Catholic Church and Modern Science. Documents from the Archives of the Roman Congregations of the Holy Office and the Index. Vol. 1. 16th Century Documents. Tome 2

943 Pages·2009·21.53 MB·English

by  Ugo Baldini

CATHOLIC CHURCH
AND MODERN SCIENCE
Documents from the Archives of the Roman
Congregations o f the Holy Office and the Index
Volume I
SIXTEENTH- CENTURY DOCUMENTS
TOME 2
LIBRERIA EDITRICE VATICANA
ROMA 2009
Until recently, historical research on the censorial interventions
regarding Science and natural philosophy by Roman ecclesiasti-
cal bodies of doctrinal control focused for the most part on indi­
vidua] cases, such as those of Giordano Bruno and Galileo
Galilei. Accordingly, most studies concentrated on the ‘victims’
of ecclesiastical censorship, rather than on the institutional as-
pects of the latter. Hence, due also to the enduring closure of the
Roman Archives of the Inquisition and the Index, individual
cases were seen as fully representative for the Standard func-
tioning of these bodies of doctrinal control. This annotated edi-
tion of documents from those archives aims to fumish a more
detailed and articulated picture, paying attention to doctrinal and
juridical aspects, and in particular to phenomena that can be best
defined as pertaining to the longue duree, namely the broader
views underlying the ecclesiastical assessment of Science and
natural philosophy.
In the past, investigation into the Catholic Church’s attitude to-
wards Science and philosophy has frequently been characterized
by several forms of bias. Since the Enlightment, some Catholic
authors were heavily conditioned by apologetic aims, while most
iay’ historians described the relation between science and faith
in ternis of the Church’s hampering of scientific progress. Both
approaches assumed, and accordingly developed, an essentially
monolithic picture of the functioning of the Congregations. In
particular, nineteenth and twentieth-century historical studies an-
alyzed the Roman Congregations as characterized by fixed cri-
teria, ignorant collaborators, hostility towards science and free
thought, and in general by a fundamental misunderstanding of
cultural innovation. The recent opening of their archives permits
a more balanced account of the inner functioning of these bodies,
in particular as to the slow, but significant, development of the
criteria, the scientific culture and philosophical mentality of
members and functionaries of the Congregations, and finally as
to the effects of ecclesiastical censorship.
The aim of this edition is not to formulate definite answers, but
rather to contribute in fumishing materials in a way which is
more extensive and less casual than was done in the past. The
detailed documentation now available does not justify any revi-
sionism or apology of censorial interventions in historical de-
bates and research, but it certainly obliges historians to go beyond
generic, harsh and fairly biased condemnations. In effect, the doc­
uments reproduced here suggest that the Congregations did not
have the precise aim to bridle doctrinal dissent regarding Aris-
totelian and scholastic science and natural philosophy in any
technical sense.
This first volume represents the period from the rise of the
Roman Congregations till the end of the sixteenth century. Pre-
liminary work for subsequent volumes on seventeenth-century
developments and on the period until 1808 has now been started.
On the cover:
Engraving by Hans Brosamer (ca. 1500-1554) for the title-page
of Petrus Apianus, Folium populi, Ingolstadt 1533.
FONTES ARCHIVI SANCTI OFFICII ROMANI
------------------------------------------- 5 -------------------------------------------
CATHOLIC CHURCH
AND MODERN SCIENCE
Documents from the Archives o f the Roman
Congregations of the Holy Ojfice and the Index
Volume I
SIXTEENTH- CENTURY DOCUMENTS
Edited by
UGO Baldini and Leen Spruit
TOME 2
LIBRERIA EDITRICE VATICANA
ROMA 2009
FONTES ARCHIVI
SANCTI OFFICII ROMANI
SERIES DOCUMENTORUM ARCHIVI
CONGREGATIONIS PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI
5
CATHOLIC CHURCH AND MODERN SCIENCE
Ugo Baldini, General Editor
ROM/E
EX OFFICINA LIBRARIA VATICANA
A. MMIX
FONTES ARCHIVI SANCTI OFFICII ROMANI
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CATHOLIC CHURCH
AND MODERN SCIENCE
Documents from the Archives of the Roman
Congregations of the Holy Office and the Index
Volume I
SIXTEENTH - CENTURY DOCUMENTS
Edited by Ugo Baldini and Leen Spruit
TOME 2
LIBRERIA EDITRICE VATICANA
ROMA 2009
© Copyright 2009 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana - 00120 Citta dei Vaticano
Tei. 06.698.85003 - Fax [phone]
ISBN 978-88-209-8288-1
www.libreriaeditricevaticana.com
INDEX OF CONTENTS
TOME 2
P art tw o: T rials, Censurae, Prohibitions
Second section: Individual cases
15. Tommaso Campanella.............................................................. 975
16. Girolamo Cardano.....................................................................1033
