New Studiesin the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
ARCHIMEDES 27
Patrick J. Boner
Editor
Springer
CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN EARLY MODERN
COSMOLOGY
Archimedes
NEW STUDIES IN THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
VOLUME 27
EDITOR
Jed Z. BUCHWALD, Dreyfuss Professor of History, California Institute
of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
ASSOCIATE EDITORS FOR MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Jeremy Gray, The Faculty of Mathematics and Computing,
The Open University, Buckinghamshire, UK.
TlLMAN SAUER, California Institute of Technology
ASSOCIATE EDITORS FOR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Sharon Kingsland, Department of History of Science and Technology,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Manfred Laubichler, Arizona State University
ADVISORY BOARD FOR MATHEMATICS, PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
HENK Bos, University of Utrecht
MORDECHAI FEINGOLD, California Institute of Technology
Allan D. Franklin, University of Colorado at Boulder
KOSTAS GAVROGLU, National Technical University of Athens
Paul Hoyningen-Huene, Leibniz University in Hannover
Trevor Levere, University of Toronto
Jesper Lutzen, Copenhagen University
William Newman, Indian University, Bloomington
Lawrence Principe, The Johns Hopkins University
JURGEN Renn, Max-Planck-Institut fur Wissenschaftsgeschichte
Alex Roland, Duke University
Alan Shapiro, University of Minnesota
Noel Swerdlow, California Institute of Technology, USA
ADVISORY BOARD FOR BIOLOGY
Michael Dietrich, Dartmouth College, USA
MICHEL MORANGE, Centre Cavailles, Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris
HANS-JORG RHEINBERGER, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin
NANCY SIRAISI, Hunter College of the City University of New York
Archimedes has three fundamental goals; to further the integration of the histories of science and technology
with one another: to investigate the technical, social and practical histories of specific developments in science
and technology; and finally, where possible and desirable, to bring the histories of science and technology into
closer contact with the philosophy of science. To these ends, each volume will have its own theme and title and
will be planned by one or more members of the Advisory Board in consultation with the editor. Although the
volumes have specific themes, the series itself will not be limited to one or even to a few particular areas. Its
subjects include any of the sciences, ranging from biology through physics, all aspects of technology, broadly
construed, as well as historically-engaged philosophy of science or technology. Taken as a whole, Archimedes
will be of interest to historians, philosophers, and scientists, as well as to those in business and industry who
seek to understand how science and industry have come to be so strongly linked.
For further volumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/5644
Patrick J. Boner
Editor
Change and Continuity in
Early Modern Cosmology
^Spri
ringer
Editor
Patrick J. Boner
Department of the History of Science
and Technology
Johns Hopkins University
3400 North Charles Street
21218 Baltimore
USA
patrickjboner@jhu.edu
ISSN 1385-0180
ISBN 978-94-007-0036-9 e-ISBN 978-94-007-0037-6
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York
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Acknowledgements
Many of the papers in this volume were originally presented at the conference
"Cosmological Continuity and the Conception of Modern Science," held at the
Johns Hopkins University on 15-16 May 2009. The conference commemorated the
quatercentenary of the publication of Johannes Kepler's New Astronomy, a central
celebratory point in the International Year of Astronomy. The Department of the
History of Science and Technology at Johns Hopkins University sponsored the con-
ference, with additional funding from the Evolution, Cognition, and Culture Project,
also at Johns Hopkins University. The editor acknowledges support from a postdoc-
toral fellowship with the National Science Foundation, "The Supernova of 1604 as a
Source of Scientific Debate" (no. 0749138). Additional support was made possible
by the project "Cosmology, Theology, and Anthropology in the First Phase of the
Scientific Revolution (1543-1633)" (FFIZ009-07156), sponsored by the Spanish
Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Each of the following papers has been revised in the light of discussions during
and after the conference. The editor is especially grateful to Steven Vanden Broecke
(University of Ghent) for his many insightful comments on the papers. In addi-
tion to those that appear in this volume, other papers were presented by William
P. Blair (Johns Hopkins University), Daniel A. Di Liscia (University of Munich),
and Bruce Stephenson (Adler Planetarium). The editor thanks William, Daniel, and
Bruce for their fine efforts, along with the other participants for their comments
and questions. Robert A. Hatch (University of Florida), Maria M. Portuondo (Johns
Hopkins University), and Lawrence M. Principe (Johns Hopkins University) mod-
erated sessions and made many helpful suggestions for the editorial preparation of
this volume. Thanks are also due to the editors of Archimedes for their interest in
bringing this volume into print.
Contents
1 Introduction 1
Patrick J. Boner
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs: Cosmological Continuity
in Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Astronomy 7
Peter Barker
3 Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas in Spain
Between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries:
The Impact of Celestial Novelties 33
Victor Navarro Brotons
4 Cornelius Gemma and the New Star of 1572 51
Dario Tessicini
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion
on the Nova of 1604 67
Miguel A. Granada
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 93
Patrick J. Boner
7 From Cosmos to Confession: Kepler and the Connection
Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 115
Aviva Rothman
8 Johannes Phocylides Holwarda and the Interpretation
of New Stars in the Dutch Republic 135
Rienk Vermij
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity . . 153
Robert Alan Hatch
Index 177
Contributors
Peter Barker University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA, barkerp@ou.edu
Patrick J. Boner Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA,
patrickjboner@jhu.edu
Miguel A. Granada University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, granada@ub.edu
Robert Alan Hatch University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA, ufhatch@ufl.edu
Victor Navarro Brotons University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain,
victor.navarro @ uv.es
Aviva Rothman Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA,
atrothma@princeton.edu
Dario Tessicini Durham University, Durham, UK, dario.tessicini@durham.ac.uk
Rienk Vermij University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA, rienk.vermij@ou.edu
About the Authors
Peter Barker is Professor of the History of Science at the University of Oklahoma.
He is an associate editor of Centaurus and has published several articles and
books on the history and philosophy of science. His recent publications include
The Cognitive Structure of Scientific Revolutions (with Hanne Anderson and Xiang
Chen, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) and "The Hypotyposes
orbium coelestium (Strasbourg, 1568)," in Nouveau ciel, nouvelle terre: La revolu-
tion copernicienne dans VAllemagne de la Reforme (1530-1630) (Paris: Les Belles
Lettres, 2009). At present, he is preparing a book, tentatively entitled On the Reality
of the Celestial Orbs: The Substance of the Heavens and the Causes of Planetary
Motion from Peurbach to Kepler, barkerp@ou.edu
Patrick J. Boner is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of the History
of Science and Technology at Johns Hopkins University. He has published several
articles on early modern astrology, astronomy, and cosmology. In 2009, he co-edited
(with Nick Jardine) a special edition of the Journal for the History of Astronomy
in commemoration of the International Year of Astronomy. Patrick is currently
completing his book, Kepler's Living Cosmos, which considers the inseparable con-
nections between Kepler's vitalistic views and his more enduring accomplishments
in astronomy and optics, patrickjboner@jhu.edu
Miguel A. Granada teaches the History of Renaissance Philosophy at the
University of Barcelona. He has published several books on Giordano Bruno
(Giordano Bruno: Universo infinito, union con Dios, perfeccion del hombre
(Barcelona: Herder, 2002); La reivindicacion de la filosofia en Giordano Bruno
(Barcelona: Herder, 2005)) and on the cosmological revolution between Copernicus
and Kepler (El debate cosmologico en 1588: Bruno, Brahe, Rothmann, Ursus,
Roslin (Naples: Bibliopolis, 1996); Sfere solide e cielo fluido: Momenti del dibat-
tito cosmologico nella seconda metd del Cinquecento (Milan: Guerini e Associati,
2002), granada@ub.edu
Robert Alan Hatch teaches History of Science at the University of Florida, and
until recently served as Interim Director of the Center for the Humanities. Bob con-
tinues work on the sequel to his first book, The Collection Boulliau (APS, 1982),
now completing Part II of the trilogy, The Boulliau Correspondence: A Calendar
xii About the Authors
while continuing apace with Part III, Boulliau's Europe: Science & Learning in
Seventeenth-Century France. Bob is also writing a book on the Republic of Letters
and making strong progress with the correspondence of Peiresc, Gassendi, and
Boulliau. He recently completed a penultimate draft of the complete correspondence
of Pierre Gassendi, ufhatch@ufl.edu
Victor Navarro-Brotons recently retired as Professor of History of Science at the
University of Valencia. He is a corresponding member of the International Academy
of the History of Science. He has been co-editor of Cronos, a journal for the history
of medicine and science, and he has published extensively on the history of scientific
activity in Spain. His recent publications include Universities and Science in the
Early Modern Period (co-editor, 2005); Beyond the Back Legend: Spain and the
Scientific Revolution (co-editor, 2007); and Viceng Mut i Armengol (1614-1687) i
Vastronomia (2009), victor.navarro@uv.es
Aviva Rothman is a Doctoral Candidate in History and a member of the Program
in History of Science at Princeton University. Her dissertation on Johannes
Kepler explores notions of identity and community in sixteenth- and seventeenth-
century Europe by examining the multiple, overlapping communities with which
Kepler identified, and by considering Kepler's conception of the ideal commu-
nity, centering on the notion of harmony which runs through much of his work,
atrothma @ princeton.edu
Dario Tessicini is Lecturer in Italian at Durham University. His work focuses on
the history of science and the intellectual history of early modern Europe, with par-
ticular emphasis on astronomy, cosmology, natural philosophy, and their mutual
relations. He has published a book on Giordano Bruno's reception of sixteenth-
century astronomy: / dintorni delVinfinito: Giordano Bruno e Vastronomia del
Cinquecento (Pisa, 2007), dario.tessicini@durham.ac.uk
Rienk Vermij studied History and obtained his PhD at the Institute for the History
of Science at the University of Utrecht in 1991. At the moment, he is Assistant
Professor at the Department of the History of Science at the University of Oklahoma.
His research concerns mainly the history of science in the early modern period. His
book, The Calvinist Copernicans: The Reception of the New Astronomy in the Dutch
Republic 1575-1750, was published in 2002, rienk.vermij@ou.edu
Chapter 1
Introduction
Patrick J. Boner
The history of cosmology in medieval and early modern Europe involves an interdis-
ciplinary array of scholars who redefined the nature and knowability of the world.
The papers in this volume focus primarily on astronomers who put forward new
ways of relating the heavens and earth and our role as cosmic actors. Together,
they represent a rich variety of views that brought the heavens and earth closer
together as new forms of cosmic continuity reflected new forms of knowledge. 1
More than a monolithic response to scholastic philosophy, these views suggest a
growing number of voices that spoke to the essence and structure of the cosmos as
a whole. Johannes Kepler, among "a new breed of astronomers" who studied the
science of the stars in concert with cosmology, 2 is a radical example of this emerg-
ing enterprise of cosmic synthesis. In the introduction to his textbook, Epitome of
Copernican Astronomy (1618-1621), Kepler wrote that astronomy yielded physical
knowledge of "the causes of things." More significantly, he suggested as the cen-
tral aim of astronomy the study of "the conformation of the world structure and its
parts." 3 As the papers in this volume show, Kepler was not alone in his quest to
harmonize astronomy and natural philosophy in the pursuit of "the genuine form
and disposition of the world." 4 His resolution to settle confessional differences
on the basis of a reformed cosmology, however, reached new heights of cosmic
continuity. 5
The changing role of mathematical astronomy in relation to natural philosophy is
widely seen as a salient feature of early modern science. Since Robert S. Westman's
study of the merging roles of the astronomer and the natural philosopher in the six-
teenth century, 6 historians have increasingly identified the expansion of astronomy's
cognitive and social scope with the new conceptual and institutional conditions of
European learning. Thus, the emergence of mathematical astronomy as a forum
for physical interpretation has been closely connected with a corresponding shift
away from universities to informal societies, patrons, and court culture. For Georg
Liebler (1524-1600), who taught natural philosophy at the University of Tubingen,
PJ. Boner (El)
Department of the History of Science and Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,
MD 21218, USA
e-mail: patrickjboner@jhu.edu
PJ. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6_l, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
2 PJ. Boner
the study of nature could be divided in a number of ways, though few, if any, would
confuse mathematics with physics, or natural philosophy. 7 Rather, Liebler wrote
that mathematics was the study of forms that were entirely independent of matter
as objects of "the mind alone." 8 In many cases, those who differed with this view
and deployed mathematics as an essential part of natural philosophy maneuvered
in segments of society that extended beyond the academic sphere. In his oration on
mathematics at the University of Copenhagen, the court astronomer Tycho Brahe
claimed that the science of the stars spoke to the physical truth of the cosmos. 9
Although this was a minority view, Kepler's physical conception of astronomy can
be similarly associated with a larger trend that saw court astronomers put forward
physical representations. 10 In perhaps the most famous case, the court of Cosimo
II promised fertile grounds for Galileo's mathematical physics. 11 The papers in this
volume display the diversity of views that early modern astronomers held regard-
ing natural philosophy. Some of the papers even suggest ways in which these views
predate the development of the new court culture and extend to far earlier ideas in
ancient and medieval cosmology. 12 Taken together, they reveal a landscape whose
disciplinary boundaries are neither static nor singularly tied to their socio-cultural
context.
Many of the papers in this volume explore the endeavors of astronomers in the
light of the celestial novelties they attempted to explain. These novelties tested
the intellectual and cultural boundaries of early modern astronomy and cosmol-
ogy. On the basis of their optical properties and the measure of their motion,
they suggested certain physical features to their earth-bound observers. For some
astronomers, the absence of motion in the supernova of 1572 suggested a location
in the sphere of the fixed stars. In the hands of Michael Maestlin (1550-1631), a
colleague of Liebler at Tubingen, this "new star" became an instrument of oppo-
sition in the struggle with those who, under the authority of Aristotle, saw the
heavens as perfect and immutable. Together with the immobility of the new star,
changes in color and magnitude convinced Maestlin that the heavens, like the earth,
were subject to change. 13 Maestlin was joined by other professional astronomers in
his criticism of Aristotle and other authorities. He argued that the accuracy of his
observations and the precision of his proofs strongly supported his claims, particu-
larly parallax. 14 The following papers consider the assertions of other astronomers
who, like Maestlin, drew on the resources of astronomy to reformulate the phys-
ical nature of the heavens. By applying mathematical principles to the sphere of
physical inquiry, these astronomers erased boundaries between astronomy and cos-
mology. Aiming at philosophical credibility, they opened the door to new kinds of
cosmological continuity.
Rarely did the opinions of early modern astronomers represent a full break with
the relevant authorities, however. Opposition to Aristotle, in particular, was often
made with the approval of other ancient authors. Those who suggested a mutable
substance in the heavens cited similar ideas in the works of Stoic and Epicurean
authors, among others. In this critical context, references to Cicero, Lucretius, and
Virgil appeared alongside passages from Pliny and Seneca. In some cases, the agree-
ment of ancient alternatives with the Pythagoreans suggested an underlying lineage
1 Introduction 3
that extended even to Aristotle, when properly understood. In his speculations on
the substance of the heavens, Kepler put forward the possibility that Virgil's "liq-
uid fields" in the Aeneid had been inspired by the Pythagoreans and could also be
reconciled with Aristotle's idea of a spiritual heat present throughout the cosmos. 15
Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484-1558) had identified Aristotle's idea as essential to
unlocking "the hidden secrets of nature," and Kepler claimed his place as the rightful
beneficiary of this legacy. 16 Other astronomers, meanwhile, made recourse to more
recent theories in alchemy and astrology in their accounts of the physical origins of
celestial phenomena.
As the example of Kepler shows, new notions of the heavens involved new
applications of old ideas. Many of the papers in this volume suggest Aristotelian
meteorology as an especially valuable resource. Taught as the study of the imper-
fect mixtures of the elements in the earth's atmosphere, 17 Aristotelian meteorology
was deployed by astronomers to make sense of celestial mutability. By blurring the
distinction between the celestial and terrestrial realms, they extended earthly phys-
ical processes into the heavens to explain comets and new stars. Although these
astronomers were often critical of Aristotle's cometary theory, they expanded and
adapted his views on terrestrial exhalations. If the earth produced hot and dry exha-
lations that rose to the upper region of the air and turned into "fiery meteors of
various forms," 18 perhaps the planets and stars also produced celestial exhalations
that appeared as comets and new stars. This form of analogy and inference grew
progressively more popular as the heavens and earth were seen as ever more similar.
With the ascent of Copernican astronomy and wider use of the telescope, sunspots
and changes in stellar brightness were attributed to the exhalations of celestial
bodies.
The breakdown of boundaries between the heavens and earth thus accompanied
new views of the cosmos that adapted, rather than rejected, Aristotelian ideas in
the light of new evidence. The conversion of celestial exhalations into comets, new
stars, and other ephemeral luminaries was viewed by some as part of a larger pro-
cess. In this view, the cyclical course of the earth's weather could be compared with
the continual maintenance and preservation of the cosmos. Thus, the imperfect mix-
tures of the elements were distilled, as it were, in the earth's atmosphere in the same
way that ephemeral luminaries served to purify the celestial ether. Many of these
luminaries were the same fiery meteors once thought to originate in the air. 19 Now
involving the celestial ether, they suggested the essential similarity of the heavens
and earth. This essential unity of substance and behavior spoke to the singular nature
of the cosmos, now subject to a universal process of decay and renewal. The papers
in this volume explore the various views that were held on the cyclical course of the
cosmos. By exploring the accounts that were ascribed to the generation and disso-
lution of celestial entities, they enrich our appreciation of early modern cosmology
as far more diverse and dynamic. The picture that they reveal of the debates during
the period suggests in some cases the coexistence, rather than the outright conflict,
of alternative views. Beginning with the comets and new stars that appeared in the
second half of the sixteenth century, the essays also encounter the cosmic theories
of later astronomers who historicized the heavens in new ways, advancing ideas
4 PJ. Boner
of orderly change over time. Subject to the forces of destruction, the stars would
simultaneously be seen by Herschel as seeds of life, whose clusters would sup-
ply "salutary remedies for the decay of the whole." 20 In the final analysis, cosmic
creation comes full circle, as the evolutionary theories of Newton and Herschel are
shown to link earthly mixtures with the "entangled bank" of the changing heavens. 21
At the center of cosmological debate in the early seventeenth century, the work
of Kepler offers a unique window onto this transitional period in the history of
astronomy. A student of Liebler and Maestlin, Kepler quickly came to develop his
own theories on the metaphysical principles of heliocentric astronomy. Convinced of
the concrete reality of the heliocentric hypothesis, Kepler invested astronomy with
the explanatory power of natural philosophy. He considered the Copernican and
Tychonic theories as competitors in "the realm of physical knowledge." 22 Unlike
astrology, which he saw as uncertain and forever in need of further evidence, the
reality and reliability of astronomy could in the right hands even resolve religious
conflicts. At the same time, Kepler relied on mathematics as a key to inferential
reasoning in a way that would resonate in the work of other astronomers, including
Fabricius, Holwarda, Hevelius, and Boulliau. For each of these astronomers, the
physical contours of the cosmos were explored under the guidance of mathematical
principles. With the discovery of stellar variability, Mira Ceti signaled a new form of
measurability that struck a deep cosmological chord that combined continuity and
change. 23 While the mathematics involved in this discovery improved on the earlier
efforts of Kepler, they also summoned his speculations on the cyclical course of the
cosmos. If celestial mutability was measurable, it also confirmed the continuity of
the cosmos over space and time.
Notes
1 . Many of the papers in this volume show how astronomers reconfigured the two realms in a way
that, like Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576) and others, "created a continuity that brought heaven
and earth closer together." On Cardano's redefinition of the ether and the earthly elements, see
William Donahue, "Astronomy," on 562-595 in Early Modern Science, ed. Lorraine Daston
and Katharine Park (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
2. Ibid., 581.
3. JKGW, 7:23.14-23.29: "What is the relation of astronomy with other areas of knowledge?
(1) Astronomy is part of natural philosophy, since it inquires into the causes of things and
natural events, since the motions of the celestial bodies are among its subjects, and since its
one end is to study the conformation of the world structure and its parts [conformationem
aedificii mundani partiumque eius] . (2) Astronomy is the heart of geography and hydrography
or marine navigation. For whatever happens in the heavens at different points on the earth
and different parts of the sea is determined by astronomy alone. (3) It has chronology as a
subordinate, since the celestial motions determine the times and political years and mark his-
tories. (4) It has meteorology as another subordinate, for the stars move and incite sublunar
nature [naturam sublunarem] and men themselves in a certain way. (5) It involves a great
deal of optics, since it shares with optics the light of the celestial bodies as a subject, and
since it detects the many deceptions of vision regarding the forms of the world and motions.
(6) Nevertheless, it is under the genus of mathematical disciplines, and it makes use of
arithmetic and geometry like two wings."
1 Introduction 5
4. Ibid., 25.27-25.28.
5. On the role of cosmology in Kepler's resolution of the true nature of the Eucharist, see Aviva
Rothman's paper in this volume.
6. Robert S. Westman, "The Astronomer's Role in the Sixteenth Century: A Preliminary Study,"
History of Science 18, 1980, 105-147.
7. Georg Liebler, Epitome philosophiae naturalis (Basil, 1589), 1-2.
8. Ibid. According to this format of natural philosophy, mathematics came after physics and "the
first philosophy," theology, which was "higher and more sublime than physical science [phys-
ica scientia]." In his preface, Liebler outlined five possible ways of configuring philosophy,
on the grounds that "the word 'philosophy' is not always understood in the same way by
Aristotle, nor by other philosophers."
9. Nicholas Jardine identifies Tycho's oration as an example of "historical legitimation," whereby
Tycho points to Ptolemy and Copernicus as the proper heirs of the true astronomy and "creates
a space for his own enterprise, that of constructing a system that reconciles the physical truth in
Ptolemy's earth-centred system with the mathematical superiority of Copernicus 's sun-centred
system." See Jardine, The Scenes of Inquiry: On the Reality of Questions in the Sciences
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000), 132-133.
10. Nicholas Jardine, "The Places of Astronomy in Early Modern Culture," Journal for the History
of Astronomy 29, 1998, 49-62.
1 1 . Mario Biagioli, Galileo, Courtier: The Practice of Science in the Culture of Absolutism
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), 103-157.
12. On the variety of medieval views on the physical nature of the heavens, see Nicholas H.
Steneck, Science and Creation in the Middle Ages: Henry of Langenstein (d. 1397) on Genesis
(Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1976), 58-63.
13. Michael Maestlin, Demonstratio astronomica loci stellae novae (Tubingen, 1573), 28:
"Certainly the star's change in color and diminution in magnitude prove them all
wrong."
14. Maestlin also subscribed to the "minority position" of professional astronomers who made
claims about the actual form of the cosmos. See Jardine, Scenes of Inquiry, 134. On Maestlin's
criticism of Aristotle, see Charlotte Methuen, Kepler's Tubingen: Stimulus to a Theological
Mathematics (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998), 180-181.
15. JKGW, 1:267.21-267.30. This example may also be understood as an attempt by Kepler to
normalize his notion of the celestial ether by suggesting the ideas of ancient authors that
he saw as essentially similar. On "normalization" as a strategy of historical legitimation, see
Jardine, Scenes of Inquiry, 131-132.
16. JKGW, 1:267.29-267.30. On Kepler's recourse to the combined authority of Aristotle and the
Pythagoreans in his conception of the celestial ether, see Miguel A. Granada, "Novelties in
the Heavens between 1572 and 1604 and Kepler's Unified View of Nature," Journal for the
History of Astronomy 40 (2009), 393-402.
17. In his Epitome of Natural Philosophy (1589), Liebler described the subject of Aristotle's
Meteorology as "the imperfectly mixed bodies" produced "in the air and in the internal parts of
the earth." The efficient cause of these mixtures was, of course, "the celestial body [corpus]"
whose "eternal revolution" governed their activity. According to this sequence of rule, Liebler
wrote, "the finite and imperfect motions of the elements rely on the infinite and perfect motion
of the heavens." See Liebler, Epitome, 298-299.
18. Ibid., 302.
19. In his survey of Aristotle's Meteorology, Liebler identified meteors in the upper region of the
air according to their shapes. Condensations of exhalations that "extended in length and width
and were set on fire by the motion of the heavens" were witnessed in various ways by the
authors of ancient history. "Leaping goats," such as those "that Seneca saw before the death
of Augustus," were distinguished by Liebler as "the dashing embers" of burning exhalations.
See ibid., 302.
20. William Herschel, "On the Construction of the Heavens," Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society of London 75, 1785, 213-266, on 217.
6 PJ. Boner
21. On this point, see especially the final paper in this volume by Robert Alan Hatch.
22. Nicholas Jardine, The Birth of History and Philosophy of Science: Kepler's A Defence of
Tycho against Ursus with Essays on its Provenance and Significance (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1984), 147.
23. Donahue, "Astronomy," 592: "The discovery of the periodicity of Omicron Ceti (or Mira,
"the Wonder," as it was called) initiated a widespread interest in the stars that marked the
beginning of stellar astronomy as a separate field of study." The definitive account of Mira
Ceti's discovery is now Robert Alan Hatch's contribution to this volume.
Chapter 2
The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs:
Cosmological Continuity in Fifteenth
and Sixteenth Century Astronomy
Peter Barker
The reality of celestial orbs has been the subject of a long and inconclusive
controversy. 1 On one side are historians of science — and the philosophers who
have relied on them for their picture of what occurred in the history of astronomy
and cosmology — who hold that before the work of Copernicus astronomy was an
almost entirely mathematical discipline concerned only to account accurately for
observations (to "save the appearances") and had no substantial connection with
cosmology. Only the latter attempted to describe the real frame of the world, by con-
sidering causes grounded in physics but ignored in astronomy. Hence astronomy, so
the line goes, was a "fictionalist" or "instrumentalist" discipline, while cosmology,
like physics, was "realist." On the other side are historians who propose that early
modern astronomers accepted celestial orbs as real features of the world.
