GALILEO AND HIS JUDGES. 89 



Archbishop seems to have gone beyond the limits 

 of prudence, considering the peculiar circumstances 

 of the case and the temper of the times, in the 

 enthusiasm of his admiration for the great astro- 

 nomer, and to have hinted to various persons that, 

 in his opinion, he had been unjustly condemned, 

 that he was the greatest man in the world and 

 would always live in his writings, even those that 

 had been prohibited ; such, at least, was the report 

 that found its way to Kome, and it caused great 

 prejudice to Galileo. He had received permission 

 to go to his country house at Arcetri, near Florence, 

 on condition that he lived there quietly, receiving 

 only the visits of his friends and relatives, in such 

 a way as not to give umbrage ; and the report, to 

 which allusion has just been made, coupled with 

 the accusation that, under the encouragement of his 

 host the Archbishop, he had spread opinions that 

 were not soundly Catholic in the city of Sienna, 

 caused some additional strictness to be enforced as 

 to the manner of his seclusion. 



Thus he was detained for four years in his villa, 

 and was refused permission to go to Florence for 

 medical treatment, it being, however, apparent that 

 the villa was sufficiently near to the city to enable 

 physicians and surgeons to go to him when required. 

 Later on, in 1638, when his sufferings had increased, 

 and he had become (wholly or partially) blind, per- 

 mission was given him to reside in Florence, on 

 condition that he should not speak to his visitors 



