June 22nd 1633
- “We, Gasparo of Santa Croce in Gerusalmme, Borgia;
Fra Felice Centino of S. Anastasia, called Ascoli;
Guido of Santa Maria del Popolo, Bentivoglio;
Fra Desiderio Scaglia of S. Carlo, called di Cremona;
Fra Antonio Barberino, di S. Onofrio;
Laudivio Zacchia of S. Pietro in Vincoli, called di San Sisto;
Berlingo of S. Agostino, Gessi;
Fabricio of S. Vincenzo in pane e perma, Verospi;
Francesco di S. Lorenzo in Damaso, Barberino;
Marzio di Santa Maria Nuova, Ginneti;
By the mercy of God Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, Inquisitors of the Holy Apostolic See, in the whole Christian Republic specially deputed against heretical depravity:
It being the case that thou, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzio Galilei, a Florentine, now aged seventy, wast denounced in this Holy Office in 1615:
That thou heldest as true the false doctrine taught by many, that the Sun was the centre of the universe and immovable, and that the Earth moved, and had also a diurnal motion: That on the same matter thou didst hold a correspondence with certain German mathematicians: That thou hadst caused to be printed certain letters entitled “On the Solar Spots,” in the which thou didst explain the said doctrine to be true: And that, to the objections put forth to thee at various times, based on and drawn from Holy Scriptures, thou didst answer, commenting upon and explaining the said Scriptures after thy own fashion: And thereupon following was presented (to this tribunal) a copy of a writing in form of a letter, which was said to have been written by thee to such an one, at one time thy disciple, in which, following the position of Copernicus, are contained various propositions contrary to the true sense and authority of the Holy Scriptures:
This Holy Tribunal desiring to obviate the disorder and mischief which had resulted from this, and which was constantly increasing to the prejudice of the Holy Faith; by order of our Lord (pope) and of the most Eminent Lords Cardinals of this supreme and universal Inquisition, the two propositions of the stability of the Sun and of the motion of the Earth were by the qualified theologians thus adjudged:
That the Sun is the centre of the universe and doth not move from his place is a proposition absurd and false in philosophy, and formally heretical; being expressly contrary to Holy Writ: That the Earth is not the centre of the universe nor immovable, but that it moves, even with a diurnal motion, is likewise a proposition absurd and false in philosophy, and considered in theology ad minus erroneous in faith.
But being willing at the time to proceed with leniency toward thee, it was decreed in the Sacred Congregation held before Our Lord (Pope) on the 25th of February, 1616, that the most Eminent Lord Cardinal Bellarmine should order thee, that thou shouldst entirely leave and reject the said doctrine; and thou refusing to do this, that the Commissary of the Holy Office should admonish thee to abandon the said doctrine, and that thou wast neither to teach it to others, nor to hold or defend it, to which precept, if thou didst not give heed, thou wast to be imprisoned: and in execution of the said decree, the following day in the palace and in presence of the said most Eminent Lord Cardinal Bellarmine, after having been advised and admonished benignantly by the said Lord Cardinal, thou didst receive a precept from the then Father Commissary of the Holy Office in the presence of a notary and witnesses, that thou shouldst entirely abandon the said false opinion, and for the future neither uphold nor teach it in any manner whatever, either orally or in writing: and having promised obedience, thou wast dismissed.
And to the end that this pernicious doctrine might be rooted out and prevented from spreading, to the grave prejudice of Catholic truth, a decree was issued by the Sacred Congregation of the Index, prohibiting books which treated of the said doctrine, which was declared to be false and entirely contrary to Holy Scriptures.
And there having lately appeared here a book printed in Florence this past year, whose superscription showeth thyself to be the author, the title being: “Dialogue of Galileo Galilei on the Two Great Systems of the World, the Ptolemaic and the Copernican:” and the Sacred Congregation having been informed that in consequence of the said book false opinion of the mobility of the Earth and the stability of the Sun was daily gaining ground; the said book was diligently examined, and was found openly to transgress the precept which had been made to thee, for that thou in the said book hadst defended the said already condemned opinion, which had been declared false before thy face: whereas thou in the said book by means of various subterfuges dost endeavor to persuade thyself that thou dost leave it undecided and merely probable. The which however is a most grave error, since in no way can an opinion be probable which has been declared and defined to be contrary to Holy Scriptures.
Wherefore by Our order thou wast cited before this Holy Office, in which being examined upon oath, thou didst acknowledge thyself to have written and caused to be printed the said book. Thou didst confess that, ten or twelve years previously, after having received the precept above mentioned, thou didst begin to write the said book; that thou didst ask for a license to print it, without signifying to those from whom thou didst receive such license, that thou hadst a precept forbidding thee to hold, defend, or teach in any way whatever such doctrine.
