Scene 7
p. 52
the Index -
Index Librorum Prohibitorum, (Latin: “Index of Forbidden Books”), list of books once forbidden by Roman Catholic church authority as dangerous to the faith or morals of Roman Catholics. Publication of the list ceased in 1966, and it was relegated to the status of a historic document. Compiled by official censors, the Index was an implementation of one part of the teaching function of the Roman Catholic church: to prevent the contamination of the faith or the corruption of morals through the reading of theologically erroneous or immoral books. It was not, therefore, equivalent to the total legislation of the church regulating reading by Roman Catholics; nor was it ever a complete catalog of forbidden reading. Until 1966, canon law prescribed two main forms of control over literature: the censorship of books by Roman Catholics in advance of publication, in regard to matters of faith and morals (a practice still followed); and the condemnation of published books that were judged to be harmful. The works appearing on the Index are only those that ecclesiastical authority was asked to act upon.
The origin of the church’s legislation concerning the censorship of books is unclear, but books were a source of concern as early as the scriptural account of the burning of superstitious books at Ephesus by the new converts of St. Paul (Acts 19:19). The decree of Pope Gelasius I about 496, which contained lists of recommended as well as banned books, has been described as the first Roman Index. The first catalog of forbidden books to include in its title the word index, however, was published in 1559 by the Sacred Congregation of the Roman Inquisition (a precursor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). The last and 20th edition of the Index appeared in 1948. The list was suppressed in June 1966.
Holy Congregation's decree of 1616 -
Having reached a decision, the Sacred Congregation of the Index published a decree condemning the ``... doctrine, altogether contrary to the Holy Scripture, that the earth moves and the sun is motionless.'' Foscarini's book was prohibited, and Copernicus' book was suspended pending correction. Galileo and his books were not explicitly mentioned. However, Galileo was called to a personal interview with Cardinal Bellarmine at which he was informed of the content of the decree and told to obey, and he submitted. There is some question about exactly what he was told in this meeting. The Cardinal held no office in the Inquisition, and so his role would have been merely to convey the decision to Galileo and obtain his assent. However, the Inquisition file on Galileo contains a memorandum or minute of this meeting, which states that besides Bellarmine, the Commissary of the Inquisition and a notary were present. Presumably they were supposed to deliver a formal warning with the authority of the Inquisition only if Galileo demurred after Bellarmine informed him of the decree. But according to the minute, after Bellarmine told Galileo that the decree forbade anyone to ``hold or defend'' the Copernican doctrine, immediately, without giving Galileo a chance to respond, the Commissary gave him a stronger injunction ``not to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatever, either orally or in writing.'' This minute is not a formal judicial document. It is not signed by any of the participants. Some commentators have speculated that it was forged and placed in Galileo's file to incriminate him later. Others suppose that the Commissary took it upon himself to make sure that Galileo received the stronger injunction regardless of his response to Bellarmine's informing him of the decree.
Galileo took the precaution of obtaining from Bellarmine a certificate describing what occurred during their interview. This certificate only mentions Bellarmine's warning not to ``hold or defend'' the Copernican theory, and not the stronger injunction recorded in the minute.
Decree of the Index (5 March 1616)
Actual text:
Decree of the Holy Congregation of the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinals especially charged by his Holiness Pope Paul V and by the Holy Apostolistic See with the Index of books and their licensing, prohibition, correction, and printing in all of Christendom. To be published everywhere.
In regard to several books containing various heresies and errors, to prevent the emergence of more serious harm throughout Christendom, the Holy Congregation of the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinals in charge of the Index has decided that they should be altogether condemned and prohibited, as indeed with the present decree it condemns and prohibits them, wherever and in whatever language they are printed or about to be printed. It orders that henceforth no one, of whatever station or condition, should dare print them, or have them printed, or read them, or have them in one's possession in any way, under penalty specified in the Holy Council of Trent and in the Index of prohibited books; and under the same penalty, whoever is now or will be in the future in possession of them is required to surrender them to ordinaries or to inquisitors, immediately after learning of the present decree. The books listed below:
Calvinist Theology (in three parts). . .
Scotanus Redivivus, or Erotic Commmentary in Three Parts. . .
Historical Explanation of the Most Serious Question in the Christian Churches Especially in the West,
from the Time of the Apostles All the Way to Our Age. . .
Inquiry Concerning the Pre-eminence Among European Provinces. . .
Donellus's Principles, or Commentaries on Civil Law,. . .
