Galileo Document Based Question

Directions:
Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion. Use
evidence from at least four documents in the body of the essay. Support your response with relevant facts,
examples, and details. Well written essays will include additional outside information.

Task:
Using information from the documents and your knowledge of modern world history, write an essay in which
you answer the question:

Should Galileo have recanted his heliocentric theory when charged with heresy by the Catholic Church?

Heliocentrism and the Catholic Church Timeline

1543: Nicolas Copernicus published a book supporting the heliocentric theory.

1545: Pope Paul III called the Council of Trent to stop the spread of Protestantism and to revive the Catholic
Church. It said only the Church could interpret the Bible, and it set up the Inquisition to combat
heresy.

1564: Galileo Galilei was born.

1600: The Inquisition tried Giordano Bruno and burned him at the stake for heresy. He supported the
heliocentric theory.

1609: Galileo invented a telescope that convinced him of the heliocentric model.

1615: The Catholic Church told Galileo to stop sharing his theory in public.

1615: Paolo Antonio Foscarini published a book defending Copernicus and arguing the heliocentric model did
not go against the Bible.

1616: The Catholic Church added Copernicus’s work (and others supporting the heliocentric model) to its list
of banned books.

1632: Galileo published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.

1633: The Inquisition charged Galileo with heresy and tried him in Rome.

1642: Galileo died.

1661: Isaac Newton began teaching Galileo and Copernicus’s ideas in England.

1758: The Catholic Church ended the ban on books teaching the heliocentric model.

1939: Pope Pius XII called Galileo a hero of research.

1979: Pope John Paul II ordered an investigation into the Church’s treatment of Galileo.
Document 1
“Some years ago, as Your Serene Highness well knows, I discovered in the heavens many things that had not
been seen before our own age… [The Church] Showing a greater fondness for their own opinions than for
truth, they sought to deny and disprove the new things which, if they had cared to look for themselves, their
own senses would have demonstrated to them. To this end they hurled various charges and published
numerous writings filled with vain arguments, and they made the grave mistake of sprinkling these with
passages taken from places in the Bible which they had failed to understand properly, and which were ill
suited to their purposes. . . .” -- Source: Galileo Galilei, “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina (1615)”

1. When was this document written? _______________________________________________________________________

2. Using the timeline, on page one, why might Galileo write a letter defending himself at this time?
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3. According to Galileo, why do some people think his teachings are heretic?
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4. How does Galileo defend himself against these charges?

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Document 2
The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System
The Earth-centered Universe of Aristotle and Ptolemy held sway on [governed] Western thinking for almost
2000 years. Then, in the 16thcentury a new idea was proposed by the Polish astronomer Nicolai Copernicus
(1473–1543).
The Heliocentric System

In a book called On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies (that was published as Copernicus lay on
his deathbed), Copernicus proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the Solar System.
Such a model is called a heliocentric system. The ordering of the planets known to Copernicus in this new system
is illustrated in the following figure, which we recognize as the modern ordering of those planets. . . .
Source: The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Tennessee

1. What does geocentric mean? ___________________________ Heliocentric? ________________________________

2. Prior to Copernicus, what model was wildly accepted (heliocentric or geocentric): __________________________

3. What did Copernicus propose? __________________________________________________________________________

4. What type of model do we recognize today (heliocentric or geocentric): ____________________________________

Document 3
“With sincere heart and unprecedented faith I (reject)…, and detest the aforesaid errors and heresies (of
Copernicus) and also every other error…contrary to the Holy Church, and I swear that in the future I will
never again say or assert…anything that might cause a similar suspicion toward me.” – Galileo
-- Source: Galileo’s Testimony to the Papal Court (1633)

1. What is the meaning of Galileo’s statement, “I detest the aforesaid errors and heresies and also every other
error…contrary to the Holy Church”?
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2. Why would Galileo “reject and detest the aforesaid errors of heresies”?
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3. What promise does Galileo make about the future?

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Document 4
We pronounce, judge, and declare, that you, the said Galileo . . . have rendered yourself vehemently
suspected by this Holy Office of heresy, that is, of having believed and held the doctrine (which is false and
contrary to the Holy and Divine Scriptures) that the sun is the center of the world, and that it does not move
from east to west, and that the earth does move, and is not the center of the world; also, that an opinion can
be held and supported as probable, after it has been declared and finally decreed contrary to the Holy
Scripture. It is Our pleasure that you be absolved (forgiven), provided that with a sincere heart and unfeigned
faith, in Our presence, you abjure (reject), curse, and detest, the said error and heresies, and every other error
and heresy contrary to the Catholic and Apostolic Church of Rome.
-- Source: Indictment of Galileo by Catholic Church (1633)

1. What is the judge referring to as “a doctrine which is false and contrary to the Holy and Divine Scriptures”?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the judge saying will happen if Galileo abjures (rejects) his statement?
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3. What is an indictment? __________________________________________________________________________________

Document 5
Full Definition of HERETIC: a dissenter (one who disagrees) from established religious dogma (beliefs);
especially: a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who disavows (denies) a revealed truth.
-- Source: Merriam-Webster.com

1. Give a few examples of what the Catholic Church may consider acts of heresy:
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Document 6
Prior to the Scientific Revolution, religion dictated everyday life and virtually all social matters. Everything
from diet, marriage relations, and business to banking practices, education and medicine were shaped and
influenced by religion and church authorities, namely the Catholic Church. For example, lending money at
interest was considered a sin by the church and subsequently frowned upon by society.
Source: http://westerncivguides.umwblogs.org/2011/12/05/the-influence-of-the-catholic-church-and-the-war-against-science-in-the-medieval-west/

1. What would happen to someone who went against the Catholic faith (think about life, afterlife, etc.):
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2. Before the Scientific Revolution, what did the church control?

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