Wasn’t Galileo given a hard time?
Yes, Galileo was given a hard time. But that only tells us that politics involves both cruelty and stupidity.
“Wasn’t Galileo given a hard time?”
Not as bad as Giordano Bruno.
Yes, but there were many complications in his case. He was one of many proponents of Copernicus's heliocentric theory of the solar system, published 100 years previously, which was unproven--because it couldn't yet be proven. The technology to do so wasn't there. The measurements of the planets and their orbits for an earth-centered solar system worked just as well as they did for Copernicus's model. The question was finally settled in the early 19th century, when better telescopes were able to detect a parallax effect in viewing the planets at various times of year, which proved they were going around the sun and not the earth.
Galileo was disciplined for 1) publishing a book about the solar system wherein in for no apparent reason and without warning, he made fun of his friend and the financial backer of his scientific work--the mild-mannered Pope Urban; 2) making a number of scientific claims about the solar system--not just the Copernican theory--that were unproven and stating them as fact, some of which claims later turned out to be wrong; 3) alienating absolutely everyone in authority by his arrogant, cantankerous, and loopy behavior.
He was also one of the greatest scientific minds who ever lived.
Not only were most scientists at the time opposed to the Copernican theory--other Christian religious leaders, notably including Martin Luther, were vehement in denouncing it as opposed to the truth revealed in the Bible.
By the way, Copernicus was a Catholic priest, and he had been ordered by his bishop to publish his controversial theory. The reigning Pope at that time (a century before Galileo), Clement VII, was fascinated when he heard of his work, and had his Cardinals write to Copernicus to request copies of his books.
This case is an example of why there can never be any theory worthy of being called "settled science." The only thing "settled" in real science is the scientific method itself, which guarantees that any theory can be tested at any time until the end of the world--when, we can hope, all these things will be revealed!