[IFLAME Research Seminar] ‘Science under Inquisition: The Allocation of Talent in Early Modern Europe’
Thursday, January 16th, 2025
1pm – 2:30pm in Paris campus & on Zoom
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Speaker:
Roberto Galbiati – Sciences Po, Paris
ABSTRACT
We study the Roman Inquisition’s (1542) impact on science during the Scientific Revolution (1500s-1600s).
Biographical data show a declining incidence of scientists in Inquisition-mandated states from the 1540s onward.
A structural dynamic model of career and migration decisions reveals that the Roman Inquisition discouraged scientific pursuits in Italy, prompting scientists’ out-migration, inhibiting theirin-migration, andreducing scientific training.
This led to a 23% decline in Italian scientific scholarship during the run-up to the Industrial Revolution.
Although some scientists relocated to other European states, the net impact on Europe is also negative due to the reduced number of Italian scientists overall.