Chronology
The First Astronomical Controversies
1614-1616
While the echo of Galileo's celestial discoveries resounded throughout Europe, the contrast with the Catholic Church headed by Pope Paul V, whom Galileo had met at an audience held on April 22, 1611, became increasingly explicit. In letters addressed to his friend Benedetto Castelli in 1613 and to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany Christina of Lorraine in 1615, Galileo claimed that science should be independent of faith.
In December 1614, in Florence, from the pulpit of the church of Santa Maria Novella, the Dominican Tommaso Caccini denounced the heretical nature of the Copernican system, clearly alluding to Galileo's work in astronomy. To defend himself against these accusations, Galileo went to Rome, where on February 26, 1616, he was warned by Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino not to hold, teach or defend in any way the Copernican doctrine, opposed to the teachings of the Holy Scriptures.