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91-499: The town was first mentioned in a 13th-century document. In the early 16th century it was the residence of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus , who used it as a site for several of his observations. The town and its 14th century cathedral were badly damaged in World War II . After the war the cathedral was meticulously reconstructed and is again a popular tourist destination, listed as a Historic Monument of Poland . Frombork

182-461: A Benedictine nun and, in her final years, prioress of a convent in Chełmno (Kulm); she died after 1517. His sister Katharina married the businessman and Toruń city councilor Barthel Gertner and left five children, whom Copernicus looked after to the end of his life. Copernicus never married and is not known to have had children, but from at least 1531 until 1539 his relations with Anna Schilling,

273-677: A lunar eclipse on the night of 5–6 November 1500. According to a later account by Rheticus , Copernicus also—probably privately, rather than at the Roman Sapienza —as a " Professor Mathematum " (professor of astronomy) delivered, "to numerous ... students and ... leading masters of the science", public lectures devoted probably to a critique of the mathematical solutions of contemporary astronomy. On his return journey doubtless stopping briefly at Bologna, in mid-1501 Copernicus arrived back in Warmia. After on 28 July receiving from

364-694: A sinecure at the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew in Wrocław (at the time in the Crown of Bohemia ). Despite having been granted a papal indult on 29 November 1508 to receive further benefices , through his ecclesiastic career Copernicus not only did not acquire further prebends and higher stations ( prelacies ) at the chapter, but in 1538 he relinquished the Wrocław sinecure. It

455-553: A Greek story. They are of three kinds—"moral," offering advice on how people should live; "pastoral", giving little pictures of shepherd life; and "amorous", comprising love poems. They are arranged to follow one another in a regular rotation of subjects. Copernicus had translated the Greek verses into Latin prose, and he published his version as Theophilacti scolastici Simocati epistolae morales, rurales et amatoriae interpretatione latina , which he dedicated to his uncle in gratitude for all

546-589: A comedy in Latin , Morosophus (The Foolish Sage), and staged it at the Latin school that he had established there. In the play, Copernicus was caricatured as the eponymous Morosophus, a haughty, cold, aloof man who dabbled in astrology , considered himself inspired by God, and was rumored to have written a large work that was moldering in a chest. Elsewhere Protestants were the first to react to news of Copernicus's theory. Melanchthon wrote: Some people believe that it

637-431: A degree, probably in the fall of 1495, Copernicus left Kraków for the court of his uncle Watzenrode, who in 1489 had been elevated to Prince-Bishop of Warmia and soon (before November 1495) sought to place his nephew in the Warmia canonry vacated by 26 August 1495 death of its previous tenant, Jan Czanow. For unclear reasons—probably due to opposition from part of the chapter, who appealed to Rome—Copernicus's installation

728-572: A fragment from the Commentariolus in his own treatise, Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata , published in Prague in 1602, based on a manuscript that he had received from the Bohemian physician and astronomer Tadeáš Hájek , a friend of Rheticus . The Commentariolus would appear complete in print for the first time only in 1878. In 1510 or 1512 Copernicus moved to Frombork, a town to

819-406: A good knowledge of the philosophical and natural-science writings of Aristotle ( De coelo , Metaphysics ) and Averroes , stimulating his interest in learning and making him conversant with humanistic culture. Copernicus broadened the knowledge that he took from the university lecture halls with independent reading of books that he acquired during his Kraków years ( Euclid , Haly Abenragel ,

910-476: A live-in housekeeper, were seen as scandalous by two bishops of Warmia who urged him over the years to break off relations with his "mistress". Copernicus's father's family can be traced to a village in Silesia between Nysa (Neiße) and Prudnik (Neustadt). The village's name has been variously spelled Kopernik, Copernik, Copernic, Kopernic, Coprirnik, and modern Koperniki . In the 14th century, members of

1001-455: A month the patient recovered, and Copernicus returned to Frombork. For a time, he continued to receive reports on von Kunheim's condition, and to send him medical advice by letter. Some of Copernicus's close friends turned Protestant, but Copernicus never showed a tendency in that direction. The first attacks on him came from Protestants. Wilhelm Gnapheus , a Dutch refugee settled in Elbląg , wrote

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1092-447: A more detailed work. At about 1532, Copernicus had basically completed his work on the manuscript of Dē revolutionibus orbium coelestium ; but despite urging by his closest friends, he resisted openly publishing his views, not wishing—as he confessed—to risk the scorn "to which he would expose himself on account of the novelty and incomprehensibility of his theses." Royal Prussia Too Many Requests If you report this error to