This Holy Congregation has also learned about the spreading and acceptance by many of the false Pythagorean doctrine, altogether contrary to the Holy Scripture, that the earth moves and the sun is motionless, which is also taught by Nicholaus Copernicus's On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres and by Diego de Zuniga's On Job. This may be seen from a certain letter published by a certain Carmelite Father, whose title is Letter of the Reverend Father Paolo Foscarini, on the Pythagorean and Copernican Opinion of the Earth's Motion and Sun's Rest and on the New Pythagorean World System (Naples: Lazzaro Scoriggio, 1615), in which the said Father tries to show that the above-mentioned doctrine of the sun's rest at the center of the world and the earth's motion is consonant with the truth and does not contradict Holy Scripture. Therefore, in order that this opinion may not creep any further to the prejudice of Catholic truth, the Congregation has decided that the books by Nicolaus Copernicus (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) and Diego de Zuniga (On Job) be suspended until corrected; but that the book of the Carmelite Father Paolo Antonio Foscarini be completely prohibited and condemned; and that all other books which teach the same be likewise prohibited, according to whether with the present decree it prohibits, condemns, and suspends them respectively. In witness thereof, this decree has been signed by the hand and stamped with the seal of the Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord Cardinal of St. Cecilia, Bishop of Albano, on 5 March 1616.
P., Bishop of Albano, Cardinal of St. Cecilia.
Fra Franciscus Magdalenus Capiferreus, O. P., Secretary.
Rome, Press of the Apostolic Palace, 1616.
p. 54
'The sun also ariseth...' -
Ecclesiastes 1:5
'He that withholdeth corn...' -
Proverbs 11:26; full quote: "He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it."
"A prudent man concealeth knowledge..." -
Proverbs 12:23; full quote: "A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness."
"Where no oxen are the crib is clean..." -
Proverbs 14:4
"He that ruleth his spirit..." -
Proverbs 16:32; full quote: "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."
"But a broken spirit drieth the bones." -
Proverbs 17:22; full quote: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."
"Doth not wisdom cry?"
Proverbs 8:1; full quote: "Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?"
"Can one go upon hot coals..."
Proverbs 6:28
p. 55
Rome's foundation myth -
Although Greek historians did not write seriously about Rome until the Pyrrhic War, they were aware of Rome’s existence long before then. In accordance with their custom of explaining the origin of the foreign peoples they encountered by connecting them with the wanderings of one of their own mythical heroes, such as Jason and the Argonauts, Heracles, or Odysseus, Greek writers from the 5th century bc onward invented at least 25 different myths to account for Rome’s foundation. In one of the earliest accounts (Hellanicus of Lesbos), which became accepted, the Trojan hero Aeneas and some followers escaped the Greek destruction of Troy; after wandering about the Mediterranean for some years, they settled in central Italy, where they intermarried with the native population and became the Latins.
Although the connection between Rome and Troy is unhistorical, the Romans of later time were so flattered by this illustrious mythical pedigree that they readily accepted it and incorporated it into their own folklore about the beginning of their city. Since the generally accepted date of Troy’s destruction was 1184 bc, Roman historians maintained Troy’s unhistorical connection with Rome by inventing a series of fictitious kings who were supposed to have descended from the Trojan Aeneas and ruled the Latin town of Alba Longa for the intervening 431 years (1184–753 bc) until the last of the royal line, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, founded their own city, Rome, on the Palatine Hill. According to tradition, the twins, believed to have been the children of the god Mars, were set adrift in a basket on the Tiber by the king of Alba; they survived, however, being nursed by a she-wolf, and lived to overthrow the wicked king. In the course of founding Rome the brothers quarreled, and Romulus slew Remus. This story was a Roman adaptation of a widespread ancient Mediterranean folktale told of many national leaders, such as the Akkadian king Sargon (c. 2300 bc), the biblical Moses, the Persian king Cyrus the Great, the Theban king Oedipus, and the twins Neleus and Pelias of Greek mythology.
p. 57
phases of Venus -
Before Galileo left Padua he had discovered the puzzling appearance of Saturn, later to be shown as caused by a ring surrounding it, and in Florence he discovered that Venus goes through phases just as the Moon does. Although these discoveries did not prove that the Earth is a planet orbiting the Sun, they undermined Aristotelian cosmology: the absolute difference between the corrupt earthly region and the perfect and unchanging heavens was proved wrong by the mountainous surface of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter showed that there had to be more than one centre of motion in the universe, and the phases of Venus showed that it (and, by implication, Mercury) revolves around the Sun. As a result, Galileo was confirmed in his belief, which he had probably held for decades but which had not been central to his studies, that the Sun is the centre of the universe and that the Earth is a planet, as Copernicus had argued. Galileo’s conversion to Copernicanism would be a key turning point in the scientific revolution.
