[DarkSavant]

He still shouldn't have had to fear legal reprisals for daring to challenge accepted views, scientific or religious.

He wasn't. He feared ridicule, not legal reprisals. Copernicus was a very quiet recluse and the last thing he wanted was to bring unwanted attention and ridicule to himself.

[CarolinaGuitarman]

" He wasn't. He feared ridicule, not legal reprisals."

If Copernicus had published while he was alive, and if he claimed the Earth really moved (which was his position; the disclaimer in the intro wasn't written by him), he would have most definitely faced legal reprisals.