1183-749: A prominent Polish family who had been well known in Poland's history since 1271. The Watzenrode family, like the Kopernik family, had come from Silesia from near Schweidnitz (Świdnica), and after 1360 had settled in Toruń. They soon became one of the wealthiest and most influential patrician families. Through the Watzenrodes' extensive family relationships by marriage, Copernicus was related to wealthy families of Toruń (Thorn), Danzig (Gdansk) and Elbing (Elbląg), and to prominent Polish noble families of Prussia:

1274-456: A result, Watzenrode quarreled with the king until Casimir IV's death three years later. Watzenrode was then able to form close relations with three successive Polish monarchs: John I Albert , Alexander Jagiellon , and Sigismund I the Old . He was a friend and key advisor to each ruler, and his influence greatly strengthened the ties between Warmia and Poland proper. Watzenrode came to be considered

1365-614: A seat of medical learning, and—except for a brief visit to Ferrara in May–June 1503 to pass examinations for, and receive, his doctorate in canon law—he remained at Padua from fall 1501 to summer 1503. Copernicus studied medicine probably under the direction of leading Padua professors—Bartolomeo da Montagnana, Girolamo Fracastoro , Gabriele Zerbi, Alessandro Benedetti—and read medical treatises that he acquired at this time, by Valescus de Taranta, Jan Mesue, Hugo Senensis, Jan Ketham, Arnold de Villa Nova, and Michele Savonarola , which would form

1456-399: A second return to Italy in 1503) than to studying the humanities —probably attending lectures by Filippo Beroaldo , Antonio Urceo , called Codro, Giovanni Garzoni , and Alessandro Achillini —and to studying astronomy. He met the famous astronomer Domenico Maria Novara da Ferrara and became his disciple and assistant. Copernicus was developing new ideas inspired by reading the "Epitome of

1547-620: A study on the value of money, " Monetae cudendae ratio ". In it he formulated an early iteration of the theory called Gresham's law , that "bad" ( debased ) coinage drives "good" (un-debased) coinage out of circulation—several decades before Thomas Gresham . He also, in 1517, set down a quantity theory of money , a principal concept in modern economics. Copernicus's recommendations on monetary reform were widely read by leaders of both Prussia and Poland in their attempts to stabilize currency. In 1533, Johann Widmanstetter , secretary to Pope Clement VII , explained Copernicus's heliocentric system to

1638-754: A wealthy merchant and in 1439–62 president of the judicial bench, was a decided opponent of the Teutonic Knights. In 1453 he was the delegate from Toruń at the Grudziądz (Graudenz) conference that planned the uprising against them. During the ensuing Thirteen Years' War , he actively supported the Prussian cities' war effort with substantial monetary subsidies (only part of which he later re-claimed), with political activity in Toruń and Danzig, and by personally fighting in battles at Łasin (Lessen) and Malbork (Marienburg). He died in 1462. Lucas Watzenrode

1729-520: Is Copernicus' tower, and in the southwest corner an octagonal building with a square bell tower and a small planetarium and a Foucault's pendulum . From atop the tower one can survey the town, the tiny harbor , the panorama of the Baltic Sea , and much of Warmia 's countryside. Frombork suffered destruction and heavy population losses during the Polish–Swedish wars . Between 1626 and 1635 it

1820-477: Is excellent and correct to work out a thing as absurd as did that Sarmatian [i.e., Polish] astronomer who moves the earth and stops the sun. Indeed, wise rulers should have curbed such light-mindedness. Nevertheless, in 1551, eight years after Copernicus's death, astronomer Erasmus Reinhold published, under the sponsorship of Copernicus's former military adversary, the Protestant Duke Albert,

1911-549: Is known as “The Jewel of Warmia ” because of its many historical sites. The Museum of Copernicus in Frombork holds exhibitions related to the astronomer, as well as to astronomy in general, and includes a planetarium. One of the biggest attractions is also the annual International Festival of Organ Music, held every summer. The town was founded as a defensive stronghold on an Old Prussian site. In 1224 at Catania , Emperor Frederick II declared Prussia directly subordinate to

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2002-418: Is unclear whether he was ever ordained a priest. Edward Rosen asserts that he was not. Copernicus did take minor orders , which sufficed for assuming a chapter canonry. The Catholic Encyclopedia proposes that his ordination was probable, as in 1537 he was one of four candidates for the episcopal seat of Warmia , a position that required ordination. Meanwhile, leaving Warmia in mid-1496—possibly with

2093-717: The Alfonsine Tables , Johannes Regiomontanus ' Tabulae directionum ); to this period, probably, also date his earliest scientific notes, preserved partly at Uppsala University . At Kraków Copernicus began collecting a large library on astronomy; it would later be carried off as war booty by the Swedes during the Deluge in the 1650s and has been preserved at the Uppsala University Library . Copernicus's four years at Kraków played an important role in

