Life of Galileo

"SAGREDO: Not ten years ago a man was burnt in Rome. His name was Giordano Bruno, and he alleged just that."

I found this line very striking. I knew that the church and the people of the time were very stuck in their ways and even intimidated people keep thought that would contradict the church quiet. I was not aware that people were publicly executed. I feel like making their execution public is a great scare tactic but also may rise the curiosity of those who want to know the truth. If what this man was saying was wrong and had not significant evidence supporting it I feel like the church wouldn't go as far as killing him to silence him. I feel like this tactic may have pushed some people, maybe even people like Galileo, to get their findings out to the world.