholic Church views
In 1758 the Catholic Church dropped the general prohibition of books advocating heliocentrism from the Index of Forbidden BooksIndex Librorum Prohibitorum
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
. It did not, however, explicitly rescind the decisions issued by the Inquisition in its judgement of 1633 against Galileo, or lift the prohibition of uncensored versions of Copernicus's De Revolutionibus or Galileo's Dialogue. As a result, the precise doctrinal status of heliocentrism remained unclear, and many Catholic scientists continued to pay lip service to the view that it could only be treated as a hypothesis. Others, however, openly endorsed it as an established fact without meeting any official opposition from the Church. The issue finally came to a head in 1820 when the Master of the Sacred Palace (the Church's chief censor), Filippo Anfossi
Filippo Anfossi
Filippo Anfossi was a Vicar-General of the Dominicans and Master of the Sacred Palace.Anfossi was born in Taggia, Province of Imperia....
, refused to license a book by a Catholic canon, Giuseppe Settele, because it openly treated heliocentrism as a physical fact. Settele appealed to the then pope, Pius VII. After the matter had been reconsidered by the Congregation of the Index and the Holy Office, Anfossi's decision was overturned. Copernicus's De Revolutionibus and Galileo's Dialogue were then subsequently omitted from the next edition of the Index when it appeared in 1835.
On February 15, 1990, in a speech delivered at La Sapienza University in Rome, Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, cited some current views on the Galileo affair as forming what he called "a symptomatic case that illustrates the extent to which modernity’s doubts about itself have grown today in science and technology." As evidence, he presented the views of a few prominent philosophers including Ernst Bloch
Ernst Bloch
Ernst Bloch was a German Marxist philosopher.Bloch was influenced by both Hegel and Marx and, as he always confessed, by novelist Karl May. He was also interested in music and art . He established friendships with Georg Lukács, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Theodor W. Adorno...
and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the research team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under Werner Heisenberg's leadership...
, as well as Paul Feyerabend
Paul Feyerabend
Paul Karl Feyerabend was an Austrian-born philosopher of science best known for his work as a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked for three decades . He lived a peripatetic life, living at various times in England, the United States, New Zealand,...
, whom he quoted as saying:
Ratzinger did not indicate whether he agreed or disagreed with Feyerabend's assertions, but he did say "It would be foolish to construct an impulsive apologetic on the basis of such views."
In 1992, it was reported in the news that the Catholic Church had turned around towards vindicating Galileo:
In 2000, Pope John Paul II issued a formal apology for all the mistakes committed by some Catholics in the last 2,000 years of the Catholic Church's history, including the trial of Galileo among others.
In January 2008, as Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, Ratzinger canceled a visit to La Sapienza University, the same one he had visited in 1990, following a protest letter signed by 67 of its 4,500 academics, as well as a few dozen of its 135,000 students. The petition included a truncated version of the Feyerabend quotation and asserted that Ratzinger's reiteration of the quoted words had "offended and humiliated" them. The full text of the speech that would have been given was made available a few days following Pope Benedict's cancelled appearance at the university.
La Sapienza's rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
, Renato Guarini, has been quoted as stating that the cancellation was a "defeat for the freedom of expression"; Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...
echoed such concerns.
Also notable were public counter-statements by La Sapienza professors Giorgio Israel and Bruno Dalla Piccola.
Artistic treatments
The Galileo affair forms the subject of the play Life of GalileoLife of Galileo
Life of Galileo , also known as Galileo, is a play by the twentieth-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. The first version of the play was written between 1937 and 1939; the second version was written between 1945–1947, in collaboration with Charles Laughton...
by Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
.
See also
- Catholic Church and science
- E pur si muove!E pur si muove!"Eppur si muove" is an Italian phrase meaning "And yet it moves" said to have been uttered by the Italian mathematician, physicist and philosopher Galileo Galilei after being forced to recant in 1633, before the Inquisition, his belief that the Earth moves around the Sun.Some historians believe...
External links
- Galileo Galilei, Scriptural Exegete, and the Church of Rome, Advocate of Science lecture (audio here) by Thomas Aquinas CollegeThomas Aquinas CollegeThomas Aquinas College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college offering a single integrated academic program. It is located in Santa Paula, California north of Los Angeles. It offers a unique education with courses based on the Great Books and seminar method...
tutor Dr. Christopher Decaen - "The End of the Myth of Galileo Galilei" by Atila Sinke Guimarães
- The Starry Messenger (1610). An English translation from Bard College
- Sidereus Nuncius (1610) Original Latin text at LiberLiber online library.
- Galileo's letter to Castelli of 1613. The English translation given on the web page at this link is from Finocchiaro (1989), contrary to the claim made in the citation given on the page itself.
- Galileo's letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of 1615
- Bellarmine's letter to Foscarini of 1615
- Inquisition documents, 1616 and 1633
- Galileo: Science and Religion Extensively documented series of lectures by William E.Carroll and Peter Hodgson.
- Edizione Nationale . A searchable online copy of Favaro's National Edition of Galileo's works at the website of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Florence.