The origins of the "fictionalist" position are well known. In 1908 Pierre Duhem
published an influential book in which he summarized his view of the history of
astronomy from antiquity until the seventeenth century. He said, for example:
If the decision that determines the true hypothesis escapes the competence of astronomers,
of people who content themselves with combining abstract geometrical figures and compar-
ing them with the appearances described by observers, it is then reserved to those who have
meditated on the nature of the celestial bodies, the physicists. They alone are appropriate to
present the principles with which the astronomers will discern the true hypothesis among
several suppositions equally suitable for saving the phenomena. 2
Although Duhem' s account of the history of astronomy and cosmology was
nuanced, the fictionalist reading assumed a life of its own and by the middle
of the twentieth century it was generally accepted that pre-Copernican astron-
omy made no claims about the real structure of the world, and that this position
was endorsed, if not founded, by the most important ancient astronomer, Claudius
Ptolemy. In an influential book on the history of scientific method published in 1962
the philosophers Blake, Ducasse, and Madden said:
P. Barker (El)
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
e-mail: barkerp@ou.edu
PJ. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6_2, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
8 P. Barker
[Ptolemy] "saved the phenomena" better than anyone had ever done before; but unfor-
tunately his hypotheses were in flat contradiction to Aristotelian physics. The men who
accepted Aristotle were confronted with a dilemma. Several ancient thinkers resolved the
difficulty by resorting to a nonrealistic interpretation of astronomical hypotheses. Ptolemy
himself had already proposed such an interpretation in the Syntaxis {Almagest). We are not
to suppose that there is any real physical system of spheres in the heavens. Astronomy is
simply a mathematical device for calculating the apparent motions. Among alternative sys-
tems that equally enable us to "save the phenomena," that is to be preferred which is the
simplest. That is the only test to be imposed. Conformity to physical fact is not necessary. 3
An alternative to the fictionalist reading appeared in 1967 when Bernard
R. Goldstein published a translation of the missing portions of Ptolemy's Planetary
Hypotheses. The material Goldstein presented had been unavailable to writers in
the Latin West during the early modern period — Goldstein recovered them from
an Arabic source. Considered in its entirety, the Planetary Hypotheses showed that
Ptolemy himself had proposed realistic models corresponding to the mathematical
constructions in the Almagest, and that these had become the basis for the tradition
of planetary orbs in Islamic astronomy. These in turn had appeared in astronomy
books in the West from the late Middle Ages onward, and had been dismissed as
"fictions" by adherents of the instrumentalist reading of early modern astronomy. 4
Although Goldstein's work should have been the occasion for a complete reap-
praisal of Duhem's historiography and its descendents, that viewpoint has remained
prominent, indeed dissenting voices are still a minority. The late 1970s saw a brisk
but inconclusive exchange on the reality of the celestial spheres in Copernicus. 5
Perhaps because this exchange was inconclusive, much otherwise admirable work
in the history of science since the middle of the last century has continued to endorse
the fictionalist status of astronomy, often in the form of the thesis that Copernicus
was responsible for re-introducing realism into a field that before him had been
fictionalist. 6 And one of the most important historians of early modern astronomy
has repeatedly drawn attention to assertions by an important early modern writer
that astronomy in the Ptolemaic tradition was fictionalist. 7 Several major books
on the subject of celestial spheres were published, with a spectrum of opinions
represented. 8 On the other side, affirming the reality of celestial orbs for early
modern astronomers, it is worth mentioning especially the translator of Peurbach's
Theoricae novae planetarum, and the author of the most important practical survey
of ancient and early modern astronomy, a book that is invaluable to anyone teaching
in the field. 9
I applaud the tendency — even among writers who continue to believe that early
modern astronomy was fictionalist — to move beyond "great man" history, to con-
sider the work of lesser figures, to consider genres that found no place in the older
grand narrative of the scientific revolution and in general to place the history of
astronomy and cosmology in its cultural context. 10 However, I do not think that
we have yet gone far enough in extending the range of historical sources we con-
sider, or in properly situating these sources in their culture. When we do, I wish
to suggest, a very different picture emerges. It is a picture in which, between the
publication of Peurbach's Theoricae novae and Copernicus 's De revolutionibus, a
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs 9
substantial part of the astronomical community in Europe accepted the reality of
celestial orbs, because that is what they taught to their students. It suggests that these
writers regarded astronomy as just as "realistic" as cosmology, indeed they regarded
the two as connected, mutually supportive, and naturally complementary. If this is
correct, we have significantly misread the context in which Copernicus 's work was
written, received, and developed. In the present paper I can do no more than sketch
these general arguments; however, I will outline what I believe to be the main lines
of evidence that show that many — perhaps most — European astronomers accepted
the reality of celestial orbs in the period before the publication of Copernicus 's
book, and I will sketch how I think this insight requires us to change our reading of
a whole range of key texts in astronomy and cosmology between Copernicus and
Kepler. 11 The connection to the theme of this volume should be clear: I propose that
we acknowledge a previously ignored continuity in the development of astronomy
and cosmology in the early modern period.
The Status of Celestial Orbs from Peurbach to Copernicus
By the middle of the fourteenth century astronomy had come to occupy a settled
place in the university curriculum; it was one of the four subjects making up the
"quadrivium" studied by all students after they had mastered the "trivial" introduc-
tory subjects of logic, grammar, and rhetoric. The astronomy curriculum consisted
of two parts, with standard texts for each. The first part, often taught in conjunction
with arithmetic, used a book composed in the early thirteenth century by the English
scholar John of Holywood (c. 1190-1236), usually known by his Latin name as
Sacrobosco. His book, called simply The Sphere, was an introduction to a spheri-
cal cosmos bounded by the sphere of stars and centered on the earth. It defined the
main celestial circles used to register the positions of objects in the sky, for exam-
ple the equator, the tropics, and the ecliptic, and described celestial phenomena that
depended on the sphere of stars rotating once around the earth each day, such as the
rising and setting of celestial objects viewed from the central earth. It did not give
detailed treatments of the much more complex motions of the sun, moon, and plan-
ets, but in the fourth and final section it briefly introduced the mathematical models
for these motions that had been available since antiquity. 12
The second part of the astronomy curriculum was usually paired with a study of
geometry. The astronomical portion was based on a text called the Theorica plane-
tarum, often attributed to Gerard of Cremona, who died in 1187. 13 This presented
detailed mathematical models for the motions of the sun, moon and other planets,
showed how they could be applied to understanding eclipses, and gave a glimpse
of the main application of all this knowledge, which was to the practice of astrol-
ogy. By the mid-fifteenth century, astronomers in Vienna had begun to criticize the
original Theorica on several technical grounds, including the account of the preces-
sion of the equinoxes. 14 More importantly, the original Theorica did not include an
explanation of how the motions of the planets could actually be produced according
to principles that were acceptable to Aristotle's physics.
10 P. Barker
The mathematical models presented in Part 4 of Sacrobosco, and described in
detail in the Theorica, were those introduced by Ptolemy in the Almagest. They
employed a large circle, the deferent, to explain the main motion of planets, around
the Zodiac and in the opposite direction from the daily rotation. They employed a
smaller circle, or epicycle, riding on the large circle, to explain the periodic reversals
of directions that planets, but not stars, performed. The planet itself was carried on
the rim of the small circle. And they employed two other mathematical tricks, plac-
ing the observer off-center in the larger circle (making it eccentric), and shifting the
center of uniform rotation to a symmetrical point on the opposite side of the geomet-
rical center (called the equant). Using these tools the position of a planet in the sky
could be predicted with an accuracy that is still impressive today. However, the cir-
cles themselves were not treated as physical objects, and no explanation was given
of what caused a planet to move as if it were carried on a collection of circles. 15
Throughout the fifteenth century astronomers at Vienna seem to have become
increasingly dissatisfied with this situation. They wrote not just commentaries on
the old Theorica, but new versions that gradually introduced solid orb models to
explain why planets moved as they did. 16 Finally, in August 1454, Georg Peurbach
(1423-1461) completed a series of lectures in which he systematically introduced an
orb model for each celestial object, starting with the sun and the moon, and going on
to the planets. The notes for these lectures were written down and circulated widely
throughout Europe. After Peurbach died, his student and collaborator Johannes
Miiller (1436-1476), usually known by his Latin name Regiomontanus, moved to
Nuremberg, where he established the first printing house specializing exclusively
in science and mathematics. Here, between 1472 and 1474, he printed Peurbach's
astronomy lectures as a book, Theoricae novae planetarum, with extensive illustra-
tions of the orb models. 17 From at least the time of this book's publication, the main
disputes on the reality of celestial orbs concerned the orbs as they were presented
by Peurbach and his sixteenth century successors.
I will sketch three main lines of evidence to support the thesis that many
astronomers treated the celestial orbs as real in the period from Peurbach to
Copernicus. These consist of the content of the Theoricae novae and its com-
mentaries, the content of Sphaera texts written about the same time, and, perhaps
most significant in understanding the overall historical context, the dispute between
Ptolemaic astronomers and Averroist natural philosophers. These three lines of evi-
dence all connect with the astronomy curriculum in European universities from the
Middle Ages onward. Almost all students probably studied a Sphaera; a smaller
number went on to study the Theorica, and a still smaller number progressed to
advanced texts like the Almagest itself. With the advent of printing a market was
created for books catering to all these students.
During the period I am considering, Peurbach's Theoricae novae plane tarum was
the main source for doctrines of celestial orbs as they appear in astronomy. Although
almost all geocentric cosmic schemes from antiquity to the time of Copernicus fea-
tured nesting concentric celestial spheres, these were simply materializations of the
zone or region in which individual planets moved around a central earth (Fig. 2.1).
Peurbach showed the inner structure of these spherical shells. He presented models
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs
11
CESccundu m acddens auce diu idicu r in fperi Diu ifio fper? ftx
redam& obliquam. Illi em dicuntur babete cundu accidens.
fperam tedam;cjui man en t Tub gcj uinochali;
fi ahquis man ere poflit * Ec dicit rcdta quonia De fpera recta,
neuter polorum magisalteroillis eleuatVVel
quomaillof bonbon interfecat gqumodiale
a 2
Fig. 2.1 A cosmic section from an early printed sphaera. Iohannis de Sacrobusto (Sacrobosco),
Spera mundi (Venice: Franciscus Renner de Hailbrun, 1478) fol. a 2 R
of partial orbs that in combination created the eccentric and epicyclic motions used
by Ptolemy to predict planetary positions. These models were not new; they had
been extensively developed by Islamic astronomers and increasingly adopted by
Peurbach's own predecessors. 18 Peurbach's main innovation — if indeed it is one —
was to present these models systematically, so that when considering each planet
(or set of planets) in the traditional Theorica, an orb model was presented first, and
subsequent descriptions were referred to it. After its first appearance at Nuremberg,
new editions of Peurbach's text appeared rapidly, with three editions at Venice in
the 1480s and three more in the 1490s. There are further editions from Venice in
12 P. Barker
1501, 1513, 1519, and 1537. 19 So Peurbach's book had a substantial readership,
even before we consider the numerous commentaries written on it, many of which
reproduce the original text in its entirety.
As already indicated, the most significant innovation in the Theoricae novae
is the presentation of an orb model for the motion of each celestial object. These
appear in the text itself as large, often colored, diagrams that fill more than half a
page and show the orbs in cross section. They begin on the very first page with a
diagram of the orbs for the sun (Fig. 2.2). The opening paragraph of the text, which
accompanies the figure, says in part:
The sun has three orbs . . . Now an orb with its center at the center of the world is said to
be concentric with the world. But an eccentric is an orb with a center other than the center
of the world. And thus the first two orbs [of the sun] are eccentrics in a certain respect: and
they are called the orbs carrying the apogee of the sun. For by their motion the apogee of
the sun is changed. But the third orb is simply eccentric: and it is called the orb carrying the
sun. For the body of the sun is fixed in it and is moved by its motion. 20
Having briefly defined concentric and eccentric orbs, Peurbach tells us that the
first two orbs of the sun, those that appear in cross section as crescent shapes, are
eccentric "in a certain respect" (secundum quid). They are complex structures with
one concentric surface and one eccentric surface. The third orb, which is trapped
between them, has two eccentric surfaces that are concentric to each other. The
body of the sun is infixum — attached, or fixed, inside this orb. Its inner and outer
extremities touch the orb's surface and it is carried around as the orb rotates. The
motion of the two eccentrics secundum quid varies the direction at which the sun is
furthest from the common center of the whole system (the earth), that is, the apogee
position of the sun.
Notice that Peurbach's language is realistic throughout. There are no cautions
distinguishing physical orbs from geometrical orbs, and no indication that they are
merely introduced as calculating devices, The physical body of the sun cannot be
attached to or transported by a mathematical fiction or mere calculating device.
Nor is there any qualifying language such as we find in some later commentators,
indicating that these orbs should be understood as fictions or that the motion of
the sun may be understood "as if it were attached to such orbs. The most natural
reading of Peurbach's texts is that he is proposing the orbs as real physical objects
rather than mathematical abstractions; this is confirmed by the way he refers to them
throughout the text, and underlined by the title used in a manuscript copy preserved
at Vienna: "A new theorica presenting the real nature of the spheres and of motion
with the vocabulary of the [astronomical] tables." 21
The Theoricae novae quickly replaced the old Theorica, which was printed only
five times before 1500. The old Theorica was reprinted twice in 1518 and for
the last time in 1531. By comparison, taking into account translations and com-
mentaries, the Theoricae novae was printed at least 56 times between 1474 and
1653. 22 In the period immediately following the Theoricae novae's first appearance,
the contents of these works show that many astronomers who adopted Peurbach's
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs
13
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cdipticseoftauaefphaErae, Auxenfmeecenmd Solem defcrentis in fuperfide
Fig. 2.2 The first page of text from an early printed edition of Peurbach's Theoricae novae, in
a compendium also including Sacrobosco's Sphaera and Regiomontanus's Contra Cremonensis.
The image of the orbs of the sun, although large, is smaller here than in Regiomontanus's
original. The crescent shaped eccentrics secundum quid have been colored yellow or gold now
faded to brown. Joannes de Sacro Bosco, Sphaera mundi (Venice: Octavian Scot, 1490), fol
[a iii V]
14 P. Barker
innovations taught that the celestial orbs were real things, not fictions and not calcu-
lating devices. It is impossible to know with certainty when the first commentaries
were written but easier to establish when they were printed. Albertus de Brudzewo
(c. 1445-1497), working in Cracow, completed a commentary no later than 1482
which was printed in Milan in 1495. Sylvester Mazzolini de Prierias (c. 1456-1527),
working in Italy, completed a commentary, probably between 1482 and 1485, but
it was not printed until 1514, when it appeared at Milan and the following year
at Paris. Jacobus Faber Stapulensis (Jacques Lefevre d'Etaples, c. 1450-1536) was
doing similar work in Paris during the 1490s. In addition to a sphaera published in
1494, he composed a work that is not so much a commentary as a rational recon-
struction of Peurbach's ideas; it was published in the same city in 1503. Perhaps
the most important and influential early commentary, by Franciscus Capuanus de
Manfredonia (for whom there are no reliable dates, known in the latter part of his
career as Iohannes Baptista Capuanus de Manfredonia) was probably written while
Capuanus taught at Padua. His commentary was published first at Venice in 1495,
and reprinted at least six times by 1531. 23 With the exception of Prierias all these
commentators follow Peurbach in treating the celestial orbs as real — and there may
be historical reasons for Prierias 's reservations. Those reasons, which we will turn
to shortly, are the increasingly vocal opposition of Averroist natural philosophers. 24
But let us first document the views of the majority of writers.
Albertus de Brudzewo begins his book by disagreeing with Averroes on the
number of celestial spheres. The argument is about the number of "total spheres" —
whether there are any spheres beyond the eight that Averroes allows (moon, sun, five
planets, and fixed stars). Basing his case on direct reference to Aristotle's texts, and
borrowing an argument from Albertus Magnus, Brudzewo concludes that there must
be at least nine and probably more celestial spheres. The key premises here are the
Aristotelian axioms that celestial bodies are spheres (or properly orbs) and that such
bodies may have only a single simple motion. But the sphere of fixed stars reveals
at least two distinct motions (the daily motion and the motion of precession), hence
there must be at least two orbs creating these movements. 25 Although this argu-
ment does not explicitly address the partial orbs of the Theoricae novae it implicitly
articulates a standard that can be used to determine their number: there must be one
orb for each separable circular motion performed by the sun, moon, or planets. And
Brudzewo is quite unflinching in his commitment to the new account based on orbs
in contrast to the older theorica which considered only two-dimensional construc-
tions of circles in the manner of the Almagest. Although, he tells us, these circles
may be recovered from patterns of orbs in the new theorica, the circles are not what
is real. In the case of the first celestial object considered in either theorica, for exam-
ple, "... the sun does not move in a circle, which is a plane figure bounded by a
single surface, but as things truly are (in rei veritate) in an orb, which is a body that
is solid and spherical." 26
The principle for assigning orbs implied by Brudzewo is explicitly stated by
Capuanus: "Therefore the complete intention of this work will be to assign for indi-
vidual planets as many orbs as there are irregularities of motion. . ," 27 The concept
of a celestial orb is to be understood primarily in terms of its motion; it is a body
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs 15
distinct from others insofar as it has a motion in itself and nothing else moves it.
And Capuanus states very clearly that orbs, rather than just circles, are required to
explain astronomical observations: "All astronomers save the appearances of plane-
tary positions by means of eccentrics, from which it follows that eccentric orbs are
the origin (principium) without which it is impossible to save the appearances." 28
Capuanus recognizes that many of his readers will be familiar with objections to this
position based on the works of Averroes and his contemporary commentators, and
spends the remainder of his introduction to the theorica of the sun presenting and
rebutting them. He goes into far greater detail than Brudzewo and presents specific
replies to all the standard Averroist objections to eccentrics and epicycles, under
nine separate headings. 29
Faber Stapulensis's book does not quote Peurbach directly. Rather, Stapulensis
systematically presents the key concepts needed to understand Peurbach's work,
beginning with the concept of an orb. There is no indication that these are anything
other than real objects, and the epicycles are characteristically described as little
spheres. 30
Although the Theoricae novae was the main text presenting planetary models,
the first part of the astronomy course, based on Sacrobosco's Sphere, had always
foreshadowed it. The fourth part of Sacrobosco's book was a brief description of
the planetary models that, it was hoped, students would go on to study in the theor-
ica. Before Peurbach's time this section of text introduced two-dimensional models
that were simplified versions of those found in the theorica and the Almagest. As
Peurbach's ideas spread, commentators on Sacrobosco began to introduce mate-
rial from the Theoricae novae. Their comments on this material provide a separate
line of evidence indicating attitudes to the reality of celestial orbs. Perhaps because
this material was intended for complete beginners it contains some of the clearest
statements on the subject. Let us consider just a couple of examples.
In a commentary on Sacrobosco first published in Leipzig in 1491, and reprinted
in the same city in 1495, 1499, and 1510 (also in Cologne in 1501, 1505, and 1508),
Wenceslaus Faber de BudweyB tells us:
. . . [T]he deferent of the moon and of the other planets is an orb having a thickness in itself
and is not such a circle or circumference as the author [Sacrobosco] would have it. And in
the concavity of this orb a small spherical body is enclosed which is called the epicycle. 31
Here we see again the claim that an epicycle is a small spherical body, linked to
a direct statement, like that we have already noted in Brudzewo, that it is incorrect
to speak of planets moving on circles; rather they are carried by orbs. An even more
interesting set of claims comes from a Spanish mathematician teaching in Paris in
the 1490s. Petrus Ciruellus Darocensis (Pedro Ciruelo, 1470-1548) wrote not only
an extensive commentary on Sacrobosco but a concluding dialogue. Ciruelo's book
was first published in a decorated edition in Paris in 1498, and reprinted there in
1505, 1508, 1515, and 1526, and also in Spain in 1526. 32 The speakers in Ciruelo's
dialogue are identified as coming from Daroca (D) and Burgos (B) in Spain. Here is
an extract:
16 P. Barker
D: What question does the author propose in this chapter [Sacrobosco Chapter 4] in
order to explain it?
B: The proper motions of the planets which in the opinion of Ptolemy need to be
saved through eccentric circles and epicycles, and hence correctly represented
by circles to begin with.
D: Is this not the motion of all bodies?
B: The physical theorica demonstrates this.
D: It is therefore not required to attribute motion to circles that are not bodies?
B : I grant it.
D: And for that reason there are annexed to this part the dispositions of the corporeal
orbs which we have singled out from Peurbach's theorica. And these are the
cause of the motions of the planets. Similarly, we have added the circles not
inconveniently devised by the astrologer[s] in the plain language (litterate) of the
author [Sacrobosco]. We have inserted a little more on the motions of the ninth
sphere and the sphere of fixed stars. And also we have explained the various
powers of the planets.
B: That's a lot! 33
There is a great deal here. The dialogue summarizes the content of the fourth part
of Sacrobosco. Although the penultimate speech shows that Ciruelo still expects
his students to learn about the corresponding celestial circles, it is quite clear
that the circles are not primary. Indeed, it is only required to consider the motion
of circles that correspond to orbs. The question "Is this not the motion of all
bodies?" refers, in context, only to celestial bodies. Their motion is now to be
understood from the physical theorica, which we are told is Peurbach's theorica.
The physical orbs described in this theorica are identified as the cause of planetary
motion.
The picture that emerges from the Theoricae novae and its commentators, and
also from the Sacrobosco commentators, is clear: all over Europe, in books with
a wide readership, as shown by multiple printings, teachers of astronomy treated
the theorica orbs as physically real. A third line of evidence tending to the same
conclusion — and perhaps the most striking one — comes from criticisms of these
orbs. The most important of these Averroist attacks on Ptolemaic astronomy is the
book published by Alessandro Achillini (1463-1512) at Bologna in 1498. Duhem
in fact suggests that Capuanus's responses are directed to Achillini. 34 Although the
chronology of their books' publications places Capuanus ahead of Achillini, the
location of the former at Bologna while the latter was at Padua makes it reasonable
to conjecture that their books are addressed to each others' positions. What has
not been generally recognized is that Achillini is specifically attacking Peurbach's
version of the theorica with its orb models. 35
Achillini presents a conventional Averroist attack on epicycles and eccentrics; to
speak about eccentrics and epicycles goes beyond nature, and what mathematicians
wish to say about eccentrics is impossible, as shown especially by Averroes in his
commentary on Book 12 of Aristotle's Metaphysics. Averroes provides three routes
to these negative conclusions. The first is from the uniqueness of the center of the
world — the Ptolemaic tradition introduces unacceptably many different centers. The
second is from the nature of the celestial bodies, which could not be perfect spheres
if they were made into epicycles and eccentrics. Using eccentrics and epicycles also
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs 17
requires the introduction of physically superfluous bodies to exclude vacua. The
third way depends upon the axiom that a single, simple body may have only one
circular motion, which eccentrics and epicycles are supposed to violate. 36 These
objections themselves do not depend on whether epicycles and eccentrics are taken
to be circles or orbs, but if we examine the vocabulary Achillini uses to define the
object of his attack it is apparent that his target is Peurbach:
A body [that has] no surface of which the center is actually the center of the world, is a
simple eccentric. But an eccentric in a certain respect is a body of which the center of one
surface is actually the center of the world, and the center of the other surface is not actually
the center of the world. 37
Notice that eccentrics are referred to twice as "bodies" not "circles," and that on
the second occasion these are the eccentrics "in a certain respect" (secundum quid)
that appear in Peurbach but not in the older theorica.
Just as the specific target of Achillini 's criticisms has escaped notice, so has its
wider historical significance. An Averroist natural philosopher would have no need
to criticize eccentrics and epicycles if these were admitted by the astronomers using
them to be mere calculating devices or "fictions." It is only because the astronomers
assert that somehow these things are real that an Averroist feels obliged to take
issue with them. This predicament had obviously become more acute with the pub-
lication of Peurbach's theorica, and the commentaries on Peurbach and Sacrobosco
that we have quoted above. The Averroist criticisms, then, are further evidence that
the astronomers they attacked regarded celestial orbs as real objects. Far from the
majority position in astronomy treating orbs as fictions, we have seen that all over
Europe in books that were widely reprinted, many astronomers took celestial orbs to
be real things, real constituents of the heavens and the causes of planetary motion.
The actual historical situation is that the Ptolemaic astronomers disagree with the
Averroist natural philosophers about the real contents of the heavens, and the dispute
between the two factions persists for decades. 38
The publication of the books by Capuanus and Achillini in the 1490s began
a new phase of the debate between Averroist natural philosophers and Ptolemaic
astronomers. Capuanus's book would be reprinted in 1499, perhaps as a direct
response to Achillini, again in 1515, and a total of six times in its first 40 years. 39
We may see the reprinting of Achillini's work in a 1508 compendium as, in part,
a continuation of this dispute. 40 This is the period in which we find the first clear
hedging of opening statements in theorica commentaries on the reality of the celes-
tial orbs, for example in the printed edition of Sylvester de Prierias's commentaries
on Sacrobosco and Peurbach. These commentaries, which the author suggests was
composed around 1482, were not published until 1514 when they appeared in a sin-
gle volume in Milan. The Peurbach commentary alone was reprinted in Paris the
following year. 41 Where others simply assert that the sun has three orbs, this author
tells us:
Therefore, the sun has — that is, it is believed to have — three orbs. For this is not
demonstrated, but thought up in order to save what appears in the celestial motions. 42
18 P. Barker
Prierias is the sole dissenter I have uncovered so far among authors of theorica
or sphaera commentaries in the period from Peurbach to Copernicus. The simplest
explanation for Prierias 's position is that he sympathized with the Averroists and
hence with their critique of Peurbach and Ptolemy. 43 Although composed in the
1480s, his theorica commentary was not prepared for publication until 2 decades
later. By this time the dispute between the Averroists and the followers of Peurbach
had achieved some public prominence. Although we do not know what Prierias said
in the original manuscript, the phrase in which Prierias qualifies the status of the orbs
has very much the appearance of an insertion, and may indicate his taking sides
in this dispute. However, there was no general abandonment of Peurbach 's posi-
tion by authors of commentaries. For example, in Paris, where Prierias's theorica
saw a second edition in 1515, a commentary on Jacques Lefevre's theorica, men-
tioned above, by Iudocus Clichtoveus Neoportuensis, appeared in 1517. Clichtoveus
explained partial and total orbs with great clarity, treated partial orbs, for example
epicyles, as real, and in conclusion recommended both Peurbach and "Franciscus
Capuanus" for further study. The preference for orbs over circles is indicated even
in the title of his book, which describes itself as a theorica "... of the Celestial
Bodies." 44
Capuanus 's commentary on Peurbach was republished in turn in 1515, 1518, and
1531 (Fig. 2.3). The 1531 edition is especially interesting, as it is advertised as the
first entry in an omnibus of works on astronomy and astrology, the last entry of
which is: Alpetragius the Arab's Theorica of the Planets . . . translated into Latin
by Calus Calonymus . . . where he attempts to save the appearances of planetary
motion without eccentrics and epicycles. , 45 This 1531 publication appears as a new
entry in the dispute between the Ptolemaists and the Averroists.
