https://earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu/files/original/7d63ba038a11980b3f89eefe3389fd01.jpeg a290632f395c77997632370ec08533d0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dedication Page of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Copernicus, Nicolaus Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Matthew Walsh Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1543 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Gallica.bnf.fr, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, original text available <a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3350p/f6.image" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Non-Commercial Reuse. Full terms available <a href="https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/conditions-dutilisation-des-contenus-de-gallica" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. Description An account of the resource This is the dedication page of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’ seminal work, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres,” which he published in 1543 just months before he died. In it he presents observations which challenge the geocentric model of the universe widely accepted since the time of Ptolemy. He instead argues that Earth and the other planets orbit the Sun. On this page Copernicus dedicates his work to Pope Paul III. The book’s dedication did little to prevent the ensuing criticism from religious leaders (Catholic and Protestant), and some seventy years later with the Galilean controversy beginning to pick up, the text was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the Catholic Church forbidding its production, purchase, or reading (Wiesner-Hanks, 376-378). Galileo himself references the dedication Copernicus made to Pope Paul III in his own letter to the Grand Duchess Christina, in which Galileo attempts to present himself and his theories as in line with the true interpretation of Scripture and Christian doctrine (Galileo, np). Copernicus’ papal dedication is a piece of evidence marshaled to show that the observations of astronomers like Copernicus and Galileo were not meant to subvert religion or the Catholic Church. Nonetheless, the hostile reaction to Copernicus’ work, despite its dedication, reveals that the papacy during the Scientific Revolution both supported scientific advancement by scholars affiliated with the Church (particularly Jesuits) and pushed back on certain theories that attacked the underpinnings of philosophy and all thought commonly accepted at the time. Thus the papacy was an institution which both supported and was deeply skeptical of the conclusions of the Scientific Revolution.