Final answer:
Galileo was placed under house arrest by the Inquisition for supporting Copernicus's heliocentric theory, a view in contradiction with the Catholic Church's geocentric stance. He challenged the long-held belief that Earth was the universe's center, a belief derived from both ancient philosophy and religious interpretation.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 1632, Galileo was sentenced to house arrest for his support of Copernicus’s heliocentric theory, which the Inquisition viewed as a contradiction of the geocentric views upheld by the Catholic Church. The Church, following the ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Ptolemy, maintained that the Earth was the center of the universe. Galileo's adoption of the heliocentric model and his proof using telescopic observations challenged this view and the church's assertion that pure human thought combined with divine revelation represented the path to truth. Despite agreeing with the Church on matters of religion and morality, Galileo's scientific inquiries into the workings of nature, as revealed through experimentation and observation, were deemed heretical. His trial by the Inquisition and subsequent punishment serve as a historical example of the conflict between emerging scientific understanding and established religious doctrine.