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112-509: In subsequent years, a dozen similar rankings were compiled, mostly titled the "favourite (topic) of the Germans", with topics including books, places, songs, actors, comedians, sports persons (extra list for football players), inventions, and TV broadcasts (extra list for Olympic games). The intention initially was to find out "Who are the greatest Germans?" ( Wer sind die größten Deutschen? ), with more rankings to follow later. The German public

224-461: 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,

336-574: A Commissary General , each of the two congregations by a Vicar General , and every monastery by a Prior (only the Czech monastery of Alt-Brunn in Moravia is under an abbot ) and every college by a Rector . The members of the Order number both priests and lay brothers . The Augustinians, like most religious orders, have a Cardinal Protector . The Augustinians follow the rule of St. Augustine which

448-677: 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

560-475: A monastic community life. Regarding the use of property or possessions, Augustine did not make a virtue of poverty, but of sharing. Their manner of life led others to imitate them. Instructions for their guidance were found in several writings of Augustine, especially in De opere monachorum , mentioned in ancient codices of the eighth or ninth century as the " Rule of St. Augustine ". Between 430 and 570 this life-style

672-694: 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

784-656: A General Chapter, again to be held under the supervision of his nephew, Cardinal Annibaldi. During this chapter the following groups of hermits, inter alia , were amalgamated to the Order, which up to then had only consisted of the groups of the Tuscan hermits (including the Hermits of the Holy Trinity): At this Chapter Lanfranc Settala, the leader of the Bonites, was elected Prior General. The belted, black tunic of

896-553: 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

1008-427: A clerical adaptation of monastic life, as it grew out of an attempt to organize communities of clerics to a more dedicated way of life, as St. Augustine himself had done. Historically it paralleled the lay movement of monasticism or the eremitical life from which the friars were later to develop. In their tradition, the canons added the commitment of religious vows to their primary vocation of pastoral care. As

1120-589: 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

1232-400: A contemplative Order, differs from traditional monastic orders in three ways. 1) They do not take vows of stability, meaning that they can live in one house (called a friary or sometimes a monastery) typically for several years before being moved into a different community of the order. 2) They are engaged in apostolic activity, such as mission work, education, prison ministries, etc. The order

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1344-431: 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

1456-457: A dozen saints and numerous members declared blessed by the Church. The Prior General Sebastiano Martinelli was the latest member of the order to be elevated to the cardinalate from 1901 to 1912. Ecclesiastical privileges were granted to the order almost from its beginning. Alexander IV freed the order from the jurisdiction of the bishops; Innocent VIII, in 1490, granted to the churches of

1568-572: 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

1680-406: 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 ,

1792-476: 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

1904-451: A major superior and to adopt one of the Rules of community life that were approved by the Church. In 1243 the Tuscan hermits petitioned Pope Innocent IV to unite them all as one group. On 16 December 1243 Innocent IV issued the bull Incumbit Nobis , an essentially pastoral letter which, despite its brevity, basically served as the magna carta initiating the foundation of the Order as it

2016-464: A misnomer for they ranked among the friars, and became the fourth of the mendicant orders. The observance and manner of life was mild relative to those times, meat being allowed four days in the week. In August 1256, a number of Williamite houses withdrew from the newly formed mendicant order and were allowed to continue as a separate congregation under the Benedictine rule. The early years in

2128-455: 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

2240-468: 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." Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow

2352-539: A national hero – the Polish Senate declared him an "exceptional Pole" on 12 June 2003. Similarly the inclusion of Mozart and Freud was criticized in Austria. For the final Top Ten, an additional round was held, in which each candidate was promoted by an "ambassador" (most of them journalists) that would explain the work and importance of his or her favourite. There was controversy over the televoting because of

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2464-749: 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:

2576-550: A religious community, "charism" is the particular contribution that each religious order, congregation or family and its individual members embody. The teaching and writing of Augustine, the Augustinian Rule , and the lives and experiences of Augustinians over sixteen centuries help define the ethos and special charism of the order. The pursuit of truth through learning is key to the Augustinian ethos, balanced by

