Editing Roman Inquisition (section)

==Notable subjects of investigation==

===Copernicus===
{{main|Nicolaus Copernicus}}
Nicolaus Copernicus circulated for scholarly discussion his hypothesis of a cosmos that was heliocentric and an Earth that rotated around its own axis, first, in 1514 in a manuscript essay, "{{lang|la|De hypothesibus motuum coelestium commentariolus}}" (Brief Commentary on the Hypotheses of Heavenly Movements), and then more robustly in the book ''[[De revolutionibus orbium coelestium]]'' (''On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres''), in 1543. The book was dedicated to [[Pope Paul III]], who was known for his interests in [[astronomy]]. Both works were known in Rome, and neither attracted adverse theological responses in the sixteenth century.

Some seven decades following Copernicus's death, specialists in mathematics, philosophy, and Catholic theology, whom the Roman Inquisition consulted in response to complaints made against [[Galileo]] in 1616, judged the proposition that the [[sun]] is immobile and [[heliocentric|at the center of the universe]] and that the [[Earth]] moves around it, to be "foolish and absurd in philosophy" and that the first was "formally heretical" while the second was "at least erroneous in faith".{{Efn|The [https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1402/1402.6168.pdf original assessment document] from the Inquisition was made available to the public in 2014.|name=Semicolon|group=note}}<ref>Domínguez, Nuño (28 Feb 2014). [http://esmateria.com/2014/02/28/una-errata-reproducida-durante-siglos-cambia-la-censura-de-la-iglesia-a-galileo/ "Una errata reproducida durante siglos cambia la censura de la Iglesia a Galileo".] EsMateria.com.; also [https://arxiv.org/abs/1402.6168 arXiv:1402.6168]</ref>

While the Inquisition refrained from condemning either Copernicus or his book (or Galileo) on the basis of this assessment, several theological claims in ''[[De revolutionibus]]'' were ordered to be excised in future publications. Unexpurgated versions of ''On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres'' were placed on the ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' (Index of Forbidden Books).

===Galileo===
{{main|Galileo affair|Robert Bellarmine#The Galileo case}}

[[Galileo Galilei]] revised the Copernican theories and was admonished for his views on [[heliocentrism]] in 1615. The Roman Inquisition concluded that his theory could only be supported as a possibility, not as an established fact.<ref name=Hannam>Hannam, James. "The Genesis of Science". 2011. pp. 329–344.</ref> Galileo later defended his views in ''[[Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems]]'' (1632), which attacked Pope [[Urban VIII]] and thus alienated him and the [[Jesuits]], who had both supported Galileo up until that point.<ref name="Hannam"/>

He was tried by the Inquisition in 1633. Galileo was found "vehemently suspect of heresy", forced to recant, and the ''Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems'' was placed on the ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' (Index of Forbidden Books). He spent the rest of his life under house arrest at his villa in [[Arcetri]] near the city of [[Florence]].<ref name="Finnocchiaro">{{cite book|last=Finnocchiaro|first=Maurice|title=The Galileo Affair|year=1989|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley and Los Angeles, California|pages=291}}</ref>

===John Bargrave===
17th century English traveler and author, [[John Bargrave]], gave an account of his interactions with the Roman Inquisition.<ref name=bargrave>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LxUpAAAAYAAJ& ''Pope Alexander the Seventh and the College of Cardinals''] by [[John Bargrave]], edited by [[James Craigie Robertson]] (reprint; 2009)</ref> Arriving in the city of [[Reggio Emilia|Reggio]] (having travelled from [[Modena]]), Bargrave was stopped by the [[city guard]] who inspected his books on suspicion some may have been on the ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum''. Bargrave was brought before the city's chief [[inquisitor]] who suggested they converse in [[Latin language|Latin]] rather than [[Italian language|Italian]] so that the guards might be prevented from understanding them. The inquisitor told him that the inquisition were not accustomed to stopping visitors or travellers unless someone had suggested they do so (Bargrave suspected that [[Jesuits]] in Rome had made accusations against him). Nonetheless, Bargrave was told he was required to hold a [[license]] from the inquisition. Even with a license, Bargrave was prohibited from carrying any books "printed at any heretical city, as [[Geneva]], [[Amsterdam]], [[Leyden]], London, or the like".<ref name=bargrave/> Bargrave provided a [[Library catalog|catalog]]ue of his books to the inquisition and was provided with a license to carry them for the rest of his journey.

===Others===
Among the subjects of this Inquisition were [[Franciscus Patricius]], [[Giordano Bruno]], [[Tommaso Campanella]], [[Gerolamo Cardano]], [[Cesare Cremonini (philosopher)|Cesare Cremonini]] and [[Camilla Erculiani]] an Italian apothecary, writer, natural philosopher, and a women's advocate. Of these, only Bruno was executed, in 1600.  The miller [[Menocchio|Domenico Scandella]] was also [[burned at the stake]] on the orders of [[Pope Clement VIII]] in 1599 for his belief that God was created from chaos.<ref>Ginzburg, Carlo (1980) ''The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller'' (translated by John and Anne Tedeschi), Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, {{ISBN|0-8018-4387-1}}</ref> The friar [[Fulgenzio Manfredi]], who had preached against the pope, was tried by the Inquisition and executed in 1610.

The Inquisition also concerned itself with the [[Benandanti]] in the [[Friuli]] region, but considered them a lesser danger than the [[Protestant Reformation]] and only handed out light sentences.