From: Glenn Morton (glennmorton@entouch.net)
Date: Sat Sep 20 2003 - 22:04:07 EDT
Ok, I misused medieval. sorry. I would bet, though that had Galileo not
recanted, he would have faced the fire.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ted Davis [mailto:tdavis@messiah.edu]
>Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2003 9:01 PM
>To: rjschn39@bellsouth.net; glennmorton@entouch.net; gmurphy@raex.com
>Cc: ASA@calvin.edu
>Subject: Re: royalty
>
>
>Bob is right, no one was burned for advocating heliocentrism. Indeed, no
>one believed it, basically, prior to Copernicus (who first circulated his
>ideas c. 1510 and published them in full finally in 1543). Actually the
>only clear exception I can think of at the moment was Aristarchus of Samos,
>from antiquity.
>
>As for Giordano Bruno, who was indeed burned in 1600, he was executed for
>various theological heresies such as denying the trinity. It is true that
>he upheld a heliocentric view, mainly for "mystical" reasons--he wanted a
>new religion that included what we might describe loosely as "sun worship,"
>if I recall correctly. The charges against him included (for example): he
>taught that Moses and Christ were magicians; that stars have
>souls; and that
>there are an infinite number of worlds (an idea influenced by
>heliocentrism,
>though not an idea Coperncius endorsed). Furthermore, he called for the
>English to throw out Elizabeth and the French to throw out Henry, so he had
>dogs on his heels in many places for lots of reasons. If the English had
>caught him, no doubt, no one would remember him as an alleged "Martyr for
>science."
>
>It is much more accurate to say, that Bruno's execution (for
>heresy) tainted
>helicentrism by association, than to say that heliocentrism tainted Bruno,
>let alone caused his premature death.
>
>Prior to Galileo's observations and arguments for Coperncius from
>1610-1632,
>there were fewer than one dozen Copernicans since 1543. Bruno is the only
>one who was executed or even charged with heresy. And of course the church
>*encouraged* Copernicus to publish his ideas, the Pope even invited him to
>come down to Rome at one point to talk about his stuff.
>
>ted
>
>
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