Unlike Achillini, Calonymus's version of Al-Bitruji actually contains detailed
planetary models. 46 As an attempt to replace the Ptolemaic theorica it was unsuc-
cessful, but it was followed by two further attempts to construct Averroist planetary
models, using a new mathematical device that is now referred to as a Tusi couple.
These were the books by Giovanni Battista Amico (c. 1511-1538) and Girolamo
Fracastoro (1483-1553) that appeared in Italy in 1536 and 1538. 47 These attempts to
create an astronomy based completely on earth-centered orbs were technically inge-
nious and extremely complicated. But, according to a knowledgeable contemporary,
the Averroists were unsuccessful at the main task of astronomy, that is, the accurate
predictions of planetary positions. Reviewing the dispute between the followers of
Averroes and the followers of Ptolemy and Peurbach, he said:
Some use only earth-centered circles, others eccentrics and epicycles, but they do not fully
achieve what they seek. For although those who rely on earth-centered circles demonstrated
that some nonuniform motions could be compounded from them, nevertheless from this
they were able to establish nothing certain, that indisputably corresponded to the phenom-
ena. On the other hand, those who devised eccentrics seem to have solved the greater part
of the apparent motions with accuracy by these calculations; but meanwhile they introduce
many things that seem to contravene the first principles of uniform motion. 48
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs
19
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20 P. Barker
The Status of Celestial Orbs from Copernicus to Kepler
It should now be clear that in considering the most famous astronomical book of the
sixteenth century, and making sense of the intellectual career of its author, we need
to take into account a background where Ptolemaic astronomy was under attack
for its very legitimacy by the Averroists, and many of those who supported the
Ptolemaic tradition also supported the reality of the orbs presented in Peurbach's
Theoricae novae.
Copernicus would have heard of the Averroist opposition to Peurbach's orbs, and
to the Ptolemaic program of models based on eccentrics and epicycles, as soon as he
began to study astronomy in Cracow. When Copernicus arrived in 1491, Brudzewo's
imposing commentary on Peurbach had already been completed, and would either
have formed the basis for the astronomy course he took, or would have been readily
available to him. As already indicated, Brudzewo begins with a rebuttal of Averroes
on the number of celestial spheres, and continues to allude to the controversy with
his followers throughout the book. Copernicus then moved to Bologna from 1496
until 1500, where he arrived just in time for the publication of Achillini's attack
on Peurbach and his followers. Again, this was a major work by one of the most
celebrated teachers at the university he was attending. It would have been highly
salient to Copernicus, who had arrived with a special interest in astronomy, and
was actually lodging with Domenico de Novara, the university expert on the sub-
ject. Whether or not he immediately read Capuanus, the new edition of the work
that appeared in 1499 at Venice would have appealed to mathematically inclined
astronomers looking for replies to the Averroists. The period of Copernicus 's edu-
cation, then, corresponds to the period of the rekindling of the dispute between
Ptolemaic astronomers and Averroists. 49 His education and later career overlap the
period in which printed editions of Peurbach and commentaries on the Theoricae
novae spread throughout Europe and became the preferred text for the astronomy
course in universities. At the same time, many — perhaps most — astronomy teach-
ers were defending the reality of celestial orbs. We need to understand these two
points — the Averroist attack on Peurbach and the reality of celestial orbs in the tra-
dition of the Theoricae novae — to be able to correctly evaluate Copernicus 's own
work. For example, in the letter to the Pope, quoted above, when Copernicus speaks
of those who use "earth centered circles" he is not referring just to the recent efforts
of Amico and Fracastoro, although these are certainly the latest important entries on
the Averroist side. Rather he is referring to a dispute that has been going on during
his whole professional life.
Where does Copernicus stand in the dispute between Averroists and the followers
of Ptolemy and Peurbach? On the one hand, he continues to use the technical devices
introduced by Ptolemy and rejected by the Averroists — the eccentrics and epicycles.
But whether or not he regards these devices as corresponding to clusters of physical
orbs is unclear. The situation is made even more difficult by accidents of history and
historiography. The single most famous figure in Copernicus 's book was botched by
the printer in Nuremberg (historical accident) and the misprinting made it easy for
twentieth-century historians to misread it as a diagram of orbits, showing planets
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs
21
Fig. 2.4 Detail from Copernicus, De revolutionibus, 9 V, showing original labels (left) and correct
labels (right)
moving freely through space without being supported by orbs (historiographical
accident) (Fig. 2.4). All this, of course, is wildly anachronistic. There was no con-
cept of an orbit in astronomy before Kepler introduced it in the Astronomia nova
published in 1609. 50 The easiest way to see what the figure really shows is to refer
to the version in Copernicus 's manuscript. There, as Noel Swerdlow pointed out
long ago, there are too many circles to fit a pattern in which one planetary label
is assigned to each — as they would have to be if the circles represented orbits. The
labels actually match the gaps or intervals between concentric circles. In other words
they are indicating the total orbs of the planets, in a sun-centered scheme. 51
Copernicus 's famous diagram of the heliocentric system is actually a cosmic
section, and stands in a long line of similar images showing a geocentric cosmos
(compare Fig. 2.1 above). In the technical language of astronomy after Peurbach,
it is a cross section through the total orbs of the planets, with the sun shown as
the center of the world. The next question is — what are the details? How are plan-
ets conveyed within the zones bounded by the surfaces of their total orbs? Cosmic
sections almost never show this. However, we know the answer for the geocentric
cosmic sections drawn by Peurbach's followers — the total orb for the sun has three
orbs, creating an eccentric motion; those for the outer planets have four, including
the epicycle spherelet that is carried by the eccentric orb. Copernicus uses eccentric
circles and epicycles in his models for the motions of the other planets. It would be
a simple matter, and well within the competence of any advanced university student,
to draw a set of theorica orbs for any planet Copernicus treats. But two issues intrude
here. First, Copernicus is quite specifically concerned to remove a technical defect
of Ptolemaic astronomy that is also a defect of orb representations like those intro-
duced by Peurbach. Second, after overcoming this difficulty, Copernicus 's methods
themselves raise another obstacle to the confident assertion that, for example, Mars
has four orbs. This second obstacle is the equivalence of eccentrics to concentrics
carrying epicycles.
When Copernicus wrote, of the Ptolemaic astronomers, ". . . those who devised
eccentrics . . . introduce many things that seem to contravene the first principles
22 P. Barker
of uniform motion," he was referring to Ptolemy's equant. Here, if anywhere in
astronomy after Peurbach, we encounter a mere calculating device or fiction, rather
than a piece of the furniture of creation. Ptolemy had introduced the equant in all
his planetary models to regulate the planet's motion in longitude by controlling the
speed with which the planet moved on its eccentric circle. Of course, the eccentric
carries the epicycle, which carries the planet. Hence it is the motion of the epicycle
center that is regulated by the equant. The epicycle center rotates uniformly about
the equant, and not the geometrical center of the eccentric, or indeed the center of the
cosmos, which is symmetrically placed on the opposite side of the eccentric's center
point, along the line of symmetry of the system. The equant may be admissible as
a purely mathematical constraint on purely mathematical circular motions, 52 but it
is awkward to accommodate in the orb models of Peurbach. In these models the
orbs representing the epicycle, the simple eccentric, and the eccentric secundum
quid, are made to rotate about axes that are diameters of the orbs. By rotating at
constant speed about such an axis, an object embedded in an orb will perform a
circular motion at constant speed ("the first principle of uniform motion"). But the
equant device requires that the simple eccentric orb revolve in place, not about a
diameter, but about an axis that passes through the equant point, making that axis
parallel to the sphere's diameter but some distance from it. It is just not clear that
this suggestion makes any physical sense at all. 53
Copernicus circumvents all this machinery. Using a method descended from the
work of Islamic astronomers, originating with Mu'ayyad al-Din al-Urdi (d. 1266)
and extensively employed by Ibn ash-Shatir (1304-1376), Copernicus redefines
the eccentricity of the major circle for Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn and augments it
with a small epicycle. 54 By these means Copernicus is able to introduce a set of
planetary models that contain only circles rotating with constant speed about their
geometrical centers. 55 This was one of the main attractions of his work to contem-
porary Ptolemaic astronomers, and it was also good news for anyone who wishes
to draw a theorica orb cluster to explain the motion of each planet. 56 The circles in
Copernicus's models are just the right kind to be wholly replaced by orbs revolving
at uniform speed about axes that are diameters — provided we know which pattern
of circles to start from. But, unfortunately, we do not.
To an extent that really has no precedent in the astronomical literature before him,
Copernicus considers and displays alternative, mathematically equivalent arrange-
ments of circles. The main equivalence is introduced by what is now known as
Apollonius's theorem: any motion that can be represented by a uniformly rotating
eccentric circle may also be represented by a uniformly rotating concentric circle
of the same diameter carrying an epicycle with a radius equal to the eccentricity
of the first circle. Thus a model employing both an eccentric and an epicycle (used
by both Ptolemy and Copernicus for outer planets) could in principle be replaced
by a concentric carrying two nested epicycles (by replacing the eccentric) or an
eccentric carrying another eccentric (by replacing the epicycle), or, indeed, an inver-
sion in which the epicycle carries the eccentric. Although the path of the planets
defined by each model will be identical, the orb clusters corresponding to each
option will be radically different. Models without epicycles, for example, will lack
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs 23
the characteristic small spheres embedded in larger orbs. So, until we know which
arrangement actually exists in the heavens, we cannot specify a theorica orb sys-
tem for Copernicus. Ptolemy had disposed of these alternatives — most obviously
in the case of the sun — without giving any very convincing reasons. Copernicus
really says nothing about how to choose, and leaves his readers with a major conun-
drum. It seems, then, that the contextual evidence points towards partial orbs for
Copernicus. Certainly many of his contemporaries would have wanted to draw such
systems (and some did — for example, Antonio Magini (1555-1617) 57 ). But until the
issue of uniqueness is settled there will be no reason to adopt one option rather than
another. For these and other reasons, Copernicus is silent on the actual disposition
of the celestial orbs. 58
But the problem is not confined to Copernicus. As soon as we recognize the alter-
natives he describes, our allegiance to the specific patterns of orbs introduced by
Peurbach becomes equally questionable. What is called in question is not the reality
of the orbs but their arrangement. This situation became acute for astronomers in the
Wittenberg tradition, who were responsible for the publication and dissemination of
Copernicus's ideas. 59 Erasmus Reinhold (1511-1553) had published a conventional
commentary on Peurbach in 1542. After assimilating Copernicus's ideas he began to
revise his commentary, adding Copernicus's alternative models for the motion of the
sun. This had the effect of completely undermining the initial assertion that the sun
has three orbs; in an epicyclic model the sun would have two orbs — one concentric
and an embedded epicycle sphere. 60 As a complement to his Prutenic Tables, calcu-
lated using Copernicus's models but referred to a central earth, Reinhold intended
to write a new theorica. He died before he could complete the revisions to his 1542
theorica or the new project. Casper Peucer (1525-1602) saw both published (and
probably added a good deal to the latter). 61
The new theorica, to accompany the Prutenic Tables, stands out among all six-
teenth century theoricae that I have examined. The cosmology is conventionally
geocentric. But all through the book its authors review both eccentric and equivalent
concentric-plus-epicycle models for each motion, and it contains no orb models. For
Reinhold and Peucer, as for Copernicus, without additional information there is no
way to assert that the heavens contain one set of orbs rather than another. Without an
alternative account of the causes of celestial motion, or any direct evidence against
the existence of celestial orbs, we must continue to expect astronomers to believe
that planets are transported by some configuration of physical orbs in which they
are embedded. Consequently at least one influential figure who opposes Averroism
in astronomy, supports Peurbach and is favorably disposed to Copernicus's reforms,
continues to endorse orbs, but now demurs from telling his students exactly which
pattern exists in the heavens. As the central figure in Lutheran education and natu-
ral philosophy, Phillip Melanchthon (1497-1560), 62 puts it, in his physics textbook
published in 1549:
The listener should understand that the construction of so many orbs and an epicycle was
thought out by Geometers to be able to show the laws of the [planets'] movements and
periods, one way or another, and not because the devices in the sky are this way, although
it is agreed that there are some such orbs. 63
24 P. Barker
Between the 1550s and the 1580s an alternative account for the causes of celes-
tial motion and new direct evidence against orbs became available. The alternative
account was the Stoic view that the heavens were a continuous fluid substance and
that the planets were intelligent creatures capable of moving themselves and direct-
ing their own paths. This account had been available from antiquity, and regularly
mentioned, but usually only to deride it, as an alternative to the Aristotelian view that
the heavens consisted of rigid spheres which carried the embedded planets around
as they revolved. In the late 1550s Ioannes Pena (Jean de la Pene, 1528-1558) began
to make new use of these ideas and to argue explicitly against the reality of celestial
spheres. Other new evidence against spheres appeared in the form of the new star
of 1572 and a succession of comets, especially in 1577 and 1585. Writing about
the comet of 1585, Wittenberg trained astronomer Christopher Rothmann (fl.1575-
1597) appropriated Pena's ideas to explain how the comet was apparently able to
move within the sphere of Saturn. Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), whose training was
also indebted to Wittenberg, adopted these ideas from Rothmann and proposed a
new geo-heliocentric system of the world in his book of 1588. Rothmann 's contri-
bution resolved a problem for Brahe created by his own attachment to the reality of
celestial spheres — the notorious intersection of the paths of Mars and the sun. 64
The first major publications presenting Brahe 's work occur during the educa-
tion of Ioannes Kepler (1571-1630). All of the intellectual resources and historical
influences we have sketched inform Kepler's work. Let us consider just two major
items: the Mysterium cosmographicum of 1596 and the Astronomia nova of 1609.
In the course of his career Kepler redefines Copernicanism, introducing many of the
elements taken to be essential to the position today. 65
In the Mysterium cosmographicum Kepler presents an ingenious argument for
Copernicanism by showing that the Copernican — not the Ptolemaic — planetary dis-
tances follow from a nested construction of the Platonic regular solids. But he sees
this construction as defining orbs rather than simply distances, and the orbs them-
selves have to be sufficiently wide to accommodate Copernicus' minor epicycles
carried on eccentrics. The thickness of the orbs and the accompanying epicycles are
shown clearly in the most famous figure in the book (Fig. 2.5). What is the status
of these orbs? Kepler transfers Brahe 's solution to a Copernican cosmos. He treats
the substance of the heavens as fluid and regards the orbs as geometrical rather than
physical boundaries. 66
The problem of the causes of planetary motion is extensively considered in the
Astronomia nova, published in 1609. At the very beginning of his discussion, Kepler
denies the existence of solid orbs and considers the possibility that planets direct
their own motions. He argues persuasively that an intelligent planet could not direct
its own motion around the empty center of an epicycle, which is one of the reasons
that his subsequent models eliminate them in favor of eccentrics with equants, and
finally ellipses. At the same time he introduces the concept of an orbit, in the form
of the "track" the planet makes in three-dimensional space. He initially retains the
idea that the planet is responsible for its own radial motion but explains its motion
in longitude primarily by means of a force, centered in the sun, that sweeps planets
around in circles as the sun rotates. The ellipse originates from the combination of
these radial and circumferential components. 67
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs
25
Fig. 2.5 Detail from Kepler, Mysterium cosmographicum (Tubingen: Gruppenbach, 1596),
plate III, following p. 24, showing epicycles labeled with planetary symbols at 3 o'clock on the
cross section of each orb
Although Kepler's version of Copernicanism became canonical after the gen-
eral adoption of Newton's ideas, it may well have been the system of Tycho that
was most influential in eliminating the celestial orbs. 68 His geo-heliocentric sys-
tem became especially attractive to Catholics after 1616, despite the Lutheranism of
its author. 69 The development and propagation of Cartesian cosmology also tended
to undermine the ontology of orbs. 70 But if the earlier portion of this paper was
a sketch, these remarks are a sketch of a sketch. The investigation of the period
from Peurbach to Copernicus has revealed many surprises that require the revision
of accepted historical narratives. I expect the same will be true for the period from
Kepler to Newton.
The dispute between the Averroists and the followers of Peurbach was alive
and well in the work of Christoph Clavius (1538-1612). First published in 1570
and reprinted with additions many times, Clavius 's commentary on Sacrobosco
staunchly defends the theorica orbs. Clavius may be the terminus ad quern of
Peurbach's orbs; his successors were Tychonists. 71 By the opening decades of the
seventeenth century at least some astronomers had abandoned solid celestial orbs for
a fluid heavens. 72 Thus the dispute was resolved not by the victory of one side or the
other, but rather by the rejection of the presupposition that planets were transported
by orbs. Ironically this happened at very much the same moment that Galileo was
26 P. Barker
providing decisive telescopic evidence against the Averroists. The principle that all
celestial motions have a single center — the center of the cosmos — could not sur-
vive the discovery of the moons of Jupiter, even though Galileo's work did not
furnish decisive arguments that the Copernican choice of center was preferable to
the traditional one. 73 During Galileo's career the terms of astronomical discourse
shifted. When he came on the scene the overarching dispute had been between the
Averroists and the followers of Ptolemy and Peurbach. By the end of his career,
as his 1633 book shows, the main contenders had become the Ptolemaic system,
the Tychonic system, and the Copernican alternative. No canonical theorica orbs
were ever adopted for either of the last two alternatives. Instead, interest focused on
alternatives other than orbs to explain the cause of planetary motion, with the issue
being resolved against both wholly and partially geocentric systems by the adoption
of universal gravitation.
The main thesis I have presented concerns the reality of the celestial orbs.
However, it is worth reiterating some lesser points. That Achillini was attacking
Peurbach has not been appreciated and the wider significance of the Averroist attack
on Ptolemaic astronomy has not been recognized. These together with the very
clear statements by writers of theorica and sphaera commentaries refute the the-
sis that astronomy was fictionalist before Copernicus. Given the importance of the
texts from which this evidence is drawn, the scope of their distribution, the num-
bers of editions and their implied readership, we may conclude that a substantial
number — perhaps a majority — of European astronomers accepted the physical real-
ity of celestial orbs in the period from Peurbach to Copernicus, and later. 74 This
largely unrecognized continuity in astronomy requires that we re-evaluate the work
of all figures from the period in which the Theoricae novae became the dom-
inant teaching text, up to the period in which celestial spheres were definitely
abandoned. 75 I have attempted to sketch some of these issues for the Wittenberg
astronomers, and also Brahe and Kepler. Whether or not the reader finds this very
brief presentation persuasive, I hope that he or she will join with me in recognizing
the inevitability of such a reappraisal. 76
Acknowledgements Portions of this paper were presented at the Midwest Junto for the History
of Science in 2008 and 2009, and at the conference "Cosmological Continuity" held at Johns
Hopkins University in 2009. I owe debts of gratitude to many people who have helped with
critical comments, language and sources, and I would like to thank them without implying that
they endorse all the ideas presented here, especially Patrick Boner, Christopher Braun, Kathleen
M. Crowther, Bernard R. Goldstein, Giora Hon, Lawrence M. Principe, Michael H. Shank, Noel
M. Swerdlow, and Robert S. Westman. All images in this paper are courtesy of the History of
Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries. I would like to express special thanks to
Kerry Magruder, Curator of the Collections, and Joann Palmeri, Librarian of the Collections.
Notes
1. Lacking space to give an exhaustive account, what follows is a sketch, which I hope to
supplement. See final footnote.
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs 27
2. "Si la decision qui determine l'hypothese vrai echappe a la competence de l'astronome, de
celui qui se contente de combiner les figures abstraites du geometre et de les comparer
aux apparences decrites par l'observateur, elle est done reservee a celui qui a medite sur la
nature des corps celestes, au physicien; celui-la seul est apte a poser les principes a desquels
l'astronome discernera l'hypothese vrai parmis plusiers suppositions egalement propres a
sauver les phenomenes." Pierre Duhem, UQZEIN TA &AINOMENA, Essai sur la notion de
theorie physique de Platon a Galilee (Paris: A. Hermann, 1908), 8-9.
3. Ralph M. Blake, Curt J. Ducasse, and Edward H. Madden, Theories of Scientific Method:
The Renaissance through the Nineteenth Century (Seattle: University of Washington Press,
1960), 23.
4. Bernard R. Goldstein, "The Arabic Version of Ptolemy's Planetary Hypotheses," Transactions
of the American Philosophical Society 57, 1967, Pt. 4.
5. Noel M. Swerdlow, "The Derivation and First Draft of Copernicus 's Planetary Theory:
A Translation of the Commentariolus with Commentary," Proceeding of the American
Philosophical Society 117, 1973, 423-512; Edward Rosen, "Copernicus' Spheres and
Epicycles," Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences 25, 1975, 82-92; Noel M.
Swerdlow, "Pseudodoxia Copernicana," Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences 26,
1976, 108-158; Edward Rosen, "Reply to N. Swerdlow," Archives Internationales d'Histoire
des Sciences 26, 1976, 301-304. The exchange was inconclusive in the sense that Swerdlow 's
position, which is similar to my own, did not become canonical in the wider community of his-
torians of science. Note however Robert S. Westman, "Review of A. M. Duncan, "Copernicus:
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres," Journal for the History of Astronomy 8, 1977,
145-147, n. 4: "That Swerdlow has successfully established the case for Copernicus's belief
in solid spheres now seems clear and beyond any reasonable doubt."
6. A recent example is Miguel A. Granada, "The Defense of the Movement of the Earth in
Rothmann, Maestlin and Kepler: From Heavenly Geometry to Celestial Physics," 95-119,
on 95 in Mechanics and Cosmology in the Medieval and Early Modern Period, ed.
M. Bucciantini, M. Camerota, and S. Roux (Florence: Olschki, 2007).
7. Michael H. Shank, "Regiomontanus on Ptolemy, Physical Orbs, and Astronomical
Fictionalism: Goldsteinian Themes" in the Defense of Theon Against George of Trebizond,
Perspectives on Science 10, 2002, 179-207; Michael H. Shank, "Mechanical Thinking in
European Astronomy (thirteenth to fifteenth centuries)," 3-27 in Mechanics and Cosmology
in the Medieval and Early Modern Period, ed. M. Bucciantini, M. Camerota, and S. Roux
(Florence: Olschki, 2007). However, see now Michael H. Shank, "Setting up Copernicus?
Astronomy and Natural Philosophy in Giambattista Capuano da Manfredonia's Expositio on
the Sphere," Early Science and Medicine 14, 2009, 290-315.
8. William H. Donahue, The Dissolution of the Celestial Spheres, 1595-1650 (New York: Arno
Press, 1981) considered a period later than the one I am examining. Edward Grant, Planets,
Stars, and Orbs: The Medieval Cosmos, 1200-1687 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1994), clearly endorsed the reality of the orbs. Michel-Pierre Lerner, Le Monde des Spheres,
2 vols. (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1996), inclined to fictionalism.
9. Eric J. Aiton, "Celestial Spheres and Circles," History of Science 19, 1981, 75-114; Eric J.
Aiton, "Peurbach's Theoricae novae planetarum: A Translation with Commentary," Osiris
3, 1987, 5-43; James Evans, History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1998), 217 ff. for the ancient period, 401-403 for the period considered
in this paper. See also the important article by Nicholas Jardine, "The Significance of the
Copernican Orbs," Journal for the History of Astronomy 13, 1982, 168-194, and the discus-
sion in The Birth of History and Philosophy of Science: Kepler's A Defence of Tycho against
Ursus, with Essays on Its Provenance and Significance (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1984), especially Chapters 6 and 7.
10. A movement begun, most importantly, by Robert S. Westman, "The Astronomer's Role in the
Sixteenth Century: A Preliminary Study," History of Science 18, 1980, 105-147, in which,
28 P. Barker
however, he fails to make a statement on the status of the celestial orbs quite as clear as that
quoted above, n. 5.
11. I have given more details on Copernicus's Lutheran successors and especially Tycho Brahe in
Peter Barker, "The Hypotyposes orbium coelestium (Strasbourg, 1568)," 85-108 in Nouveau
del Nouvelle Terre: La Revolution Copernicienne dans VAllemagne de la Reforme (1530-
1630), ed. Miguel A. Granada and Edouard Mehl (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2009).
12. Lynn Thorndike, The Sphere of Sacrobosco and Its Commentators (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1949), 76-142.
13. Olaf Pedersen, "The Origins of the 'Theorica planetarum,'" Journal for the History of
Astronomy 12, 1981, 113-123; F. S. Benjamin and G. J. Toomer, Campanus of Novara and
Medieval Planetary Theory: Theorica planetarum (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press,
1971).
14. On the defects of the old theorica, see, most recently, William F. Byrne, The Stars, the Moon
and the Shadowed Earth, Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 2007, and Olaf Pedersen,
"The Decline and Fall of the Theorica planetarum: Renaissance Astronomy and the Art of
Printing," Studia Copernicana 16, 1978, 157-185.
15. The standard modern edition is G. J. Toomer, Ptolemy's Almagest (Princeton: Princeton
University Press: 1998). For an exposition of these methods see Olaf Pedersen, A Survey of
the Almagest (Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, 1974), and Evans, History and
Practice of Ancient Astronomy, (cit. n. 9), 205-243 and 355-384.
16. An example is Olaf Pedersen and B. Dalsgaard Larsen, A Fifteenth Century Planetary Theory:
Nova theorica planetarum magistri Johannis Lauratii . . . de Fundis (History of Science
Department: Aarhus, 1961). A transcription of MS Utrecht 3 H 15 Fol. 56 r-63 r. For clar-
ity, I will refer to works of this type using the word theorica to denote a general category of
text or genre, using an initial capital only when referring to a specific unique text, especially
that of Peurbach.