17. Nicolaus Copernicus.................................................................1473
18. Janus Cornarius........................................................................1482
19. Cesare Cremonini.....................................................................1485
20. Konrad Dasypodius.................................................................1488
21. Domenico Delfino.....................................................................1495
22. Giovan Battista Delia Porta....................................................1507
23. Thomas Erastus........................................................................1565
24. Euclides......................................................................................1590
25. Eunapius Sardianus.................................................................1593
26. Georg Fabricius........................................................................1600
27. Silvestro Fazio............................................................................1603
28. Gabriele Ferrara........................................................................1611
29. Giovanni Matteo Ferrari..........................................................1614
30. Thomas Freige............................................................................1616
31. Leonhart Fuchs........................................................................1622
32. Konrad Gessner........................................................................1673
33. Francesco Giorgio.....................................................................1738
34. Francesco Giuntini.....................................................................1878
35. Guglielmo Grataroli.................................................................1885
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15
TOMMASO CAMPANELLA
On 3 July 1593, the Congregation for the Index decided to discuss
the prohibition of the works by Tommaso Campanella (1568-1638)
(doc. I).1 A few days later Pope Clement VIII decided not to promul­
gate the modified version of the Sixtine Index.2 This is the most likely
reason why for the following two years Campanella’s case was not
taken into consideration by the Congregation, the latter being deeply
engaged in the organization of a new Index till 1596. By the end of
1593, Campanella was arrested by the Paduan Inquisition together
with Giambattista Clario, both being accused by Ottavio Longo, who
probably had been arrested shortly before.3 Direct and indirect
sources permit an approximate reconstruction of the charges: (1) the
composition of a work de tribus impostoribus; (2) discussing de fide
with a converted Jew - who can be identified as Ottavio Longo -
who in the meantime had returned to his original religion (doc. 38);
(3) the composition of a blasphemous sonnet on Christ (doc. 33); (4)
the possession of a book on geomancy; (5) the disapproval of the
doctrine of the Church; and (6) the entertainment of the opinions of
Democritus.4 Since the very start of the Paduan trial, Campanellas
and Clario’s positions were opposed to that of Longo (see docs. 2-5,
and 8). At the beginning of 1594, Campanella was tortured twice and
on 15 July, due to the intervention of the Archduchess Mary of Habs-
1 This decision was probably triggered by the examination of Campanellas manuscripts
taken away by some of his brethren and transmitted by the superiors of his Order to the
Roman Holy Office 1592. See Firpo 1998, pp. 317-18; Frajese2002, pp. 37-38.
2 See ch. The Organization of the Index, Introduction, § 3.
5 For a reconstruction, see Frajese 2002, pp. 43-44. For Campanellas earlier trials, see Fir­
po 1998, pp. 44-59.
4 For the indirect sources, see Amabile 1882: III, p. 286; Amabile 1887: II, p. 124; Cam­
panellas letters of 12 April and of the l,h June 1607, in Campanella 1927, pp. 60-61, 107-
108; Firpo 1998, p. 280. For discussion and reconstruction, see Amabile 1882: I, pp. 67-72;
Firpo 1998, pp. 65-67; Ernst 2002, p. 29; Frajese 2002, p. 39f.
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PART TWO: TRIALS AND CENSURAE PROHIBITIONS
burg, his case was submitted to the Pope. After a few days, he was
tortured again (doc. 6). On the night of 30 and 31 July a group of
people attempted to liberate Campanella and Clario from prison.5 Af­
ter only three days, the Venetian Council of Ten6 started legal pro-
ceedings in order to arrest the offenders and on 6 August a student
from Piedmont, a certain Giacomo Damiani accused a certain Dome-
nico Brandolini.7 During the autumn the cleric Antonio Vidali, the
only person that the Council had been able to arrest in the meantime,
was sentenced - also on other charges - to death and was decapitated
on 23 October.8 On 18 August, the Congregation of the Holy Office,
having been informed of Campanellas attempt to escape, decreed the
absolution for informers possibly involved as accomplices (doc. 7).
