ON THIS DAY

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February 26, 1616:

On this day in 1616 the Roman Inquisition delivered its injunction to Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) demanding he abandon his belief in heliocentrism, which states the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun. The Inquisition declared heliocentrism to be "foolish and absurd in philosophy, and formally heretical since it explicitly contradicts in many places the sense of Holy Scripture".

Galilleo recanted and was forced to acknowledge the Aristotelian geocentric view that the Earth is the centre of the Universe and the orbit of all heavenly bodies. Religious opposition to heliocentrism arose from biblical passages implying the fixed nature of the earth. Galileo argued that the Bible was an authority on faith and morals, not science. Following his recantation he is supposed to have said “And yet it moves".

Galileo facing the Roman Inquisition

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