Note 221 — Chapter I · THE “DIALOGUES” ON THE TWO SYSTEMS.

This celebrated Dominican monk, who in 1599 had been condemned by Spanish despotism to imprisonment for life, ostensibly for having taken part in the insurrection in Calabria, but in fact for his liberal opinions, had been released by Urban VIII. in 1626, under pretext of a charge of heresy. After having been detained for three years for appearance’s sake, in the palace of the Holy Office, he had, after 1629, been at large in Rome. Campanella was one of Galileo’s most zealous adherents, and, so far as his imprisonment permitted, he had corresponded with him for years. A letter of his to Galileo of 8th March, 1614, is noteworthy (Op. viii. pp. 305-307), in which he entreats him to leave all other researches alone and to devote himself solely to the decisive question of the system of the universe. In conclusion he makes the singular offer to cure Galileo, who was then lying ill, by means of “the astrological medicine”! In 1616, when the Copernican theory had been denounced by the Inquisition as heretical, the Inquisitor Cardinal Gaetani applied to Campanella, who was widely known for his learning, to give his opinion on the relation of the system to Holy Scripture. In compliance with this demand, Campanella wrote a brilliant apology for Galileo, in which the expert theologian and mathematician brought the system into agreement with the Bible. But even the zealous demonstrations of the imprisoned philosopher did not avail to avert the decree of the Sacred Congregation.