2184-500: The Prussian Tables , a set of astronomical tables based on Copernicus's work. Astronomers and astrologers quickly adopted it in place of its predecessors. Some time before 1514 Copernicus made available to friends his " Commentariolus " ("Little Commentary"), a manuscript describing his ideas about the heliocentric hypothesis. It contained seven basic assumptions (detailed below). Thereafter he continued gathering data for

2275-566: The Czapskis , Działyńskis , Konopackis and Kościeleckis . Lucas and Katherine had three children: Lucas Watzenrode the Younger (1447–1512), who would become Bishop of Warmia and Copernicus's patron; Barbara, the astronomer's mother (deceased after 1495); and Christina (deceased before 1502), who in 1459 married the Toruń merchant and mayor, Tiedeman von Allen. Lucas Watzenrode the Elder,

2366-556: The Kraków astronomical-mathematical school , acquiring the foundations for his subsequent mathematical achievements. According to a later but credible tradition ( Jan Brożek ), Copernicus was a pupil of Albert Brudzewski , who by then (from 1491) was a professor of Aristotelian philosophy but taught astronomy privately outside the university; Copernicus became familiar with Brudzewski's widely read commentary to Georg von Peuerbach 's Theoricæ novæ planetarum and almost certainly attended

2457-514: The Sun made in 1515, led to the discovery of the variability of Earth 's eccentricity and of the movement of the solar apogee in relation to the fixed stars , which in 1515–1519 prompted his first revisions of certain assumptions of his system. Some of the observations that he made in this period may have had a connection with a proposed reform of the Julian calendar made in the first half of 1513 at

2548-622: The Teutonic Order after the Thirteen Years' War . A polyglot and polymath , he obtained a doctorate in canon law and was a mathematician, astronomer, physician , classics scholar , translator , governor , diplomat , and economist . From 1497 he was a Warmian Cathedral chapter canon . In 1517 he derived a quantity theory of money —a key concept in economics—and in 1519 he formulated an economic principle that later came to be called Gresham's law . Nicolaus Copernicus

2639-622: The Virgin Mary or inhabited by nuns . Several places were thus named Frauenburg or Marienburg , like the nearby Marienburg castle and city (now Malbork ). The village was first mentioned in a 1278 document signed by Bishop Heinrich Fleming. On 8 July 1310, Bishop Eberhard of Neisse granted the town Lübeck city rights , as used by many member cities of the Hanseatic League . It was described, still rather unspecifically, as Civitas Warmiensis ( Warmian city ). In 1329–1388,

2730-579: The Vistula River from Toruń, which prepared pupils for entrance to the University of Kraków . In the winter semester of 1491–92 Copernicus, as "Nicolaus Nicolai de Thuronia", matriculated together with his brother Andrew at the University of Kraków . Copernicus began his studies in the Department of Arts (from the fall of 1491, presumably until the summer or fall of 1495) in the heyday of

2821-611: The Vistula River , was at that time embroiled in the Thirteen Years' War , in which the Kingdom of Poland and the Prussian Confederation , an alliance of Prussian cities, gentry and clergy, fought the Teutonic Order over control of the region. In this war, Hanseatic cities like Danzig and Toruń, Nicolaus Copernicus's hometown, chose to support the Polish King , Casimir IV Jagiellon , who promised to respect

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2912-603: The prince-bishops of Warmia ; currency reform ), he, together with part of the chapter, represented a program of strict cooperation with the Polish Crown and demonstrated in all his public activities (the defense of his country against the Order's plans of conquest; proposals to unify its monetary system with the Polish Crown's; support for Poland's interests in the Warmia dominion's ecclesiastic administration) that he

3003-651: The 13th century. In 1414, the town was plundered and burned during the Hunger War between the Teutonic Knights and Poland. In 1440, the town joined the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation , at the request of which Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon signed the act of incorporation of the region into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in 1454. In 1454, the Warmian Chapter paid homage to King Casimir IV Jagiellon, recognizing him as rightful ruler. In retaliation

3094-853: The Almagest" ( Epitome in Almagestum Ptolemei ) by George von Peuerbach and Johannes Regiomontanus (Venice, 1496). He verified its observations about certain peculiarities in Ptolemy's theory of the Moon's motion, by conducting on 9 March 1497 at Bologna a memorable observation of the occultation of Aldebaran , the brightest star in the Taurus constellation, by the Moon. Copernicus the humanist sought confirmation for his growing doubts through close reading of Greek and Latin authors ( Pythagoras , Aristarchos of Samos , Cleomedes , Cicero , Pliny

