Nicolaus Copernicus – a Genius of Many Facets
A short story about the life and work of one of the most fascinating figures of the Renaissance.
Children's shoe (1300/1700) by local workshop, PrussiaNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Toruń on 19 February 1473...
...as one of the four children of Nicolaus Copernicus, a merchant from Toruń, and Barbara, née Watzenrode.
Portrait of Copernicus, copy of the painting from the Warsaw Astronomical Observatory (1800/1900) by unknown artistNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
Young Nicolaus was only ten years old when his father died.
His mother’s brother Lucas Watzenrode – the future Bishop of the Warmian Chapter – took the family under his wing.
[View of Kraków] Casmirus, Cracovia, Clepardia (1493) by Michael Wohlgemuth or Wilhelm PleydenwurffNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
Nicolaus received a thorough education.
He studied at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków at a time when astronomy was flourishing. Kraków gave him extensive knowledge of the humanities and a passion for studying the “celestial spheres”.
He travelled to Italy...
...to study law and medicine while honing his other interests in mathematics and astronomy.
Two albarelli depicting a male and female figure (1500/1600) by workshop of Virgiliotto CalamelliNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
Copernicus began his legal studies in 1496 in Bologna.
In May 1503, Copernicus received a doctorate in canon law from the University of Ferrara. He simultaneously completed his medical studies in Padua, obtaining the right to practise medicine.
Warmia
That same year, the would-be astronomer left Italy for Warmia, where his uncle Lucas Watzenrode had been holding the post of Bishop from 1489.
Portrait of Copernicus, copy of the epitaph painting (1948) by Jerzy HoppenNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
Warmian Chapter
Due to the efforts of Lucas Watzenrode, his nephew was admitted to the Warmian Chapter as early as 1497.
Lidzbark Warmiński
However, Copernicus spent his first years in Warmia at the Bishop’s Castle in Lidzbark Warmiński as his uncle’s secretary and physician. He devoted his spare time to putting his ideas down on paper.
Frombork
In 1510 he left Lidzbark and travelled to Frombork to begin a life governed by the Chapter’s statutes.
Side panels of Gothic stalls (1480/1500) by Nuremberg workshopNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
The life of a canon
By serving as a canon, Copernicus enjoyed a prosperous livelihood; however, his role entailed various responsibilities. The most important of these concerned the organisation of liturgies and other rites and included sung prayers and the liturgical service.
Renaissance table (1500/1600) by unknown creatorNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
Nicolaus Copernicus undertook a variety of functions.
He was a chancellor, inspector, financial controller, administrator of the Chapter’s common goods, envoy, guardian of the counting table, overseer of building funds and of the armament of Frombork’s defensive fortifications as well as an official in charge of wills.
Copernicus – cartographer
In 1510–1512, he drew up a map of Warmia and of the western frontiers of Royal Prussia designated for the congress of the royal council in Poznań.
Copernicus – economist
During the Royal Prussian Assembly held in Grudziądz in 1522, Copernicus delivered Rules for Minting Coins (łac. Modus cudendi monetam), which proposed a reform of Prussia’s monetary system.
Copernicus – physican
All the while his canon-life he serving as a physician to other canons and the Bishop.
Copernicus – astronomer
Despite being engaged in so many diverse activities, Copernicus always found the time to observe the sky, make calculations and write a publication demonstrating an entirely new perspective on the structure of the solar system.
He made his own instruments from fir wood following the designs created by ancient astronomers. These were: a quadrant, a trivetrum and an armillary astrolabe. He set up these instruments on a suitably level slab – the pavimentum in the garden adjacent to his canonry.
Commentariolus
Copernicus outlined his concept of the solar system in Commentariolus (Little Commentary) drafted prior to 1510.
De revolutionibus
Although his main work De revolutionibus (On the Revolutions) was completed in 1530, a lot of time had passed before the astronomer agreed to its publication.
Joannis de Sacrobosco astronomi celebrimi Sphericum opusculum… (1522) by Matthaeum ShamotuliensemNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
Georg Joachim Rheticus
It was only Rheticus, a German scientist, Copernicus' friend, and his student, newly arrived in Frombork, who finally persuaded him to publish his book in 1539.
De libris revolutionum [...] Nicolai Copernici [...] narratio prima (1540) by Georg Joachim RheticusNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
Narratio prima
First, however, Rheticus published Narratio prima (First Account) in Gdańsk in 1540, which introduced its readers to the heliocentric theory.
De lateribus et angulis triangulorum
Before the complete work was published, a treatise entitled De lateribus et angulis triangulorum (On the Sides and Angles of Triangles), containing the final three chapters of book one of De revolutionibus, was printed in mid-1542 by Hans Lufft in Wittenberg.
Reproduction of Alexander Lesser’s The Final Moments of Nicolaus Copernicus (1884) by Viktor AngererNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
Year 1543
The entire De revolutionibus appeared in print in 1543 in Nuremberg. In the same year, probably on 21 May (we are not certain of the date), Copernicus died in Frombork.
The first edition of Copernicus’ seminal work was accompanied by a preface by the publisher, which described the work as containing unproven hypotheses.
Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, copy of the Poznań painting (1750/1800) by unknown artistNicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork
From that moment on...
...however, no scientist dealing with astronomy could remain indifferent to the heliocentric model of the universe.
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