Turning Tables
It's amazing what 400 years can do to a family.
Last night there was a show about Galileo Galilei on the History Channel. I was excited to watch it because the story of Galileo is linked to my family.
In case you aren't aware, Galileo is considered by many to be the father of modern sciences. He was a true man of his age, an age of Renaissance and of Reformation. It was an age when people dared to question authority, when people challenged convention wisdom in favor of new (and often correct) ideas.
As with all eras of such radical change, it was an age of fear and violence. The establishment, in this case the Roman Church, used whatever means necessary to maintain the status quo. This included false accusations, torture, and death.
It was a single theory of Galileo's -- rather his support for the theory of mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus -- that gave the opportunity for my family to be forever linked with this crucial point in scientific history. It was the theory of heliocentrism.
Heliocentrism is the idea that the sun is the center of the solar system. This went against the false theory of geocentrism -- that the earth was the center of the universe. The Bible, and therefore the Church, was geocentrist. Galileo's theory posed a considerable threat to the Church at this time.
Enter Cardinal Robert Bellarmine. Cardinal Bellarmine was at the time one of the Church's most gifted scholars. He questioned Galileo's theories and stated that, since it was merely theory and not fact, it could not be stated as such. Cardinal Bellarmine expressed to Galileo that such questioning of the Bible and of Church teachings would pose a considerable threat to the Church and its myriad other beliefs.
Cardinal Bellarmine was later asked by the Inquisition to warn Galileo not to teach heliocentrism or be subject to trials of heresy. Such trials at the time led to being burned at the stake.
One thing Cardinal Bellarmine stated was, in fact true. Galileo, along with the Protestant Reformation, did have a profound effect on how Western Civilization viewed what had been conventional wisdom and often Church doctrine for centuries.
Now here's the kicker. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine -- later Saint Robert Bellarmine -- is an ancestor of mine. He the nephew of Pope Marcellus II (Marcelo Cervini). The Cervini family continued its lineage, and eventually a Francesca Cervini married a Pietro Calamari in northern Italy. They had several children, one of which -- Delena -- was my great grandmother.
While the Church has not evolved much over the centuries (although they have done away with sanctioned torture and burning at the stake), I'd certainly say that my family has. The family who produced a pope and the man who warned Galileo not to question the teachings of the Church produced, centuries later, someone who spends a little time each day seeking the truth, regardless of contemporary wisdom.
Last night there was a show about Galileo Galilei on the History Channel. I was excited to watch it because the story of Galileo is linked to my family.
In case you aren't aware, Galileo is considered by many to be the father of modern sciences. He was a true man of his age, an age of Renaissance and of Reformation. It was an age when people dared to question authority, when people challenged convention wisdom in favor of new (and often correct) ideas.
As with all eras of such radical change, it was an age of fear and violence. The establishment, in this case the Roman Church, used whatever means necessary to maintain the status quo. This included false accusations, torture, and death.
It was a single theory of Galileo's -- rather his support for the theory of mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus -- that gave the opportunity for my family to be forever linked with this crucial point in scientific history. It was the theory of heliocentrism.
Heliocentrism is the idea that the sun is the center of the solar system. This went against the false theory of geocentrism -- that the earth was the center of the universe. The Bible, and therefore the Church, was geocentrist. Galileo's theory posed a considerable threat to the Church at this time.
Enter Cardinal Robert Bellarmine. Cardinal Bellarmine was at the time one of the Church's most gifted scholars. He questioned Galileo's theories and stated that, since it was merely theory and not fact, it could not be stated as such. Cardinal Bellarmine expressed to Galileo that such questioning of the Bible and of Church teachings would pose a considerable threat to the Church and its myriad other beliefs.
Cardinal Bellarmine was later asked by the Inquisition to warn Galileo not to teach heliocentrism or be subject to trials of heresy. Such trials at the time led to being burned at the stake.
One thing Cardinal Bellarmine stated was, in fact true. Galileo, along with the Protestant Reformation, did have a profound effect on how Western Civilization viewed what had been conventional wisdom and often Church doctrine for centuries.
Now here's the kicker. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine -- later Saint Robert Bellarmine -- is an ancestor of mine. He the nephew of Pope Marcellus II (Marcelo Cervini). The Cervini family continued its lineage, and eventually a Francesca Cervini married a Pietro Calamari in northern Italy. They had several children, one of which -- Delena -- was my great grandmother.
While the Church has not evolved much over the centuries (although they have done away with sanctioned torture and burning at the stake), I'd certainly say that my family has. The family who produced a pope and the man who warned Galileo not to question the teachings of the Church produced, centuries later, someone who spends a little time each day seeking the truth, regardless of contemporary wisdom.
posted by E-Luv at 9:32 AM
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