Excerpted from Encyclopedia Britannica and Bible
the Index -
Index Librorum Prohibitorum, (Latin: “Index of Forbidden Books”), list of books once forbidden by Roman Catholic church authority as dangerous to the faith or morals of Roman Catholics. Publication of the list ceased in 1966, and it was relegated to the status of a historic document. Compiled by official censors, the Index was an implementation of one part of the teaching function of the Roman Catholic church: to prevent the contamination of the faith or the corruption of morals through the reading of theologically erroneous or immoral books. It was not, therefore, equivalent to the total legislation of the church regulating reading by Roman Catholics; nor was it ever a complete catalog of forbidden reading. Until 1966, canon law prescribed two main forms of control over literature: the censorship of books by Roman Catholics in advance of publication, in regard to matters of faith and morals (a practice still followed); and the condemnation of published books that were judged to be harmful. The works appearing on the Index are only those that ecclesiastical authority was asked to act upon.
The origin of the church’s legislation concerning the censorship of books is unclear, but books were a source of concern as early as the scriptural account of the burning of superstitious books at Ephesus by the new converts of St. Paul (Acts 19:19). The decree of Pope Gelasius I about 496, which contained lists of recommended as well as banned books, has been described as the first Roman Index. The first catalog of forbidden books to include in its title the word index, however, was published in 1559 by the Sacred Congregation of the Roman Inquisition (a precursor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). The last and 20th edition of the Index appeared in 1948. The list was suppressed in June 1966.
Holy Congregation's decree of 1616 -
Having reached a decision, the Sacred Congregation of the Index published a decree condemning the ``... doctrine, altogether contrary to the Holy Scripture, that the earth moves and the sun is motionless.'' Foscarini's book was prohibited, and Copernicus' book was suspended pending correction. Galileo and his books were not explicitly mentioned. However, Galileo was called to a personal interview with Cardinal Bellarmine at which he was informed of the content of the decree and told to obey, and he submitted. There is some question about exactly what he was told in this meeting. The Cardinal held no office in the Inquisition, and so his role would have been merely to convey the decision to Galileo and obtain his assent. However, the Inquisition file on Galileo contains a memorandum or minute of this meeting, which states that besides Bellarmine, the Commissary of the Inquisition and a notary were present. Presumably they were supposed to deliver a formal warning with the authority of the Inquisition only if Galileo demurred after Bellarmine informed him of the decree. But according to the minute, after Bellarmine told Galileo that the decree forbade anyone to ``hold or defend'' the Copernican doctrine, immediately, without giving Galileo a chance to respond, the Commissary gave him a stronger injunction ``not to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatever, either orally or in writing.'' This minute is not a formal judicial document. It is not signed by any of the participants. Some commentators have speculated that it was forged and placed in Galileo's file to incriminate him later. Others suppose that the Commissary took it upon himself to make sure that Galileo received the stronger injunction regardless of his response to Bellarmine's informing him of the decree.
Galileo took the precaution of obtaining from Bellarmine a certificate describing what occurred during their interview. This certificate only mentions Bellarmine's warning not to ``hold or defend'' the Copernican theory, and not the stronger injunction recorded in the minute.
Decree of the Index (5 March 1616)
Actual text:
Decree of the Holy Congregation of the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinals especially charged by his Holiness Pope Paul V and by the Holy Apostolistic See with the Index of books and their licensing, prohibition, correction, and printing in all of Christendom. To be published everywhere.
In regard to several books containing various heresies and errors, to prevent the emergence of more serious harm throughout Christendom, the Holy Congregation of the Most Illustrious Lord Cardinals in charge of the Index has decided that they should be altogether condemned and prohibited, as indeed with the present decree it condemns and prohibits them, wherever and in whatever language they are printed or about to be printed. It orders that henceforth no one, of whatever station or condition, should dare print them, or have them printed, or read them, or have them in one's possession in any way, under penalty specified in the Holy Council of Trent and in the Index of prohibited books; and under the same penalty, whoever is now or will be in the future in possession of them is required to surrender them to ordinaries or to inquisitors, immediately after learning of the present decree. The books listed below:
Calvinist Theology (in three parts). . .
Scotanus Redivivus, or Erotic Commmentary in Three Parts. . .
Historical Explanation of the Most Serious Question in the Christian Churches Especially in the West,
from the Time of the Apostles All the Way to Our Age. . .
Inquiry Concerning the Pre-eminence Among European Provinces. . .
Donellus's Principles, or Commentaries on Civil Law,. . .