2688-456: 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

2800-769: A rule). Augustine's Rule appears again in practice in the eleventh century as a basis for the reform of monasteries and cathedral chapters. Several groups of canons were established under various disciplines, all with the Augustinian Rule as their basis. It was adopted by the Canons Regular of the Abbey of St. Victor in Paris, as well as the Norbertines . The instructions contained in Augustine's Rule formed

2912-614: 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

3024-399: 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

3136-620: 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

3248-754: 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

3360-662: Is also a key part of the Augustinian ethos. Contemporary Augustinian musical foundations include the Augustinerkirche in Vienna, where orchestral masses by Mozart and Schubert are performed every week, as well as the boys' choir at Sankt Florian in Austria, a school conducted by Augustinian canons, a choir now over 1,000 years old. Augustinians have also produced a formidable body of scholarly works. Augustinian friars believe that Augustine of Hippo , first with some friends and afterward as bishop with his clergy , led

3472-466: Is certain that in its modern state the Order is principally founded on spiritual works, those that pertain to the contemplative life. These are as follows: the singing of the divine office; the service of the altar; prayer; psalm singing; devotion to reading or study of sacred scripture; teaching and preaching the word of God; hearing confessions of the faithful; bringing about the salvation of souls by word and example.". The Order expanded beyond Europe to

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3584-482: Is divided into 8 chapters (purpose and basis of common life, prayer, moderation and self-denial, safeguarding chastity and fraternal correction, the care of community goods and treatment of sick, asking for pardon and forgiving others, governance and obedience, and observance of the rule). The Augustinians also use the charism or "gift from the Holy Spirit" to guide the communal life. The choir and outdoor dress of

3696-477: 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,

3808-453: Is known today. This papal bull exhorted these hermits to adopt the Rule and way of life of Augustine of Hippo , to profess this Augustinian manner of life in a way that they themselves would decide with regards to their specific charism and apostolate , and to elect a Prior General. The bull also appointed Cardinal Riccardo Annibaldi as their Cardinal protector . The importance of this man in

3920-418: 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

4032-455: Is under the supervision of a Prior General in Rome, and as an international order they are divided into various Provinces throughout the world, with each Province being led by a Prior Provincial. (3) As an order, they have a special commitment to corporate poverty as opposed to simply the poverty professed by the individual friar. While this is not currently legislated as it was in the origins of

4144-717: 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

4256-500: 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

4368-709: The Acts of the Apostles , particularly Acts 4:32: "The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common." (NAB). By decree of the Holy See, the Augustinian Order was historically granted what was known as exempt status, which placed made it directly dependent on the Pope, meaning that bishops had no jurisdiction with regards to

4480-566: 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,

4592-556: 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

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4704-454: The Rule of Saint Augustine , written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo . There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13th centuries: There are also some Anglican religious orders created in the 19th century that follow Augustine's rule. These are composed only of women in several different communities of Augustinian nuns . In

4816-514: 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

4928-622: 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

5040-579: 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

5152-611: 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

5264-551: 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

5376-853: 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

5488-461: 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

5600-537: 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,

5712-689: 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

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5824-520: 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

5936-527: 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

6048-823: The Order follows the Constitutions approved in the Ordinary General Chapter of 2007. The government of the order is as follows: At the head is the Prior General, elected every six years by the General Chapter . The Prior General is aided by six assistants and a secretary, also elected by the General Chapter. These form the Curia Generalitia . Each province is governed by a Prior Provincial , each commissariat by

6160-474: The Order forever by a Bull issued in 1497. The holder of the office was Rector of the Vatican parish (of which the chapel of St. Paul is the parish church). To his office also belonged the duty of preserving in his oratory a consecrated Host , which had to be renewed weekly and kept in readiness in case of the pope's illness, when it was the privilege of the papal sacristan to administer the last sacraments to

6272-467: 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

6384-507: 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

6496-727: 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

6608-458: 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

6720-423: 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

6832-411: 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

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6944-458: The Tuscan hermits was adopted as the common religious habit , and the walking sticks carried by the Bonites in keeping with eremitical tradition—and to distinguish themselves from those hermits who went around begging—ceased to be used. The 12-year-old religious Order of friars now consisted of 100 or more houses. On 9 April 1256 Pope Alexander IV issued the bull Licet Ecclesiae catholicae (Bullarium Taurinense, 3rd ed., 635 sq.) which confirmed