Shortly before 11 October (cf. doc. 27), probably as a consequence of
the attempted jail break, Campanella, Clario and Longo were extra-
dited to the Central seat of the Roman Inquisition, which at the begin-
ning of the following year ordered Nicolo Fanti, one of the accom­
plices in the attempted get-away from the Paduan prison, to appear
before the Inquisitorial court in Rome (doc. 10).9 In the Spring of
1595, the lawsuit entered a new stage: Campanella was permitted to
prepare his defence and the repetition of the testimonies was ordered
(docs. 11-12). This first Roman trial was concluded with a condemna-
tion to an abjuration de vehementi on 30 October 1595 (doc. 37).10
However, the preliminary proceedings concerning the attempted es-
5 Moro 1996, p. 167.
6 One of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice from 1310 to 1797.
7 Moro 1996, pp. 171-73.
8 Moro 1996, pp. 173-74.
9 This order was reiterated on 6 February 1597 and 29 January 1598; see docs. 23 and 28.
10 According to Firpo, Campanella abjured with Clario on 16 May 1595 in the church of San­
ta Maria sopra Minerva (Rome); cf. Firpo 1950a, p. 78; Firpo 1954, p. LXXI: DBI, 17, p. 377; and
Firpo 1998, p. 83, note 59. Unfortunately, Firpo did not mention his source, and - as was poin-
ted out in the general Introduction (§ 1.3) - there is a lacuna in the series of the Decreta for the
period from 2 May to 28 December 1595. A possible source of his datation is in BAV, Urb. Lat.
1063, where on f. 318r, the anonymous author of the Avvisi deWanno 1595 reported under “Di
Roma li 17 Maggio”: “Hieri si fece nella Chiesa della Minerva, alia presenza di molti Cardinali et
concorso di molto popolo 1’abiuratione di 12 vacillanti in fede che per certe loro opinioni cosi
scabrose si lasciaranno dire agli altri; solo si scrivera che uno Ateista che crede che morendo il
corpo, muoia 1’anima ancora sara brugiato vivo con la statua di Giovanni Lopez fatto Ebreo in
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15. TOMMASO CAMPANELLA
cape from prison continued (doc. 14). After his abjuration, Cam­
panella was confined to the Monastery of Santa Sabina in Rome,
where he had stayed since at least December of that year.11 Subse-
quently (on 16 December 1596), he moved to Santa Maria sopra
Minerva, stili under surveillance of the Vicar and General of his Or-
der (doc. 21).
In March 1597, while climbing the scaffold in Naples, the Calabri -
an bandit Prestinace made some damaging statements on Campanel-
la’s account, essentially concerning the Catholic faith (doc. 24). Cam­
panella was again arrested and kept in prison in Rome till 17 Decem­
ber, when he was declared innocent and committed to the Superiors
of his Order (doc. 26). On the lst of April 1598, the Congregation of
the Holy Office recognized their failure in his surveillance, and the
following day the Cardinals ordered Antonio Brini, another accom-
plice in the attempted Paduan jailbreak, to appear in Rome (docs. 30-
31). In a letter of 15 April 1598 from Lorenzo Mongio, Bishop of
Minervino, to Card. Santori in Rome (doc. 32), it can be deduced
that Campanella left Rome at the beginning of March. In this letter,
Mangio informed Santori that, when he was leaving Rome for his
Bishopric (less than two years previously, having been ordained in
June 1596), Mario dei Tufo,12 Lord of Minervino, had urged him to
Salonico, dove gia era tanto favorito in questa Corte.” See also under 20 May, on f. 326r: “Questa
mattina 1’Ateista s’ha fatto corteggiar da tutta Roma corsa per vederlo condurre al fuoco in Cam­
po di Fiori dove e stato brugiato con la grande figura in tela di Gio. Lopez.” And finally, see
f. 329v: “Furno martedl condotti ad abiurare nella Minerva 12. prigioni dei Santo Officio sendo
ad alcuni dato in pena la galera, ad altri carcere perpetua, et ad uno della Provintia dei Cragno
impenitente, et ostinato, e stato in pena d’essere abbruggiato vivo, si come e seguito questa matti­
na.” Note, however, Campanella is not mentioned as one of the twelve defendants. This datation
is not only unwarranted, it is also highly improbable, because it presupposes that the final part of
Campanellas first Roman trial, including the preparation of his defence and the repetition of the
testimonies that were ordered on 19 April (doc. 12), was concluded within less than four weeks.
" See the letters to Card. Michele Bonelli and to Alberto Drago, written on 20 and 21 De­
cember 1595, in Campanella 1927, pp. 8-9, and Campanella 2000, pp. 21-22.
12 Mario dei Tufo (Naples, ca. 1547 - after 1611), belonged to a secundary branch of the fa-
mily, which had estates in Puglia since the Norman era; in 1592 he bought the Minervino
feud, which he sold in 1611; during the early 1590s, Campanella stayed in his Neapolitan hou-
se, probably as preceptor of his children; dei Tufo financed the publication of Philosophia sen­
sibus demonstrata. See Testa dei Tufo 1627, pp. 54-58, 69; Campanella 1927, pp. 1-3; D’Aloja
1976, p. 58; Firpo 1998, pp. 47, 50, 54, 84n, 126, and 127n.
~ 977 ~