How Did The Catholic Church Influence The Renaissance

The Renaissance was a time of remembrance. In Science specifically, it was the order of the universe that was brought up again and argued over. During the Renaissance, ideas from the past flourished. Discussions and disagreements involving topics other than the Universe from ancient times were encouraged greatly. The Roman Catholic Church, the power house of the decade had some dark secrets that were close to being revealed by scientists. The church was set on supporting old discoveries and theories, and they were not planning on changing their beliefs about the universe. Because of The Catholic Church’s hunger for power and absolute control of the people, astronomers had a difficult time showing the world what was right from wrong. To

Especially in the case of the Universe. All of the scientists mentioned previously were greatly influenced by the Catholic Church. Most of them were affiliated in some way with the church before going against it. Specifically Copernicus, whose whole education was supposed to preparation for Nicolaus in becoming a member of the diocese (Goble 62). It was Copernicus’ previous involvement in the church that made church officials extremely encouraging towards his works and his book. It’s been said that because Copernicus was so well respected in the church, officials didn’t believe that he was actually suggesting the Earth could be moving around the Sun (Miller 27). Because of this, Copernicus did not face any threats of being tried for heresy, going against the church’s beliefs. This allowed him to continue his works in peace for a short time. It was the Protestants that brought it to attention to the Catholic Church that Copernicus was going against the church completely and he actually was suggesting the Earth could be moving around the Sun (Somervill 68). As the church realized this, it wasn’t long before the encouragers of Copernicus became the only thing standing between the publishing of Copernicus’ large book. Nicolaus was a shy man who did not like the attention that the sudden dispute with the church had created (Goble 12). In fear of offending the

The Catholic Church saw believers in heliocentrism as a serious threat and as said by Crabtree, The Catholic church was known to lie and attack opposers as long as it did not jeopardize their power. Although the Catholic Church is blamed as the ‘bad guy’ of the war, the Protestants were responsible for firing the first shot. They had strong intent to ban Copernicus’ book but had not the power, so they nagged at Catholic Church officials until it became apparent to them too that Copernicus posed a threat to the integrity and honesty of the church (Miller 28). It was not long before ancient disputes were renaissancified. The Church was surprised to see someone as well respected in the catholic community as Copernicus, going directly against the beliefs of his religion (Miller 27). His intents were clear, inform the world that the church had been lying for all of time. His mission, if completed, would allow the world to know the truth of our fascinating universe but more dangerously, take a great deal of power from the organization under which he had served as a student and then as a member of. However, with something as powerful as the Catholic Church, it was a good thing Copernicus’ book was published after his life. After Copernicus, the battle waged on and ventured into the world of explorers and their employers. Sailors such as Christopher