History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1MacCaffrey, James
Religion
History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1
MacCaffrey, James
Catholic Church -- History -- Modern period, 1500-
Galileo left Rome with no intention of observing the promise he had
made. After the election of Urban VIII. who, as Cardinal Barberini,
had been his faithful friend and supporter, Galileo returned to Rome
(1624) in the hope of procuring a revision of the verdict; but though
he was received with all honour, and accorded an annual pension from
the papal treasury his request was refused. He returned to Florence,
where he published eight years later a new book on the subject,
couched in the form of a dialogue between supporters of the rival
systems, the Ptolemaic and the Copernican, in which Simplicissimus,
the defender of the old view, was not only routed but covered with
ridicule. Such a flagrant violation of his promise could not pass
unnoticed. He was summoned to appear once more before the Inquisition,
and arrived in Rome in February 1633. At first he denied that he had
written in favour of his views since 1616, then he pleaded guilty,
confessed that he was in error, and appealed to the court to deal
gently with an old and infirm man. He was found guilty, and was
condemned to recite the seven penitential psalms once a week for three
years, and to be imprisoned at the pleasure of the Inquisition. It is
not true to say that Galileo was shut up in the dungeons of the
Inquisition. He was detained only for a few days, and even during that
time he was lodged in the comfortable apartments of one of the higher
officials. Neither is it correct to state that he was tortured or
subjected to any bodily punishment. He was released almost immediately
on parole, and lived for a time at Rome in the palace of the Grand
Duke of Tuscany. Later on he retired to his villa at Arcetri, and
finally he was allowed to return to Florence. In 1642, fortified by
the last sacraments and comforted by the papal benediction, he passed
away. His body was laid to rest within the walls of the Church of
Santa Croce at Florence. Most of his misfortunes were due to his own
rashness and the imprudence of his friends and supporters. His
condemnation is the sole scientific blunder that can be laid to the
charge of the Roman Congregation. That his condemnation was not due to
any hatred of science or to any desire of the Roman ecclesiastics to
oppose the progress of knowledge is evident enough from the favours
and honours lavished upon his predecessors in the same field of
research, Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, Peurbach, Muller (Regiomontanus),
and Copernicus.
(g) Progress of Theological Studies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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