Re: But hang on...
"That the Church controlled the European centres of learning was a fact. Anyone whose research looked likely to contradict the established religious dogma was likely to find themselves in serious trouble. "
If the Church controlled the university at Paris how come The Condemnation of 1210? The works of a number of scholars were condemned for pantheism and Aristotelianism. "Neither the books of Aristotle on natural philosophy or their commentaries are to be read at Paris in public or secret, and this we forbid under penalty of excommunication." The condemnation had only local force. You clearly don't understand the medieval university system if you think it was centrally controlled. The universities weren't even controlled by the cities they were located in!
In 1615 it became required that De Revolutionibus have the frontispiece modified to include that this was a mathematical theory. This followed a debate with the case for heliocentrism being put by Jesuit priest Christoph Scheiner. The Church at no time proscribed astronomy and supported many astronomers. Another Jesuit astronomer of the period of the period was Fr Grassi. Galileo insulted both. He accused Scheiner of lying when he claimed to have seen sunspots first contra the evidence. He also launched a stinging personal attack on Grassi for establishing that comets occupied the space between Earth and the sun. Galileo insisted that comets were an atmospheric phenomenon.
You still haven't provided any evidence of the Church proscribing science.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
