The Sleepwalkers (235 page)

There
is
little
doubt
that
the
decision
to
instigate
proceedings
was
Urban
VIII's,
who
felt
that
Galileo
had
played
a
confidence
trick
on
him.
There
is
equally
little
doubt
that
the
Jesuits
used
their
influence
to
have
the
book
banned,
and
to
turn
the
Pope
against
its
author.
Apart
from
solidarity
with
Fathers
Grassi
and
Scheiner,
they
were
probably
moved
by
the
consideration
that
Galileo's
rejection
of
the
Tychonic
compromise
would
hamper
the
gradual
evolution
of
the
Church
towards
the
new
cosmology,
and
that
his
all-or-nothing
gamble,
based
on
the
spurious
arguments
about
the
sunspots
and
the
tides,
might
play
into
the
hands
of
the
reactionary
forces
inside
the
Church,
upsetting
their
careful
cosmic
strategy.

But
it
did
not
require
much
Jesuit
cunning
to
turn
Urban's
perilous
adulation
into
the
fury
of
the
betrayed
lover.
Not
only
had
Galileo
gone,
in
letter
and
spirit,
against
the
agreement
to
treat
Copernicus
strictly
as
a
hypothesis,
not
only
had
he
obtained
the
imprimatur
by
methods
resembling
sharp
practice,
but
Urban's
favourite
argument
was
only
mentioned
briefly
at
the
very
end
of
the
book,
and
put
into
the
mouth
of
the
simpleton
who
on
any
other
point
was
invariably
proved
wrong.
Urban
even
suspected
that
Simplicius
was
intended
as
a
caricature
of
his
own
person.
This,
of
course,
was
untrue;
but
Urban's
suspicion
persisted
long
after
his
fury
had
abated:

"I
hear
from
Rome,"
Galileo
wrote
three
years
after
his
trial,
"that
his
Eminence
Cardinal
Antonio
Barberini
and
the
French
Ambassador
have
seen
his
Holiness
and
tried
to
convince
him
that
I
never
had
the
least
idea
of
perpetrating
so
sacrilegious
an
act
as
to
make
game
of
his
Holiness,
as
my
malicious
foes
have
persuaded
him,
and
which
was
the
primary
cause
of
all
my
troubles."
³⁰

If
corroboration
were
needed,
it
is
to
be
found
in
Niccolini's
reports.
They
stress
that
Urban
"was
so
incensed
that
he
treated
this
affair
as
a
personal
one",
³¹
and
quote
Urban's
"bitter
remark"
that
Galileo
had
deceived
him.

6.
The Trial

The
proceedings
against
Galileo
began
with
the
appointment
of
a
special
commission
to
investigate
the
whole
affair.
The
Commission's
findings
were
that
Galileo
had
transgressed
orders
in
deviating
from
the
hypothetical
treatment
of
Copernicus,
and
maintaining
absolutely
the
earth's
motion;
that
he
had
erroneously
ascribed
the
phenomena
of
the
tides
to
it;
and
thirdly,
that
he
had
been
deceitfully
silent
about
the
command
laid
upon
him
by
the
Holy
Office
in
1616
"to
relinquish
altogether
the
said
opinion
...
nor
henceforth
to
hold,
teach
or
defend
it
in
any
way
whatsoever,
verbally
or
in
writing."
This
third
point
referred
to
the
controversial
minute
about
the
serving
of
an
absolute
injunction
(see
above
,
p.
461
f.)
which
the
Commission
had
discovered
in
the
archives.

The
Commission did not recommend any specific steps to be taken against
Galileo; as for his book, the contents were indicted on eight counts,
but the Commission suggested that all these matters could be
corrected if the book were thought to be of value. The report was
then handed over for further action to the Inquisition, which issued
its summons in October 1632, and first interrogated Galileo on 12
April of the following year.

According
to
the
basic
rule
of
inquisitorial
procedure,
the
charges
were
not
communicated
to
the
accused;
he
was,
on
the
contrary,
asked
whether
he
knew
or
guessed
on
what
grounds
he
had
been
summoned.
^*
Galileo
said
that
he
believed
it
was
on
account
of
his
latest
book.
The
Commissary,
Firenzuola,
then
questioned
him
in
detail
about
the
events
of
1616.
Galileo
stated
that
he
had
been
told
by
the
Lord
Cardinal
Bellarmine
that
"the
opinion
of
Copernicus,
if
adopted
absolutely,
was
contrary
to
Holy
Scripture
and
must
neither
be
held
nor
defended,
but
that
it
could
be
taken
and
used
hypothetically."
He
affirmed
that
he
had
"not
in
any
way
disobeyed
this
command,
that
is,
had
not
by
any
means
held
or
defended
the
said
opinion."
The
Inquisitor
then
read
to
him
the
alleged
absolute
injunction
of
1616
that
Galileo
must
"neither
hold,
defend,
nor
teach
that
opinion
in
any
way
whatsoever
".
Galileo
did
not
directly
deny
the
absolute
injunction,
but
said
that
he
could
not
remember
the
words
"not
to
teach"
and
"in
any
way";
he
referred
to
Bellarmine's
certificate
which
did
not
contain
these
words.
The
Inquisitor
then
went
over
the
whole
story
of
the
negotiations
concerning
the
imprimatur
.
He
asked
whether
when
he
applied
for
permission
to
print
the
Dialogue
,
Galileo
had
informed
Father
Riccardi
about
the
command
that
had
been
issued
to
him.
Galileo
answered
that
he
did
not
think
it
necessary
to
do
so,
"for
I
have
neither
maintained
nor
defended
in
that
book
the
opinion
that
the
earth
moves
and
that
the
sun
is
stationary,
but
have
rather
demonstrated
the
opposite
of
the
Copernican
opinion,
and
shown
that
the
arguments
of
Copernicus
are
weak
and
not
conclusive."
³²