A Catholic Theologian Responds to Copernicanism: The Theological <i>Judicium</i> of Paolo Foscarini’s <i>Lettera</i>

Abstract

This paper is an in-depth analysis of the Carmelite Paolo Foscarini's role in the debate on Copernican cosmology in the early seventeenth century. Using as a point of departure the 1616 Judicium issued by the Catholic Church against Foscarini's pro-Copernican treatise, this analysis will lead to a clearer understanding of the discussions on the fluidity or hardness of celestial bodies, and more generally on the conflicting Biblical and Copernican models.