This was a philosophical system that gained popularity in Medieval Europe and dominated teaching in all universities even centuries later. Scholastics did not separate religion from science (anything that contradicted religious dogmas was considered proof of the theory’s incorrectness) and made little effort to make new discoveries. Those scientists who dared to test something by experiment with no regard for spiritual texts were declared heretics, got expelled from universities, and became subject of ridicule. For example, you may recall the Copernicans, who dared to claim that the Earth rotates around the Sun and not the other way around! People who spread such thinking were persecuted and even put to death.