Does anyone know where to find primary sources on the Roman Inquisition?

Question

I need sources(primary sources are better) on the Roman Inquisition against Galileo.

Primary sources are sources written by people who lived in the times of the things they write about. So I need something by someone who lived during or around the Renaissance Period.

Answer 1

See if you can lay your hands on a copy of “The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History” by Maurice A. Finocchiaro (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989). It is available in paperback from Amazon at $25.95 (new) or from $4.15 (used). This book is jammed with contemporary quotes from primary sources. See under sources below.


One other contemporary source that I highly recommend is anything written by Tommaso Campanella (1568 – 1639), a poet, philospher and friar who was himself arrested for heresy, imprisoned for years, and subjected to prolonged and intense periods of torture by the Inquisition. In 1616, he wrote his “Apologia pro Galileo” (“A Defense of Galileo”). Quite apart from that specific work, Campanella’s remorseless persecution by the Inquisition makes for interesting (if gruesome) reading on the dangers faced by Galileo.

Also see the References and External Links listed in the Wiki source below.

EDIT (added 4 hours after original post): -

Go to this website and look at its sources and references:
http://www.answers.com/topic/roman-inquisition

In particular note the books:
Tedeschi, John. "The Prosecution of Heresy: Collected Studies on the Inquisition in Early Modern Italy". (available from Amazon, $30).
and Del Col, Andrea. "Domenico Scandella Known as Menocchio: His Trials before the Inquisition (1583–1599)". Translated by John and Anne C. Tedeschi.

Answer 2

Gebler, Karl von. Galileo Galilei and the Roman Curia : from authentic sources, London, C.K. Paul & co., 1879; Merrick, N.Y. : Richwood Pub. Co., 1977. - Google Books ISBN 0-915172-11-9
Finding primary sources is near to impossible through the internet. Truth to tell, unless you have a college library at your disposal whose archives include texts from the Renaissance, its gonna be darn near to impossible. Thats why I gave you the name of the book above. It'd be worth the price o fthe book just to have the list of sources the author used, and the quotes form those sources scattered throughout the book.