The second trial

The Pope was furious with Galileo, feeling betrayed. The book which Galileo had produced was very different from the one he had expected and approved. He had thought it would give much more weight to the uncertainties and doubts on both sides of the question. Also, very likely about this time the Pope learned of the Inquisition minute recording the special injunction to Galileo not to ``hold, teach, or defend'' the theory, an injunction which went beyond the public decree of 1616 and about which Galileo had never informed him. (This injunction had been delivered under a previous Pope, Paul V.) Obviously, if Galileo had been given such an injunction, he should have told the Pope about it before asking his approval for a project that clearly transgressed it. Besides personal feelings of betrayal, it is likely that the Pope was concerned for his own credibility, since his earlier friendship with Galileo was well known, as was his support for the project of writing the book. Whatever the reason, there is no question that the Pope's attitude toward Galileo from this time on was one of personal animosity.

The Inquisition summoned Galileo to Rome in the Fall of 1632. Despite having alienated the Pope and many other key supporters, Galileo still had some powerful friends who acted in his favor. Consequently his case was handled very carefully and he was never subjected to any sort of harsh treatment. The Inquisition did not press the most serious charge, that of violating the special injunction. But he was found ``vehemently suspected'' of heresy for holding a condemned opinion, namely the earth's motion and the sun's stability. In a solemn ceremony, Galileo was required to ``abjure, curse, and detest [these] errors and heresies.'' He was sentenced to imprisonment for life (which was commuted to house arrest) and the weekly recitation of the seven penitential Psalms (which his daughter, a cloistered nun, undertook to perform for him). The Dialog was banned.