--- title: "On June 22nd, [1633,] in the morning, in the great hall of the Conven… — John Ralston Saul Quote #46 | QuotesBy.net" description: "On June 22nd, [1633,] in the morning, in the great hall of the Convent of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Galileo was found guilty of holding a false doct… — a quote by John Ralston Saul." image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png" --- > # On June 22nd, \[1633,\] in the morning, in the great hall of the Convent of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Galileo was found guilty of holding a false doctrine. He went down on his knees and both abjured and condemned his own errors. He swore never to argue such doctrines again. It was thus definitely confirmed that the sun did rotate around the earth...Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Saint Mary Over Minerva. Power over wisdom. [John Ralston Saul](https://quotesby.net/John-Ralston-Saul)\#46 [Power](https://quotesby.net/John-Ralston-Saul/power/)[History](https://quotesby.net/John-Ralston-Saul/history/)[Authority](https://quotesby.net/John-Ralston-Saul/authority/)[Truth](https://quotesby.net/John-Ralston-Saul/truth/)[Science](https://quotesby.net/topics/science/) [WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)](https://wa.me/?text=%E2%80%9COn%20June%2022nd%2C%20%5B1633%2C%5D%20in%20the%20morning%2C%20in%20the%20great%20hall%20of%20the%20Convent%20of%20Santa%20Maria%20Sopra%20Minerva%2C%20Galileo%20was%20found%20guilty%20of%20holding%20a%20false%20doctrine.%20He%20went%20down%20on%20his%20knees%20and%20both%20abjured%20and%20condemned%20his%20own%20errors.%20He%20swore%20never%20to%20argue%20such%20doctrines%20again.%20It%20was%20thus%20definitely%20confirmed%20that%20the%20sun%20did%20rotate%20around%20the%20earth...Santa%20Maria%20Sopra%20Minerva.%20Saint%20Mary%20Over%20Minerva.%20Power%20over%20wisdom.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20John%20Ralston%20Saul%20https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FJohn-Ralston-Saul%2F46%2F)[X (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%9COn%20June%2022nd%2C%20%5B1633%2C%5D%20in%20the%20morning%2C%20in%20the%20great%20hall%20of%20the%20Convent%20of%20Santa%20Maria%20Sopra%20Minerva%2C%20Galileo%20was%20found%20guilty%20of%20holding%20a%20false%20doctrine.%20He%20went%20down%20on%20his%20knees%20and%20both%20abjured%20and%20condemned%20his%20own%20errors.%20He%20swore%20never%20to%20argue%20such%20doctrines%20again.%20It%20was%20thus%20definitely%20confirmed%20that%20the%20sun%20did%20rotate%20around%20the%20earth...Santa%20Maria%20Sopra%20Minerva.%20Saint%20Mary%20Over%20Minerva.%20Power%20over%20wisdom.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20John%20Ralston%20Saul&url=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FJohn-Ralston-Saul%2F46%2F)[Facebook (opens in a new tab)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FJohn-Ralston-Saul%2F46%2F) ## About this quote What does it mean?Galileo’s trial shows institutional power suppressing science.In plain termsGalileo was forced to deny science to please the church.What can you take from it?Institutions can override truth with authority. ### Where it applies - scientific inquiry - religious history - education ### Putting it to work - defend scientific truth - question authority ### Questions to consider - How does power affect knowledge? - Who decides truth? ### Another view Historical context involves complex theological arguments. ## More from John Ralston Saul 1. > Venereal: From Venus, the goddess of love, this word refers to the reality of desire. With the rise of Protestantism and science, the word 'disease' was tacked… [Permalink to quote \#45](https://quotesby.net/John-Ralston-Saul/45/ "Permalink to quote 45") 2. > There is something silly about grown men and women striving to reduce their vision of themselves and of civilization to bean counting. [Permalink to quote \#47](https://quotesby.net/John-Ralston-Saul/47/ "Permalink to quote 47") 3. > United States: .... A nation given either to unjustified over-enthusiasms or infantile furies. [Permalink to quote \#44](https://quotesby.net/John-Ralston-Saul/44/ "Permalink to quote 44") ## Related quotes 1. > Such are the scientific justifications of the principle of coercion. They are not merely weak but absolutely invalid, yet they are so much needed by those who … [Leo Tolstoy](https://quotesby.net/Leo-Tolstoy)[Leo Tolstoy quote \#89](https://quotesby.net/Leo-Tolstoy/89/ "Permalink to quote 89") 2. > Ces deux moities de Dieu, le pape et l'empereur! [Victor Hugo](https://quotesby.net/Victor-Hugo)[Victor Hugo quote \#1](https://quotesby.net/Victor-Hugo/1/ "Permalink to quote 1") 3. > My so-called foreign friends do neither me nor the situation nor themselves any good when they try to bring me into opposition to the allegedly impossible Nati… [Hjalmar Schacht](https://quotesby.net/Hjalmar-Schacht)[Hjalmar Schacht quote \#1](https://quotesby.net/Hjalmar-Schacht/1/ "Permalink to quote 1") ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Quotation", "text": "On June 22nd, [1633,] in the morning, in the great hall of the Convent of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Galileo was found guilty of holding a false doctrine. He went down on his knees and both abjured and condemned his own errors. He swore never to argue such doctrines again. It was thus definitely confirmed that the sun did rotate around the earth...Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Saint Mary Over Minerva. 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