3185-678: The Copernicus Tower, the Radziejowski Tower, which contains a Foucault pendulum , the Old Bishop's Palace, which houses the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum, and other historical buildings. Other sights include: Several monuments are on display in Frombork (see external links ): Frombork is located at the intersection of Voivodeship roads 504 and 505. From Frombork, it is possible to sail from

3276-461: The Council proposals for the calendar's emendation. During 1516–1521, Copernicus resided at Olsztyn (Allenstein) Castle as economic administrator of Warmia, including Olsztyn (Allenstein) and Pieniężno (Mehlsack). While there, he wrote a manuscript, Locationes mansorum desertorum ( Locations of Deserted Fiefs ), with a view to populating those fiefs with industrious farmers and so bolstering

3367-588: The Elder , Plutarch , Philolaus , Heraclides , Ecphantos , Plato ), gathering, especially while at Padua , fragmentary historic information about ancient astronomical, cosmological and calendar systems. Copernicus spent the jubilee year 1500 in Rome, where he arrived with his brother Andrew that spring, doubtless to perform an apprenticeship at the Papal Curia . Here, too, however, he continued his astronomical work begun at Bologna, observing, for example,

3458-458: The King of Poland, asking for help against the Teutonic Knights who were threatening the city. The letter however was intercepted, and the Teutonic Knights took and burned the city (Copernicus and other canons had left the city shortly before). The astronomer wrote his epochal work, De revolutionibus orbium cœlestium in Frombork. In his book, written in Latin , Copernicus used the Latin name of

3549-689: The Moon on 9 March 1497. Copernicus also observed a conjunction of Saturn and the Moon on 4 March 1500. He saw an eclipse of the Moon on 6 November 1500. Having completed all his studies in Italy, 30-year-old Copernicus returned to Warmia, where he would live out the remaining 40 years of his life, apart from brief journeys to Kraków and to nearby Prussian cities: Toruń (Thorn), Gdańsk (Danzig), Elbląg (Elbing), Grudziądz (Graudenz), Malbork (Marienburg), Königsberg (Królewiec). The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia enjoyed substantial autonomy , with its own diet (parliament) and monetary unit (the same as in

3640-520: The Old in Kraków (1507). Watzenrode's itinerary suggests that in spring 1509 Copernicus may have attended the Kraków sejm . It was probably on the latter occasion, in Kraków, that Copernicus submitted for printing at Jan Haller 's press his translation, from Greek to Latin, of a collection, by the 7th-century Byzantine historian Theophylact Simocatta , of 85 brief poems called Epistles, or letters, supposed to have passed between various characters in

3731-527: The Old . Some time before 1514, Copernicus wrote an initial outline of his heliocentric theory known only from later transcripts, by the title (perhaps given to it by a copyist), Nicolai Copernici de hypothesibus motuum coelestium a se constitutis commentariolus —commonly referred to as the Commentariolus . It was a succinct theoretical description of the world's heliocentric mechanism, without mathematical apparatus, and differed in some important details of geometric construction from De revolutionibus ; but it

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3822-467: The Padua years that saw the beginning of his Hellenistic interests. He familiarized himself with Greek language and culture with the aid of Theodorus Gaza 's grammar (1495) and Johannes Baptista Chrestonius's dictionary (1499), expanding his studies of antiquity, begun at Bologna, to the writings of Bessarion , Lorenzo Valla , and others. There also seems to be evidence that it was during his Padua stay that

3913-507: The Polish Crown." In 1504–1512 Copernicus made numerous journeys as part of his uncle's retinue—in 1504, to Toruń and Gdańsk , to a session of the Royal Prussian Council in the presence of Poland's King Alexander Jagiellon ; to sessions of the Prussian diet at Malbork (1506), Elbląg (1507) and Sztum (Stuhm) (1512); and he may have attended a Poznań (Posen) session (1510) and the coronation of Poland's King Sigismund I

4004-727: The Polish Royal Physician. In the spring of 1541, Duke Albert —former Grand Master of the Teutonic Order who had converted the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights into a Lutheran and hereditary realm, the Duchy of Prussia , upon doing homage to his uncle, the King of Poland, Sigismund I —summoned Copernicus to Königsberg to attend the Duke's counselor, George von Kunheim , who had fallen seriously ill, and for whom

4095-561: The Pope and two cardinals. The Pope was so pleased that he gave Widmanstetter a valuable gift. In 1535 Bernard Wapowski wrote a letter to a gentleman in Vienna , urging him to publish an enclosed almanac , which he claimed had been written by Copernicus. This is the only mention of a Copernicus almanac in the historical records. The "almanac" was likely Copernicus's tables of planetary positions. Wapowski's letter mentions Copernicus's theory about

