The trial of Galileo was held in Rome in the year 1633. Galileo Galilei was on trial by the Catholic Church and was accused of heresy. Unlike the people of the Catholic Church, Galileo insisted the sun was the center of the universe and not the earth. This is called heliocentrism. Before Galileo's time many other theories were thrown around as to how the "heavens" or space was organized. The church supported the Aristotelian science and the geocentric view that meant the earth was the center of the universe. They choose to follow this because it was what they had learned and they had evidence to support it. Catholic officials forced him to recant or face the death penalty. The trial of Galileo started when the Catholic Church accused him of …show more content…
It was a conflict because in the Church Aristotelian science was what they had learned and the Copernican science went against that. The problem with Galileo’s views was that he supported Copernicus as well as biblical views. Galileo Galilei provided support to the heliocentrism and challenged the belief of the Catholic Church. Through observations he was able to confirm many of the theories Nicholas Copernicus had made were similar, but lacked observed data. Many people were sending him letters claiming that he was violating scripture that clearly places Earth, and not the Sun at the center of the universe. Galileo sent and received various numbers of letters in this time. Including the “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany, 1615.” In this letter he included what he had discovered and observed. “Showing a greater fondness for their own opinions than for truth they sought to deny and disprove the new things which, if they had cared to look for themselves, their own senses would have demonstrated to them.” He tries to explain to her that no one is actually taking the time to even listening to what he is saying because of their belief in the Catholic Church. He is asking not to be commended before people understood it or even heard it. “People who are unable to understand perfectly both the Bible and the science far outnumber those who do understand them.” His letter was sent to Rome and in 1616 the Catholic Church prohibited him from teaching or defending his opinion, Galileo agreed to these