The Galileo Affair

The Galileo Affair refers to the conflict between the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei and the Catholic Church in the early 17th century. Galileo supported the Copernican theory, which proposed that the Earth orbits the Sun, contradicting the Church's teachings that placed the Earth at the center of the universe. In 1616, the Church warned him against advocating this view, but he continued his research and published "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" in 1632. This led to his trial by the Inquisition. In 1633, he was found guilty of heresy, forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.