17. Georg Peurbach, Theoricae novae planetarum (Nuremberg: Regiomontanus, 1474). Compare
Aiton, "Peurbach's Theoricae novae."
18. On the development of orb models by Islamic astronomers see George Saliba, A History of
Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam (New York: New York
University Press, 1995).
19. The main sources for this bibliography are summarized in Aiton, "Peurbach's Theoricae
novae," (cit. n. 9) 7, n. 8.
20. Peurbach, Theoricae novae, (cit. n. 17) fol. [a i R]: "Sol habet tres orbes . . . Dicitur autem
mundo concentricus orbis, cuius centrum est centrum mundi. Eccentricus vero cuius centrum
est aliud a centro mundi. Duo itaque primi sunt eccentrici secundum quid: & vocantur orbes
augem solis deferens. Ad motum enim eorum aux solis variatur. Tertius vero est eccentricus
simpliciter: et vocantur orbis solis deferens. Ad motum enim eius corpus solare infixum sibi
movetur." Cf. Aiton, "Puerbach's Theoricae novae" (cit. n. 9), 9-10. I have benefited greatly
from discussion with Noel Swerdlow, who generously shared a translation of his own. I would
also like to thank Lawrence Principe and Steve Livesey for advice. Note that my sentences
begin and end as in the first edition.
21 . Vienna codex 5203, fol. 2r incipit: "Theorica nova realem sperarum habitudinem atque motum
cum terminis tabularum declarans," cited in Aiton, "Puerbach's Theoricae novae" (cit. n. 9),
8, n. 14. 1 owe this point to Matjaz Vesel.
22. Aiton, "Peurbach's Theoricae novae" (cit. n. 9), 7. 1 hope to improve on this count shortly.
23. First editions are as follows: Albertus de Brudzewo, Commentariolum super theoricas novas
planetarum Georgii Purbachii in Studio generali Cracoviensi per Albertum de Brudzewo
diligenter corrogatum a.d. 1482 (Milan, 1495); Sylvester de Prierias, In spheram ac
Theoricas preclarissima Commentaria (Milan: G. da Ponte 1514); Jacobus Faber Stapulensis,
Astronomicon (Paris: Wolfgang Hopyl and Henri Estienne, 1503); Franciscus Capuanus de
Manfredonia, Theoricae novae planetarum Georgii purbachii astronomi celebratissimi. At in
eas Eximii Artium & Medicine doctoris Domini Francisci Capuani de Manfredonia in studio
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs 29
patavino astronomiam publice legentis sublimis expo[si]tio & luceluntissimum scriptum
(Venice: Simon Bevilaqua, 1495). On Capuanus's publishing history see Aiton, "Peurbach's
Theoricae novae" (cit. n. 9), 7.
24. On the Averroist critique of Ptolemaic astronomy before 1450 see David C. Lindberg, The
Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious,
and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450, 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2008), 254-262. For greater detail, see Edward Grant, "Eccentrics and Epicycles
in Medieval Cosmology," 129-214 in Mathematics and Its Applications to Science and
Natural Philosophy in the Middle Ages, ed. Edward Grant and John E. Murdoch (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1987); Claudia Kren, "Homocentric Astronomy in the Latin
West: The De reprobatione ecentricorum et epiciclorum of Henry of Hesse," Isis 59, 1968,
269-281.
25. Albertus de Brudzewo, Commentariolum super theoricas novas planetarum Georgii
Purbachii in studio generali Cracoviensi per Mag. Albertum de Brudzewo. Post editionem
principem mediolanensem a. MCCCCXCVadfidem codicumpraes antissimorum denuo eden-
dum curavit Ludovicus Antonius Birkenmajer (Cracow: Universitatis Jagellonicae, 1900),
5-9.
26. Brudzewo, Commentariolum, ed. Birkenmajer, (cit. n. 25), 19: "Ibi enim Sol non in circulo, qui
est figura plana unica superficie contenta, sed in orbe, qui est corpus solidum et sphaericum,
in rei veritate movetur."
27. Capuanus, Theoricae . . . expositio (cited n. 23), a 2 V col. 1 : "Et ergo erit huius operis intentio
totalis singulis planetis tot orbes quot irregularitates motuum . . . assignare."
28. Capuanus, Theoricae . . . expositio (cited n. 23), [a 4 R] col.l foot: "Secundo[,] orbis dicitur
omne corpus celeste ab alio distinctum ita q[uam] h[abe]t motuum per se et si nihil aliud
moveatur. [a 4 V] col2 foot: Quoniam tot astronomorum . . . per eccentricorum positionem
planetarum salvant apparentias: unde eccentricus orbis est principium sine quo apparenti[a]e
salvare non possunt."
29. Capuanus, Theoricae . . . expositio (cited n. 23), [a 4 V]-[a 8 V].
30. Faber Stapulensis, Astronomicon (Paris: Reginald Chauderon, 1515), fol. lxxxiiii V:
"Epicyclium solidus orbiculus est: in orbis eccentri crassitudine contentus."
31. Wenceslaus Faber de BudweyB, Opusculum Ioannis de Sacro Busto Spericum cum nota-
bili commento a Magnifico viro domino Wenceslao Fabri de Budrveysz medicine Doctore
edito cumque fuguris textum declarantis utilissimis. (No colophon: Leipzig 1491), fol.
[I hi V]-[I iiii R]: "Nota deferens lune vel aliorum planetarum est orbis habens in se spissi-
tudinem et non est tantum circulus vel circumferentia ut vult autor. Et in concavitate euisdem
orbis sperula parva inclusa est que dicitur epicyclus."
32. C. F. Miguel, P. C. Castillo, and R. A. Albares, Pedro S. Ciruelo: Una Enciclopedia Humanista
del Saber (Salamanca: Caja de Ahorros y Monte, 1990), 13.
33. Petrus Ciruellus, Uberrimum sphere mundi come[n]tu[m] inter sertis etia[m] questionibus
d[omi]ni Petri de Aliaco (Paris: Guy Marchant, for Jean Petit, 1498), fol. n [vii] V:
D: Quid ques[ti]o in hac cap[itul]o auctor ostendendum [perjposuerat [?]
B: Proprios planetarum motus quos per circulos eccentricios et epiciclos opinione Ptholemei
salvare nititur. unde et a circulis recte exorsus est.
D: Nonne motus o[mn]is corporis est [?]
B: Id phisica theoria demonstrat.
D: Circulis igitur qui corpora non sunt motus attribuere non debuit [?]
B: [FJateor.
D: Atq[ue] id circo corporeorum orbium dispositiones quas ex Purbachii theoricis delegimus
huic parti advexuimus. Et hii motuum planetarum cause sunt. Circulos etiam quos
non incommode astrologi ymaginantur auctoris litter [at] e conformiter adiunximus. De
motibus quoque none et stellate sphere pauca quaedam inseruimus. Nee non diversas
planetarum passiones explicavimus.
B: Abunde.
30 P. Barker
34. Duhem, UQZEIN, (cit. n. 3), 60, also Lerner, Monde des Spheres, (cit. n. 2), 313, n. 77.
35. Alessandro Achillini, De orbibus (Bologna, 1498).
36. Alessandro Achillini, Opera omnia in unum collecta: De intelligentia, De orbibus, etc.
(Venice: H. Scotus, 1545), fol. 29 r col 2-fol. 29 v col 2.
37. Achillini, Opera omnia, fol. 28 v: last 3 lines, col. 2: "Excentricum simpliciter est corpus
cuius nullius superficiei [in] actu centrum est centrum mundi. Excentricum vero secundum
quid est corpus cuius unius superficiei in actu centrum est centrum mundi, et alterius (fol. 29
r) superficiei in actu centrum non est centrum mundi." This passage is misprinted, becoming
nonsense, in the 1498 edition.
38. Peter Barker, "Copernicus and the Critics of Ptolemy," Journal for the History of Astronomy
30, 1999, 343-358.
39. Aiton, "Peurbach's Theoricae novae" (cit. n. 9), 7.
40. Alessandro Achillini, De intelligentiis, De orbibus, etc. (Venice: O. Scotus, 1508).
41. Prierias, Commentaria, (cit. n. 33).
42. Prierias, Commentaria (Paris: Reginald Chauderon, 1515) fol. lxii: "Sol igitur habet, i.e.
habere creditur, tres orbes. Hoc enim non est demonstratum sed excogitatum ad salvandum
que in celestibus motibus apparent." Cf. Lerner, Monde des Spheres, (cit. n. 8), vol. 1, 313
n. 79.
43. For example, Prierias's association with Augustino Nifo (c. 1473-1545), who followed
Averroes on the nature of the heavens, may have extended to orchestrating the opposition to
Pietro Pomponazzi (1462-1524) in which Nifo played a leading role. See: Michael Tavuzzi,
Prierias: The Life and Work of Silvestro Mazzolini da Prierio 1456-1527 (Durham, N.C.:
Duke University Press, 1997) 97-104.
44. Iudocus Clichtoveus Neoportuensis, Introductorium astronomicum theorias co[r]porum
coelestium duobus libris complectens: adiecto commentario declaratum (Paris: H. Stephanus,
1517). Recommendation of Peurbach and Capuanus, 56R.
45. Calus Calonymus, Alpetragii arabi theorica planetarum nuperrime latinis mandata Uteris a
calo calonymo hebreo neapolitano, ubi nititur salvare apparentias in motibus Planetarum
absque eccentricis et epicyclis (Venice: L. A. Iunta, 1531). I have been unable to find any
biographical information about this author.
46. For the defects of these models and possible remedies see Bernard R. Goldstein, Al-Bitruji: On
the Principles of Astronomy: An Edition of the Arabic and Hebrew Versions with Translation,
Analysis and an Arabic-Hebrew-English Glossary, 2 vols. (New Haven: Yale University Press,
1971).
47. Giovanni Battista Amico, De motibus corporum coelestium iuxta principia peripatetica sine
eccentricis & epicyclis (Venice, 1536); Girolamo Fracastoro, Homocentrica, eiusdem, De
causis criticorum diebus, (Venice, 1538); see also Mario Di Bono, "Copernicus, Amico,
Fracastoro and Tusi's Device: Observations on the Use and Transmission of a Model,"
Journal for the History of Astronomy 26, 1995, 133-154; Miguel A. Granada and Dario
Tessicini, "Copernicus and Fracastoro: The Dedicatory Letters to Pope Paul III, the History of
Astronomy, and the Quest for Patronage," Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 36,
2005,431-476
48. Nicholas Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (Nuremberg: Petreius, 1543),
Preface, fol. iii V: "Alii na[m]que circulis homocentris solum, alii eccentris et epicyclis,
quibus tamen quaesita ad plenum non assequuntur. Nam qui homocentris confisi sunt, etsi
motus aliquos diversos ex eis componi posse demonstraverint, nihil tamen certi, quod nimirum
phaenomenis responderet, inde stauere potuerunt. Qui vero excogitaverunt eccentrica, etsi
magna ex parte apparentes motus, congruentibus per ea numeris absoluisse videantur:
plaeraque tamen interim admiserunt, quae primis principiis, de motus aequalitate, videntur
contravenire."
49. Barker, "Copernicus and the Critics of Ptolemy," (cit. n. 38).
50. Peter Barker and Bernard R. Goldstein, "Distance and Velocity in Kepler's Astronomy,"
Annals of Science 51, 1994, 59-73; Bernard R Goldstein and Giora Hon, "Kepler's Move from
2 The Reality of Peurbach's Orbs 3 1
Orbs to Orbits: Documenting a Revolutionary Scientific Concept," Perspectives on Science 13,
2005,74-110.
51. Swerdlow, "Pseudodoxia Copernicana," (cit. n. 5), 127-129.
52. Or not — for discussion see Hanne Andersen, Peter Barker, and Xiang Chen, The Cognitive
Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), Chapter 6.
53. Swerdlow, "The Derivation and First Draft of Copernicus's Planetary Theory" (cit. n. 5),
424; Noel M. Swerdlow and Otto Neugebauer, Mathematical Astronomy in Copernicus' De
Revolutionibus (New York: Springer, 1984), 294; Peter Barker, "Copernicus, the Orbs and the
Equant," Synthese 83, 1990, 317-323. This difficulty does not prevent Peurbach from attribut-
ing an equant-controlled motion to the eccentric orbs of the outer planets, e.g. Theoricae novae
(cit. n. 27), fol. a vi V.
54. This is actually the motivation for Copernicus's use of epicycles; they do not function to create
retrogressions as in Ptolemy's models. On the Islamic background to Copernicus's work, see
Saliba, History of Arabic Astronomy, 151-155 and 162-163, and now Islamic Science and
the Making of the European Renaissance (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007). For Venus and
Mercury, Copernicus uses a different model — a double eccentric — which produces the same
results (Swerdlow and Neugebauer, Mathematical Astronomy (cit. n. 53), 373, 410).
55. Copernicus eliminates circles that do not rotate at constant speed about their geometrical cen-
ters, but he does not quite eliminate the equant. An equant point can still be located in his
models (for a discussion see Otto Neugebauer, "On the Planetary Theory of Copernicus," on
89-103, esp. 92 ff., in Vistas in Astronomy, ed. Arthur Beer (Vol. 10, London: Pergamon
Press, 1968)) and is actually used in some calculations, e.g. Swerdlow and Neugebauer,
Mathematical Astronomy (cit. n. 53), 327-332, for the case of Saturn.
56. Olaf Pedersen, Early Physics and Astronomy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993),
267-277; Andersen, Barker and Chen, Cognitive Structure (cit. n. 52), 138-146.
57. Antonio Giovanni Magini, Novae coelestium orbium theoricae congruentes cum observation-
ibusN. Copernici (Venice: D. Zenarij, 1589).
58. For a more extensive discussion see Barker, "Hypotyposes" (cit. n. 11), 85-108, on 88-94 in
Nouveau Ciel Nouvelle Terre: La Revolution Copernicienne dans VAllemagne de la Reforme
(1530-1630), ed. Miguel A. Granada and Edouard Mehl (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2009).
59. Peter Barker, "The Lutheran Contribution to the Astronomical Revolution," on 31-62 in
Religious Values and the Rise of Science in Europe, ed. John Brooke and Ekmeleddin
Ihsanoglu (Istanbul: Research Centre for Islamic Art History and Culture (IRCICA),
2005).
60. Erasmus Reinhold, Theoricae novae planetarum (Wittenberg: Lufft, 1542); Erasmus
Reinhold, Theoricae novae planetarum . . . Recens aeditae & auctae nouis scholijs in Theoria
solis ab ipso autore (Wittenberg: Lufft, 1553).
61. Reinhold's new theorica first appeared anonymously: Hypotyposes orbium Coelestium, quas
appellant theoricas planetarum: congruentes cum Tabulis Alphonsinis & Copernici, seu etiam
tabulis Prutenicis. . .. (Strasbourg: Theodosius Rihelius, 1568). It subsequently appeared as:
Caspar Peucer, Hypotheses astronomicae, seu theoriae planetarum, ex Ptolemaei et aliorum
veterum doctrina ad observationes Nicolai Copernici, et canones motuum ab eo conditos
accommodatae. Opera et studio Casparis Peuceri inAcademia Wittebergensi. . .. (Wittenberg,
Iohannes Schwertel, 1571). For a discussion of all editions see Barker, "Hypotyposes"
(cit. n. 11).
62. On Melanchthon's importance in the reform of Lutheran education and especially his influ-
ence on the sciences see Sachiko Kusukawa, The Transformation of Natural Philosophy:
The Case of Philip Melanchthon (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995) and Dino
Bellucci, Science de la Nature et Reformation: La physique au service de la Reforme dans
V enseignement de Philippe Melanchthon (Rome: Edizioni Vivere In, 1998).
63. Philip Melanchthon, Initio, doctrina physicae, vol. 13: col. 244, in Corpus Reformatorum,
Philippi Melanchthonis opera, quae supersdunt omnia, ed. C. G. Bretschneider and H. E.
Bindsell, 28 vols. (Halle, Schwetschke and Son, 1834-1860; reprinted: New York, Johnson
32 P. Barker
Reprint, 1963): ". . . auditor, ut fabricationem tot orbium et epicycli sciat a Geometris excogi-
tatam esse, ut motuum leges et tempora utcunque ostendi possint, non quod tales sint machinae
in coelo, etsi aliquous esse orbes, consentaneum est."
64. Peter Barker, "Stoic Alternatives to Aristotelian Natural Philosophy: Pena, Rothmann and
Brahe," Revue d'histoire des sciences 61/2, 2008, 1-22; Bernard R. Goldstein and Peter
Barker, "The Role of Rothmann in the Dissolution of the Celestial Spheres," British Journal
for the History of Science 28, 1995, 385-403. Miguel A. Granada has discussed many of
the same figures and themes; his work should be taken into account in any more extensive
consideration of the period from Copernicus to Kepler. See in particular Sfere solide e cieloflu-
ido: Momenti del dibattito cosmologico nella seconda metd del Cinquecento. (Milan: Angelo
Guerini e Associati, 2002).
65. Ioannes Kepler, Prodromus dissertationvm cosmographicarvm, continens Mysterivm cos-
mographicarvm de admirabili proportione orbium coelestium (Tubingen: G. Gruppenbach,
1596; Frankfurt: G. Tampachius, 1621); Ioannes Kepler, Astronomia nova . . . seu physica
coelestis, tradita commentariis de motibvs stell Martis, ex observationibus . . . Tychonis Brahe
(Heidelberg: G. Voegelin, 1609); Peter Barker, "Constructing Copernicus," Perspectives on
Science 10, 2002, 208-227.
66. See also the Plate IV, which presents both the thickness of the orbs and the spaces between
them. The latter also makes it clear that the paths of the epicycles are eccentric. For the
denial of the orbs's corporeality, see Kepler, Mysterium cosmographicum (1621), 55, n. 1
to Chapter 14, 59; Chapter 16, 59, text to note 4, and Chapter 22, 84. For a positive statement
of their constitution, 61, n. 7 to Chapter 16.
67. Kepler, Astronomia nova: denial of solid orbs fol. (***) 3 R, and again, p. 8; argument against
epicycles, 8-9. On the concept of an orbit see Barker and Goldstein, "Distance and Velocity"
and Goldstein and Hon, "Orbs to Orbits" (both cit. n. 50). On the transition to ellipses see Peter
Barker and Bernard R. Goldstein, "Theological Foundations of Kepler's Astronomy," 88-113
in Science in Theistic Contexts: Cognitive Dimensions, ed. John Hedley Brooke, Margaret J.
Osier, and Jitse van der Meer, Osiris 16, 2001, 106-111.
68. James M. Lattis, Between Copernicus and Galileo: Christoph Clavius and the Collapse of
Ptolemaic Cosmology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 205-216.
69. Michel-Pierre Lerner, "The Heliocentric 'Heresy': From Suspicion to Condemnation," on
11-37 in The Church and Galileo, ed. Ernan McMullin (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of
Notre Dame Press, 2005).
70. Peter Barker and Bernard R. Goldstein, "Is Seventeenth Century Physics Indebted to the
Stoics?" Centaurus 27, 1984, 148-164.
71. Christophorus Clavius, In sphaera Ioannis de Sacro Bosco commentarius (Rome, 1570). On
Clavius's defense of the orbs, see Lattis, Between Copernicus and Galileo, 127-137.
72. In addition to Kepler see also: Conradus Aslacus, De natura caeli triplicis (Siegen, 1597);
Christianus Severinus Longomontanus, Astronomia Danica . . . cum appendice de asscititiis
coeli phcenomenis, nempe, stellis novis et cometis (Amsterdam: Guiljelmus I. Caesius, 1622).
73. Andersen, Barker and Chen, Cognitive Structure, (cit. n. 52), 117-129.
74. The reader may note that, throughout this paper, I have equated 'astronomer' with either
'author of an astronomy text' or 'university teacher of astronomy.' There may, of course,
be astronomers who do not fit either of these categories. But I suggest that they are a minority
in comparison to those who do, considered together with their students.
75. Note that Donahue's study, The Dissolution of the Celestial Spheres, 1595-1650 (cit. n. 8),
carries this period well into the seventeenth century.
76. I hope to treat all the issues raised in this paper at greater length in a projected book, tentatively
entitled On the Reality of the Celestial Orbs: The Substance of the Heavens and the Causes of
Planetary Motion from Peurbach to Kepler.
Chapter 3
Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas
in Spain Between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries: The Impact of Celestial Novelties
Victor Navarro Brotons
Jeronimo Munoz and the "Nova" of 1572
The star which became visible in 1572 in the constellation of Cassiopeia (identi-
fied by twentieth-century astronomers as a Type I supernova), and the works and
polemics to which it gave rise, marked an important stage in the abandonment
of Aristotelian and medieval cosmology and their replacement by the idea of the
infinite — or indefinite — universe of modern physics and astronomy.
The star suddenly became visible in November 1572, attracting the attention of
numerous astronomers, philosophers, learned men, and others. It was observed until
March 1574, a period of visibility that witnessed changes in color and brilliance.
More than 50 authors from all over Europe wrote works on the "nova," many of
which were published and even translated into different languages. 1 A significant
number of these works remained unpublished. Also, a large number of descriptions
and commentaries concerning the phenomenon circulated in the form of letters,
and some of these found their way into print; in this way, the supernova intensified
contact between European scientists, establishing new relations which permitted the
development of very interesting networks of communication among the different
authors.
The author most often cited in the historiography of science surrounding the
"nova" of 1572 is Tycho Brahe. Without a doubt his observations were the best
and most detailed, and they reached an admirable level of precision before the
invention of the telescope. Besides Tycho, some of the best observers of the
supernova were: Thomas Digges of Cambridge, the two Bohemians Thaddaeus
Hagecius and Ciprianus Leowitz, Michael Maestlin, Cornelius Gemma of Louvain,
Elias Camerarius of Frankfurt, Hannibal Raimundus of Verona, and the Spaniard
Jeronimo Munoz.
We have investigated the impact of the nova and other celestial novelties in the
context of a larger project on the history of astronomy and cosmography in Spain,
V. Navarro Brotons (13)
University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
e-mail: victor.navarro@uv.es
PJ. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27, 33
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6_3, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V 2011
34 V. Navarro Brotons
along with continuity and change in cosmological ideas from a comparative per-
spective. Like other parts of Europe, Spain was the scene of a series of cosmological
initiatives closely connected with astronomical activity. Yet the practice of astron-
omy in Spain was strongly conditioned by its links with cartography, geography,
and the art of navigation. Cosmographical activity under the Spanish monarchy
was largely a state monopoly. Cosmological debate associated with the practice
of astronomy was conditioned as well by the enormous weight of the Aristotelian
tradition and the ideological control of the expression of ideas. However, these con-
straints did not prevent the participation of some authors in Spain in cosmological
discussions taking place in Europe on celestial novelties such as the "nova" of 1572.
In this paper we aim to provide new data and considerations on these issues. 2
In Spain, the "nova" phenomenon was followed with suspense and written about
by several authors besides Munoz. Bartolome Barrientos, professor of Latin at
the University of Salamanca, published in 1574 a treatise on comets in which he
dedicated a chapter to the supernova. Barrientos followed Aristotelian doctrine on
comets and considered the new star within this category, as a meteorological phe-
nomenon. Another author, Juan Molina de la Fuente, published a small tract on the
nova in 1572. On examining the characteristics of the phenomenon, Molina doubted
that this "comet" was one of those described by Aristotle and suspected that it was
among the fixed stars.
The best study of the supernova of 1572 carried out in Spain, and one of the best
in all of Europe, was by Jeronimo Munoz, one of the most outstanding scientists of
sixteenth-century Spain. Munoz began his studies in Valencia, where he graduated
with a Bachelor of Arts, and continued his studies in different locations in Europe.
His own comments tell us that he was a student of Oronce Fine and Gemma Frisius. 3
He lived in Italy for some time and taught Hebrew at the University of Ancona.
Following his return to Valencia, he was appointed to the chair of Hebrew in 1563
and in 1564 he combined this chair with that of mathematics, a position he held until
1578, when he moved to the University of Salamanca.
Munoz became very well known in Spain as a mathematician, geographer,
Hellenist, and Hebraist. His fame elsewhere in Europe was due mainly to his study
of the supernova of 1572, disseminated in his Libro del nuevo cometa (Valencia,
1573), which he wrote in response to Philip IFs request for his opinion. This book
was translated into French by Guy Lefevre de la Boderie, a pupil of Guillaume
Postel who collaborated with the Polyglot Bible of Antwerp as a Hebraist. 4 Munoz
also became known because of the detailed descriptions of his results that were
praised by such prominent scholars as Cornelius Gemma and Thaddaeus Hagecius.
Munoz also corresponded with Hagecius and Bartholomaeus Reisacherus of Vienna,
another of the authors that dealt with the supernova. Hagecius furnished Tycho with
letters which he and Reisacherus had received from Munoz about the supernova,
and which Tycho then copied and used in his discussion of Munoz' s works in the
Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata (Prague, 1602).
Munoz went on to pinpoint with remarkable precision the position of the nova
in relation to the stars in Cassiopeia, as well as its equatorial and ecliptical coordi-
nates. He attempted to measure its parallax and determined that it was completely
3 Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas in Spain 35
imperceptible, indicating that the star was situated much further beyond the moon.
In short, Munoz concluded that the nova was a comet of a supralunary nature and
origin like most of those comets which endured a long time. Its appearance and
behavior did not agree with those described in the literature on the topic, however,
and it was rather similar to the fixed stars, to the extent that it was "more like a
star than a comet" in appearance. His reason for classifying this phenomenon as a
comet stemmed from his wish to interpret the origin of the nova in terms of natural
causes based on astrological tradition. Many authors who classified it as a star and
consequently accepted its supralunary origin nevertheless interpreted it as outside
the regular, ordered course of nature; like miracles, produced not by God's ordained
power {potentia del ordinata) but by God's absolute power (potentia del absoluta).
