Galileo Galilei and the Roman Curia/Appendix 4
IV.
GHERARDI'S COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTS.
In the course of this work we have always acknowledged the authenticity of the documents first published by Gherardi in his "Il Processo Galileo: Riveduto Sopra documenti di nuove fonte," in the Rivista Europea, vol. iii., 1870, and our story has in many cases been based on them. It behoves us, therefore, to give the reasons which place their authenticity beyond question. These are to be found, first, in the origin of the collection; secondly, by comparing the documents with others universally acknowledged to be authentic.
On the first point we refer to the professor's account prefixed to the documents. In December, 1848, he came to Rome, and was at first, though only for a short time, deputy to the parliament summoned by Pius IX., then held, in quick succession, the offices of member of the assembly for framing a constitution. Secretary of State, and finally Minister of Instruction to the Revolutionary Government. These offices greatly facilitated Gherardi's historical researches, and he pursued them with ardour even amidst the turmoil of revolution. His attention was specially directed to the discovery of the original documents of Galileo's trial. Even in December, 1848, he found opportunity to make a search in the Archives of the Palace of the Inquisition, which was carefully guarded by the soldiers and agents of the Provisional Government to save these historical treasures from the fury of the mob. Gherardi had hoped to get a sight of the complete collection of the Acts, which had two years before been brought back from Paris. But this hope was not fulfilled, for as we know, during the Revolution, these documents were in the hands of Mgr. Marino Marini, Prefect of the Secret Archives. So Gherardi had to content himself with seeking more or less evident traces of the trial among the Archives left in the greatest confusion and partly hastily plundered by the fugitive custodians. It was not without difficulty that he discovered, what was before unknown, that the Acts of the Inquisition were divided into two classes: the first contains the protocols of the sittings and decrees of the Holy Congregation, sometimes in full and sometimes merely extracts. The folios containing these were marked Decreta. The second class contains the protocols of the examinations of accused persons and witnesses, all Acts relating to trials, and finally the sentences passed. These folios were marked Processus. There was a third register marked Rubricelle, which served as an index to everything relating to any person or cause.
As there were not nearly so many gaps in the Decreta as in the Processus, Gherardi turned his attention, the Rubricelle in hand, to the former. He began to make extracts from the documents relating to Galileo's trial, and had already made ten, when he came upon a collection of papers containing thirty-two of such extracts, all relating to the trial. To these papers was added an extract from a letter from Count Blacas, from Prague, of 20th January, 1835, in which he stated that he had repeatedly, but without success, instituted a search for the Acts of Galileo's trial, which had been detained at Paris since 18 15, and that nothing would give him greater pleasure, should they come into his hands, than to deliver them to his Holiness, but this was not a suitable time to renew the demand for them.
It is clear from this letter that the curia made at least one attempt to regain possession of the Vat. MS. between 1820 and 1845, and Gherardi concludes from the circumstance that this letter was found with the said collection that a copy of it had been sent to the Count, perhaps to show him that it was desired to put all the papers relating to Galileo's cause together—a project intended to urge the Count to renewed efforts for their recovery. Be that as it may, the important thing is that Gherardi, having convinced himself of the entire agreement of his ten extracts (the most important), with the corresponding ones in the collection, concluded that the other twenty-two were correct, and did not make any more extracts.
In April, 1849, in spite of the precautions taken, the Archives of the Inquisition seemed no longer safe from the mob, and were removed, with other ecclesiastical libraries, to the Apollinarius church, where Gherardi was again able to look at them. But it was but for a moment, as he decidedly declined all responsibility for a collection of such immense historical value. Moreover, the advance of the French army to Rome to effect the restoration of Pius IX., would have left him but little time for historical researches. On 4th July, in consequence of the capitulation of the municipal council, the French General Ouidinot marched at the head of his troops into "liberated" Rome, while Garibaldi left it on the other side with his 4000 volunteers, and with him all the patriots who had specially distinguished themselves in the service of the Republic during its short existence. Among these was Gherardi, who turned his steps towards Genoa, where he lived for his studies during his exile. On leaving Rome he had only been able to take ten extracts with him, and had now to wait for an opportunity of completing them by those in the Archives of the Inquisition, and he waited patiently twenty-one years. In 1870 the time at length came. He gives us no further particulars as to how he succeeded in getting the collection into his hands again, but simply says that he did so, and no longer delayed to give this valuable historical material to the world.
The history of Gherardi's Documents is of itself a pledge of their authenticity, and it is absolutely confirmed by comparing them with the corresponding documents of the Vatican MS. We have compared them line for line and word for word, and have found that they contain nothing whatever that in the least diverges from those Acts. On the contrary, they throw light on and complete them, and in some cases agree with them verbatim—perhaps the best possible proof of the authenticity of both.