Thou didst likewise confess, that the said book is in more places than one so written that the reader might form an idea that the arguments brought forward in favour of the false opinion were pronounced in such guise that by their efficacy they were more apt to convince than easy to be overturned; excusing thyself for having fallen into an error so alien, sayest thou, to thy intention, for that thou hadst written in form of a dialogue, and for the natural complacence with each one doth view his own subtlety in showing himself more acute than the common herd of men in finding even for false propositions ingenious discourse to make them apparently probable.
And a convenient period having been assigned thee for thy defense, thou didst produce a certificate written by the hand of the most Eminent Lord Cardinal Bellarmine, procured by thee, as thou sadist, for the purpose of defending thyself from the calumnies of thy enemies, who had said that thou hadst abjured and hadst been punished by the Holy Office. In the which certificate it is written that thou hadst not abjured, neither hadst thou been subjected to punishment, but that only the declaration made by Our Lord (Pope) and published by the Sacred Congrogation of the Index had been made known to thee, the which contains that the doctrine of the Earth’s motion and of the stability of the Sun is contrary to Holy Scriptures, and may therefore neither be defended nor held: and that whereas in the said certificate no mention was made of two particulars of the precept, to wit, docere and quovis modo, it was to be thought that in the course of fourteen or sixteen years thou hadst lost all remembrance of it: and that for this same reason thou hadst been silent respecting the precept when thou didst ask for a license to print the said book. And all this thou saidst not to excuse thy error, but that it might attribute to a vain ambition rather than to malicious intent. But from the said precept produced in thy defense, thou have aggravated thy fault; whereas, the said opinion being therein declared contrary to Holy Writ, thou hast nevertheless dared to treat of it, to defend it, and to persuade that it was probable; nor doth justify thee the license which thou didst extort with craft and cunning, not having notified the precept which had been given to thee.
And, as it appeared to Us that thou hadst not said the whole truth concerning thy intention, We judge it to be necessary to proceed to the rigorous examination of thee, in which (without prejudice to any of the things confessed by thee, or deducted against thee, as above, respecting thy said intention) thou answeredst like a good Catholic. Therefore, having seen and maturely considered the merits of thy case, with thy above-mentioned confessions and excuses, We have adjudged against thee the herein-written definite sentence.
Invoking then the Most Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and of His most glorious Mother Mary, ever Virgin, for this Our definite sentence, the which sitting pro tribunali, by the counsel and opinion of the Reverend Masters of theology and doctors of both laws, Our Counselors, we present in these writings, in the cause and causes currently before Us, between the magnificent Carlo Sinceri, doctor of both laws, procurator fiscal of this Holy Office on the one part, and thou Galileo Galilei, guilty, here present, confessed and judged, on the other part:
We say, pronounce, sentence, and declare, that thou, the said Galileo, by the things deduced during this trial, and by thee confessed as above, hast rendered thyself vehemently suspected of heresy by this Holy Office, that is, of having believed and held a doctrine which is false, and contrary to the Holy Scriptures, to wit: that the Sun is the centre of the universe, and that it does not move from east to west, and that the Earth moves and it is not the centre of the universe: and that an opinion may be held and defended as probable after having been declared and defined as contrary to Holy Scriptures; and in consequence thou hast incurred all the censures and penalties of the Sacred Canons, and other Decrees both general and particular, against such offender imposed and promulgated. From the which We are content that thou shouldst be absolved, if, first of all, with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, thou dost before Us abjure, curse, and detest the above-mentioned errors and heresies, and any other error and heresy contrary to the Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church, after the manner that We shall require of thee.
And to the end that this thy grave error and transgression remain not entirely unpunished, and that thou mayst be more cautious for the future, and an example to others to abstain from and avoid similar offenses, We order that by a public edict the book of “Dialogues of Galileo Galilei” be prohibited, and We condemn thee to the prison of this Holy Office during Our will and pleasure; and as a salutary penance We enjoin on thee that for the space of three years thou shalt recite once a week the Seven Penitential Psalms, reserving to Ourselves the faculty of moderating, changing, or taking from, all or part of the above-mentioned pains and penalties.
And thus We say, pronounce, declare, order, condemn, and reserve in this and in any other better way and form which by right We can and ought.
Ita pronunciamus nos Cardinalis infrascipti.
F. CARDINALIS DE ASCULO.
G. CARDINALIS BENTIVOLIUS.
D. CARDINALIS DE CREMONA.
A. CARDINALIS S. HONUPHRI.
B. CARDINALIS GYPSIUS.
F. CARDINALIS VEROSPIUS.
M. CARDINALIS GINETTUS.”.
- The text is from this book, p. 293. - This is not necessarily the best translation, but it seems to be the only full one I could find on the web. It is not clear to me why have certain expressions or words been left in their original Latin untranslated. - The original pages of the linked book you can find here - 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298. - A shorter piece including only part of the document can be found here. - And one merely missing the naming of the 10 Cardinals at the beginning can be found here.
It can be obviously quite interesting too to read Galileo’s explicit withdrawal off his discoveries referred to in the text here too. (- 299, - 300)