7056-438: 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

7168-411: The basis of the Rule that, in accordance with the decree of the Lateran Synod of 1059, was adopted by canons who desired to practice a common apostolic life, hence the title of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine . The Canons Regular follow the more ancient form of religious life which developed toward the end of the first millennium and thus predates the founding of the friars. They represent

7280-414: 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

7392-400: 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

7504-481: The canons became independent of the diocesan structures, they came to form their own monastic communities. The official name of the Order is the Canons Regular of St. Augustine (CRSA). The 2008 Constitutions of the Order of St. Augustine states that the Order of Saint Augustine is composed of the following: In addition to these three branches, the Augustinian family also includes other groups: a) religious institutes , both male and female, formally aggregated to

7616-405: 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

7728-419: 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

7840-438: 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

7952-564: 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

8064-403: 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

8176-665: The eastern Mediterranean, briefly acquiring a convent in Acre just prior to its conquest in 1291. In the middle of the fourteenth century, the Augustinian Friars acquired the large convent of San Salvatore in Venetian Heraklion (medieval Candia) where they attempted to use the cult of Nicholas of Tolentino to appeal to the local Greek-speaking population. The building stood on Kornaros Square until its demolition in 1970. The Augustinians count among their number over

8288-692: 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

8400-410: 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

8512-781: 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

8624-506: 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

8736-544: 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

8848-713: The foundation of the Order cannot be overstated. As decreed by the bull Praesentium Vobis , the Tuscan hermits came together for a general chapter in March 1244, a chapter presided over by Cardinal Annibaldi. At this chapter the Order formally adopted the Rule of St. Augustine and determined to follow the Roman office with the Cistercian psalter , and to hold triennial elections of the Prior General. The first Prior General

8960-484: The friars is a tunic of black woolen material, with long, wide sleeves, a black leather girdle , and a large shoulder cape to which is attached a long, pointed hood reaching to the girdle. The indoor dress consists of a black tunic and scapular , over which the shoulder cape is worn. In many monasteries, white was formerly the color worn in areas where there were no Dominicans . In hot climates Augustinians tend to wear white habits as they are easily distinguishable with

9072-453: The high call charges associated with the programme. The final list appeared as shown below (in descending order). Several rather unknown figures ranked relatively high, no doubt because of temporary popularity and organized votes from fan groups (#15), or in case of #125, just an entry by organized Internet forum members to honour one of their members. Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543)

9184-962: 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

9296-547: The injunction to behave with love towards one another. These same imperatives of affection and fairness have driven the order in its international missionary outreach. This balanced pursuit of love and learning has energised the various branches of the order into building communities founded on mutual affection and intellectual advancement. Augustine spoke passionately of God's "beauty so ancient and so new", and his fascination with beauty extended to music. He taught that "whoever sings prays twice" ( Qui cantat, bis orat ) and music

9408-529: The integration of the Hermits of John the Good (Rule of St. Augustine, 1225), the Hermits of St. William (Rule of St. Benedict), the Hermits of Brettino (Rule of St. Augustine, 1228), the Hermits of Monte Favale (Rule of St. Benedict), other smaller congregations, and the Tuscan Hermits into what was officially called the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine. Almost from the beginning the term "hermits" became

9520-414: The internal affairs of the order. This is now expressed by saying that the order is an institute of pontifical right. The Augustinian friars originated after the older Canons Regular . The friars represented part of the mendicant movement of the 13th century, a new form of religious life which sought to bring the religious ideals of monastic life into an urban setting which allowed the religious to serve

9632-489: 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

9744-499: 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

9856-407: 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

9968-485: The needs of the people in an apostolic capacity. At this time a number of eremitical groups lived in such diverse places as Tuscany , Latium , Umbria , Liguria , England, Switzerland, Germany, and France. The Fourth Council of the Lateran of 1215 issued the decree Ne nimium to organise these small groups of religious people by requiring them to live in community, to hold elective chapters, to be under obedience to

10080-678: 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

10192-678: The order by a decree of the Prior General (this would include the Augustinians of the Assumption , the Sisters of St. Rita , etc.); b) other groups of lay Augustinians; c) lay faithful affiliated to the Order. The Augustinian, or Austin, friars (OSA), are a mendicant order. As consecrated religious, they pray the Liturgy of the Hours throughout the day. This Latin Church order, while

