“No, Eminence.”
“You therefore rely on hearsay, do you not?”
“I rely on generations of scholars produced by the Mother Church, from Reginbald of Cologne to the Jesuit writers of today and even such as Fra Paolo Foscarini of the Carmelites.”
“But amongst the heathen scholars of ancient times, does Aristotle not stand head and shoulders above the rest?”
“Eminence, you know that is so.”
“And have you studied his Physics and Metaphysics?”
“I have, in translation, and there he commits himself to a belief in an Earth around which the universe rotates. But I believe that view to be in error.”
“But did not Thomas Aquinas, four centuries ago, show that Aristotle’s system is compatible with the Christian doctrine? And is not Aristotle the foundation of natural science throughout the Christian domain? Is it not then possible that the error is yours?”
“Aristotle did not have the benefit of the telescope. Nor the record of centuries of planetary motions which we have.”
The Inquisitor looked down at some notes. The room was silent. The sound of a chirping cricket drifted in from the garden. And then Terremoto suddenly sprang a trap: “Do you deny that the Bible is the supreme authority in the affairs of philosophy?”
“I believe that the Bible is intended to teach men to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.”
“Ebbene! What presumptions are hidden in that neat phrase! Are you also qualified as a theologian?”
“I did not say that, Eminence.”
“You have, however, just seen fit to make a theological pronouncement. The Council of Trent, in its Fourth Session, was explicit about where authority lies: the Word of God is to be interpreted strictly according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers. I repeat my question.” Terremoto looked across at the notary, who read out in a high-pitched voice: “Do you deny that the Bible is the supreme authority in the affairs of philosophy?”
Vincenzo, colour drained from his face, said, “Eminence, I do.”
There was an audible gasp from one of the younger cardinals. Terremoto continued: “Is it also your opinion that the Holy Spirit has allowed the Holy Mother Church to be misled for the nineteen hundred years since Aristotle?”
Another trap, this one with steel teeth.
If Vincenzo replied yes, that the Church had received no guidance from above, then this was akin to denying the Virgin Birth or even the existence of God. If he said no, that the Holy Spirit could not have allowed such an error, then he was admitting to a wilful disregard of the teachings of the Church. Either answer would surely lead to the same fiery end. The notary leaned forward, his face screwed up in anticipation of recording the reply. The cardinals waited. The cricket outside the window chirruped on.
Vincenzo’s voice was little more than a murmur: “Your Grace, that is a theological question. I am incompetent to answer.”
Terremoto was relentless. “And yet you claim to be a devout Catholic. Did you not consider it your pious duty, even before meddling in hypotheses which attempt to revise the received wisdom of the Church, to ask such a question?”
“I believe with Doctor Paolicci of Padua that the mind of the Creator can be read in His Creation.”
“Do you accept that man was created in God’s image?”
There was an expectant silence. After the heresies they had heard, the cardinals did not know what to expect of the wretched old man who faced them. But Vincenzo simply said, quietly, “Of course, your Eminence.”
“Then how can he be otherwise than at the centre of the Universe?”
Vincenzo murmured something, wringing his hands as he did. The notary asked him to speak up, but the monk remained silent.
“The alternative diminishes mankind, does it not? And opens the door to unthinkable heresies?”
“God has two books, that of Nature and that of Scripture. They cannot contradict each other. I read the book of Nature. It says what it says.”
The remainder of the morning was taken up with a close interrogation on technical matters, on the precision of the Alfonsine Tables, the precession of the equinoxes, the motion of the eighth sphere, the angular sizes of the fixed stars, their lack of parallax and the fantastic stellar distances then implied in the Copernican system, and on the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice to creatures on the supposed other worlds of Giordano Bruno. Terremoto dominated the questioning throughout, his deep-chested voice booming through the courtroom. He showed himself to have a remarkable grasp of the scientific issues. Only the cricket outside the window seemed uncowed: unimpressed by the Cardinal’s powerful voice, it chirruped incessantly. By the time the court recessed, it was early afternoon and Vincenzo was drenched with sweat.
That evening, Vincenzo was offered the chance either to confess and recant or take five days to prepare his defence. To the Grand Inquisitor’s astonishment, Vincenzo refused both options. Instead, he made a simple statement. It was brief and to the point. He hesitated briefly, feeling the weight of the Inquisition’s hostility crushing down on him like a collapsing house, but then began to speak, his voice quavering but determined.
“I deny the simplicitas of Aristotle’s universe, whereby the Sun, Moon and planets orbit in epicycles upon epicycles about a stationary Earth. Through the Galilean tube, we see that the Moon is imperfect. It is pitted with craters. With our own eyes we see mountains and valleys like those on Earth. If the Moon is like the Earth, then the Earth is like the Moon. It is therefore just one of the heavenly bodies. The four Medicean planets, revolving around Jupiter, are the clearest proof that not everything revolves around the Earth. We see too, with the tube, that Venus goes through all the phases of the Moon, with the illuminated crescent always turned towards the Sun, and so clearly orbits the Sun and not the Earth. If our Earth is a heavenly body like the Moon, and also a planet like Venus, then we too must orbit the Sun.
“This Holy Congregation has referred to Aristotle, Ptolemy and the Holy Scripture as witnesses for the central position of the Earth. Aristotle also stated that the heavens are immutable. But did we not see a new star in 1572, one which was born, rose in brightness and then died? And if he was wrong in one astronomical matter why can he not be wrong in others? As for Ptolemy, have the new discoveries of the great navigators not made his geography obsolete? Why then should his chart of the heavens not be equally so? Many wise philosophers throughout history have believed that the Earth moves and the Sun stands still.
“As to the Scriptures, we should heed the warning of Saint Augustine, who tells us not to be concerned when the astronomers seem to contradict the scriptures. It implies only that another interpretation must be sought for the Sacred Texts. Pererius, of the Collegio Romano, tells us that non potest Sacrarum Literarum veris rationibus et experimentis humanarum doctrinarum esse contraria. In any case, what are we to make of the words of Job: ‘Who moves the earth from its place?’Your Eminences are not trained in natural philosophy and are not competent to make judgements in that realm. In the interpretation of the world, it is the book of Nature which we must read, not that of the Holy Scripture.”
A tangible ripple came from the cardinals’ table. Vincenzo, his die cast, carried on. “I believe that the stars are made of fire. There are many more stars in existence than those we see. The perspective tube of Galileo resolves the light of the Milky Way into myriads of stars. These must be suns like our own, at immense distances. That is why the constellations do not change and the stars do not trace out ellipses in the sky as the seasons progress: the stars are at such immense distances that the parallax is too small to be seen. You declare that the Earth is stationary as a matter of faith, and that I am therefore a heretic to hold otherwise. But suppose that, in years or centuries to come, the astronomers prove beyond doubt that it is the Sun which is stationary and that the Earth moves around it? Then you who try me, the cardinals of this congregation, will be seen as the heretics. The Mother Church will be exposed to scandal, and forced to reverse Her doctrine, and Her enemies will delight in exposing Her to ridicule. Eminences, you commit a grave error in making matters of faith out of astronomical questions.”