This was how it was interpreted by leading mathematicians and astronomers such
as Gemma, Digges, Tycho, and Hagecius. Intent on interpreting the formation and
appearance of the nova in terms of natural causes, Munoz was one of those best able
to draw out its cosmological implications, showing for example that the evidence
of its observed appearance and behavior could not be reconciled with the estab-
lished doctrine of the incorruptibility — that is, the changelessness — of the celestial
region. 6
Hence, in his work on the nova Munoz comes across as an astronomer who
felt perfectly entitled to extract conclusions of a cosmological nature from his
observations. He evidently did not feel bound by the scholastic norm of metaba-
sis forbidding the crossing of boundaries between one scientia and another (the
accusation from which Osiander had sought to defend Copernicus). Indeed, Munoz
proudly declared that God had granted him "unfettered and well disposed inge-
niousness suitable for understanding any subject," and that he had been forced by
natural reasons and geometric proofs to accept that corruption and fires did exist in
the heavens. 7
Studies of the preserved manuscripts of Munoz have enabled us to demonstrate
that when he observed the supernova he already had certain well defined ideas on
cosmology that were patently anti- Aristotelian in important respects and similar to
the doctrines of the Stoic tradition. These manuscripts, including statements made
by his students, also show that Munoz discussed these cosmological matters at the
Universities of Valencia and Salamanca.
The most comprehensive exposition of Munoz 's cosmological ideas is to be
found in his Commentaries on the Second Book of Pliny's Natural History.^ In
a word, Munoz held that the entire universe, from the earth located at its center to
its limits, was full of air, which impregnated all things in the world and served as a
link between them. Munoz consequently rejected the existence of the sphere of fire
thought to separate the sublunary and celestial regions. He also rejected any other
abrupt discontinuity in the heavens that celestial orbs or spheres would constitute.
According to Munoz, the cosmos had no exact dimensions but was finite and ended
where the air, after becoming increasingly rarer, could become no thinner. The outer
limit had no defined shape and there lay possibly beyond it a huge nothingness. The
planets were propelled by their own force or nature through the cosmic air like fish
through the sea or birds through the air around the earth and were not dragged by
36 V. Navarro Brotons
orbs. The stars moved in the same fashion, not dragged along, embedded in any
sphere. The heavens were corruptible and the composition of the planets and stars
contained elements and qualities similar to those found on earth, albeit in a purer
form. Comets were formed in the heavens and were therefore celestial bodies.
Munoz's Commentaries adhered strictly to the canons of humanism. They were
an attempt to interpret Pliny's text by analyzing his sources and discussing his cor-
rect and mistaken premises whilst setting forth Munoz's own ideas. In the usual
humanist fashion, Muiioz brought into play a very wide range of quotations by
classical authors, including poets, historians, geographers, mathematicians, and
philosophers. However, this was not merely a literary or theoretical device; it also
served to place philosophical assertions on the same level of opinion, with their
worth depending on the validity of their arguments. In addition, and despite the fact
that Munoz insisted on the distinction between the truths of faith and the truths of
reason, he did not fail to point out that the cosmology he proposed was more in line
with Christian theology, and that in general reason must be compatible with faith.
Mention must be made in this respect of his criticism of Aristotle, Theophrastus,
and other authors who claimed that the world was eternal, a criticism which Munoz
made from the standpoint of the "true faith," but which was at the same time in
keeping with his belief that the cosmos was surrounded by a vacuum because it had
to burn: "since those things which burn do turn into a more subtle substance, they
must occupy a larger space; consequently, the place of the whole world in flames
shall therefore be larger." 9
One of the main ideas of the cosmology put forward by Munoz is that of cos-
mic air, or in the words of Pliny, "the spirit known by both Greek authors and
our own by the same term, "air," a vital something able to penetrate everything
and which is in everything". 10 In his commentary on Pliny's text, Munoz quotes
the famous verses by Virgil, "since the creation of the world, a single, inner spirit
has nourished the heavens, the Earth and the watery plains and the luminous globe
of the Moon and the titanic stars." 11 Along with Virgil, and also with regard to
the air, he quotes two other poets of Stoic influence, the famous authors of didac-
tic poems on astronomy and astrology, Aratus and Manilius. The author to whom
Munoz pays the greatest attention, however, is Hippocrates, whose statements allow
him to claim that his opinion of the substance of the heavens "is not new but very
ancient, albeit somewhat obscured by Aristotelian commentaries." 12 Both here and
elsewhere, Munoz resorts to the credentials of truth and genuineness stemming
from the most ancient or "original" things: another topic dear to humanists and
related to the cyclical conception of the history of human culture. In a different
context, however, Munoz points out the progressive nature of knowledge, 13 and in
a letter to his friend Reisacherus he argues that in matters that can be tested no
authority should be taken on trust, not even Ptolemy, Alfonso, Regiomontanus, or
Copernicus. 14
In addition, Munoz defends astrology from its detractors. His cosmological ideas
are closely linked to his astrological convictions, according to which the stars influ-
ence the earth by their light, heat, and hidden processes. The air, which saturates the
entire universe, transmits these influences.
3 Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas in Spain 37
Since the planets are not dragged by spheres but move freely though the
air, Munoz accepts as the only plausible explanation for their two basic visible
movements — the one from East to West that they all have in common and the
one each has from West to East — is that in reality they have only one movement,
from East to West. This movement should be rather slower than that of the fixed
stars. The closer the planet is to the earth, the more slowly it moves, since the air
becomes thicker in the same proportion and consequently offers more resistance.
Furthermore, the movement of the stars is not regular: they follow irregular paths
with variable axes referred to by Munoz as spirae or spirals. 15
These commentaries on Pliny are dated 1568, apparently the date when Munoz
presented them at the University of Valencia in extraordinary lessons given by some
of the most outstanding professors, to which public figures resident in or visiting
the city were invited. 16 A holograph of the commentaries is kept at the University
of Copenhagen, and the manuscript was apparently owned by Jens Rosenskrantz, the
grandson of Tycho's niece, Sophie Brahe. In the foreword, in typical humanist style
designed for the captatio benevolentia of the listeners, Munoz introduces himself as
a theologian and teacher of the Old Testament and warns that his mission is firstly
to demonstrate "which of Pliny's ideas go against the Christian religion and which
others are in line with it;" 17 but, also, at different points in the text, in order to settle
certain questions on the form and nature of the heavens or on the nature of comets,
Munoz declares the certainty of mathematics as opposed to the merely probable
reasons offered by philosophers. 18 In this way, Munoz makes skillful use of his dual
condition of theologian and mathematician-astronomer to legitimate his criticism
of Aristotelian cosmology and to set forth his own alternative ideas.
Munoz 's most extensive and ambitious work on astronomy was his translation of
and commentaries on Theon of Alexandrias' Commentaries on Ptolemy's Almagest.
Munoz began this work in Valencia in about 1568 and finished it in Salamanca
in 1582, although he continued to add notes and data to his comments until at least
1589. 19 Here, in his comments and comprehensive additions to Theon's text, Munoz
reviewed several aspects of Ptolemaic astronomy, comparing them with the obser-
vations, techniques, and calculations of other classic, medieval, and Renaissance
astronomers, including Copernicus, whom he quoted often. He also provided his
own tables and numerous observations made in Valencia and Salamanca, and
described in detail a variety of observational instruments for astronomy and their
respective advantages. Like its model, Ptolemy's Almagest, this work was to a large
extent a highly technical treatise on mathematical astronomy and Munoz took great
pains to clarify the most difficult sections for the sake of beginners (ad tirones), as he
himself pointed out. However, he also included broadly based discussions of cosmo-
logical matters, ranging from those concerning the position of the earth in the world,
with a discussion of the heliocentric theory (which Munoz attempted to refute), to
the nature of comets. On the latter subject, he set forth certain ideas similar to those
in his Commentaries on Pliny. As far as comets were concerned, here Munoz con-
sidered all of them without exception to be heavenly bodies that appeared in the
heavens due to the concentration of planetary rays, referring to his treatise on the
nova. As for the heavens, he stated that they possessed the four primary qualities,
38 V. Navarro Brotons
hot, cold, wet and dry, and also that their thinness and rarity made the hypotheses
of heavenly orbs invented by astronomers and philosophers impossible. As Mufioz
asked, how could such orbs continue to exist over time? Instead, he stated that the
planets moved on account of the force supplied by their own nature, making their
way across the sky like fish through the sea or birds in the air. They could not have
two contrary motions, one from West to East as a result of their own motion and one
from East to West in accord with the motion of the universe, but they could only
be assigned a single motion. Munoz went on to describe planetary motion again on
the basis of the theory of delay (that is, of the motions of the planets in comparison
to that of the fixed stars) and affirmed, rather unconvincingly, that this theory was
equivalent to the Ptolemaic models he used in his analysis of astronomy in the rest
of the book. 20
In a letter written to Reisacherus, a doctor at the Imperial Hospital and mathemat-
ics professor at the University of Vienna, Munoz told of his book on the supernova:
"I have reserved many other things, besides those I have divulged in this little book,
because in return for my efforts not only have I not been thanked, but on the contrary
I have been pelted with insults by many theologians, philosophers, and courtiers of
King Philip [...]. " 21
Among the Spanish authors who wrote about the nova during the years following
its appearance was Francisco Valles, personal physician to Philip II and perhaps the
most outstanding Spanish medical figure of the time. (Valles 's books were re-edited
72 times in different countries, apart from 16 times in Spain.) Apart from his medical
works, Valles published various works on natural philosophy that were mainly con-
cerned with commentaries on Aristotle. 22 Along these lines, he authored De iis quae
scripta suntphysice in libris sacris, sive sacra Philosophia (Turin, 1587). As the title
suggests, Valles tries to demonstrate, by means of an exegesis of various scriptural
passages, that these passages contain and express very clearly the true representation
of the world, which coincide to a large extent with Aristotelian natural philosophy,
just as Valles understands it. In the course of a commentary on the second chapter
of Ecclesiastes, he mentions the "nova" of 1572 and criticizes the "astrologers" who
maintain that its appearance signals a new creation. He says that some go even so far
as to suggest that it was a comet produced in the heavens themselves, even though
the heavens, in reality, were incapable of alteration. 23 Nevertheless, Valles does not
accept the sphere of fire — he says that fire does not prefer any place — nor does he
allow for the Aristotelian notion of the ether as quintessence. Rather, he consid-
ers that the heavens are composed of the four elements, though these are celestial
and without active qualities. Consequently, the heavens cannot be corrupted natu-
rally, even if they are soluble and changeable compounds. 24 To sum up, what Valles
clearly appears to reject is the generation of new entities in the heavens: this would
imply that the creation of the world had been incomplete. 25 Valles 's interpretation
of the supernova is similar to that of Reisacherus. The Spanish physician thinks
that the star had been in the same place since the Creation and had not been seen
because of its small magnitude. However, thanks to some change in the surrounding
medium and due to the fact that all parts of the heavens are not equally dense, it had
been able to grow until it appeared as a star of first magnitude. This interpretation
3 Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas in Spain 39
was commented upon by Tycho in the Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata. In
addition to classifying Valles's interpretation as physically absurd, Tycho criticizes
it for denying the absolute and extraordinary power of God, who can miraculously
create new bodies in the heavens. 26
Among the philosophers who took up the challenge of the "nova," Diego de
Zuniga must be mentioned for his involvement in the condemnation of heliocen-
trism by the Roman Inquisition in 1616, whereby his book, In Job Commentaria
(Toledo, 1584), was expurgated along with Copernicus's De revolutionibus. In his
book, Zuniga effectively tried to prove that Copernicus's theory was not contrary to
the Scriptures. In a later text entitled Philosophia prima pars (Toledo, 1596), Zuniga.
commented on the various themes of traditional cosmology and revised his ideas on
Copernicus's theory, reaching the conclusion that the movement of the earth was
impossible, "in accordance with what was said by Aristotle and other most expert
astronomers and philosophers." 27 Several allusions to the "nova" of 1572 appear in
this work, in the course of discussion of stars and comets. Zuniga says that it was
observed in several places in Spain, France, Belgium, Austria, and Italy, and adds
that the astronomers had not found any discernible parallax in their determination.
He recognizes that if it were a comet formed in the heavens, its appearance would
have constituted a strong argument against the solidity of the spheres and the incor-
ruptibility of the skies, but he adds that astrologers and physicists denied that it was
a comet: "Since they claim that it [was] a celestial body, indeed, a new star, rather
than a comet, I could [claim] that it was produced by a force greater than nature." 28
Zuniga agreed with those authors that believed it was a star whose appearance and
disappearance was not a natural event, but a miracle, supernatural and beyond man's
comprehension. With this emphasis on potentia del absoluta, Zuniga avoided the
serious cosmological implications of the phenomenon.
Munoz 's Students and the "Nova" of 1604
Due to his level of prestige and despite his criticism of Aristotle, Munoz was offered
in 1578 the mathematics and Hebrew chairs at the University of Salamanca, with
a salary ten times greater than in Valencia. Munoz stayed in Salamanca until his
death in 1592. His students, who occupied the mathematics and astronomy chairs
in Salamanca and Alcala, carried on his teachings. 29 One of the most loyal of his
followers was Diego Perez de Mesa, professor of mathematics and astronomy at the
University of Alcala from 1586 and responsible for the same subjects in Seville,
in a chair created by the City Council (Consejo Municipal) at the request of the
Parliament (Cortes) in Madrid, in collaboration with the House of Trade (Casa de
la Contratacion) in Seville (along with the University of Navigators (Universidad
de Mare antes)). 30
In his Comentarios de Sphera (1596), written for the classes he gave in Seville,
Perez de Mesa defines the purpose of cosmography and indicates that this subject
is a "science almost mixed with philosophy and therefore resolves many wonder-
ful questions of philosophy," such as whether or not there is a sphere of fire in the
40 V. Navarro Brotons
concave surface of the (sphere of the) moon, whether it is possible that the earth
moves, whether the stars move "by themselves or together with spheres, being fixed
upon them," and whether the substance of the sky is quintaessential and incorrupt-
ible. Evidently, like Munoz, Perez de Mesa considers that astronomers are perfectly
entitled to make statements about natural philosophy, and he devotes the first part
of his commentary to a discussion of cosmological themes. He denies that there is a
sphere of fire. He also denies the existence of and necessity for celestial spheres,
mentioning the works of Munoz and the preface of Jean Pena to his book on
Perspective? 1 Against the doctrine of the incorruptibility of heavens, Perez de Mesa
mentions the observations and conclusions of Munoz on the supernova of 1572. He
devotes an entire chapter to the motion of the earth, although he only refers to its
motion of rotation. For Perez de Mesa, the answer to this question could not be one
of absolute certainty, but rather of possibility. 32
Following Munoz 's death, the teaching of mathematics and astronomy was car-
ried out by his two students, Gabriel Serrano and Antonio Nunez Zamora. The
latter occupied the chair from 1598 to 1612. In 1610, Nunez Zamora published
in Salamanca a treatise on comets, Liber de cometis, in quo demonstratur Cometam
anni 1604 fuisse infirmamento. Here, Nunez Zamora paid special attention to the
supernova of 1604. He must have written the book around 1605, the year of the
first censure and the year which appears at the bottom of the first book of the work.
The treatise contains three books in Latin and one in Spanish. The first book con-
cerns the nature of comets, their material and their form. Nunez Zamora agrees that
they are formed by burning exhalations and refers to the sulfur of the alchemists
and Paracelsus. Their cause is related to planetary conjunctions, although Nunez
Zamora also considers the moon's strength important. As for their final cause, apart
from their character as signs, comets contribute to the conservation of the universe
and purge the earth of poisonous exhalations.
The second book shows that comets can be created in the sky, an opinion, Nunez
Zamora states, which has caused much controversy among writers. The followers
of Aristotle in particular have accused astronomers of being hasty when suggest-
ing that something can be created or destroyed again in the heavens. Against these
criticisms, Nunez Zamora defends the demonstrative character of the mathematical
disciplines and the certainty with which mathematicians establish their conclusions.
His demonstration of the celestial nature of comets is naturally based on the absence
of parallax.
Regarding this last point, Nunez Zamora refers to the supernova of 1572 and
the observations and conclusions of his teacher Jeronimo Munoz. He also mentions
Christoph Clavius. Nunez Zamora explains in detail the idea of parallax of height,
latitude, and longitude and describes his observations of the position of the new star
on various days and at different heights on the horizon. Using these observations, he
calculates the star's coordinates, which he also determines according to the distance
of the nova to two well known stars. He obtains the same results with both methods,
which provides one proof of a lack of parallax.
In conclusion, Nunez Zamora claims that comets can be created in the heavens,
which are corruptible and can contain foreign substances. The matter of the heavens,
3 Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas in Spain 41
then, is of the same nature as that of the earth. As for the "novas" of 1572 and 1604,
Nunez Zamora situates both of them in the sphere of the fixed stars. He says that
they are called comets because there has to be a name for phenomena which are
created in the heavens by similar processes and causes. Nevertheless, one should
note that although Nunez Zamora agrees with his teacher Jeronimo Munoz on the
ideas of comets and "novas" and the corruptibility of the heavens, he does so with
much more caution. Therefore, concerning the matter of celestial bodies, he states
that they are neither hard nor dense, but if they were hard they would possess pores.
Nunez Zamora also applies scholastic distinctions between matter and form in order
to attenuate his assertions on the corruptibility of the heavens. 33
The Cosmographers
In the period of Spanish history that concerns us here, an important part of astro-
nomical activity was developed in connection with geography, cartography, and the
art of navigation by pilots and cosmographers linked to the House of Trade (Casa
de la Contrataciori) or the Council of the Indies {Consejo de Indias). There is no
doubt that this activity was fundamentally practical, oriented towards basic knowl-
edge, techniques, and instruments for determining coordinates and drawing up the
most suitable maps according to the different needs or uses. Nevertheless, the cos-
mographers, some of whom were university trained, also had theoretical ambitions
that went beyond drawing up maps, tables, and rules. Similarly, the astronomers of
the academic world, such as Munoz and Perez de Mesa, were interested in cosmog-
raphy and taught cartography and the art of navigation in their classes. They also
participated in cosmography meetings to discuss certain questions. All this is to say
that there was circulation and interaction among the different fields of activity and
the exchange of knowledge. Rodrigo Zamorano, for example, was a cosmographer
and prominent personality in the Casa de la Contratacion whose Compendio de arte
de navegar (Seville, 1586) was published widely. Zamorano also published a partial
translation of Euclid's Elements (Seville, 1576) and a Cronologia y repertorio de la
razon de los tiempos (Seville, 1585). In the latter work, Zamorano demonstrated his
acquaintance with Copernicus 's work in technical matters. He dealt also with the
nature of comets, accepting that some of them were created in the heavens, and he
made special mention of the nova of 1572, which he considered a comet.
Andres Garcia Cespedes, a distinguished member of the Consejo de Indias,
carried out with his collaborators a series of astronomical observations with new
instruments specially designed to calculate the new parameters of the eccentric of
the sun. Garcia de Cespedes proposed the creation of an astronomical observatory in
El Escorial, one of the objectives being the drawing up of new astronomical tables.
Part of the task of drawing up new tables was taken up by Suarez de Arguello. A
lawyer by profession, Francisco Suarez de Arguello was an amateur astronomer who
produced a book of Epheme rides (Madrid, 1608) based on various authors, includ-
ing the astronomy professor in Salamanca (Munoz or some of his students), Garcia
de Cespedes, Andres de Leon, Copernicus, and Tycho. 34
42 V. Navarro Brotons
In addition to serving as Principal Cosmographer of the Indies, Garcia de
Cespedes was responsible for the chair at the Academy of Mathematics in Madrid,
which was founded by Philip II at the request of Juan de Herrera. The curricu-
lum of this chair was similar to those established in astronomy and mathematics
in Salamanca, and the content of the classes must have been similar, though with
more emphasis in the Academy on matters related to cosmography. 35 The succes-
sor to Garcia de Cespedes in the Academy and in the position of Cosmographer
major was Juan Cedillo Diaz. Born in Madrid in 1560, Cedillo apparently studied at
the University of Salamanca, where he must have attended Muiioz's classes. Apart
from his various tasks as cosmographer and teacher, Cedillo carried on the work
initiated by former professors of the Academy by translating into Spanish relevant
works in astronomy and mathematics. 36 Among the works that Cedillo translated
into Spanish was Copernicus 's De revolutionibus, which he managed to translate
up until Chapter 25 of Book 3. This is therefore the first Spanish translation of
Copernicus 's great work. Cedillo entitled his translation Idea astronomica de la
fabrica del mundo y movimiento de los cuerpos celestiales {Astronomical Idea on
the Construction of the World and Movement of the Celestial Bodies)? 1
In the introduction to his translation, Cedillo presents some cosmological ideas
which do not entirely coincide with those of Copernicus. Although he situates the
sun at the center of the cosmos, Cedillo suggests that the planets move through the
cosmic air like fish in water, just as Jeronimo Munoz (probably his professor of
astronomy) had affirmed. Cedillo also states very clearly that the epicycles and the
eccentrics are not spheres but circles moved by "intelligences" situated at the center
of the eccentrics, or at the center of the same planet, in the epicycles.
Among Cedillo's manuscripts, there is a fragment of a treatise on the Sphaera,
expressed in traditional form, with the earth at the center, the four elements, the
primum mobile and the firmament, as is common for this kind of treatise, probably
intended to introduce Cedillo's students to such themes. 38 There is also a text ded-
icated to the "aspects," in which the influence of Tycho, whom Cedillo follows on
the planetary distances, is patent. In this work, Cedillo appears to follow a Capellian
system: Mercury and Venus turn around the Sun and the other planets around the
Earth, which is situated at the center of the world. 39 Finally, there is a manuscript
on "the theories of the planets," which is a translation of the "theories" (Theoricae)
of Antonio Magini. 40
Cedillo's notes on astronomical observations have also been preserved. They
include information on the comet of 1618, which was followed closely in Spain by
several authors. In Italy, the comet was the cause of controversy, between Galileo
and Orazio Grassi, from which II Saggiatore emerged. There is a discussion in a
manuscript written by a pupil of Cedillo, for example, on the theory of the formation
of comets, the character of signs, and the causes of certain events. Cedillo's pupil
tells us that his teacher accepted that comets could be celestial, formed by planetary
exhalations, or sublunar, formed by terrestrial exhalations. 41 Included among the
authors that accompany Cedillo and his observations of the comet of 1618 are the
"doctor" Juan Bautista Velez and the procurador (the attorney or procurator) Suarez
de Arguello, whom we have mentioned above.
3 Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas in Spain 43
Kepler in Spain
The revision of traditional astronomy and cosmology that began in Spain with
Jeronimo Munoz continued into the seventeenth century. New phenomena such
as the "nova" of 1604 and observational and theoretical advances represented by
the works of Tycho, Kepler, and Galileo stimulated some Spanish authors whom
we situate in this tradition to check the standard models. Of particular interest
is the work of Juan Velez, who authored a voluminous manuscript of 378 folios
with a translation, notes, and commentary on the first six books of Ptolemy's
Almagest. 42
Velez, about whom we know very little, was a lawyer and amateur astronomer
who had apparently studied with the Jesuits at the Colegio Imperial in Madrid. 43
He was very likely the same "doctor Juan Bautista Velez" mentioned by Cedillo.
His work on Ptolemy's Almagest must have been started around 1621. By 1631,
it must have been well advanced, although Velez continued to add annotations, at
least until 1635. Velez intended to dedicate the work to Philip IV He added to his
excellent translation of the Almagest ample and varied expositions of data, calcula-
tional techniques, models, and theories proposed by Arab astronomers (al-Battani,
al-Farghani, Thabit Ibn Qurra, etc.), medieval Christians (mainly Alfonsine astron-
omy), Renaissance scholars (Regiomontanus, Georg von Peurbach, Copernicus,
Pedro Nunez, Erasmus Reinhold and the Prutenic Tables, Maestlin, Clavius, Magini,
etc.), and late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century authors (Tycho, above all,
but also Christen S0rensen Longomontanus, Kepler, Philip Lansberg, and Spaniards
such as Garcia de Cespedes). In his commentary on Book 1 of the Almagest, Velez
included an extended discourse on the movement of the Earth, in which he described
in detail the usual arguments, for and against, that appeared in the literature on this
theme. The arguments could be variously categorized as astronomical-cosmological,
physical, and biblical. 44
What is notable about Velez is the clarity and rigor with which he explains
the various movements attributed by Copernicus to the Earth: the diurnal rota-
tion, the heliocentric path, and the movements of the terrestrial axis introduced by
Copernicus to explain the parallelism of the axis of terrestrial rotation and the pre-
cession of the equinoxes, its supposed irregularity, and the variation in the obliquity
of the ecliptic. In addition, Velez describes the advantages of Copernicus 's system
over that of Ptolemy. And to conclude after pondering the different arguments, Velez
makes it clear that the only decisive argument against the movement of the earth
comes from "the dogmas of our sacred religion." With respect to this, he reproduces
the decree of the Roman Catholic Inquisition condemning the heliocentric theory. 45
The author for whom Velez shows the greatest admiration is without a doubt
Tycho, whose work he knows very well. Consequently, all the data prior to Tycho
concerning the precession of the equinoxes, the obliquity of the ecliptic, and the
models of the sun and moon are revised in the light of the information assembled
by the Danish astronomer. As for cosmological matters, Velez agrees with Tycho
in denying the existence of the celestial spheres and considers celestial matter to
be fluid and "penetrable." In support of his claim, he summons the observations
44 V. Navarro Brotons
of comets and other astronomical phenomena. 46 Velez also discusses the phases
of Venus and the satellites of Jupiter, although he does not mention Galileo, their
discoverer. 47
This work and that of the Jesuit Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, entitled Filosofia
renovada de los cielos (Revised Philosophy of the Heavens, Madrid, 1630), offer
the first known examples of references to Kepler's ideas and work in Spanish
literature. 48 Throughout his work, Velez quotes the Rudolphine Tables (Ulm, 1627),
the Epitome astronomiae copernicanae (Linz, 1618-1620), Ad Vitellionem par-
alipomena (the Astronomiae pars optica, Frankfurt, 1604), the Astronomia nova
(Prague, 1609), and Kepler's treatise on the comets of 1607 and 1618, De cometis
(Augsburg, 1619). Velez also comments on some of Kepler's astronomical and cos-
mological ideas. We therefore find various citations and commentaries related to
Keplerian planetary dynamics, the elliptical paths of the planets, the location of
comets, and atmospheric refraction. Since the preserved manuscript does not include
any books of the Almagest dedicated to the planets, Velez does not go into the tech-
nical details of planetary motion. He mentions Kepler concerning the distances of
stars from the earth, demonstrating in detail Kepler's arguments and calculations in
the Epitome. For Velez, the distance from the fixed stars to the earth is impossi-
ble to calculate, though it is possible that each star is as big and bright as the Sun.