10304-640: The order indulgences such as can only be gained by making the Stations at Rome; Pope Pius V placed the Augustinians among the mendicant orders and ranked them next to the Carmelites . Since the end of the 13th century the sacristan of the Papal Palace was always to be an Augustinian friar, who would be ordained as a bishop . This privilege was ratified by Pope Alexander VI and granted to

10416-462: The order's history featured a great devotion to learning, to study, to prayer, to service of the poor, and to defense of the Pope and the Church – a particular charism of the Order rooted in the fact that it is the only Order in the history of the Church to be founded directly by a Pope. In his work The Life of the Brothers , the 14th-century Augustinian historian and friar Jordan of Saxony writes:"It

10528-474: The order, this is to be a distinguishing mark of their lives as a community. As consecrated religious, Augustinians profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience. They follow the Rule of St. Augustine, written sometime between 397 and 403 for a monastic community Augustine founded in Hippo (in modern day Algeria), and which takes as its inspiration the early Christian community described in

10640-468: 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

10752-439: 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,

10864-480: The pope. The sacristan had always to accompany the pope when he traveled, and during a conclave it was he who celebrated Mass and administered the sacraments . He lived at the Vatican with a sub-sacristan and three lay brothers of the order (cf. Rocca, "Chronhistoria de Apostolico Sacrario", Rome, 1605). Augustinian friars, as of 2009, still perform the duties of papal sacristans, but the appointment of an Augustinian bishop-sacristan lapsed under Pope John Paul II with

10976-653: 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

11088-814: 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

11200-691: The retirement of Petrus Canisius Van Lierde in 1991. In papal Rome the Augustinian friars always filled one of the Chairs of the Sapienza University , and one of the consultorships in the Congregation of Rites . The Discalced Augustinians were formed in 1588 in Italy as a reform movement of the Order and have their own constitutions, differing from those of the other Augustinians. The Augustinian Recollects developed in Spain in 1592 with

11312-475: The same goal. Currently, though, they are primarily found serving in pastoral care . The Augustinian Hermits, while following the rule known as that of St. Augustine, are also subject to the Constitutions, first drawn up by Augustinus Novellus (d. 1309), Prior General of the order from 1298 to 1300, and by Clement of Osimo. A revision was made at Rome in 1895. The Constitutions were revised again and published at Rome in 1895, with additions in 1901 and 1907. Today,

11424-459: Was Friar Matthew, followed by Adjutus and Philip. In the papal bull Pia desideria , issued on 31 March 1244, Pope Innocent IV formally approved the foundation of the Order. In 1255 Innocent's successor, Pope Alexander IV , issued the papal bull Cum Quaedam Salubria summoning all the various groups of Augustinian hermits and the Hermits of Saint William to send two representatives to Rome for

11536-531: 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

11648-503: 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

11760-554: 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

11872-456: Was allowed to vote (via postcard, SMS or Internet) for the most important Germans—historical or contemporary—from a list of more than 300 people, plus additional suggestions. This pre-determined list of candidates was created for two reasons: However, the inclusion of Nikolaus Kopernikus , who spoke and wrote German, in the list of scientists caused controversy in Poland where he is revered as

11984-442: 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

12096-512: 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

12208-585: Was carried to Europe by monks and clergy fleeing the persecution of the Vandals. In the thirteenth century, the various eremitical groups that composed the Augustinian Hermits faced the threat of suppression by the papacy based on their lack of antiquity. To overcome this, the friars forged a historical connection to St Augustine, and made an especial point to demonstrate that they received the Rule directly from Augustine himself. The Augustinian rule

12320-615: 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

12432-427: 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

12544-695: Was in use by a wide range of groups across early and high medieval Europe, and there is no historical evidence that the Augustinian Friars were in any way founded by St Augustine himself. Rather, the friars invented these links after the Order was threatened with suppression in 1274 at the Second Council of Lyons. While in early Medieval times the rule was overshadowed by other Rules, particularly that of St. Benedict , this system of life for cathedral clergy continued in various locations throughout Europe for centuries, and they became known as Canons regular (i.e. cathedral clergy living in community according to

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