Moreover, the inquisitorial process he underwent for defending the heliocentric theory would eventually pull him up into a symbol status: the blunder committed by the ecclesiastical authorities wanted to see the final …show more content…
There is barely any information on his mother except for a couple of letters found meant to Giulia Ammannati di Pescia. This letters don´t hold her responsible for flattering figure. His father, Vincenzo Galilei, was a Florentine and came from a family that had long ago been illustrious. With a musician vocation, economic difficulties had forced him to engage in trade. This profession led him to settle in Pisa. Man of broad humanistic culture, was an accomplished performer and a composer and music theorist; his works on music theory enjoyed some fame at the time.
Galileo not only had to inherit his father´s taste in music (playing the lute), but also his independent character and fighting spirit, and even disregard for the blind trust in authority and the wish to combine theory with the practice. Galileo was the eldest of seven children of which three (Virginia, Michelangelo and Livia) end up contributing, over time, to increase his economic problems. In 1574 the family moved to Florence, and Galileo was sent away to the monastery of Santa Maria di Vallombrosa, as a student or perhaps as a