Courts and conversions: intellectual battles and natural knowledge in Counter-Reformation Rome

The German Catholic courtier Johannes Faber provides a model for exploring the cultural life of the courtier in 17th century Counter-Reformation Rome as it was expressed in the controversies surrounding the astronomical ideas of Galileo Galilei. Faber was Chancellor of the Accademia dei Lincei, an academy of intellectuals which acted in support of Galileo when his views were challenged by the Catholic Church. A combination of courtly etiquette, the political and religious conflicts of the time, and renewed interest in classical philosophy and antiquities provided the intellectual basis for the actions of Galileo's defenders.