4186-423: The Prussian doctors seemed unable to do anything. Copernicus went willingly; he had met von Kunheim during negotiations over reform of the coinage. And Copernicus had come to feel that Albert himself was not such a bad person; the two had many intellectual interests in common. The Chapter readily gave Copernicus permission to go, as it wished to remain on good terms with the Duke, despite his Lutheran faith. In about

4277-745: The Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres ), just before his death in 1543, was a major event in the history of science , triggering the Copernican Revolution and making a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution . Copernicus was born and died in Royal Prussia , a semiautonomous and multilingual region created within the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from part of the lands regained from

4368-612: The Russian border at Eydtkuhnen (present-day Chernyshevskoye). Passenger services on the railway line ceased in early 2006. Towards and after the end of World War II the German inhabitants were either evacuated or expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement . After Germany's defeat in the war, the town became again part of Poland and was resettled by Poles , many of whom were expelleés from Polish areas annexed by

4459-597: The Soviet Union . In 1959, Frombork regained its city rights. Having been heavily (70%) damaged in World War II, it was rebuilt by Polish Boy Scouts and others in 1966–1973, in time for the 500th anniversary of Copernicus' birth. Between 1975 and 1998 Frombork was part of the Elbląg Voivodeship . Today, Frombork is regaining its importance as a tourist destination, aided by its key location just south of

4550-599: The Teutonic Knights invaded the town in the same year. In 1455, Czech mercenaries in the service of Poland, commanded by Jan Skalski, took back the city. Frombork was recognized as part of the Polish Kingdom by the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) . It became an important town of the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia and part of the province of Royal Prussia within the larger Greater Poland Province . The town

4641-502: The Younger , the astronomer's maternal uncle and patron, was educated at the University of Kraków and at the universities of Cologne and Bologna . He was a bitter opponent of the Teutonic Order, and its Grand Master once referred to him as "the devil incarnate". In 1489 Watzenrode was elected Bishop of Warmia (Ermeland, Ermland) against the preference of King Casimir IV, who had hoped to install his own son in that seat. As

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4732-478: The beginning of 1504, Copernicus accompanied Watzenrode to sessions of the Royal Prussian diet held at Malbork and Elbląg and, write Dobrzycki and Hajdukiewicz, "participated ... in all the more important events in the complex diplomatic game that ambitious politician and statesman played in defense of the particular interests of Prussia and Warmia, between hostility to the [Teutonic] Order and loyalty to

4823-400: The benefits he had received from him. With this translation, Copernicus declared himself on the side of the humanists in the struggle over the question of whether Greek literature should be revived. Copernicus's first poetic work was a Greek epigram , composed probably during a visit to Kraków, for Johannes Dantiscus 's epithalamium for Barbara Zapolya 's 1512 wedding to King Zygmunt I

4914-594: The body was exhumed and subsequently confirmed in November 2008 by the publication of the results of DNA tests on fragments of bone and hair found on the skeleton. The body was reinterred on Sunday May 23, 2010 in the Catholic church of Frombork. Hair that matched two strands of hair which belonged to Copernicus are currently located in Uppsala University . In the northwest corner of the cathedral grounds

5005-405: The chapter a two-year extension of leave in order to study medicine (since "he may in future be a useful medical advisor to our Reverend Superior [Bishop Lucas Watzenrode ] and the gentlemen of the chapter"), in late summer or in the fall he returned again to Italy, probably accompanied by his brother Andrew and by Canon Bernhard Sculteti. This time he studied at the University of Padua , famous as

5096-419: The chapter's economic enterprises (he would hold this office again in 1530), having already since 1511 fulfilled the duties of chancellor and visitor of the chapter's estates. His administrative and economic duties did not distract Copernicus, in 1512–1515, from intensive observational activity. The results of his observations of Mars and Saturn in this period, and especially a series of four observations of

5187-409: The church and Holy Roman Empire . Later in the same year the pope assigned Bishop William of Modena as the papal legate to Prussia. With the imperial Golden Bull of Rimini , the Teutonic Knights were granted control of the region, which they subsequently conquered. According to a local legend, the Old Prussian inhabitants were baptised by Anselm of Meissen , a priest of the Teutonic Knights and

5278-438: The cities' traditional vast independence, which the Teutonic Order had challenged. Nicolaus's father was actively engaged in the politics of the day and supported Poland and the cities against the Teutonic Order. In 1454 he mediated negotiations between Poland's Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki and the Prussian cities for repayment of war loans. In the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) , the Teutonic Order formally renounced all claims to

