Galilee, a porch or chapel, usually at the west end of a church, where the monks collected on returning from processions, and where females were permitted to visit their relatives among the monks ; also a por- tion of the church, usually a step lower than the rest of the church, deemed less sacred than the remainder of the edifice, and beyond which women were not per- mitted to pass. Three of them remain in England, at Durham, Lincoln, and Ely cathedrals. The galilee at Durham has five aisles and three altars, and the consistory court is held in it ; that of Lincoln is at the south-west corner of the south transept, and is cruci- form in shape ; while that of Ely differs little from an entrance porch. (G. F. C.)
Galileo Galilei, one of the most celebrated Ital- ian writers on natural sciences, mathematics, and as- tronomy, was born Februar}' 18, 1564. He at first studied medicine, but soon devoted himself wholly to natural and mathematical science. In 1589 he was appointed professor of jnathematics at the Universit}' of Pisa. In 1592 lie was called by the republic of Yenetia to the Universit}' of Padua. From 1604 Gal- ileo devoted himself chiefly to astronomy, and scon became as celebrated by his astronomical discoveries as he had formerly been by those in mathematics and mechanics. It was especialty the introduction of the telescope in 1C09 which gave a powerful inifulse to his genius. He was the first to notice the moun- tains of the moon, the satellites of Jupiter, the ring of Saturn, and the spots on the sun ; and from the mo- tion of the latter he derived an argument in fiivor of the motion of the sun. Galileo published his discov- eries in his Sklereus nvncius (1610). Soon the grand- duke of Tuscany called him as first professor of math- ematics to Pisa, without obliging him to lecture, in order to give him an opportunity- to devote himself whollj' to scientific researches. But his reputation awakened against him a great deal of hatred and envy, and finally he was denounced to the Inquisition for defending and developing the Copernican system. The Inquisition found the views of Copernicus and Galileo irreconcilable with the letter of the Scripture. Galileo wont himself to Pome to defend himself, but without effect. His astronomical views were exam- ined hy the theological cjualifiers, and declared to be absurd, false in philosopln', and contrary to the Holy Scriptures. In 1616 and 1020, decrees were issued allowing to set up the system of Copernicus as a hypothesis, but forbidding it to be defended as a the- sis. Galileo paid no attention to this demand, but six- teen years later published his " Dialogues on the two greatest cosmic systems, that of Ptolemy and that of Copernicus," in which the two systems are compared, and, to satisfy the Inquisition, the victory is awarded to the champion of the sj-stem of Ptolemj' ; but, in fact, the arguments used in its behalf are so weak, and so manifestlj' inferior to tliose adduced in favor of the Copernican system, as to leave no doubt as to the real opinions of Galileo. His enemies found it easy to cause new measures to be taken against him by the Inquisition. Galileo was in 1633 again summoned to Rome. He was at first allowed to live in the Villa Medici ; subsequently he was some time detained as a prisoner in the buildings of the Inquisition ; finally he
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was sent back to the "Villa Medici. The result of the investigation was that Galileo was found guilty of having adhered to and of having supported heretical opinions ; and he had to abjure his errors in a kneeling posture, and to sign the minutes of the proceedings against him. He was condemned to be imprisoned at the Inquisition during pleasure, and to recite once a week for three years the penitential Psalms. Gali- leo submitted to the judgment, and, kneeling and in sackcloth, swore upon the Gospels never again to teach the earth's motion and the sun's stability. ■\Vhon rising from the ground, he is reported to have said, in an undertone, £ pur si muove ("And it does move, for all that") ; but the authenticitj' of this re- port is doubted. After four daj-s' confinement, he was allowed to remove to the residence of the Tuscan am- bassador, but he was kept under surveillance during the whole remainder of his life. In 1G34: he asked permission to visit Florence for medical assistance, but the permission was not granted until 1G38. The severity of the Inquisition was somewhat relaxed in 16:)7, when he became almost totallj^ blind. During the latter years of his life he seems to have paid less attention to astronomj^ but the works of this period on other subjects show that his genius was as great as ever. He died January 8, 1612. The city of Pisa erected a statue in his honor. The completest edition of the works of Galileo is Le Opere di Galileo Galilei (Florence, 1842-5(5, 15 vols.). The most important of Ills works is I>iscorsi intoriio a due nuove scienze (Ley- den, 1638). Biographies of Galileo were written by Gh^rardini,Yiviani (1651), Frisi (Livorno, 1775), Jage- mann (Weimar, 1783), Nelli (Lausanne, 1793),Venturi (Milan, 1818-21), Libri (Milan, 1811), Brewster (Lon- don, 1841), Cattauro (Milan, 1843), Caspar (Stuttgardt, 1854), Cliasles (Paris, 1862). On the trial of Galileo b}' the Inquisition, there are special works and essays by Marini (^Galileo e V Inquishione, Rome, 1850) ; Glad- den (Galileo and the Inquisition, London, 1863) ; Vosen (C und die Ri'iin. Verurthcilunr/ des coper-nicaniscken 6't/sfenis, Frankf. 1865); The Catholic World (Jan. and Feb. 1860). (A. J. S.)