Copernicus and the Lack of Freedom of Speech Before 1791

1223 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of the church in medieval times

Freedom of Speech, Assembly, Petition, Press and Freedom of Religion was granted to us on 1791, but what about the time before that? What were people’s rights, did they even have any? Nicolaus Copernicus was one of the many people who lived through the early Reformation. During that time the Catholic Church controlled the people. Anyone who disobeyed the Catholic Church was either put into prison or even sentenced to death. The major concept that the Catholic Church held was the geocentric theory, that the Earth is the center of the universe. Their argument was that God had not only blessed humans with its nature but also granted humans a special place to live, which was in the center of the universe. However Copernicus was not completely satisfied with this theory. He went on to study and observe the mysterious sky and constantly search for mathematical proofs.

Besides his astronomical views, Copernicus strongly respected the Catholic Church and its decisions. Usually Copernicus was busy in fulfilling his official duties as a Canon or healing the Church leaders with his talent in medicine that he barely had any time for astronomy. On the other hand the Catholic Church had always given Copernicus luxurious houses because of his role in the Church. Not only had that but Copernicus earned most of his income from the Church throughout his life. Copernicus’ loyalty to the Church was so great that he had taken an unmarried status, even though he had a mistress, Anna Schilling simply because he knew that the Church did not accept her. In response to a letter to his superior Copernicus once wrote “I want to obey you gladly in all matters, and I should obey you, out of desire that my services may always be acceptable.” In spite of loyalt...

... middle of paper ...

...oking at the society today, one can tell that people go to the church for prayers and they still have the same loyalty to the Church that Copernicus once had. The only thing changed is that the Church does not have control to put someone into prison or even sentence to death just because someone disagrees with the Church. Today we have the Freedom of Speech, Assembly, Petition, Press and Freedom of Religion. As Copernicus once quoted “So far as hypotheses are concerned, let no one expect anything certain from astronomy….” Scientists still wonder about questions such as are there more stars or planets in the universe? Is there life other then on Earth and much more? Simply because there are no boundaries to knowledge because when one still looks at the galaxies the mystery that God had created is still there because no one knows better then the one who created it.

Show More
Related

  • Galileo Dbq Essay

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Bible was one of the most important pieces of text during Galileo’s lifetime. If you went against what the Bible stated then you were considered to be a heretic. The Bible indicated that the earth was in the center of the universe and the sun and the other planets revolve around it. a theory known as the geocentric model. Many scientists argued against this theory by stating that actually the sun was in the center of the universe and the earth and the other planets revolved around the sun, this theory was known as the heliocentric model. Nicolas Copernicus was one of the first out of many scientists who publically shared this theory. Later Giordano Bruno also supported this theory and because of this the Church ordered him to be burned

    Read More

  • Scientific Revolution DBQ

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the Scientific Revolution, the struggle between faith and reason was exhibited through Galileo and his discoveries. The Catholic Church during the time period of the Scientific Revolution did not approve of any outside scientists who came up with new theories and observations. The Church believed that all information about how the world worked was in the bible and that was the only right source. In an excerpt from “What is Scientific Authority?” written by Galileo in 1615, it states, “Showing a greater fondness for their [Catholic Church’s] own opinions than for truth, they sought to deny & disprove the new things which, if they had cared to look for themselves, their own senses would have demonstrated to them…” Galileo Galilei himself knew that the Church was not willing to approve of new ideas from other scientists, but only from the teachings in the Bible. Later on in the excerpt, Galileo writes, “They [Catholic Church] hurled various charges &…made the grave mistake of sprinkling these with passages taken from places in the Bible which they had failed to understand properl...

    Read More

  • Galileo’s Legacy

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    In papal Rome in the early 16th century the “Good Book” was the reference book for all scientists. If a theory was supported in its holy pages, or at the very least not contradicted, then the idea had a chance of find acceptance outside the laboratory. Likewise, no theory no matter how well documented could be viewed with anything but disdain if it contradicted with the written word of, or the Church’s official interpretation of scripture. For these reasons the Church suppressed helio-centric thinking to the point of making it a hiss and a byword. However, this did not keep brave men from exploring scientific reason outside the canonical doctrine of the papal throne, sometimes at the risk of losing their own lives. While the Vatican was able to control the universities and even most of the professors, it could not control the mind of one man known to the modern world as Galileo Galilei. Despite a wide array of enemies, Galileo embarked on a quest, it seems almost from the beginning of his academic career, to defend the Copernican idea of a helio-centric universe by challenging the authority of the church in matters of science. Galileo‘s willingness to stand up for what he held to be right in the face of opposition from Bible-driven science advocates set him apart as one of the key players in the movement to separate Church authority from scientific discovery, and consequently paved the way for future scientific achievement.