In addition, the fixed stars are surrounded by the same sort of satellites that rotate
around Jupiter. Velez continually cautions that these are merely speculations derived
from Copernican theory, however, which is contrary to "the dogmas of our sacred
religion." 49 Nevertheless, he defends similar ideas in different parts of his book.
Although Velez quotes Kepler, whose works feature in the list of books banned
in Spain, he makes no reference to Galileo, not even when he refers to the tele-
scopic observations of Jupiter's satellites and Venus's phases. This is rather strange,
considering that Galileo had carried out negotiations with the Spanish government
in 1612 concerning the procedure he had established for determining geographical
longitude. These negotiations were renewed in 1616, 1620, and at the end of the
1620s, when Galileo sent a telescope to Philip IV 50 It appears that Galileo turned
out to be a more dangerous person than Kepler. We therefore find no mention of
Galileo in the book Uso de los antojos (Use of the Spectacles), published in Seville
in 1623, concerning sight correction through the use of lenses. This book contains
a dialogue about telescopic observations of the Moon, paraphrasing the Sidereus
Nuncius without ever mentioning the author. 51
Conclusion
Alexander Koyre characterized the Scientific Revolution by the transformation of
the closed and hierarchic world of Aristotle and the Middle Ages to the indefinite or
infinite universe of modern physics and cosmology. This change was a long process
in which a series of elements or factors intervened. Among those factors we suggest
the relevance that astronomy acquired in the Renaissance in relation to astrology,
geography, and the art of navigation. One must also consider the renewed interest in
ancient scientific and philosophical culture, which favored doctrinal pluralism. The
3 Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas in Spain 45
literal interpretation of the Bible played another important part. All this, together
with various other factors, provided a new conceptual framework in which astro-
nomical phenomena such as comets and "novas" acquired enormous cosmological
significance.
Like other parts of Europe at the turn of the seventeenth century, Spain was the
scene of a series of cosmological initiatives closely connected with astronomical
activity. In the sixteenth century, the most outstanding figure was Jeronimo Munoz,
who defended cosmological ideas that were anti- Aristotelian in important respects
and related to the Stoic tradition. Munoz's ideas were reinforced by his observa-
tions of the supernova of 1572. These were adopted by his students, who occupied
chairs in mathematics and astronomy in Salamanca, Alcala, and Seville, and who
continued to interpret comets and "novas" in a way that recalled the claims of their
mentor. At the same time, Munoz's cosmological ideas were criticized by some out-
standing philosophers who were followers of the Aristotelian- scholastic tradition, a
tradition that, nevertheless, tried to appropriate the new challenges without changing
its principal foundations. The influence of Munoz also extended to the cosmogra-
phers of the Council of the Indies and of the Academy of Mathematics in Madrid.
It can be said, then, that there was a continuous tradition inaugurated by Jeronimo
Munoz.
In the seventeenth century, new phenomena such as the "nova" of 1604 and
observational and theoretical advances represented by the works of Tycho, Kepler,
and Galileo stimulated some Spanish authors whom we situate in this tradition
to check the standard models. Thus the Cosmographer major Juan Cedillo Diaz
took up the task of translating and commenting Copernicus and Galileo, and Juan
Velez discussed the various novelties and advances in astronomy, without avoiding
cosmological issues, in the context of a commented translation of the Almagest.
Among the authors quoted by Velez were two Jesuits, Juan Eusebio Nieremberg
and Hugo Sempilius, both associated with the Colegio Imperial in Madrid and to
the Reales Estudios established there around 1625. For these studies, chairs were
founded in natural philosophy, natural history, military arts, and two divisions or
levels of mathematics, one of them devoted to "spheres, astrology, astronomy, the
astrolabe, perspective, and forecast." The study of the papers and published works
of Nieremberg, Sempilius, and the teachers of mathematics and astronomy at the
Reales Estudios, Claude Richard and Jean Charles della Faille, show that they
closely followed the progress of astronomy and its cosmological implications, with
the necessary caution that their position as Jesuits required on matters regarding the
movement of the Earth. 52
Acknowledgements This work has been partially financed by a grant from the Spanish Ministry
of Education and Science, HUM 2006-1301 1-(02-01). I thank Patrick Boner for his excellent work
as editor.
Notes
1. I have an inventory of 66 publications by 45 authors and 3 anonymous works prior to
1577. The largest study to date on works on the nova is Michael Weichenchan, "Ergo
46 V. Navarro Brotons
perit coelum. . . " Die supernova des Jahres 1572 und die Uberwindung der aristotelischen
Kosmologie (Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner, 2004). See below for other works on the star.
2. On my previous works on these topics, see below. For a general discussion of Spain and the
Scientific Revolution, see Beyond the Black Legend: Spain and the Scientific Revolution, ed.
Victor Navarro Brotons and William Eamon (Valencia: Instituto de Historia de la Ciencia y
Documentacion Lopez Pinero, 2007).
3. In his introductory treatise on astronomy and geography, Astrologicarum et geographicarum
institutionum libri sex (copy in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ms. VL 6.997), Munoz
refers to Gemma Frisius as "institutor noster" (54v) and to Fine as "preceptor noster" (68 v).
An edition and Spanish translation of this manuscript, in Jeronimo Munoz: Introduccion a la
astronomia y la geografia, Victor Navarro Brotons, ed., trans, by V Navarro, A. Pastor, E.
Pastor, V Salavert (Valencia, Consell Valencia de Cultura, 2003). On Munoz's manuscripts,
see Victor Navarro Brotons and Enrique Rodriguez Galdeano, Matemdticas, cosmologia y
humanismo en la Espana del sigh XVI: Los Comentarios al segundo libro de la historia natural
de Plinio de Jeronimo Munoz (Valencia: Instituto de Estudios Documentales e Historicos sobre
la Ciencia, 1998).
4. Jeronimo Munoz, Traicte du nouveau comete (Paris, Martin le Jeune, 1574). On Lefevre
de la Boderie, see Francois Secret, L'Esoterisme de Guy Le Fevre de la Boderie (Geneva:
Droz, 1960). On the relationship between Lefevre and Postel and his contribution to the
Polyglot Bible of Antwerp, see Ben Rekers, Arias Montano (London: The Warburg Institute,
1972).
5. For Cornelius Gemma's discussion of Munoz's study of the nova, see Cornelius Gemma,
De naturae divinis characterismis; seu raris et admirandis spectaculis in universo, libri II
(Antwerp, 1575), 2:261-214. Munoz's correspondence with Hagecius and Reisacherus is
housed in the Oesterreichische National Bibliothek, Cod. 10.868, no. 66, and Cod. 10.689,
no. 41, fols. lr-6v. J.L.E. Dreyer published these letters in TBOO, 7:395-403. Jeronimo
Munoz, Libro del nuevo cometa (Valencia: Pedro de Huete, 1573). Littera ad Bartholomaeum
Reisacherum (1574). Summa del Prognostico del Cometa (Valencia: Juan Navarro, 1578).
Introduction ("The Astronomical Work of Jeronimo Munoz"), Appendices, and Anthology
by Victor Navarro Brotons (Valencia: Hispaniae Scientia, 1992), includes a transcription
and translation into Spanish and English accompanied by a facsimile edition of the letter to
Reisacherus, according to the copy of Cod. 10.689 mentioned earlier. This copy was apparently
made by Tycho; see Navarro, Rodriguez, Matemdticas, cosmologia y humamismo, 207-208.
6. See Navarro Brotons, "The Astronomical Work of Jeronimo Munoz," 11-111; see also A.
Ingegno, Cosmologia e filosofia nel pensiero di Giordano Bruno (Florence: La Nuova Italia
Editrice, 1978), 1 ff.; Michel-Pierre Lerner, Le monde des spheres, 2 vols. (Paris: Les Belles
Lettres, 1996-1997), 2:21 ff.; and Miguel Angel Granada, "Calculos cronologicos, novedades
cosmologicas y expectativas escatologicas en la Europa del siglo XVI," Rinascimento 37,
1998, 357-435. On the works and opinions of various authors from the Protestant region
regarding the nova, see Charlotte Methuen, Kepler's Tubingen: Stimulus to a Theological
Mathematics (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1997), and ibid., "'This Comet or New Star:' Theology and
the Interpretation of the Nova of 1572," Perspectives on Science 5, 1999, 499-5 16. In the latter
work, Methuen points out that providentia specialis and providentia generalis would be a more
suitable way of characterising these claims, so that "the essential difference between the events
of special providence and those of general providence could be used to legitimate observations
which contradicted accepted physics. The decision that the underlying explanatory system
must be revised thus required a theological shift as well as contradiction by observation."
As an example, Philip Apianus accepted that comets could be heavenly bodies, and therefore
"he needs to invoke special providence only when explaining why the nova appears at this
particular time," since, according to Apianus, "the comet or star has been created as a warning
by Almighty God." See also Weichenhan, Ergo perit coleum.
7. Munoz, Libro del nuevo cometa, A3r.
3 Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas in Spain 47
8. The holograph manuscript is housed at the Arnamagnaeanske Institute, Copenhagen, AM
8812 4°, fols. 1-47. It has been published and translated into Spanish in Navarro, Rodriguez,
Matemdticas, cosmologia y humanismo.
9. According to St. Peter, the Stoics, Heraclitus, and Hippasus Metapontimus, quoted by Munoz
in relation to the world on fire in Commentaria Plinii, 292, in Navarro and Rodriguez,
Matemdticas, cosmologia y humanismo.
10. Pliny, Naturalis historia, 2: 10.
11. Virgil, Aeneid, 6:725, quoted by Munoz, Commentaria Plinii. . ., in Navarro and Rodriguez,
Matemdticas, cosmologia y humanismo, 382-384. In connection with this, in his Comentarios
aAlcabitius, Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid (BNM), Ms. 9287, fol.H3r, a text on astrology also
related to his classes, Munoz compares cosmic air with the spirit issuing forth from the heart
to revive the body. On this manuscript, see Navarro and Rodriguez, Matemdticas, cosmologia
y humanismo.
12. Munoz, Commentaria Plinii, 386, in Navarro and Rodriguez, Matematicas, cosmologia y
humanismo.
13. At the beginning of his treatise De planispherii parallelogrammi inventione (copy in
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ms.VL 6.997, fols. lr-71v; another copy in Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek, Clm 10.674, fols. 278r-336v), Munoz states that both the sciences and arts,
like rivers, have obscure origins, are fed by many tributaries, and grow continuously until they
finally flow into the sea.
14. For this letter, see footnote 4 above.
15. On the theory of delay, Munoz cites Martianus Capella, and in his Commentaries on Theon,
fols. 36v-37r (see below on this manuscript), he says that according to Capella the "ancient"
peripatetics supported such a theory. Ptolemy {Almagest, 1.8, H28, and Theon, Com., 1.8,
439 10 ff., ed. Rome, 100, ed. Halma, 35-36, ed. Basel), discusses the theory and rejects it
because, besides the movement toward the East, the planets also have a movement of latitude.
It is in relation to such criticism that Munoz integrates the movement of latitude into a resultant
movement according to spirae. As real paths of planets, spiral lines can be traced back to Plato.
Moreover, the idea of delay was incorporated by Alpetragius into his astronomical theories and
had a certain diffusion in the sixteenth century and even in the seventeenth century, in relation
to the desire to avoid assigning contrary motions to one and the same celestial body. See
Edward Grant, Planets, Stars, and Orbs, 563 ff. On Alpetragius, see Bernard R. Goldstein,
al-BitrujT: On the Principles of Astronomy, 2 vols. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971).
16. Folio lr says: "Anno 1568 mensis julii XV die incepit Hieronymus Munnos Plinii secundum
librum explicare."
17. Munoz, Commentaria Plinii, 278, in Navarro and Rodriguez, Matemdticas, cosmologia y
humanismo.
18. On 341 ff., Commentaria Plinii, in Navarro and Rodriguez, Matemdticas, cosmologia y
humanismo, Munoz discusses the shape of the world and the motion of the planets and refers
the reader to his Commentaries on Theon, insisting that his arguments are "solid demon-
strations and not merely verbal discussions [. . .] which are ignored by those unfamiliar with
mathematics." On 554-555, with regards to shooting stars and comets he says of the former
that Aristotle's explanation would seem to be correct but as regards the location and substance
of comets, "I follow not Aristotle but mathematicians who expound things more precisely than
philosophers."
19. The manuscript ends with the words Hieronymus Munnos [. . .] translation commmentari-
orum Theonis Alexandrini in magnam constructionem CL. Ptolemaei [...]. The holograph is
housed at the National Library in Naples, Ms. VIII, fols. 21r-300r. See Navarro and Rodriguez,
Matemdticas, cosmologia y humanismo.
20. Munoz, Theonis Alexandrini, 35v ff.
21. On this letter, see our edition of it in Jeronimo Munoz, Libro del nuevo cometa quoted in
footnote 4.
48 V. Navarro Brotons
22. On Valles as a physician, see Jose Maria Lopez Pinero, "Francisco Valles," in Diccionario
historico de la ciencia moderna en Espana, 2 vols., eds. Jose Maria Lopez Pinero; Thomas
F. Glick; Victor Navarro Brotons; Eugenio Portela Marco (Barcelona: Peninsula, 1983),
vol. 1, pp. 391-394; Jose Maria Lopez Pinero; Francisco Calero, Las Controversias (1556)
de Francisco Valles y la medicina renacentista (Madrid: CSIC, 1988; includes Spanish trans-
lation by Francisco Calero of a wide selection of Valles 's work). C. Martin, C, "Francisco
Valles and the Renaissance Reinterpretation of Aristotle's Meteorologica IV as a Medical
Text," Early Science and Medicine 7, 2002, 1-31. On Valles 's ideas on natural philosophy,
see V.Navarro Brotons, "De la filosofia natural a la fisica moderna," in Historia de la ciencia
y de la tecnica en la Corona de Castilla, ed. J. M. Lopez Pinero (Valladolid: Junta de Castilla
y Leon, 2002), 383-437, on 397-402; V Navarro Brotons, "Matter and Form in Sixteenth
Century Spain: Some Case Studies," forthcoming.
23. See Valles, De Us que scripta sunt physic e in libris sacris, sive sacra Philosophia (Lyon:
Sibylle de La Porte, 1588; we have used the edition of Lyon: Hugues de la Porte, 1592),
46: "[. . .] aliis stellam quidem esse, eamque novam, affirmabant; aliis (facilius hoc rati) esse
cometam genitum intra ipsum coelum, atque inde agnosci, coelum non esse alterationis inca-
pax, ut censetur. Sed quia hoc mihi durissimum videtur, illud prorsus falsum, censeo stellam
illam a mundi principio ibidem existisse, ac nunc extare, exiguam adeo, ut videri, nisi debiliter,
non posit."
24. See Valles, De Us que scripta sunt phy sice in libris sacris, sive sacra Philosophia, 235, on fire
as an element; 346 and ff., on the elements; 398-399, on the heavens composed of elements.
25. Francisco Valles, De Us que scripta sunt phy sice in libris sacris, sive sacra Philosophia, ATI'.
"Facta itaque sunt omnia simul intra primam hebdomada, sed alia ante alia, ut ego existimo,
non natura solum, sed etiam tempore [. . .]."
26. See Tycho Brahe, Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata, in TBOO: 3, 87-93 (572-578).
On Valles and the "nova," see also my introduction to Jeronimo Munoz, Libro del nuevo
cometa, and Granada, "Calculos cronologicos." Granada suggests also that Valles could be one
of the philosophers who criticized Munoz's interpretation of the "nova" among the members
of the court of the Spanish monarchy.
27. Diego de Zuniga, Philosophia prima pars (Toledo, 1996), fol. 230r. On Zuniga, see V Navarro
Brotons, "Diego de Zuniga," in Diccionario historico, ed. J. M. Lopez Pinero et alii, vol. 2,
454-456; ibid., "The Reception of Copernicus's Work in Sixteenth-Century Spain: The Case
of Diego de Zuniga," Isis 86, 1995, 52-78.
28. Diego de Zuniga, Philosophia prima pars, fol. 226: "Quare astrum potius et sidus novum eum,
quam comentam nuncupant, maiorbusque queam natura viribus procreatam."
29. See Victor Navarro Brotons, "The Cultivation of Astronomy in Spanish Universities in the
Latter Half of the 16th Century," in Universities and Science in the Early Modern Period, ed.
Mordechai Feingold and Victor Navarro Brotons (Dordrecht: Springer, 2006), 83-99; ibid.,
"La astronomia," in Historia de la ciencia y de la tecnica en la Corona de Castilla, ed.
Lopez Pinero, 259-319; ibid., "The Teaching of the Mathematical Disciplines in Sixteenth
Century Spain," in Science Teaching in Early Modern Europe, ed. A. Clericuzio, special issue
of Science and Education 15, 2006, 209-233.
30. The Universidad de Mareantes of Seville was a trade-union that brought together carrack (ship)
owners, pilots, and masters of the Carrera de Indias, whose origin is unknown to us, although
its foundation dates back to between 1510 and 1520. Through this corporation, the monarchy
controlled the professional estate. See Marta Garcia Garrabon, La Universidad de Mareantes
de Sevilla (1569-1793) (Seville: Diputacion Provincial, 2008). On Perez de Mesa and this
chair, see the works cited in the previous note and the introduction to Diego Perez de Mesa,
Politica o razon de estado, eds. L. Perena and C. Baciero (Madrid:CSIC, 1980).
31. The Latin translation of Euclidis Optica et Catoptrica (Paris: Andreas Wechulus, 1557) by
Jean Pena contained a long preface, "On the use of Optics," in which Pena sets out his ideas on
astronomy and cosmology, supporting them by optical arguments. According to Pena, the mat-
ter of the heavens was not Aristotelian ether but air. Consequently, Pena rejected the celestial
3 Continuity and Change in Cosmological Ideas in Spain 49
spheres and the sphere of fire. See Peter Barker, "Jean Pena (1528-58) and Stoic Physics in
the Sixteenth Century," in Recovering the Stoics: Spindel Conference 1984, ed. R. H. Epp,
Southern Journal of Philosophy 13, 1985, Supplement, 93-107; Michel Pierre Lerner, "Le
probleme de la matiere celeste apres 1550: Aspects de la bataille des cieux fluides," Revue
d'histoire des sciences 42, 1989, 255-280; Miguel Angel Granada, "Petrus Ramus y Jean
Pena: Critica de la cosmologia aristotelica y de las hipotesis astronomicas a mediados del
siglo XVI," Revista de Filosofia 7, 1992, 11-72.
32. A copy of Comentarios de Sphera by Perez de Mesa is housed in the Biblioteca Nacional de
Madrid (National Library of Madrid), Ms. 8882. It is dated in Seville, September 22, 1596.
33. Nunez Zamora says, Liber de cometis, 92-93, that the matter of celestial bodies differs
accidentally but not essentially from terrestrial matter; celestial matter is puram potentiam
ordinatam aformam, ut ad proprium actum, et perfectibile proprium. He gives the example
of man: his matter is identical to that of animals, and is corruptible, while his soul is united to
matter, and is incorruptible.
34. On the relation between cosmography and astronomy, see V. Navarro Brotons, "Astronomia
y cosmografia entre 1561 y 1625: aspectos de la actividad de los matematicos y cosmografos
espanoles y Portugueses," Cronos 3, 2000, 349-381 (in English in A Prdtica da Matemdtica
em Portugal, eds. Luis Saraiva and Henrique Leitao (Coimbra: Universidade Coimbra, 2004));
ibid., "La astronomia;" ibid., "The Teaching of the Mathematical Disciplines;" ibid., "Aspects
of the History of Cosmography in Spain in the Last Decades of the Sixteenth Century (until
1606)," Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences 59, 200, 555-574; Maria Isabel
Vicente Maroto and Mariano Esteban Pineiro, Aspectos de la ciencia aplicada en la Espana
del Siglo de Oro (Valladolid: Junta de Castilla y Leon, 1991); Maria M. Portuondo, Secret
Science. Spanish Cosmography and the New World (Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press, 2009).
35. On the Academy of Mathematics, see Vicente Maroto and Esteban Pineiro, Aspectos de la
ciencia plicada.
36. On Cedillo, see Vicente Maroto and Esteban Pineiro, Aspectos de la ciencia aplicada.
37. Cedillo's translation of Copernicus is preserved in the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid (BNM),
Ms.9091, in two copies. On this translation, see Mariano Esteban Pineiro and Felix Gomez
Crespo, "La primera version castellana de De revolutionibus orbium coelestium: Juan Cedillo
Diaz (1620-1625)", Asclepio 43, 1991, 131-162; Victor Navarro Brotons, "La astronomia;"
ibid., "Astronomy and Cosmology in Spain in the Seventeenth Century: The New Practice of
Astronomy and the End of the Aristotelian- Scholastic Cosmos", Cronos 10, 2007, 15-41.
38. See the Ms. 9093, BNM, fol. 5r and ff. After this manuscript of 7 pages, there is also a short
Treatise on Astrology, fol. 14r-19r. On this treatise, see Tayra Lanuza Navarro, Astrologia,
Ciencia y Sociedad en la Espana de losAustrias, Ph.D. Dissertation (Univeresity of Valencia),
2005, 142 and ff.
39. See the Ms. 9092, BNM, fols. 8r-19v: "Dianoya de los aspectos de los planetas, pensamiento
nuevo de D. Juan Cedillo Diaz, 1620."
40. See Ms. 8896, BNM.
41. See in Ms. 9092, BNM, fols. 90r-100r., observations and calculations on the comet and in
fols. 102r-105v, on the same comet by a student of Cedillo.
42. The manuscript is preserved in the Library of El Escorial, K-I-ll, under the title Tratados
de astronomia y matemdticas tornados de Ptolomeo y otros autores. The first news of this
manuscript was given by Jose Antonio Sanchez Perez, Las matemdticas en la Biblioteca
del Escorial (Madrid: Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales, 1929), 214
and 241. I presented an initial description of this manuscript in Victor Navarro Brotons,
"La ciencia en la Espana del siglo XVII: El cultivo de las disciplinas fisico-matematicas,"
Arbor, 153, 604-605, 1996, 197-252; see also ibid., "La astronomia;" for an interesting study
devoted principally to Velez's work and the Copernican debate, see Felix Gomez Crespo, Un
astronomo desconocido: El debate copernicano en El Escorial (Valladolid: Junta de Castilla
y Leon, 2008).
50 V. Navarro Brotons
43. The data on Juan Velez has been obtained from the same manuscript. In Jose Simon Diaz,
Historia del Colegio Imperial de Madrid, 2 vols. (Madrid: CSIC, 1952-1959), 1:536, there is
a reference to Juan Velez as a student of the Colegio Imperial.
44. Velez, Tratados de astronomia, fol. 48 v. and ff.: "Discurso sobre la inmovilidad de la Tierra."
45. See Velez, Tratados de astronomia, fol. 62v. and ff: "Donde se refuta el movimiento
compuesto de la Tierra."
46. Velez, Tratados de astronomia, fol. 98v.
47. Velez, Tratados de astronomia, fol. 98r, on Venus and Mercury moving around the sun.
48. The Filosofia renovada de los cielos {Revised Philosophy of the Heavens) was part of a
Curio safilo sofia y tesoro de las maravillas de la naturaleza (Curious Philosophy and Treasure
of the Wonders of Nature), which includes a study of magnetism based principally on William
Gilbert's De magnete (1600). The Curiosa filosofia was republished eight times in the sev-
enteenth century, alone or with other works by Nieremberg. Nieremberg quotes the ideas
of Kepler on comets; see 157, 158, 160, 184 of this work (we have used the 1632 edition).
On Nieremberg and astronomy, see Victor Navarro Brotons, "La ciencia en la Espana del
siglo XVII," "La astronomia," and "Tradition and Scientific Change in Modern Spain: The
Role of the Jesuits," in Jesuit Science and the Republic of Letters, ed. Mordechai Feingold
(Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2003), 331-389.
49. Velez, Tratados de astronomia, fol. 69v., on Kepler and the distance of stars.
50. See Victor Navarro Brotons, "Galileo y Espana," in Largo campo di filosofare:
Eurosymposium Galileo, 2001, eds. Jose Montesions and Carlos Soils (La Orotava: Fundacion
Canaria Orotava de Historia de la Ciencia, 2001), 809-831.
5 1 . See the work cited in the previous note.
52. On the Jesuits at the Colegio Imperial and Reales Estudios, see Navarro Brotons, Tradition
and Scientific Change. On the reception of Kepler in Spain in the mid- seventeenth century,
see Victor Navarro Brotons, "L'obra astronomica de VicencMut," in VicengMut Armengol
(1614-1687) i V astronomia, ed. V Navarro Brotons, (Palma: Govern de les Illes Balears,
2009), 25-66.
Chapter 4
Cornelius Gemma and the New Star of 1572
Dario Tessicini
The appearance of a new star in the constellation of Cassiopeia between November
1572 and March 1574 provoked wide discussion which spread across the entire
continent of Europe and lasted right until the end of the following century, finally
culminating in the debate over the new star of 1604. The greatest astronomers of
the era were not the only participants in these discussions, but also philosophers,
physicians, astrologers, theologians, and men of letters contributed different per-
spectives and a remarkable variety of possible interpretations. The most significant
contributions are well known to historians of science who can benefit from both
wide-ranging research and specialist studies. 1
The works published by the Belgian physician Cornelius Gemma (1535-1578)
during the 1570s contribute to this outlook by representing a privileged, though
not unique, point of view, insofar as they highlight some unusual and lesser known
aspects of the debate while keeping to a large extent within the cosmological frame-
work of late-Renaissance geocentrism. A professor of medicine in Leuven with
far-reaching interests in other fields of enquiry, from astronomy, astrology, and
divination to the art of memory and encyclopedism, Cornelius Gemma's works
(above all De arte cyclognomica and De naturae divinis characterismis, published
in 1569 and 1575 respectively) were read and discussed by the main actors of the
early modern cosmological debate, and left a lasting influence on sixteenth- and
early seventeenth-century natural philosophy. 2 Gemma observed both the new star
of 1572 and the comet of 1577, published several works specifically devoted to these
phenomena, and provided further interpretations in his philosophical treatises. In the
following, I will address some of the issues connected with the appearance of the
new star of 1572, and highlight part of Cornelius Gemma's impact on the scientific
literature of his time.
