During
most of the 16th and 17th centuries, fear of heretics spreading
teachings and opinions that contradicted the Bible dominated the
Catholic Church. They persecuted scientists who formed theories the
Church deemed heretical and forbade people from reading any books on
those subjects by placing the books on the Index of Prohibited Books. A
type of war between science and religion
was in play but there would be more casualties on the side of science.
Nicholas Copernicus and Galileo Galilei were two scientists who printed
books that later became banned. Copernicus faced no persecution when he
was alive because he died shortly after publishing his book. Galileo, on
the other hand, was tried by the Inquisition after his book was
published. Both scientists held the same theory that the Earth revolved
around the sun, a theory now known to be true. However, the Church
disapproved of this theory because the Holy Scriptures state that the
Earth is at the center, not the Sun. As the contents of the Bible were
taken literally, the publishing of these books proved, to the Church,
that Copernicus and Galileo were sinners; they preached, through their
writing, that the Bible was wrong.
Copernicus published his book
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies (hereafter referred to simply as
Revolutions) in 1543 shortly before his death.1.) In
Revolutions,
Copernicus states that the Sun is at the center and the Earth revolves
around it while rotating on its axis daily.2.) Like all scholarly
authors, Copernicus wrote in Latin, which only educated people could
read, effectively minimizing the number of readers to a select few.3.)
The phrasing Copernicus utilized was “that
if the earth were in motion
then
the observed phenomenon would result.”4.) This phrasing is extremely
important as it means the Copernicus himself could deny he believed it;
he merely fashioned it in such a way that it was a hypothesis that would
allow astronomers to correct mathematical errors they came across while
observing the heavens. By writing in this fashion, Copernicus would
have been able to deny that he himself believed in heliocentrism because
he phrased it as nothing more than a hypothesis and as a result, would
be able to slip past the Church's dislike of heliocentrism.
Copernicus' theories are not fully formed, meaning there are
several flaws that make the heliocentric hypothesis appear weak and
ill-contrived. According to Giovanni Tolsani in 1546, a member of the
Dominican Order, “almost all the hypotheses of this author Copernicus
contain something false”5.) and he “seems unfamiliar with Holy
Scripture since he contradicts some of its principles.”6.)
Revolutions
was not placed on the Index of Prohibited Books until 1616,
seventy-three years after it was first published.7.) A censored version
with some sections changed or omitted was released four years after it
was prohibited.8.) It is possible that
Revolutions was not
banned immediately because of its hypothetical nature and weak
arguments. However, Tolsani also wrote, a papal authority “had planned
to condemn his [Copernicus'] book. But, prevented at first by illness,
then by death, he could not carry out this [plan].”9.) After his death,
the Church was heavily involved in the Council of Trent during the
years 1545 to 1563 and other matters10.) . Thus,
Revolutions escaped prohibition for many years and eventually influenced Galileo Galilei, who read it and wrote on the subject himself.
In 1616, Galileo was issued an injunction not to “hold, defend, or teach” heliocentrism.11.) When he began writing
Dialogues
in 1624, he intended to present both arguments equally. However, he
wrote the arbitrator in such a way that he decided the Copernican
speaker had the most points that made logical sense, thus supporting
Copernicanism throughout his book.12.)
When Galileo originally tried to print
Dialogues in 1630, he
was ordered to have it printed in Rome. However, he left Rome because
of the outbreak of plague and communicated with the Master of the Sacred
Palace, the chief censor, through writing. The Master of the Sacred
Palace ordered Galileo to have someone the Master chose review the
manuscript to ensure it was fit for publishing. Father Master Giancito
Stefani was chosen to review the manuscript and the publisher followed
all instructions from the Father Master.13.) Galileo said, during his
trial in 1633, that he did not believe what he wrote, that he let his
vanity influence his words and phrasing to make him appear more
intelligent to his readers but this plan failed when his readers came to
the conclusion that he believed the Copernican hypothesis to be true
because of his powerful phrasing.14.)
Galileo wrote and published
Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World, Ptolemaic and Copernican (
Dialogues)
in 1632; Pope Urban VIII issued an order almost immediately to prevent
the publisher from printing more copies.15.) It was printed in Italian,
not in Latin like
Revolutions,
so all of Italy was able to read it.16.) The original title had been
Dialogue on the Ebb and Flow of the Sea
but it was changed so it would not appear that Galileo was pushing the
fact that the tides supported his opinion and the new title also
appeared more theoretical. Also, the title with the sea in it might have
made the Church feel threatened that Galileo was supporting
heliocentrism, which would have resulted in Galileo being charged with
heresy.