    Read More

  • Galileo's Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina, 1695

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his Letter to The Grand Duchess Christina, Galileo challenged the widely accepted religious beliefs of the time, claiming that the conflict lies in their interpretation, not the context. In Galileo’s eyes science was an extremely useful tool that could and should have been used in interpreting the Scriptures. He argued that “the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven not how heaven goes” (Grand Duchess). The purpose of science was not to counter what the bible teaches; rather its purpose was to help explain the teachings of the scriptures. Furthermore, it was “prudent to affirm that the holy Bible can never speak untruth-whenever its true meaning is understood” (Grand Duchess). However, because of the terminology in which the bible was presented the perception of what the Scripture defined as truth was skewed. The Bible was written so that the common man could understand it and follow its commandments. The people also showed a greater inte...

    Read More

  • Analysis of Galileo's Letter

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Galileo Galilei was an Italian scientist, often referred to as “the father of modern physics”. He was one of the inventors of the telescope and a strong proponent of Copernicanism. Galileo used his invention to make astronomical observations which supported Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the universe. These discoveries led to a fierce dispute, because they contradicted the theory which was prevalent at the time – that the universe followed a geocentric model, a theory, which had been accepted by the Catholic Church. To address this dispute, Galileo wrote a letter to Tuscany’s Grand Duchess Christina, in which he presented his position on the relation between science and religion, stating that the Bible does not contradict science.

    Read More

  • The Success and Intentions of Galileo

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    He was an opportunist, but not cynical. He believed that his ideas were beneficial to the society as a whole, so he did not only think about himself. He was an opportunist, no doubt, as he decided to take action and published the book The Starry Messenger that recorded his findings and observations of the stars and planet, thus changing the old mindset of the Earth being the only planet with satellites and the heliocentric theory. He also had plans ready in case opportunities turn up so he could grasp them. For example, when Baberini became the Pope and Bellarmine died, he immediately drafted a debate between the old sciences, which were Geocentrism and other beliefs that the Church had, and the new sciences, which were Heliocentrism and other things that Galileo discovered. He was a Catholic, and believed in searching for the truth of the world, thus he was not researching for his own sake, but for the world’s. In such circumstances, he was an opportunis...

    Read More

  • The Heresy of Galileo

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    which the Church had found no fault until Galileo had started to present it as reality, was

    Read More

  • Scientific Revolution DBQ Essay

    506 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Catholic Church stated, “The proposition that the sun is in the center of the world and immovable from its place is absurd, philosophically false, and formally heretical; because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scriptures’(Doc.2). This shows the hindrance that the church creates to impede the advancement of science. As known today, the sun is the center of the solar system. Even while Galileo and Copernicus knew that this was the correct arrangement of the solar system and even had evidence, the church still dismissed them and stopped them from sharing their thoughts and

    Read More

  • The Scientific Revolution and The Enlightenment

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    To speak out against the Church in this time was strictly taboo. If one spoke against the Church, it was considered heresy, which is exactly what happened to Galileo. Galileo invented the telescope and began studying the heavens above and noticed changes within the stars and planets. He observed that the "stars" that surrounded Jupiter moved. He came to the conclusion through rational thinking that Copernicus' heliocentric theory was correct.

    Read More

  • Religious Faith vs Science and Reason

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, conflicts between faith and reason took the forms of religion and free thinking. In the times of the Old Regime, people like Copernicus and Galileo were often punished for having views that contradicted the beliefs of the church. The strict control of the church was severely weakened around the beginning of the nineteenth century when the Old Regime ended. As the church's control decreased, science and intellectual thinking seemed to advance. While the people in the world became more educated, the church worked harder to maintain its influential position in society and keep the Christian faith strong. In the mid-nineteenth century, the church's task to keep people's faith strong became much harder, due to theories published by free thinkers like Charles Darwin, Charles Lyell, David Friedrich Strauss, and others. These men published controversial theories that hammered away at the foundation on which the Christian church was built. As the nineteenth century progressed, more doubts began to arise about the basic faiths of the Christian church.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Scientific Revolution

