Galileo Galilei
and
Cardinal Robert Bellarmine

(Click on the image to zoom in.)

Everyone knows about Galileo Galilei. He was the man who devised the telescope.

That's right. Galileo devised the telescope. That's what he said. He never exactly claimed to have invented what is arguably the most important scientific instrument in history. But he did did make improvements which allowed the magnification to increase from 3 times to a whopping 30 times. He also granted the rights of the telescope to the city of Venice if they doubled his salary as professor at the University of Padua.

Of course, with his near rock star status, Galileo - who was played by Charles Laughton in Bertolt Brecht's play The Life of Galileo - did not expect the Spanish Inquisition - famously represented by Michael Palin and other members of Monty Python's Flying Circus. But then Galileo wasn't in Spain.

But there was another Inquisition that Galileo didn't expect either. At least not at first. And by the time he did expect them there wasn't much he could do.

So if you want to learn a bit about the tribulations, trials, and Trial of Galileo Galilei - and which Inquisition he finally did expect - just click here.