In my last post, I shared that The Galileo Ducat is nearly finished. I’m excited to share it, and so, for those who visit my website, here is an excerpt, the Prologue, to introduce you to Galileo. Enjoy!
Prologue
In 1633, Galileo Galilei was found to be a heretic and sentenced to house arrest at Villa Il Gioiello (ironically “House of Joy”), his home about two miles outside the center of Florence, in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Galileo had lived in multiple places in Tuscany. He was born in Pisa and later moved to Florence with his family. He lived in Padua and had a “wife” there but they never married. For a very brief time, he taught mathematics at the university in Pisa, and now here he was in Arcetri, under arrest.
The Grand Duke, Ferdinand II de Medici, son of Cosimo II, didn’t dislike Galileo. Nor did Pope Urban VIII, who initially supported him. It was just too risky to support his heretical ideas in the face of the Roman Inquisition. Though he caused it to be created, even the pope no longer had complete control of the Inquisition.
The villa at Arcetri wasn’t luxurious but it certainly had a spectacular view. Galileo didn't mind that it wasn’t a palace. His needs were simple and were easily met. The most important thing was it had a tower. He could continue his astronomy. The night sky at Arcetri was a beautiful dark carpet dotted with the light of stars and moons.
Galileo never married, but he had two daughters who were devoted to him, and a son who was “legitimized” by the Grand Duke. All were his children by Marina Gamba. They did not live together for long, but Galileo kept in close touch with her. The children lived mostly in Padua when they were young, but when both of his daughters became nuns, they moved to the convent near him, San Matteo di Arcetri.
His daughter Virginia, or rather Sister Marie Celeste, was deeply concerned about her father’s well-being, especially during his exile. She fancied herself, in a sense, his caretaker even though she was a cloistered nun. Neither Virginia nor her father could ever have imagined what would happen when he took up residence in the countryside.
The Galileo Ducat
Virginia tried to make her father’s life easier by doing his mending, and sending him food from her convent, which was not far from his villa at Arcetri. Virginia was also her father’s editor and scribe, and, in a manner of speaking, his interpreter. She was as passionate about science as Galileo, and so she helped to revise his manuscripts and preserve his observations, even making sure they did not fall into the hands of the Inquisition. They communicated by letters, many of which have been preserved. Galileo was known as the father of observational science. Perhaps Virginia was its mother.
Scientists like Galileo and Virginia are often regarded as people who only observe what pertains to their science. That’s not necessarily true. On a cloudy day in 1642, the year of his death, Galileo was restless because no astronomical observations could be made. He wandered around Villa Il Gioiello poking into chests, desk drawers, and wardrobes. It was in a corner of this last, the walnut wardrobe in his own bedroom, that a dull gleam caught his eye. Galileo kept his shoes on the floor of that wardrobe, but he had never peered any further back. Now, he reached his hand in and felt for the object. When he pulled his hand out, he was holding a ducat, a Tuscan gold ducat, with a picture of Minerva on one side and some words on the other. The picture of Minerva meant it was very old. How long had it been there?
A ducat was worth quite a lot in those days. Galileo, however, quickly discerned that this ducat was never intended to be money offered in exchange for goods or services. This ducat was inscribed with some fascinating words. The words, written in Latin, were “Tempus est fluida. Qui sciunt iter facere.” The literal translation into English would be “Time is fluid. Those who know can travel.” Yes, it had to be very old indeed. What did it mean? Who was it intended for? Where did it come from?