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    The modern science view as well as the Scientific Revolution can be argued that it began with Copernicus’ heliocentric theory; his staunch questioning of the prior geocentric worldview led to the proposal of a new idea that the Earth is not in fact the center of the solar system, but simply revolving around the Sun. Although this is accepted as common sense today, the period in which Copernicus proposed this idea was ground-breaking, controversial, and frankly, world-changing. The Church had an immense amount of power, and was a force to be reckoned with; in the beginning of the Scientific Revolution, new scientific proposals and ideas were discouraged in many cases by the Church. A quote from Galileo’s Children does an excellent job summing up the conflict: “The struggle of Galileo against Church dogma concerning the nature of the cosmos epitomized the great, inevitable and continuing clash between religion and reason.” If evidence goes against scripture, the scientist is considered a heretic and is, like in Galileo’s case, forbidden to discuss the ideas any further. Galileo Galilei, who proposed solid evidence and theory supporting the heliocentric model, was forced to go back on his beliefs in front of several high officials, and distance himself from the Copernican model. This, luckily, allowed him to not be killed as a heretic, which was the next level of punishment for the crimes he was charged with, had he not went back on his beliefs. Incredible support was given through the young developing academies with a sense of community for scientists and academics; “Renaissance science academies represent a late manifestation of the humanist academy movement.” Since the Church was grounded traditionally evidence that went agains...

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Galileo Cardinal Bellarmine

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    Galileo in his letter to the Grand Duchess Christina states “If I am not mistaken they would extend such authorities until even in purely physical matters- where faith is not involved,” (Galileo as quoted in Spielvogel, 485). Galileo is stating that the church would continue to expand their authority until they have total control over all knowledge. If they were to control the knowledge, they could get rid of anything that might threaten the legitimacy of the bible. Galileo backs that up when he says “They would have us altogether abandon reason and the evidence of our senses in favor of some biblical passage, though under the surface mean of its words this passage may contain a different sense” (Galileo as quoted in Spielvogel, 485).

    Read More

  • Scientific Revolution Essay

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before this revolution, the Roman Catholic church held a monopoly on most scientific research. The majority of scientists were monks or members of universities where a study of the natural world was viewed through the lens of Scripture. Even Copernicus 's studies of the rotation of the planets and his original heliocentric model of the universe were created to help the papacy build a better calender so that it could properly celebrate Easter. However, during and after the Scientific Revolution, philosophers and scientists began moving toward a belief that the spiritual world was outside of the physical world, and that religious beliefs should be considered separate from scientific study. This turn in thinking is seem in Galileo 's attempt to reinterpret the Bible to fit the new research being done. Despite the Church 's attempts to crack down on theories that contradicted its own beliefs, these new ideas permeated the society. After the Revolution, society had mostly turned to a belief that the Church and science were separate entities, and that religion was not over study of the natural

    Read More

  • The Impact of the Scientific Revolution Upon the Enlightenment

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    Much to the dismay of the Church, two astronomers Galileo and Kepler had the audacity to challenge the authorities by suggesting that the sun-not the earth-was at the center of the universe. The church had a stronghold on the way the spiritual and physical world worked, so these discoveries only added to the Church’s resistance to their aims. Their discoveries came only after Kepler and Galileo began to question ancient theories about how the world functioned. These ancient truths were widely held but were inconsistent with the new observations that they had made. Kepler had discovered the laws of planetary motion which suggested that the planet would move in elliptical orbits, while Galileo followed with his discovery of the principle of inertia. Galileo concluded his finding b...

    Read More

  • Copernicus Essay

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eventually, after all of the bias against the heliocentric model subsided, it was looked at in a new light. The Roman Catholic Church even eventually accepted it. Scientists began to discover that the Sun was and still is at the center of the solar system and that all the planets, including Earth, orbit it. Even though Copernicus had to fight to get his theory published and even though it had a misleading preface, Copernicus’ theory was eventually given the thought and consideration that it deserved. It has helped scientists propose the modern model of the solar system which is incredibly accurate. Copernicus’ theory also forced the Roman Catholic Church to change their view of the solar system in the light of science. These positive changes are still clearly visible today in many of the schools and churches across the globe.

    Read More

More about Copernicus and the Lack of Freedom of Speech Before 1791

Open Document