Tommaso Caccini - After The Trial

After The Trial

While Caccini hoped that his claims would encourage Rome to act against Galileo, his testimony was met with mixed review. Most of his claims were disregarded by the Church with the exception of the claim that Galileo’s Letter on Sunspots was heretical. In 1616, following an examination of the Letter, the Holy Office issued a report that the notion of a stationary sun was heretical. The Holy Office further enjoined Galileo on February 26, 1616 from teaching or defending the notion that the earth revolved around a stationary sun.

After giving his testimony in 1615, Caccini used his opposition to Galileo as a vehicle to achieve his ambitious professional goals. Gradually his career progressed in Rome, and he eventually became the prior of the monastery of San Marco where he continued to assist in the prosecution of Galileo. Caccini died at the age of 74 in Florence in 1648.