Deliberations by Darrell

It is simply not true that 16th-century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church as a heretic because of his revolutionary theory that the earth revolves around the sun.  News of his reburial last month (May 2010) hint at this fact by noting that Copernicus was reburied “in a tomb in the cathedral where he once served as a church canon and doctor” (Associated Press, emphasis added). Nevertheless, it remains a popular and oft-repeated myth.

Copernicus’ ideas about a heliocentric universe were not published until his death because he feared the scorn “to which he would expose himself on account of the novelty and incomprehensibility of his theses.” When On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres was finally published in 1543, demand was so low that an initial print run of 400 failed to sell out.

The first attacks on Copernicus’ theory came from Protestants. In 1549 Melanchthon, Luther’s principal lieutenant, wrote against Copernicus, pointing to the theory’s apparent conflict with the Bible. It was not until 1616 that the Roman Catholic church added the works of Copernicus to its list of Forbidden Books. Even this did not result in De revolutionibus being banned but only in it being withdrawn from circulation until the theory’s status as a hypothesis was clarified (Wikapedia: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium).

Since Copernicus wasn’t famous when he died, his grave in Frombork Cathedral was unmarked. It wasn’t until 2005 that archaeologists were confident that they had located his remains (BBC: Polish tests ‘confirm Copernicus’).

Bottom line: It was Copernicus’ ideas that were rejected and Copernicus himself was never condemned or declared to be a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church before or after his death.

Wikapedia: Nicolaus Copernicus