Dialogues was structured as several conversations
between a supporter of Ptolemy, a Copernicus supporter, and a neutral
arbitrator. The Copernican supporter spoke Galileo's mind and the
Ptolemaic supporter was called Simplicio, simpleton in
Italian.17.)
Urban was infuriated when he read the book and saw that the phrase he
required in order for the book to be published, about God's omnipotence,
was said by Simplicio. In the Pope's mind, Galileo was making a
caricature of him by having Simplicio say that phrase. Personal vanity
is believed to have led the Pope to cry for a committee to be made to
determine if Galileo should be tried by the Inquisition and to determine
how the book was published and not censored.18.) Galileo also insulted
people who did not believe in Copernicanism; a fact which did not
escape the notice of Pope Urban VIII's advisory committee.19.) Because
Galileo did not phrase his words as hypothetical, readers thought
Galileo held the theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun.20.) The
committee created by the Pope also came to the same conclusion: Galileo
knew what he was doing and must be disciplined for it.
The committee created to charge Galileo determined that Galileo held
heliocentrism as a matter of fact and violated the injunction issued to
him.21.) With that decision, it was determined that Galileo would be
tried by the Inquisition. The Inquisition did not need to decide if
Galileo was innocent or guilty, they already knew he was guilty. The
Inquisition wanted to determine what Galileo's intentions were. Galileo
tried to delay going to Rome for the trial, most likely due to the
Inquisition's infamous methods. He wrote to the Inquisitors and said he
would be happy to answer questions by mail. He cited his failing health
for his reluctance to take the 200 mile journey and had three doctors
write to the Inquisition to say that he was unable to travel without
risking his life. The Inquisition gave him a short amount of time to
come to Rome or he would be jailed and brought when his health was
better.22.) The entire trial lasted eight months, after which Galileo
was sentenced by seven of the ten Inquisitors. The other three refused
to sign for unknown reasons. His sentence was that
Dialogues
would be placed on the Index of Prohibited Books, Galileo could be
arrested if the Inquisition decided so, he would have to publicly admit
that he was wrong, and he would also have to perform religious penance
for an extended amount of time. He was also placed under house arrest at
the Embassy. He was allowed leniency because he admitted he violated
the injunction but did not do so intentionally. Galileo was eventually
allowed to return to his farm house to live out the remainder of his
life. His book remained on the Index of Prohibited Books for many years
after his death.23.)
The committee that Pope Urban VIII organized had told the Pope that
Dialogues
could be corrected and then allowed to be published if any useful
knowledge could be gained from it. However, the Pope did not allow this,
possibly due to his irritation over Simplicio.24.) The Pope did not
even allow Galileo a proper burial in a church; Galileo was buried in an
unmarked grave in the Santa Croce Church in Florence. In 1734,
ninety-two years after his death, a request was approved to give Galileo
a better burial place, a mausoleum in the church he was originally
buried in.25.)
Dialogues remained on the Index for 111 years
before a censored version was released, in 1744. The censored version
was heavily edited, some sections were completely removed. It was
finally removed from the Index 202 years later, in 1835.26.) For many
years, the Catholic Church continued to deny that the Earth revolved
around the Sun. It was only in 1820 that the Church allowed another
astronomer, Joseph Settle, to declare the motion of the Earth, as
proposed by Copernicus over 200 years ago, as fact. Three hundred and
fifty years after Galileo's death, Pope John Paul II said in 1992 “that
Galileo suffered unjustly at the hands of the Church and praised
Galileo's religiousness and his views and behaviors regarding the
relationship between science and religion.”27.)
Copernicus received fairly positive recognition not long after his
death. With the exception of his book being placed on the Index, there
was little else that affected how people saw him. For some time after
his death, he continued to receive praise for his other mathematical
works.28.) In other countries, his heliocentric hypothesis was taught
in some universities, arguments for and against being taught.29.)
However, some were still critical of him. Tolsani wrote that Copernicus
took the easy way by delaying publishing his book until he was on his
deathbed, effectively escaping from the possible repercussions of the
Church.30.) Perhaps Copernicus was right in delaying publication of
Revolutions,
for he feared the wrath of the Church. Scientists could not be sure
that they were safe from criticism and religious persecution.
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