The first work dedicated to the new star, the Stellae peregrinae iam primum
exortae et caelo constanter haerentis (pasvofisvov vel observation was published
in Leuven in mid- to late December 1572. 3 Judging from its printing history, the
D. Tessicini (El)
Durham University, Durham, UK
e-mail: dario.tessicini@durham.ac.uk
PJ. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27, 51
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6_4, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
52 D. Tessicini
work was immediately in high demand. After its first edition, the pamphlet of
only seven leaves was reprinted four times in little less than a year: It appeared
in a Dutch translation in February 1573 with the title Des vrende sterrens nu eerst
hem verthoonende . . . 4 ; then, together with the iudicia by Guillaume Postel (after
26 June 1573) and by Cyprian Leowitz (also 1573, but after Postel's). 5 And finally,
it appeared as an appendix to Thaddaeus Hagecius's Dialexis (after July 1574). 6
As in other similar cases including Tycho Brahe's own first work (De nova Stella,
1573 7 ), Gemma's text was published when the phenomenon it addresses was still
visible in the skies over Europe. Therefore, it is an incomplete, provisional analysis
containing hypotheses which the author will reconsider or structure differently in
the works published after the disappearance of the star. There are slight differences
between the different editions. The text has amendments on several points, and para-
textual materials (a few Latin epigrams by Theodore Beza, Paul Schede Melissus,
and Rudolf Gualter) are omitted or rearranged. In the versions published by Postel
and Leowitz, a few passages of the text are missing. These include a reference to the
possibility that the star had a parallax of 4 min, 8 a figure relating to the position of
the nova, and a poetic composition about the astrological effects of the phenomenon
in Belgium. The edition published by Hagecius restores the text of the original, at
least in part, but does not reproduce the poem by Gualter, while the other two poetic
compositions by Beza and Melissus precede the text of the pamphlet Stella nova by
Paulus Fabricius, which was also published as an appendix to Dialexis. 9
As for its content, the first pages of Gemma's pamphlet focus on the position
of the new star in relation to the nearest stars. 10 The significance of this compari-
son does not only lie in establishing its location on the celestial vault, but also in
the emphasis on the religious and eschatological significance of the phenomenon.
In fact, the new star forms a cruciform image with the stars in the constellation
of Cassiopeia, thus symbolizing, for Gemma, the passion of Christ. 11 This con-
sideration, which appears in the first page of the pamphlet, sets the overall tone
of the investigation, which continues by shifting between the observation of the
phenomenon and its apocalyptic significance. Next, Gemma discusses the exter-
nal appearance of the nova. This is characterised by its extraordinary brightness,
which exceeds that of other stars of the first magnitude, whilst the nature of its
light can be compared, in terms of color, to that of Jupiter and Mars. Nevertheless,
Gemma specifies that this analogy with the planets is entirely incidental, because the
new phenomenon cannot be a planet as its light produces a rapid and intermittent
variation in luminosity (twinkling, or scintillatio) typical of fixed stars, which was
thought to be a consequence of the very remote position of these celestial bodies. 12
The new star cannot be considered to be a comet either, or any other transitory phe-
nomenon produced by terrestrial exhalations, because it does not resemble a comet
in terms of appearance (Gemma deliberates in particular over the absence of a tail)
or color or motion, and it is not even accompanied by the usual signs of such phe-
nomena, like the epidemics caused by the heating of the air. 13 Therefore, the only
remaining hypothesis is that it is a star, as would seem to be indicated by a series of
clues including, in particular, its immobility in relation to the celestial vault, while
comets and planets, on the contrary, exhibit apparent relative movements. Gemma
4 Cornelius Gemma and the New Star of 1572 53
does not entirely reject this possibility, on the grounds that the new star cannot be
likened to a fixed star. 14 In short, the Stella peregrina does not reach a definitive
conclusion: Gemma is inclined towards ruling out all possible natural causes of the
phenomenon ("it cannot be called a star, nor an exhalation, still less a comet," is one
of the points that appear in the table which comes at the end of the text) 15 and turns
his attention to its supernatural quality, as a possible presage of the second coming
of Christ, clearly foreshadowed by the cruciform configuration of the new star.
The topics discussed in Stella peregrina are examined in greater detail in
Gemma's second work under consideration, the De naturae divinis characterismis.
Published in Antwerp in 1575, it is not specifically dedicated to the new star.
Instead, the phenomenon is analyzed within a general interpretative framework
of prodigious events and natural omens, called by Gemma Ars cosmo critic a. 16
The text clearly intends to convey a systematic approach, as exemplified by a
series of tables in which the prodigies are categorized by generation, appearance,
matter, finality or effect, and efficient cause. The star of 1572 is not mentioned
explicitly, but in the table cataloguing the events which appeared in the celestial
region, the birth of new stars is recorded among the divine events (or praeter
naturam) which take place among planetary orbs or in the sphere of fixed stars. 17
The section specifically dedicated to the new star can be found in the second
volume of the work, where many of the topics discussed in Stella peregrina are
re-examined in a more comprehensive manner and at times with modifications and
clarifications. 18 As regards the date of the first appearance of the star, for example,
De naturae divinis characterismis distinguishes between the first advent of the
star (between the end of October and the beginning of November; 9 November
was indicated in Stella peregrina) and Gemma's first observation of the star on 26
November. 19 Furthermore, the various observations are combined with new data, a
few corrections, and comparison with the works of others, specifically those of the
Spaniard Jeronimo Munoz and of Thaddaeus Hagecius. For example, the distance
from the North Star is changed from 23°48 r in Stella peregrina to 24°40 / , and
the number of reference stars is revised from three in the first work to nine in the
second work. The question regarding parallax, which was previously addressed
in vague terms or specified at around 4 min, is also clarified and is now indicated
as zero (based on observations by Hagecius, cited verbatim), a statement which
places the new star outside the sphere of Saturn and therefore at a distance which
is comparable to that of the fixed stars, or even greater ("it is located in the eighth
orb, or ninth, or tenth, or maybe even in a superior one"). 20
Gemma's analysis in De naturae divinis characterismis is noticeably precise in
comparison with the first text and clearly points towards an ontological distinction
between the new star and natural celestial bodies. 21 In turn, this discussion leads to
the definition of the nova as "a metaphysical and supernatural body [...], bound with
certain motions of the celestial bodies," 22 which carries prodigious significance por-
trayed by its formation with the other stars in the shape of a cross, namely the sign, or
hieroglyph (figura hieroglyphic a) of the imminent second coming of Christ and the
end of the world (Fig. 4.1). 23 During the course of its life cycle, lasting 16 months,
the nova appeared very bright at the beginning and gradually disappeared, finally
54
D. Tessicini
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t ttl " ; 'J 14$
Umbuifupnfot.
huMMMtW*]
GalaxW Mftdot
AtofigMrasHie^lyphirae^dcrb t\oui*
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Fig. 4.1 Cornelius Gemma, £>£ naturae divinis characterismis (Antwerp 1575), 2:141. (In this
figure the new star is interpreted as a sign of the approaching apocalypse in connection with
Matthew 24:30, where it is prophesized that "the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and
all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the
sky, with power and great glory.")
4 Cornelius Gemma and the New Star of 1572 55
vanishing around the spring of 1574. These variations in luminosity, although not
immediately evident — they are not reported in Stella peregrina, published in the
first weeks of the life of the nova — soon became another point of controversy.
The explanation given in De naturae divinis characterismis, published after the
nova had disappeared, provides relevant information both for Gemma's theories
and for the debate on celestial phenomena. The phenomenon not only appeared sud-
denly, but the variations in its appearance (incrementa and decrementa in Gemma's
text) brought into question the paradigm of the immutability of the celestial region
which ruled out both generation and corruption and, as a consequence, accretion
and consumption of matter. 24 Hence, if the increase and decrease in magnitude of
the nova were to be acknowledged as the result of a quantitative change in mat-
ter (as in the case of a flame which becomes more visible as fuel is added), the
boundaries of celestial immutability could be implicitly transgressed. Regarding this
issue, Gemma proposes an alternative solution which suggests that the differences
in magnitude of the star are not dependent on the increase and decrease of luminos-
ity, but rather on the movement of the luminous body towards and away from those
observing it from the Earth. 25 In this respect, the star would have displayed three
movements:
it is clear that it had three motions, taking into consideration the whole course of its dura-
tion. Two of them are rectilinear, the first one descending in a straight line, the second one
ascending until it becomes invisible, the third one being circular and dragged by the motion
of the primum mobile around the axes of the cosmos. 26
The circular motion mentioned in the passage above is clearly the daily rotation
common to all celestial bodies. However, the two rectilinear movements, descending
and ascending in relation to the Earth, explaining the increase and decrease in mag-
nitude, are not compatible with Aristotelian celestial physics, which ruled out any
movement other than circular motion from the upper region. 27 Indeed, due to their
nature, linear movements were considered contrary to circular motion and "incom-
plete," as inevitably finite. An infinite linear movement would have required an
infinite space, a possibility which was rejected by Aristotle, whereas circular motion
could cover infinite distances without having to invert its direction. 28 From this point
of view, it is not difficult to recognize that the presence of both linear movements and
circular motion constituted a problematic choice within a traditional cosmological
context. According to Aristotelian physics not only are the two types of move-
ment contrary to one another, but ascending linear movement involves an expansion
of cosmic space well beyond the limits of the finite, as the nova would have to
move a great distance away from those observing it from the Earth. Nevertheless,
Gemma's text does not tackle the problem in terms of celestial physics, but rather
highlights how the extraordinariness of the threefold movement of the star is in
keeping with the miraculous nature of the phenomenon in the same way that the cru-
ciform shape on the celestial vault, formed by the new star together with the other
stars of Cassiopeia, refers to the second coming of Christ. 29 In other sections of
the same chapter, the new star is compared with similar miracles described in Holy
Scripture (the star of Bethlehem), in religious literature — an account is quoted from
Historia ecclesiastica by Nicephorus — or in relation to celestial signs of apocalyptic
56 D. Tessicini
significance such as a sword, and a bow and arrow. 30 The conclusion drawn is simi-
lar to that in Stella peregrina: the new star must be a metaphysical and supernatural
body commanded directly by God, and whose significance, despite remaining partly
obscure, prefigures momentous developments within the Church and the political
body. 31
The theme of celestial phenomena as prodigious events is once again tackled
by Gemma's cosmological work, De prodigiosa specie naturaque cometae, which
was published in 1578 and focuses on the comet of the previous year. Indeed,
this work broaches the subject of divine intervention in nature both in terms of
natural philosophy and eschatology. The exceptionality of concurrent celestial
phenomena is continuously emphasized and related back to the Christian history
of mankind's salvation, 32 as the nova and the comet are produced by divine power
which transcends human capability and can change the course of nature. This last
point is highlighted by a reference to Virgil's Aeneid, 4, 489: "To stay the flow of
the rivers and to turn back the stars" ("sistit aquam fluviis, et vertit sidera retro"),
which in turn introduces the issue of whether the celestial region is immune to
change, as in the Aristotelian perspective, or is it possible to conceive, on the basis
of a Christian vision of history, that the universe ages progressively towards its
end — Judgement Day. 33
Taking into consideration the reception of Gemma's works, particular attention
will now be paid to the hypothesis regarding the rectilinear movement of the new
star, as it leads to unorthodox consequences with respect to traditional doctrines,
such as the necessity of an indefinite expansion of cosmic space, and helps to estab-
lish new relationships with topics and works which have not been associated with
Gemma thus far. The idea of a movement in a straight line (or in two straight lines,
one descending and the other ascending), as an explanation for the appearance of
the star of 1572 was not, strictly speaking, original when Gemma suggested it in De
naturae divinis characterismis. This idea was initially put forward by John Dee in a
lost pamphlet, whose content was summarized (as a second-hand report, following
an oral account by Christoph Rothmann) by Tycho Brahe in his Progymnasmata,
the only source referring to this event. Dee is thought to have believed that the new
star did not always remain in the same place, but was in fact "rising from a lower
to a higher place in a straight line." 34 However, as Brahe continues, criticizing Dee,
the theory of an ascending movement is not tenable without serious study of the
parallax, nor, on the other hand, is it compatible with the nature of celestial matters,
because in order to become indiscernible to the human eye, the nova would have
had to cover a distance equal to at least 20 times the distance which separated it
from the Earth at the time of its first appearance. 35 Gemma does not refer to Dee in
his works — which suggests that he could not have known the text — nor to any other
contributors to similar theories, such as Elias Camerarius, author of an Observatio
et descriptio novi sideris published in Frankfurt in 1573, or Thomas Digges, the
English Copernican and pupil of Dee, who tried to explain the variations of the
nova via the annual motion of the Earth. 36 The main problem concerning Brahe was
the fact that the linear movement of the nova would depend upon the possibility of
covering distances which were incompatible with the distances considered to be the
4 Cornelius Gemma and the New Star of 1572 57
physical dimensions of the cosmos, and therefore if Dee and the others had consid-
ered this issue, they would have realized that their theories were entirely without
foundation.
In another section of the Progymnasmata, Brahe directly confronts the works of
Gemma. A substantial proportion of the review is dedicated to the issue of paral-
lax and to the observations of the phenomenon, for a few of which Gemma used
data from De astrolabio catholico, by Gemma Frisius, his father. Brahe states his
reservations concerning the methods and results of the Belgian physician, making
an exception as regards the celestial position of the nova, with which, on the other
hand, he agrees. 37 The question of the rectilinear movement of the star is tack-
led immediately after, and the majority of Brahe 's criticism focuses on this aspect.
According to Brahe, rectilinear movement is not only impossible within the celes-
tial region but also an entirely redundant concept, because a movement towards
and away from the Earth of a celestial body can be conceived using a combination
of circular motions, as is well known to astronomers. 38 Furthermore, resuming the
argument against Dee, the space required for the nova to become invisible to the
human eye would involve an infinite expansion of the cosmos, which is evidently
incompatible with Aristotelian cosmology and the beliefs of the Danish astronomer.
In this respect, Gemma's ideas about the nova as a metaphysical body and divine
prodigy are denounced as sacrilegious and blasphemous, by implying, according to
Brahe, the appearance of an angel or of God himself in the form of a star. 39
Before Brahe 's review — the Progymnasmata were published posthumously: the
first volume in 1602, and then the first and second together in 1610 — other authors
participating in the debate on the celestial phenomena of the last quarter of the six-
teenth century had variously quoted the works of Gemma, sometimes in order to
use the observational data they contained, at other times for discussing the theories
they presented. From amongst this rich and diverse abundance of references, which
cannot be accounted for systematically, a few cases seem especially relevant. 40
In Theoria nova coelestium meteoron, by the physician and astrologer Helisaeus
Roeslin, Gemma's works are frequently quoted and used for observations relating
to the comet of 1577, the phenomenon which constitutes the very subject of Theoria
nova. Roeslin focuses his attention on the analogies between the comet and the
celestial phenomena of the recent past which are not necessarily of cometary nature,
such as the nova of 1572. The comparison is conducted in particular with reference
to the observations, and there are only occasional attempts to provide more extensive
analysis, especially when Roeslin devises a sphere exclusively for the appearance
of transitory celestial phenomena. 41
The issue of the nova of 1572, despite its prominence when establishing analo-
gies with the phenomenon under investigation, remains a secondary concern for the
majority of Roeslin's Theoria nova (except with regard to eschatological questions),
and the theory regarding rectilinear movement is completely ignored. On the con-
trary, Hagecius, as well as publishing Gemma's pamphlet (1573) as an appendix
to his work, Dialexis, as has already been mentioned, praises the author's shrewd
ingenuity ("he is truly a gem") 42 in the epistle dedicated to Emperor Maximilian II,
also remarking that Stella peregrina was brought to his attention when his work was
58 D. Tessicini
almost complete. It is perhaps for this reason that Gemma's theories are never quoted
explicitly in Dialexis, although in the second chapter the theory which presents the
rectilinear movement of the nova as an explanation for the changes in its size is
discussed and criticized as standing in apparent contrast with the observations of
celestial phenomena, whether the star is meant to be situated in the sublunary region
or whether it is to be found in the celestial region, 43 which is, in fact, the theory sup-
ported by Gemma. Hagecius maintains that in this second scenario the nova would
have had to be similar to one of the planets, which ascend and descend (that is, they
appear more or less bright to those observing them from the Earth) within their own
orbs. Nevertheless, Hagecius thought that the star never displayed the behavior of
a planet, having only ever followed the diurnal movement of the fixed stars — and
indeed he places the nova in the most remote celestial region, where it is thought to
have been the product of divine will. 44
Subsequent literature written between the end of the 1500s and the beginning
of the 1600s succeeded in highlighting the philosophical relevance of Gemma's
theories with greater lucidity. One particularly interesting instance is presented
in Giordano Bruno's De immenso et innumerabilibus, containing various chapters
dedicated to the celestial phenomena of the late 1500s which are interpreted and
re-examined according to the author's cosmological propositions. Bruno seems to
be distinctly aware of the theories and texts of the Belgian physician, in particular
De prodigiosa specie, from which a few passages are cited and discussed, appear-
ing in two different sections of the cosmological poem (and in a third instance,
not included in this research, which concerns a second-hand report considered in
Theoria nova by Roeslin). 45 Towards the end of the sixth book, De immenso tack-
les the issue of comets, arguing against the Aristotelian theory regarding the fire of
the terrestrial exhalations, and maintaining that comets are celestial bodies which
are similar to the planets and are only visible at times. The arguments supporting
these theories include recent astronomical research by Brahe, Rothmann, Roeslin,
and indeed, by Gemma, whose idea of the nova as a divine miracle is discussed.
According to Bruno, this is simply a ploy for salvaging Aristotelian theory at a
time when it was not able to provide an explanation for the appearance of the new
celestial phenomenon:
On this matter, Gemma, thinking that whatever defies the Aristotelian nature is simply
supernatural, says: "whoever relates this star to a natural cause and considers it under the
general heading of a comet, shows undoubtedly how little they are versed in the methods of
demonstration, the doctrine of parallax, and geometry and mathematics generally." 46
According to Bruno, Gemma was aiming to preserve a preconceived idea of
the cosmos and of nature resorting to divine intervention when natural phenomena
appeared to be irreconcilable with Aristotelian principles. Contrary to this inter-
pretation, Bruno supports the notion of the physical infinity of the universe, which
implies the actual realization of all possible forms of existence, and the concurrence
of potentia absoluta and potentia ordinata, which excludes even the possibility of
miracles. Everything that happens is part of a natural order governed by eternal,
unchanging laws, comprehensible to the human mind. Prodigies and other presages
4 Cornelius Gemma and the New Star of 1572 59
discussed by Gemma (taken by Bruno as a representative of eschatological literature
on the phenomenon) are nothing other than an attempt to cling to ideas of the super-
natural in order to stand firm when faced with happenings which a philosophical
system in decline could not explain on its own.
However, Bruno's analysis goes beyond criticism of eschatological interpretation
and even shows some similarities with Gemma's theory. Considered as a whole, the
observations of Bruno on the new star outline a specific interpretation characterized
by the idea that in reality the nova was the appearance of a planet which is usually
invisible, or visible in certain circumstances only, and belongs to one of the infinite
planetary systems of the universe. In this respect, Bruno considers novae and comets
as belonging to the same species of celestial bodies — the "earths" — whose physical
composition, predominantly made up of the earthly and watery elements, is similar
to our planet's. In comparison with comets, the nova did not have a tail, but Bruno
did not consider this to be a distinguishing factor, as comets do not always have tails
and sometimes the planets appear to have a type of tail (which is in fact a halo). 47
To become visible, the new star, as a terra, must have been positioned at a distance
which was within human visual range, and therefore it was possible to hypothesize
that the star must have first moved towards the Earth and then away from it. In the
passage describing this movement, a "new light" is discussed — a nova lux whose
behavior resembles that of Gemma's novus phosphorus:
There is revealed a new light, which Aristotle did not see at all in his time, by the constant
approach and withdrawal of the celestial bodies to and from the Earth. As they try to find
excuses for him, they imagine clouds that fill the heavens with obscure orbs. 48
In De immenso the linear movement of the nova becomes primarily an argument
against solid and impenetrable orbs, which are proven false by the descent and sub-
sequent ascent of the star. Furthermore, the vertical displacement of the star means
that it is visible due to a quantitative process, that is, the decrease and increase
in the distance of the nova from the Earth, and not due to a qualitative variation,
or a change of state like the ignition of exhalations. Therefore, the new star, as a
celestial event, is interpreted by means of an optical explanation based on the con-
ditions regarding the visibility of celestial bodies, thus abandoning interpretations
from both a celestial physics viewpoint which affirm processes of generation and
corruption in the upper regions of space, and from an Aristotelian perspective of
meteorology established to defend the immutability of the skies. In this respect, the
nova is an exemplary case within the context of the contemporary observations of
comets located by astronomers in the celestial region. The ascending and descend-
ing movement of the new star is interpreted by Bruno as an ulterior characteristic
of the phenomenon, which resulted, in terms of reflections on cosmology, in a link
with the research of a natural explanation of celestial phenomena, with the rejec-
tion of theological explanations, and ultimately with the philosophical theory of the
infinity of the universe.
The idea that the linear movement of the new star could pave the way for the
indefinite expansion of cosmic space is also indicated by a few critical observations
made by Kepler, a reader of both Bruno and Gemma. Chapter 21 of Kepler's De
60 D. Tessicini
Stella nova is well known to Bruno scholars for its discussion and subsequent rejec-
tion of the ideas of the infinity of the universe and of worlds organized as infinite
solar systems. 49 However, in this same chapter the questions linked to the nova of
1572 and to a possible increase in the dimensions of physical space are discussed
in more detail, as already inferred by the chapter title, "Whether the Present Star
Returned to the Recesses of Heaven, and Whether the Sphere of the Fixed Stars
Extends to Infinity." Here, Kepler examines a theory similar to that proposed by
Gemma, and the notion that the target of the polemic was in fact the Belgian physi-
cian cannot be dismissed, although on other occasions Kepler looked upon him
favorably. 50 According to this interpretation, the cycle of the new star depended
on the variation in its distance from the Earth, which was determined by a vertical
descending and ascending movement:
They hold the opinion that this new star, and others, if there were any of this sort, gradually
descended from the innermost depths of Nature, which they believe stretches to infinite
heights. . .In fact, there were those who, thirty years ago, explained these more sensibly,
that is, that the star of 1572 performed its motion following a straight line stretching from
the center to the heavens above. 51
Kepler could not have accepted such an explanation, as an ascending and
descending movement would have implied an expansion of physical space well
beyond the dimensions of the cosmos as they were thought to be, also giving rise to
dangerous considerations with regard to the homogeneity of the universe, the plu-
rality of worlds, and the existence of invisible stars — Bruno's theories, which are
discussed and criticized in the following pages of De Stella nova. After all, the link
between the new star and Bruno's worlds is explicit in the way in which Kepler
interprets the status of the nova: "according to their opinion this new star was a new
world." 52
Taking Kepler's conclusions on the relationship between the linear movement
of the nova and the increase in the dimensions of the cosmos as a starting point,
it is possible to review the reception of the cosmological works by Gemma and to
assess their significance within the world of astronomical and cosmological debate.
Viewed from a deep-seated historiographical perspective, the transitory phenomena
at the end of the 1500s made an incontrovertible contribution to overcoming the con-
cepts of celestial immutability, the Aristotelian quintessence, and the solid orbs. The
intellectual arena at the time of these events has sometimes been characterized by the
antithesis between the defenders of traditional theory (the Scholastic-Aristotelian
cosmology) and the theories of the novatores, who argued that the new appearances
were incompatible with Aristotle's celestial physics and that different, though not
necessarily completely new, hypotheses needed to be explored. Indeed, these inno-
vators often drew on traditional philosophies which were fairly obsolete, but also
in contrast with those just mentioned. 53 In any case, this ultimately resulted in the
defeat of the Aristotelian front and a radical revision of widely accepted cosmolog-
ical theories. The issues raised in the works of Gemma, and their reception from
a more progressive viewpoint of the polemic, highlight variations which cannot be
reduced to a clear-cut polarization between the defense of tradition and the search
4 Cornelius Gemma and the New Star of 1572 61
for novelty. A closer look at the debate accentuates the shifting boundaries within
this framework, in which less orthodox solutions, such as the linear movement of
the nova, which was widely recognized as being in clear contrast with the laws of
Aristotelian physics, coexisted with fairly conventional objections of geocentric and
finitist cosmology of medieval origin, which is essentially the viewpoint adopted by
Gemma. From this perspective, it seems to me that the case study of this article high-
lights the absence of a sudden breakdown of the system which had dominated for
centuries. On the contrary, it was a gradual erosion process which requires detailed
evaluation, taking into consideration not only the more clear-cut positions in defense
of tradition or in search of new solutions, but also the more balanced standpoints —
such as that of Gemma, followed in this respect by Hagecius and Roeslin, to name
two authors about whom little research has been conducted — which confirm aspects
from both perspectives.
