At University College, Oxford, you can see a large memorial to Percy Bysshe Shelley. Those who have seen The Saint may remember it as the place where the lead characters meet. Its presence is a bit odd, however, given that the college and university expelled him because he refused to deny writing a pamphlet called The Necessity of Atheism.
The Vatican is now aiming to do one better than University College, erecting a statue of Galileo close to the apartment where he was imprisoned in 1633 on allegations of promoting heliocentrism. His Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems can be read online.
This post includes a photo I took of Shelley’s memorial. Here is a photo I took of the Vatican.
Interesting that the Vatican is erecting a statue to him. Especially since the dialogue argues against not only geocentrism, but also the notion of substances. The fact the earth goes around the sun is a matter of a single line of verse, but the notion of substances is the entire text of the bible. He was, in fact, imprisoned on allegations of promoting heliocentrism – but this was a kindness, so that he would not be executed for challenging trans substantiation.
typo alert: should be “he was” not “we was”
Thanks Hilary.
I read yesterday that the entire college was excommunicated in 1411 for heresy.
AWESOME!