5369-564: The conquered lands, which returned to Poland as Royal Prussia and remained part of it until the First (1772) and Second (1793) Partitions of Poland . Copernicus's father married Barbara Watzenrode, the astronomer's mother, between 1461 and 1464. He died about 1483. Nicolaus's mother, Barbara Watzenrode, was the daughter of a wealthy Toruń patrician and city councillor, Lucas Watzenrode the Elder (deceased 1462), and Katarzyna (widow of Jan Peckau), mentioned in other sources as Katarzyna Rüdiger gente Modlibóg (deceased 1476). The Modlibógs were

5460-403: The development of his critical faculties and initiated his analysis of logical contradictions in the two "official" systems of astronomy—Aristotle's theory of homocentric spheres, and Ptolemy 's mechanism of eccentrics and epicycles —the surmounting and discarding of which would be the first step toward the creation of Copernicus's own doctrine of the structure of the universe. Without taking

5551-449: The economy of Warmia. When Olsztyn was besieged by the Teutonic Knights during the Polish–Teutonic War , Copernicus directed the defense of Olsztyn and Warmia by Royal Polish forces. He also represented the Polish side in the ensuing peace negotiations. Copernicus for years advised the Royal Prussian sejmik on monetary reform , particularly in the 1520s when that was a major question in regional Prussian politics. In 1526 he wrote

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5642-410: The embryo of his later medical library. One of the subjects that Copernicus must have studied was astrology , since it was considered an important part of a medical education. However, unlike most other prominent Renaissance astronomers, he appears never to have practiced or expressed any interest in astrology. As at Bologna, Copernicus did not limit himself to his official studies. It was probably

5733-662: The end of his life, despite the devastation of the chapter's buildings by a raid against Frauenburg carried out by the Teutonic Order in January 1520, during which Copernicus's astronomical instruments were probably destroyed. Copernicus conducted astronomical observations in 1513–1516 presumably from his external curia; and in 1522–1543, from an unidentified "small tower" ( turricula ), using primitive instruments modeled on ancient ones—the quadrant , triquetrum , armillary sphere . At Frombork Copernicus conducted over half of his more than 60 registered astronomical observations. Having settled permanently at Frombork, where he would reside to

5824-506: The end of his life, with interruptions in 1516–1519 and 1520–21, Copernicus found himself at the Warmia chapter's economic and administrative center, which was also one of Warmia's two chief centers of political life. In the difficult, politically complex situation of Warmia, threatened externally by the Teutonic Order 's aggressions (attacks by Teutonic bands; the Polish–Teutonic War of 1519–1521 ; Albert's plans to annex Warmia), internally subject to strong separatist pressures (the selection of

5915-492: The family began moving to various other Silesian cities, to the Polish capital, Kraków (1367), and to Toruń (1400). The father, Mikołaj the Elder (or Niklas Koppernigk  [ de ] ), likely the son of Jan (or Johann ), came from the Kraków line. Nicolaus was named after his father, who appears in records for the first time as a well-to-do merchant who dealt in copper, selling it mostly in Danzig (Gdańsk). He moved from Kraków to Toruń around 1458. Toruń, situated on

6006-448: The first Bishop of the Bishopric of Warmia which was created in 1242 by William of Modena. Supposedly when the stronghold's lord died, his widow Gertruda offered the settlement to the bishop, and in her honor it was named "Frauenburg" (German for "Our Lady's fortress", "Castrum Dominae Nostrae" in Latin). This name is not unique in German, as it usually originates in the construction of a fortified chapel, church, or monastery dedicated to

6097-407: The frontier with the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast . Although the railway through Frombork closed in 2006, the port has seasonal ferry connections with Elbląg , Krynica Morska and Kaliningrad . The greatest landmark of Frombork is the fortified Cathedral Hill with the Gothic Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Andrew , where Nicolaus Copernicus is buried,

6188-910: The idea finally crystallized, of basing a new system of the world on the movement of the Earth. As the time approached for Copernicus to return home, in spring 1503 he journeyed to Ferrara where, on 31 May 1503, having passed the obligatory examinations, he was granted the degree of Doctor of Canon Law ( Nicolaus Copernich de Prusia, Jure Canonico ... et doctoratus ). No doubt it was soon after (at latest, in fall 1503) that he left Italy for good to return to Warmia . Copernicus made three observations of Mercury, with errors of −3, −15 and −1 minutes of arc. He made one of Venus, with an error of −24 minutes. Four were made of Mars, with errors of 2, 20, 77, and 137 minutes. Four observations were made of Jupiter, with errors of 32, 51, −11 and 25 minutes. He made four of Saturn, with errors of 31, 20, 23 and −4 minutes. With Novara, Copernicus observed an occultation of Aldebaran by

