The Sleepwalkers (239 page)

The
remainder
of
the
trial
was
now
expected
to
be
a
mere
formality.
Throughout
the
proceedings
Galileo
had
been
treated
with
great
consideration
and
courtesy.
Against
all
precedent
he
was
not
confined
to
the
dungeons
of
the
Inquisition,
but
was
allowed
to
stay
as
the
Tuscan
Ambassador's
guest
at
the
Villa
Medici,
until
after
his
first
examination.
Then
he
had
to
surrender
formally
to
the
Inquisition,
but
instead
of
being
put
into
a
cell,
he
was
assigned
a
five-roomed
flat
in
the
Holy
Office
itself,
overlooking
St.
Peter's
and
the
Vatican
gardens,
with
his
own
personal
valet
and
Niccolini's
majordomo
to
look
after
his
food
and
wine.
Here
he
stayed
from
12
April
to
the
third
examination
on
10
May.
Then,
before
his
trial
was
concluded,
he
was
allowed
to
return
to
the
Tuscan
Embassy
–
a
procedure
quite
unheard
of,
not
only
in
the
annals
of
the
Inquisition
but
of
any
other
judiciary.
Contrary
to
legend,
Galileo
never
spent
a
day
of
his
life
in
a
prison
cell.

The
sentence did not come until six weeks later. On 16 June, the
following decision was entered into the acts:

"...
Sanctissimus
decreed
that
said
Galileo
is
to
be
interrogated
as
to
his
intention
[in
writing
the
Dialogue
]
under
the
threat
of
torture;
and
if
he
kept
firm
he
is
to
be
called
upon
to
abjure
before
a
plenary
assembly
of
the
Congregation
of
the
Holy
Office,
and
is
to
be
condemned
to
imprisonment
at
the
pleasure
of
the
Holy
Congregation,
and
ordered
not
to
treat
further,
in
whatever
manner,
either
in
words
or
in
writing,
of
the
mobility
of
the
Earth
and
the
stability
of
the
Sun;
otherwise
he
will
incur
the
penalties
of
relapse.
The
book
entitled
Dialogo
di
Galileo
Galilei
Linceo
is
to
be
prohibited.
Furthermore,
that
these
things
may
be
known
by
all,
he
ordered
that
copies
of
the
sentence
shall
be
sent
to
all
Apostolic
Nuncios,
to
all
Inquisitors
against
heretical
pravity,
and
especially
the
Inquisitor
in
Florence,
who
shall
read
the
sentence
in
full
assembly
and
in
the
presence
of
most
of
those
who
profess
the
mathematical
art."
³⁷

Two
days
after
this
decision
was
taken,
the
Pope
received
Niccolini
in
audience,
hinted
at
the
sentence
to
come,
and
added:

"However,
after
the
publication
of
the
sentence
we
shall
see
you
again,
and
shall
consult
together
so
that
he
may
suffer
as
little
distress
as
possible,
since
matters
cannot
be
let
pass
without
some
demonstration
against
his
person."

Another
three
days
later
Galileo
was
convoked
for
his
third
and
last
examination.
After
he
had
taken
the
oath,
he
was
questioned
about
his
real
conviction
concerning
the
two
cosmological
systems.
He
answered
that
before
the
decree
of
1616
he
had
considered
that
either
Ptolemy
or
Copernicus
might
be
true
in
nature,
"but
after
the
said
decision,
assured
of
the
wisdom
of
the
authorities,
I
ceased
to
have
any
doubt;
and
I
held,
as
I
still
hold,
as
most
true
and
indisputable
the
opinion
of
Ptolemy,
that
is
to
say,
the
stability
of
the
Earth."
³⁸

He
was
then
told
that
by
the
manner
in
which
the
subject
was
treated
in
the
Dialogue
,
and
the
fact
alone
that
he
had
written
the
said
book,
he
was
presumed
to
have
held
the
Copernican
opinion,
and
was
asked
a
second
time
to
state
the
truth
freely.
He
answered
that
he
had
written
the
book
to
confer
a
common
benefit
by
setting
forth
the
arguments
for
both
sides,
and
repeated
again
"I
do
not
now
hold
the
condemned
opinion,
and
have
not
held
it
since
the
decision
of
the
authorities."
³⁹

He
was
admonished
a
third
time
that
on
the
contents
of
the
book
he
was
presumed
to
hold
with
Copernicus,
or
at
least
to
have
done
so
at
the
time
he
wrote
it,
and
that
therefore
"unless
he
made
up
his
mind
to
confess
the
truth,
recourse
would
be
had
against
him
to
the
appropriate
remedies
of
the
law."
Galileo
answered:
"I
do
not
hold,
and
have
not
held,
this
opinion
of
Copernicus
since
the
command
was
intimated
to
me
that
I
must
abandon
it;
for
the
rest
I
am
here
in
your
hands
–
do
with
me
what
you
please."
When
he
was
for
a
last
time
bidden
to
speak
the
truth,
under
threat
of
torture,
Galileo
repeated,
"I
am
here
to
obey
and
I
have
not
held
this
opinion
since
the
decision
was
pronounced,
as
I
have
stated."
⁴⁰