This Holy Congregation has also learned about the spreading and acceptance by many of the false Pythagorean doctrine, altogether contrary to the Holy Scripture, that the earth moves and the sun is motionless, which is also taught by Nicholaus Copernicus's On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres and by Diego de Zuniga's On Job. This may be seen from a certain letter published by a certain Carmelite Father, whose title is Letter of the Reverend Father Paolo Foscarini, on the Pythagorean and Copernican Opinion of the Earth's Motion and Sun's Rest and on the New Pythagorean World System (Naples: Lazzaro Scoriggio, 1615), in which the said Father tries to show that the above-mentioned doctrine of the sun's rest at the center of the world and the earth's motion is consonant with the truth and does not contradict Holy Scripture. Therefore, in order that this opinion may not creep any further to the prejudice of Catholic truth, the Congregation has decided that the books by Nicolaus Copernicus (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) and Diego de Zuniga (On Job) be suspended until corrected; but that the book of the Carmelite Father Paolo Antonio Foscarini be completely prohibited and condemned; and that all other books which teach the same be likewise prohibited, according to whether with the present decree it prohibits, condemns, and suspends them respectively. In witness thereof, this decree has been signed by the hand and stamped with the seal of the Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord Cardinal of St. Cecilia, Bishop of Albano, on 5 March 1616.
P., Bishop of Albano, Cardinal of St. Cecilia.
Fra Franciscus Magdalenus Capiferreus, O. P., Secretary.
Rome, Press of the Apostolic Palace, 1616.
p. 54
'The sun also ariseth...' -
Ecclesiastes 1:5
'He that withholdeth corn...' -
Proverbs 11:26; full quote: "He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it."
"A prudent man concealeth knowledge..." -
Proverbs 12:23; full quote: "A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness."
"Where no oxen are the crib is clean..." -
Proverbs 14:4
"He that ruleth his spirit..." -
Proverbs 16:32; full quote: "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."
"But a broken spirit drieth the bones." -
Proverbs 17:22; full quote: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."
"Doth not wisdom cry?"
Proverbs 8:1; full quote: "Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?"
"Can one go upon hot coals..."
Proverbs 6:28
p. 55
Rome's foundation myth -
Although Greek historians did not write seriously about Rome until the Pyrrhic War, they were aware of Rome’s existence long before then. In accordance with their custom of explaining the origin of the foreign peoples they encountered by connecting them with the wanderings of one of their own mythical heroes, such as Jason and the Argonauts, Heracles, or Odysseus, Greek writers from the 5th century bc onward invented at least 25 different myths to account for Rome’s foundation. In one of the earliest accounts (Hellanicus of Lesbos), which became accepted, the Trojan hero Aeneas and some followers escaped the Greek destruction of Troy; after wandering about the Mediterranean for some years, they settled in central Italy, where they intermarried with the native population and became the Latins.
Although the connection between Rome and Troy is unhistorical, the Romans of later time were so flattered by this illustrious mythical pedigree that they readily accepted it and incorporated it into their own folklore about the beginning of their city. Since the generally accepted date of Troy’s destruction was 1184 bc, Roman historians maintained Troy’s unhistorical connection with Rome by inventing a series of fictitious kings who were supposed to have descended from the Trojan Aeneas and ruled the Latin town of Alba Longa for the intervening 431 years (1184–753 bc) until the last of the royal line, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, founded their own city, Rome, on the Palatine Hill. According to tradition, the twins, believed to have been the children of the god Mars, were set adrift in a basket on the Tiber by the king of Alba; they survived, however, being nursed by a she-wolf, and lived to overthrow the wicked king. In the course of founding Rome the brothers quarreled, and Romulus slew Remus. This story was a Roman adaptation of a widespread ancient Mediterranean folktale told of many national leaders, such as the Akkadian king Sargon (c. 2300 bc), the biblical Moses, the Persian king Cyrus the Great, the Theban king Oedipus, and the twins Neleus and Pelias of Greek mythology.
p. 57
phases of Venus -
Before Galileo left Padua he had discovered the puzzling appearance of Saturn, later to be shown as caused by a ring surrounding it, and in Florence he discovered that Venus goes through phases just as the Moon does. Although these discoveries did not prove that the Earth is a planet orbiting the Sun, they undermined Aristotelian cosmology: the absolute difference between the corrupt earthly region and the perfect and unchanging heavens was proved wrong by the mountainous surface of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter showed that there had to be more than one centre of motion in the universe, and the phases of Venus showed that it (and, by implication, Mercury) revolves around the Sun. As a result, Galileo was confirmed in his belief, which he had probably held for decades but which had not been central to his studies, that the Sun is the centre of the universe and that the Earth is a planet, as Copernicus had argued. Galileo’s conversion to Copernicanism would be a key turning point in the scientific revolution.
Excerpted from Encyclopedia Britannica and Bible