6279-436: The lectures of Bernard of Biskupie and Wojciech Krypa of Szamotuły , and probably other astronomical lectures by Jan of Głogów , Michał of Wrocław (Breslau), Wojciech of Pniewy , and Marcin Bylica of Olkusz . Copernicus's Kraków studies gave him a thorough grounding in the mathematical astronomy taught at the university (arithmetic, geometry, geometric optics, cosmography, theoretical and computational astronomy) and

6370-401: The magnificent Brick Gothic cathedral (now the Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Andrew ) was built, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary , or "Our Lady". Over the centuries, the cathedral has been expanded and rebuilt repeatedly. There are also several other historic churches, dedicated to St. Nicholas , St. George , and St. Anne , all built in

6461-499: The most powerful man in Warmia, and his wealth, connections and influence allowed him to secure Copernicus's education and career as a canon at Frombork Cathedral . Copernicus's father died around 1483, when the boy was 10. His maternal uncle, Lucas Watzenrode the Younger (1447–1512), took Copernicus under his wing and saw to his education and career. Six years later, Watzenrode was elected Bishop of Warmia. Watzenrode maintained contacts with leading intellectual figures in Poland and

6552-459: The motions of the Earth. Nothing came of Wapowski's request, because he died a couple of weeks later. Following the death of Prince-Bishop of Warmia Mauritius Ferber (1 July 1537), Copernicus participated in the election of his successor, Johannes Dantiscus (20 September 1537). Copernicus was one of four candidates for the post, written in at the initiative of Tiedemann Giese ; but his candidacy

6643-624: The newly established province of East Prussia . Following the unsuccessful Polish November Uprising , hundreds of Polish insurgents, including professors and students of the Wilno University , were interned in the town in 1832. With the unification of Germany in 1871, Frauenburg became part of the German Empire . The Preußische Ostbahn railway line was opened in 1899 connecting Elbing (present-day Elbląg) and Braunsberg (present-day Braniewo) via Frauenburg, leading further to

6734-564: The northwest at the Vistula Lagoon on the Baltic Sea coast. There, in April 1512, he participated in the election of Fabian of Lossainen as Prince-Bishop of Warmia . It was only in early June 1512 that the chapter gave Copernicus an "external curia"—a house outside the defensive walls of the cathedral mount. In 1514 he purchased the northwestern tower within the walls of the Frombork stronghold. He would maintain both these residences to

6825-468: The other parts of Royal Prussia ) and treasury. Copernicus was his uncle's secretary and physician from 1503 to 1510 (or perhaps until his uncle's death on 29 March 1512) and resided in the Bishop's castle at Lidzbark (Heilsberg), where he began work on his heliocentric theory. In his official capacity, he took part in nearly all his uncle's political, ecclesiastic and administrative-economic duties. From

6916-439: The physician had treated his uncle, brother and other chapter members. In later years he was called upon to attend the elderly bishops who in turn occupied the see of Warmia—Mauritius Ferber and Johannes Dantiscus—and, in 1539, his old friend Tiedemann Giese , Bishop of Chełmno (Kulm). In treating such important patients, he sometimes sought consultations from other physicians, including the physician to Duke Albert and, by letter,

7007-548: The pier in Krynica Morska by water tram via Tolkmicko or by ship. Although inactive since 2013, Frombork's railway station rests on line No. 254 (formerly Nadzalewowa Railway ). In the year 1897, the construction of the Nadzalewowa Railway ( German: Haffuferbahn, HUB ) began - a railway line that was intended by German designers to connect Elbląg with Königsberg ( Polish: Królewiec ). In May 1899,

7098-653: The request of the Bishop of Fossombrone , Paul of Middelburg . Their contacts in this matter in the period of the Fifth Lateran Council were later memorialized in a complimentary mention in Copernicus's dedicatory epistle in Dē revolutionibus orbium coelestium and in a treatise by Paul of Middelburg, Secundum compendium correctionis Calendarii (1516), which mentions Copernicus among the learned men who had sent

7189-814: The retinue of the chapter's chancellor, Jerzy Pranghe, who was going to Italy—in the fall, possibly in October, Copernicus arrived in Bologna and a few months later (after 6 January 1497) signed himself into the register of the Bologna University of Jurists' "German nation", which included young Poles from Silesia , Prussia and Pomerania as well as students of other nationalities. During his three-year stay at Bologna, which occurred between fall 1496 and spring 1501, Copernicus seems to have devoted himself less keenly to studying canon law (he received his doctorate in canon law only after seven years, following

