An important piece of context for the trial is that Galileo had actually been pretty good friends with the pope prior to writing his treatise on heliocentrism. Also, the heliocentrism itself wasn't really why he was in trouble.
In fact, he'd actually asked Pope Urban VIII for permission to publish his argument in favor of heliocentrism, and it was granted. However, the pope asked that his own arguments against heliocentrism be added into the treatise as well.
He wrote the treatise as a series of conversations between a clever scholar named Salviati (presenting his own arguments), an impartial scholar named Sagredo and a man named Simplicio (a name meaning simple, with the connotation of a simpleton), an inept and foolish scholar. Galileo put the pope's arguments into the mouth of Simplicio.
If he'd put the arguments into the mouth of Sagredo, he probably would have been fine. But because he effectively called the pope an idiot, Urban VIII decided he couldn't let it slide.
Galileo was never at serious risk of being burned at the stake. Despite everything, Urban VIII still regarded him somewhat fondly. If he'd refused to recant, he simply would have been kept imprisoned by the inquisition rather than released under house arrest.
EDIT: To be clear, this is not a defense of the church; the fact that Galileo was previously friends with the pope is the only reason he was treated as gently as he was. I just wanted to point out the political nuances of the trial.
Also, tangentially, technically the church wouldn't have done the burning themselves. The inquisition would have released Galileo to the local authorities who would have actually carried out the sentence.
Though of course we are talking about a comic in which Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley are having time travel shenanigans, so also please don't take this as a criticism of the comic, where realism is not exactly the point. I just thought these were interesting things to share.
In fact, he'd actually asked Pope Urban VIII for permission to publish his argument in favor of heliocentrism, and it was granted. However, the pope asked that his own arguments against heliocentrism be added into the treatise as well.
He wrote the treatise as a series of conversations between a clever scholar named Salviati (presenting his own arguments), an impartial scholar named Sagredo and a man named Simplicio (a name meaning simple, with the connotation of a simpleton), an inept and foolish scholar. Galileo put the pope's arguments into the mouth of Simplicio.
If he'd put the arguments into the mouth of Sagredo, he probably would have been fine. But because he effectively called the pope an idiot, Urban VIII decided he couldn't let it slide.
Galileo was never at serious risk of being burned at the stake. Despite everything, Urban VIII still regarded him somewhat fondly. If he'd refused to recant, he simply would have been kept imprisoned by the inquisition rather than released under house arrest.
EDIT: To be clear, this is not a defense of the church; the fact that Galileo was previously friends with the pope is the only reason he was treated as gently as he was. I just wanted to point out the political nuances of the trial.
Also, tangentially, technically the church wouldn't have done the burning themselves. The inquisition would have released Galileo to the local authorities who would have actually carried out the sentence.
Though of course we are talking about a comic in which Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley are having time travel shenanigans, so also please don't take this as a criticism of the comic, where realism is not exactly the point. I just thought these were interesting things to share.
Statistics: Posted by JackMann — 06 Mar 2025 04:08