# Was the inventor of the hot air balloon persecuted by the church for his discovery? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-inventor-of-the-hot-air-balloon-persecuted-by-the-church-for-his-discovery/733319 "2015-10-02T23:57:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-inventor-of-the-hot-air-balloon-persecuted-by-the-church-for-his-discovery/733319/1 "2015-10-02T23:57:55Z")
A colleague just related this story and I was skeptical (his telling was he was specifically prosecuted for breaking the law of gravity). The wiki page on [Bartolomeu de Gusmão](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeu_de_Gusm%C3%A3o) implies that such a story exists (specifically that he was banned from continuing his work by the Portugese Inquistion) but may be a later invention. I can’t seem to find any other references it, or any details of the alleged persecution. Can the teeming masses help? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-inventor-of-the-hot-air-balloon-persecuted-by-the-church-for-his-discovery/733319/2 "2015-10-03T02:05:18Z")
That page says, “Contemporary documents do attest that information was laid before the Inquisition against Gusmão, but on quite another charge.” That would seem to make the answer to the question in your title, “no.”