7280-535: The section from Elbląg to Frombork was completed, and in September, the segment connecting Frombork to Braniewo was put into service. Regular passenger train service on the route was suspended on April 1, 2006. Since then, only special and freight trains operated here. In the years 2010 and 2011, thanks to the efforts of the Pomorskie Society of Railway Enthusiasts, special services were resumed during

7371-526: The summer, on Saturdays and Sundays, running from Grudziądz and Elbląg to Braniewo , with stops at this station. The last passenger train stopped here on July 7, 2013. The local football club is Zalew Frombork. It competes in the lower leagues. Frombork is twinned with: On 24 March 2022, Frombork terminated its partnership with Russian and Belarusian cities as a response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543)

7462-417: The town and region - Frueburgo Prussiae . Shortly after its 1543 publication, Copernicus died there and was buried in the town's cathedral where there is a monument to him bearing the inscription Astronomo celeberrimo, cujus nomen et gloria utrumque implevit orbem (Most renowned astronomer, whose name and glory filled both worlds). His grave was thought to have been found by archaeologists in 2005, when

7553-531: Was a Renaissance polymath , active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon , who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center . In all likelihood, Copernicus developed his model independently of Aristarchus of Samos , an ancient Greek astronomer who had formulated such a model some eighteen centuries earlier. The publication of Copernicus's model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ( On

7644-503: Was a friend of the influential Italian-born humanist and Kraków courtier Filippo Buonaccorsi . There are no surviving primary documents on the early years of Copernicus's childhood and education. Copernicus biographers assume that Watzenrode first sent young Copernicus to St. John's School, at Toruń, where he himself had been a master. Later, according to Armitage, the boy attended the Cathedral School at Włocławek , up

7735-554: Was actually pro forma , since Dantiscus had earlier been named coadjutor bishop to Ferber and since Dantiscus had the backing of Poland's King Sigismund I . At first Copernicus maintained friendly relations with the new Prince-Bishop, assisting him medically in spring 1538 and accompanying him that summer on an inspection tour of Chapter holdings. But that autumn, their friendship was strained by suspicions over Copernicus's housekeeper, Anna Schilling, whom Dantiscus banished from Frombork in spring 1539. In his younger days, Copernicus

7826-442: Was already based on the same assumptions regarding Earth's triple motions. The Commentariolus , which Copernicus consciously saw as merely a first sketch for his planned book, was not intended for printed distribution. He made only a very few manuscript copies available to his closest acquaintances, including, it seems, several Kraków astronomers with whom he collaborated in 1515–1530 in observing eclipses . Tycho Brahe would include

7917-700: Was also devastated after a raid by Albert, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights in 1520 during the Polish–Teutonic War of 1519–1521 . In the Middle Ages , the inhabitants were mainly merchants, farmers and fishermen. The most famous resident was the astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus , who lived and worked here as a canon (1512–16 and 1522–43). Copernicus is said to have jokingly called it " Weiberstadt " ("Wives' Town") or " Gynepolis " (in Medieval Greek ). In 1519 Copernicus wrote to

8008-457: Was born on 19 February 1473 in the city of Toruń (Thorn), in the province of Royal Prussia , in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , to German-speaking parents. His father was a merchant from Kraków and his mother was the daughter of a wealthy Toruń merchant. Nicolaus was the youngest of four children. His brother Andreas (Andrew) became an Augustinian canon at Frombork (Frauenburg). His sister Barbara, named after her mother, became

8099-615: Was consciously a citizen of the Polish–Lithuanian Republic . Soon after the death of uncle Bishop Watzenrode, he participated in the signing of the Second Treaty of Piotrków Trybunalski (7 December 1512), governing the appointment of the Bishop of Warmia , declaring, despite opposition from part of the chapter, for loyal cooperation with the Polish Crown . That same year (before 8 November 1512) Copernicus assumed responsibility, as magister pistoriae , for administering

8190-427: Was delayed, inclining Watzenrode to send both his nephews to study canon law in Italy, seemingly with a view to furthering their ecclesiastic careers and thereby also strengthening his own influence in the Warmia chapter. On 20 October 1497, Copernicus, by proxy, formally succeeded to the Warmia canonry which had been granted to him two years earlier. To this, by a document dated 10 January 1503 at Padua , he would add

8281-686: Was occupied by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden who looted the cathedral and shipped many cultural artifacts, including Copernicus' manuscripts to Sweden . Further destruction followed during the Deluge (Swedish invasion of Poland of 1655–1660), the Great Northern War and the War of the Fourth Coalition . After the First Partition of Poland (1772) the town was taken over by the Kingdom of Prussia and in 1773 it became part of

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