Notes
1 . For an account of the literature on the nova, cf . Michael Weichenhan, "Ergo perit coelum. ..":
die Supernova des Jahres 1572 und die Uberwindung der aristotelischen Kosmologie
(Stuttgart: Steiner, 2004). Other interpretations are in Michel-Pierre Lerner, Le monde des
spheres, 2 vols (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1996-1997), 2:21-39, and Idem, Tre saggi sulla
cosmologia del Cinquecento (Napoli: Bibliopolis, 1992), 73-104. A valuable, yet incomplete,
catalogue of texts on the new star is in Clarisse Doris Hellman, "The Gradual Abandonment
of the Aristotelian Universe: A Preliminary Note on Some Sidelights," in Melanges Alexandre
Koyre: L'aventure de la science, 2 vols (Paris: Hermann, 1964), 1:283-293. Other aspects of
the problem are dealt with by Miguel Angel Granada, "Calculos cronologicos, novedades cos-
mologicas y expectativas escatologicas en la Europa del Siglo XVI," Rinascimento 37, 1997,
357-435; Charlotte Methuen, "This comet or new star": Theology and the Interpretation of
the Nova of 1572," Perspectives on Science 5, 1997, 499-515. Relevant historical information
can also be found in Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Almagestum novum, 2 vols (Bologna, 1651),
2:133-166 (150-155 for a brief summary on the new star).
2. On the intellectual standing and interests of Cornelius Gemma, cf. the essays in Cornelius
Gemma: Cosmology, Medicine and Natural Philosophy in Renaissance Louvain, ed. Hiro
Hirai (Rome: Fabrizio Serra, 2008). There is no comprehensive study of Cornelius Gemma's
biography as yet. Early works in history of science tend to consider him a continuer of the work
of his father, Reiner Gemma Frisius. Cf., for instance, Fernand van Ortroy, Bio-bibliographie
de Gemma Frisius fondateur de Vecole beige de geographie de son fils Corneille et de ses
neveux les Arsenius (Amsterdam: Meridian Publishing Co., 1966; reimpression de l'edition
Bruxelles, 1920). For additional bibliography on Gemma's life, cf. Hallyn, "A Poem on the
Copernican System: Cornelius Gemma and his Cosmocritical Art," in Cornelius Gemma,
13-31, on 17.
3. The imprimatur bears the date of December 17th, or 3 weeks after the first observation ("Over
almost 3 weeks, [. . .] it did not move"). Summaries of Gemma's works on the new star can be
found in Van Ortroy, Bio-bibliographie, 378-386; and Steven Vanden Broecke, The Limits of
Influence: Pico, Louvain, and the Crisis of Renaissance Astrology (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 214. 1
wish to thank Katherine Wallington, who has consulted a copy on my behalf at the Cambridge
University Library (Syn 5.59.16). Cf. also Jean Ceard, "Postel et l'«etoile nouvelle» de
1572," in Guillaume Postel (1581-1981): Actes du colloque international d'Avranches, 5-9
sept. 1981 (Paris: Tredaniel, 1985), 349-360, and, on the astrological issues, Germana Ernst,
"II linguaggio universale dei cieli: Cornelio Gemma, Tycho Brahe, Tommaso Campanella," in
Cornelius Gemma, 33-49.
62 D. Tessicini
4. Leuven, 1573. On this edition, cf. Tabitta van Nouhuys, The Age of Two-Faced Janus: The
comets of 1577 and 1618 and the Decline of the Aristotelian World View in the Netherlands
(Leiden-Boston: Brill, 1998), 151-154.
5. Cf. Cyprian Leowitz (Leovitius), Cornelius Gemma, De nova Stella iudicia duorum praes-
tantium mathematicorum (s.L: 1573). A rare copy, perhaps the only one surviving, is at the
Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbiittel. Miguel Angel Granada kindly provided me a pho-
tographic reproduction of this copy. Guillaume Postel, Cornelius Gemma, De peregrina Stella
quae superiore primum apparere coepit. . .ex philosophiae naturalis, mysticaeque theologiae
penetralibus deprompta iudicia (Basel, 1573). On the publisher and place of publication of
this item, cf. Leandro Perini, La vita e i tempi di Pietro Perna (Rome: Storia e Letteratura,
2002), 159-160, 462.
6. Thaddaeus Hagecius ab Hayek, Dialexis de novae etprius incognitae stellae inusitatae mag-
nitudinis splendidissimi luminis apparitione, et de eiusdem stellae vero loco constituendo
(Frankfurt a. M., 1574), 137-145 and 169-174, containing a letter by Gemma authorizing
Hagecius to publish his Stella peregrina and announcing the imminent publication by the
publisher Pantin of his De divinis characterismis .
7. Tycho Brahe, De nova et nullius aevi memoria prius visa Stella. . .contemplatio mathematica
(Hafniae, 1573). Cf. Victor E. Thoren, The Lord of Uraniborg: A Biography of Tycho Brahe
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 31 ff., 55-71.
8. Cf. Gemma, Stellae peregrinae, in Hagecius, Dialexis, 138: "I could not detect any parallax
with certainty, if not perhaps one of 4 min at around dawn. It is not easy to say, given such a
small difference, whether this depended on an error of sight."
9. Cf. Hagecius, Dialexis, 128. On Gualter's component, cf. Claris se Doris Hellman, "A Poem
on the Occasion of the Nova of 1572," in Philosophy and Humanism: Renaissance Essays in
Honor of Paul Oskar Kristeller, ed. Edward P. Mahoney (Leiden: Brill, 1976), 306-309.
10. Cf. Gemma, Stellae peregrinae, 138-139. Tycho Brahe will note the differences between his
and Gemma's observations (these are between \ degree and 1 1^ degree) in Tycho Brahe,
Progymnasmata, in idem, Opera omnia, ed. Johan Ludwig Emil Dreyer, 15 vols (Copenhagen:
Libraria Gyldendaliana, 1913-1929), 3:68-69.
11. Cf. Gemma, Stellae peregrinae, 139: "Furthermore, a very neat quadrilateral figure is formed
with the three most conspicuous stars in Cassiopeia. . .so that drawing intersecting lines from
their four respective corners, these form the image of a cross."
12. Cf. Gemma, Stellae peregrinae, 141: "As it scintillates, though, its matter appears to be both
permanent and superior to that of the other planets." On scintillation in relation to the appear-
ances of the celestial bodies, cf. Aristotle, On the Heavens, 290al8-290a20, and Michel-Pierre
Lerner, ""Sicut nodus in tabula": De la rotation propre du soleil au seizieme siecle," Journal
for the History of Astronomy, 11, 1980, 1 15-128: 124, n. 14, which refers to a summary of the
debate in Riccioli, Almagestum novum, 1:396-397.
13. Cf. Gemma, Stellae peregrinae, 141: "Even less you can say that it was a comet or an exha-
lation. In fact, when did the cycle of comets appear similar to this one, as all of them show a
tail, or a beard, or are in the shape of a sword, or staff, or trumpet, or horn, or of some sort
of pyramid?. . .Where is that irregular motion that always accompanies the exhalations ignited
by a law of nature? Comets always look gloomy and menacing, and they never sparkle."
14. Ibid.: "If someone says that it is a star, he should not demonstrate this only through physics,
but also by mathematical demonstrations and observations."
15. Ivi, 145: "nee Stella, neque exhalatio dici possit, multo minus cometa". Cf. the relevant
discussion in Brahe, Progymnasmata, 70-71.
16. On the background and aims of the "cosmocritical art," cf. Cornelius Gemma, De naturae
divinis characterismis seu raris et admirandis spectaculis, indiciis, proprietatibus rerum in
partibus singulis universi, Libri II, 2 vols (Antwerp, 1575), 1:34-57, Chapters 3 and 4; and
the considerations by Vanden Broecke, The Limits of Influence, 215-226; and Hallyn, "A Poem
on the Copernican System".
17. Gemma, De naturae divinis characterismis, 1:50.
4 Cornelius Gemma and the New Star of 1572 63
18. Cf. ivi, 2: 1 1 1-156, Chapter 3, "On the miraculous phenomenon of the new star which appeared
in our times, by the power of the divine glory, so that no other miracle of the world deserves
to be compared to it, so far as mankind can remember." The only exception is the issue of the
differences between the new star and the comets, which is discussed in ivi, 1:113.
19. Cf. ivi, 2: 1 14. On Gemma's observations, cf. Weichenhan, Ergo perit coelum, 538-542.
20. Gemma, De naturae divinis characterismis, 2: 121-123 : "in orbe octavo, aut nono, aut decimo,
forsan aut superiore quopiam collocatur"
21. Cf. ivi, 126-130, on the differences between the new star, comets, and planets.
22. Ivi, 130: "corpus. . .metaphysicon ac supranaturam, certis tamen caelestium corporum motibus
alligatum."
23. On the interpretation of the new star as a miracle, cf. ivi, 143-144, and Granada, "Calculos
cronologicos," 388-391.
24. On the incorruptibility of the celestial region, cf. Edward Grant, Planets, Stars and
Orbs: The Medieval Cosmos, 1200-1687 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996),
189-219.
25. Gemma, De naturae divinis characterismis, 2: 125.
26. Ibid.: "Patet igitur motum illius fuisse triplicem toto durationis suae curriculo deprehensum.
Duo enim sunt recti, primus descensus secundum lineam rectam, alter ascensus quo sensim
evanit, tertius circularis ad raptum primi mobilis circa cardinem mundi."
27. Cf. Aristotle, On the Heavens, 269a24-269a33, 270a27-270a28. A recent account of the issue
is in D. Knox, "Copernicus's Doctrine of Gravity and Levity and the Natural Circular Motion
of the Elements," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 48, 2005, 157-211, on
157-164.
28. Cf. Aristotle, Physica, in The Works of Aristotle, ed. R. P. Hardie and R. K. Gaye (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1930), 265al6-265a26: "The straight line traversed in rectilinear motion
cannot be infinite: for there is no such thing as an infinite straight line; and even if there were,
it would not be traversed by anything in motion: for the impossible does not happen and it
is impossible to traverse an infinite distance. On the other hand rectilinear motion on a finite
straight line is if it turns back a composite motion, in fact two motions, while if it does not turn
back it is incomplete and perishable: and in the order of nature, of definition, and of time alike
the complete is prior to the incomplete and the imperishable to the perishable. Again, a motion
that admits of being eternal is prior to one that does not. Now rotatory motion can be eternal:
but no other motion, whether locomotion or motion of any other kind, can be so, since in all of
them rest must occur, and with the occurrence of rest the motion has persihed." In the passage
quoted above (n. 26), Gemma seems to have in mind Aristotle's text, and the commentary by
Averroes. Cf. Aristoteles, De physico auditu, in Aristotelis Opera cum Averrois commentariis,
15 vols (Venice, 1562-1574; reprint Frankfurt a. M., 1962,), 4, f. 419 M: "rectilinear motion
is from the center, and towards the center, and the center only moves circularly."
29. Cf. Gemma, De naturae divinis characterismis, 2:145-146: "Add that this triple motion is
perfectly compatible with the power of the divine word."
30. On Nicephorus's star and its fortune in sixteenth-century scientific literature, cf.
Dario Tessicini, "Alcune fonti del 'De immenso' di Giordano Bruno e il problema
dell'mtertestualita," Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres, 2000 (1), 57-94, on 83-91.
On the eschatological meaning of the celestial figures according to Gemma, cf. Granada,
"Calculos cronologicos," 388.
31. Cf. Gemma, De naturae divinis characterismis, 2:129, 145-148.
32. Ivi, 1:27.
33. Cf. Gemma, De prodigiosa specie naturaque cometae qui nobis effulsit altior Lunae sedibus,
insolita prorsus figura, ac magnitudine, anno 1577, plus septimanis 10 Apodeixis turn phys-
ica turn mathematica (Antwerp, 1578), 38: "In fact, if the generation of these phenomena
has a metaphysical origin, as deliberated by Damascenus, it shatters and clouds the human
judgement, as it ascends to the divine. To no purpose is it to trouble oneself with the regular
path of its motion, and other hidden principles, as it is not even clear with this demonstration
64 D. Tessicini
if the heavens always maintain the same law, or whether they are subject to generation and
corruption, and get old like a dress."
34. Cf. Brahe, Progymnasmata, 204: "I do not reject Gemma's opinion that the star went from
a lower place to a higher one following a straight line." On the opuscle, known by the title
De Stella admiranda in Cassiopeia asterismo, coelitus demissa ad orbem usque Veneris,
iterumque in coeli penetralia perpendiculariter retracta, cf. Lerner, Le monde des spheres,
2: 217, n. 49.
35. Brahe, Progymnasmata, 204-205.
36. Cf. Elias Camerarius, Observatio et descriptio novi sideris, quod in principio Octobris Anno
Christi 1572 forma stellae primae magnitudinis apparuit. . .(Frankfurt a. O., 1573), and
Thomas Digges, Alae seu scalae mathematicae (London, 1573), f. A2v. Elsewhere in the same
work, Digges envisages the possibility that the new star moves away from Earth by God's
will. On possible links between Digges and Dee's work on the new star, cf. Stephen Johnston,
"Like Father, Like Son? John Dee, Thomas Digges and the Identity of the Mathematician,"
in John Dee: Interdisciplinary Studies in English Renaissance Thought, ed. Stephen Clucas
(Dordrecht: Springer, 2006), 65-84.
37. Cf. Brahe, Progymnasmata, pars tertia, cap. 8, 77: "By no means was this star below the Moon,
nor can it be deduced that it was among the planetary spheres. It remains that it was located
either in the eighth, or in the ninth, or in the tenth orb, or maybe even in one above these.
Those who name the eighth do not speak unsuitably." A summary of this section of Brahe's
work is in Lerner, Le monde des spheres, 2: 31.
38. Brahe, Progymnasmata, 78.
39. Cf. ivi, 78-79: "Consider how much space above the fixed stars would be necessary to measure
out before it would become invisible again. . .What he brings forward about the angels, or even
the appearance of God in the shape of a star (dreadful even to report), and the descent and
elevation, is simply impious, not to mention blasphemous."
40. On other case studies not included in this research, cf. Van Ortroy, Bio-bibliographie, 127-
134; Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, 8 vols (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1923-1958), 6: 78-79 (a letter from Roeslin to Maestlin, later pub-
lished in Maestlin's Ephemerides novae), 183 (De cometa, by M. Squarcialupo), 382 (William
Gilbert, De mundo). Both studies are by no means systematic, although they help greatly in
establishing an overview of the reception of Gemma's work. Many other instances not previ-
ously listed can be found, however, in the scientific literature: cf. for instance Richard Forster,
Ephemerides Meteorographicae (London, 1575), ff. Hlv-H2r.
41. Cf. Helisaeus Roeslin, Theoria nova coelestium meteoron, (Strasbourg, 1578), Chapter 3 "De
sphaera et circulis cometarum," ff . C2v-Dlv: C3v and C4r for references to Cornelius Gemma.
42. Hagecius, Dialexis, 6: "vere Gemmeum est"
43. Cf. ivi, 38-40.
44. Ivi, 44-46, 58-65. On Hagecius 's theory, cf. Granada, "Calculos cronologicos," 399-404.
45. On Bruno, Roeslin, and the celestial phenomena in De immenso, see Dario Tessicini, / dintorni
deWinfinito: Giordano Bruno e Vastronomia del Cinquecento (Pisa-Rome: Fabrizio Serra
Editore, 2007), 174-183.
46. Giordano Bruno, De immenso et innumerabilibus, seu de universo et mundis, in Jordani
Bruni Nolani Opera latine conscripta, 3 vols (Florence-Naples, 1879-1891), ed. Francesco
Fiorentino et al., 1.2: 227: "Unde Cornelius Gemma, qui ea quae sunt extra naturam
Peripateticam, putat esse simpliciter extra naturam, Astrum hoc (inquit) quicunque ad
naturalem referunt causam et sub communi cometarum ambitu censent, proculdubio sese
demonstrant in demonstrationi methodo, doctrina Parallaxeon, nedum in universo mathema-
tum genere, et geometricis elementis quam minimum esse versatos." The second part of the
passage is a quotation from Gemma, De prodigiosa specie, Chapter 1, 9.
47. Cf. Bruno, De immenso, 1.2: 226.
4 Cornelius Gemma and the New Star of 1572 65
48. Ivi, 370: "Qua manifesta siet nova lux, constante recessu et/ Astrorum accessu ad tellurem,
quod minime olim/ Vidit Aristoteles: quern dum excusare laborant,/ Adsciscunt nebulas,
implentes aethera caecis/ orbibus. . ."
49. Cf. Alexandre Koyre, From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe (Baltimore: The Johns
Hopkins Press, 1957), 45 ff.; Saverio Ricci, La fortuna del pensiero di Giordano Bruno:
1600-1750 (Florence: Le Lettere, 1990), 68-76; and Antonella Del Prete, Universo infinito
e pluralita dei mondi (Naples: Citta del Sole, 1998), 96-101.
50. Kepler's positive considerations of Gemma's philosophy are discussed in Fernand Hallyn,
"Un poeme sur le systeme copernicien: Cornelius Gemma et sa 'cosmocritique,'" Les Cahiers
de Vhumanisme 2, 2001, 51-69, on 64, which refers to a 1605 letter by David Fabricius in
Johannes Kepler, Briefe: 1604-1607, ed. M Caspar, in JKGW, 15: 258.
51. Cf. Johannes Kepler, De Stella nova in pede Serpentarii, in idem, Gesammelte Werke,
1, 251-252: "lis placet, novum hoc sidus, et si qua alia fuerunt huiusmodi, ex
penitissimo Naturae sinu, quern in infmitam altitudinem exporrigi affirmant, paulatim
descendisse. . .Fuerunt itaque qui ante hos triginta annos ista sobrie magis exponerent: stellam
anni 1572 in recta a centro sursum in aetherem porrecta motum suum peregisse."
52. Ibid.: ". . .secundum illos hoc novum sidus novus aliquis mundus fuerit."
53. Cf. Lerner, Tre saggi, 73-80, which takes into consideration the influences of Platonism,
Stoicism, and the "sacred philosophy" on the elaboration of a theory on celestial matter dif-
ferent from the Aristotelian ether. On Stoicism alone, cf. Peter Barker and Bernard Goldstein,
"Is Seventeenth Century Physics Indebted to the Stoics?," Centaurus 27, 1984, 148-164; and
Peter Barker, "The Optical Theory of Comets from Apian to Kepler," Physis 30, 1993, 1-25.
On the survival of the Aristotelian cosmology, cf . Edward Grant, Planets, Stars and Orbs: The
Medieval Cosmos 1200-1687 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 215-219.
Chapter 5
Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius:
Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604
Miguel A. Granada
David Fabricius (1564-1617) was one of the most important astronomers in the
period between 1596, the year of publication of Kepler's Mysterium cosmograph-
icum, and 1609, the year of publication of the Astronomia nova. 1 Kepler praised
Fabricius as the most accurate observational astronomer after Tycho Brahe's death
in 1601. 2 Fabricius was a Reformed pastor in Ostfriesland (East Frisia), his remote
natal region, and a vocational astronomer. He published nothing in the field of
astronomy except for the short treatises between 1604 and 1606 concerning the
nova that appeared in October 1604 in Serpentarius. 3 In August 1596, however, he
had been the first observer of the appearance of another nova, a star of the second
magnitude in the constellation of the Whale, which lasted until October. Fabricius
reported to Tycho immediately on this, thus coming into contact with the Danish
astronomer, whom he visited in 1598 when Tycho was residing near Hamburg after
leaving Denmark. Fabricius visited him again in 1601 in Prague (Kepler being at
that time absent in Styria), where he acquired the friendship of Franz Tengnagel,
Tycho 's son-in-law. In February 1609 Fabricius observed that the nova of 1596 had
reappeared in the same place only to disappear again at the end of the month. 4 It
was, in fact, the first discovery of a variable star (later named "mira Ceti" and o
Ceti), whose permanence in the heavens with phases of visibility Fabricius inter-
preted as a confirmation of his theory of the generation and meaning of novas and
comets. Fabricius died in 1617, murdered by a peasant whom he had accused in
a sermon of stealing geese from him. Some years before, in March 1611, he had
observed with his son Johannes (1587-1615) the existence of sunspots. Later in
the same year, in June, Johannes Fabricius published in Wittenberg the first printed
treatise on sunspots. 5
At the beginning of 1602, David Fabricius was visited in Ostfriesland by Franz
Tengnagel, who informed him of Tycho 's death and Kepler's appointment as
Imperial Mathematician. This gave Fabricius occasion to write to Kepler in March,
urging him to collaborate with Tengnagel in order to "put the common good first,
M.A. Granada (El)
University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
e-mail: granada@ub.edu
P.J. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27, 67
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6_5, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
68 M.A. Granada
and [together] under Tychonian arms lead the exiled Urania back into her ancestral
kingdom." 6 Obviously, Fabricius had been informed by Tengnagel of Kepler's inde-
pendent thought and of the peril that Tycho's observations, now in Kepler's hands,
would be used to promote Copernicanism instead of Tycho's astronomical reform.
An honest "Tychonian," Fabricius intervened to persuade Kepler to act in collabora-
tion with Tengnagel for the triumph of Tycho's geoheliocentric astronomy. Knowing
also through the Tychonians of Kepler's research on Mars, Fabricius made plain his
own personal study of Mars and used his observations to pose some questions to
Kepler concerning the motion of this planet. This was the start of an intense corre-
spondence lasting until November 1608, which reflects the process of construction
of Kepler's Astronomia nova (1609) and of the new "celestial physics" explaining
the elliptical motion of Mars around the Sun. The decisive significance of this cor-
respondence for the full understanding of the theoretical and rhetorical structure of
Kepler's most important work has been brilliantly studied by James Voelkel. 7
It was in the course of their correspondence that Fabricius reported in a letter of
27 October 1604 the appearance of the nova in Serpentarius. The two astronomers
exchanged views on its generation, nature, and significance, and communicated to
each other the publication of their successive treatises on the subject. Each cor-
respondent also sent the other his publications. It is our purpose in this study to
analyze and compare each author's interpretation of the generation and the meaning
of the nova; at the same time, we examine the connection of Kepler's conception, as
presented in his De Stella nova (1606), with his wider contemporary concern for his
"physica coelestis."
Brief Overview of the Sequence of Discussion and Publications
of Fabricius and Kepler on the Nova of 1604
We have the following distribution of opinions found in the letters and published
works of Fabricius and Kepler:
27 October 1604 (O.S.) [JKGW, 15, no. 297] Fabricius to Kepler: first observations and
impressions.
18 December 1604 (N.S.) [JKGW, 15, no. 308] Kepler to Fabricius: reply with initial
observations. Kepler encloses a copy of his recently printed German tract, Grundtlicher
Bericht Von einem vngewohnlichen new en Stern wellicher im Oktober difi 1604. Jahrs
erstmahlen erschienen (Prague, 1604). 8
End of December 1604 and 3 January 1605 (O.S.) [JKGW, 15, nos. 315, 316]: Fabricius
to Kepler: Fabricius acknowledges receipt of Kepler's tract and announces that he has
sent his own German tract (written in the North German dialect in the preceding weeks),
Himlischer Herhold und Geliick-Botte (lost).
14 January 1605 (O.S.) [JKGW, 15, no. 319] Fabricius to Kepler: first long exposition
of Fabricius 's interpretation of the generation of the nova. Fabricius does not discuss the
nova's meaning in detail, although he acknowledges that its extraordinary character suggests
a divine herald of future events.
23 September 1605 (O.S.) [JKGW, 15, no. 355] Fabricius to Kepler: Fabricius's Latin
tract Faecialis coelestis Romani Aquilae revicturi, printed in the same month and containing
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 69
a complete presentation of the meaning of the nova, has been sent to Kepler. 9 At the same
time, Fabricius announces the imminent publication of a longer German treatise. 10
11 October 1605 (N.S.) [JKGW, 15, no. 358] Kepler to Fabricius: long letter responding
to Fabricius's letter of 14 January as well as the latter's two treatises. Kepler criticizes
Fabricius 's interpretation.
10 December 1605 (O.S.) [JKGW, 15, no. 363] Fabricius to Kepler: copy of Fabricius's
longer German treatise, Kurtzer und Griindlicher Bericht Von Erscheinung und Bedeutung
defi grossen newen WunderSterns, sent to Kepler.
11 January 1606 (O.S.) [JKGW, 15, no. 371] Fabricius to Kepler: Fabricius requests
Kepler's judgement of his Latin and German treatises. Kepler, however, will do this only in
De Stella nova.
After February 1606: first German treatise by Fabricius, Himlischer Herhold und Geliick-
Botte, published in an extended version in High German. 11
September-October 1606: Kepler's De Stella nova published, with full criticism of
Fabricius's interpretation and full presentation of Kepler's theory. 12
20 January 1607 (O.S.) [JKGW, 15, no. 408] Fabricius to Kepler: Fabricius has learned
from the catalogue of the Frankfurt Book Fair that De Stella nova has been published. He
has been unable, however, to acquire a copy. In later letters (no. 419 and no. 421), Fabricius
renews his complaints and urges Kepler to send him a copy.
1 June 1607 (O.S.) [JKGW, 15, no. 430]: Fabricius to Kepler: Fabricius acknowledges
receipt of De Stella nova and thanks Kepler for it. At the same time, Fabricius reaffirms
his interpretation of the meaning of the nova, answering tacitly to Kepler's criticism in De
Stella nova. "In short," Fabricius says, "this new star signifies peace, and it will also signify
peace, as well as a change of the [Holy Roman] Empire for the better." (lines 306 f.)
At this moment, however, the correspondence was mainly absorbed by the ques-
tion of the motion of Mars and Kepler's physical explanation. To this, the comet
of 1607 was added, as well as the general problem of the physical possibility of
the Earth's movement. 13 As for the nova, the conception of both correspondents
was firmly fixed and no further modification in their positions emerged. Thus,
Fabricius reiterated his interpretation without changes in his Prognosticum for 1615.
To summarize the results before proceeding with the examination of their respective
interpretations, we can state:
(1) Neither correspondent was able to modify the position of his counterpart.
(2) Each contributed Latin and German tracts, aiming to appeal to different audi-
ences: a large, popular one with the German tracts and a select, erudite minority
of cultivated individuals, as well as astronomers and natural philosophers,
with the Latin ones. Nevertheless, the tracts by Fabricius show less differ-
ence between the two versions than those of Kepler, whose Latin text De Stella
nova is incomparably longer and more scientifically minded than his very short
German work.
(3) The interpretation of Fabricius remained identical from its first presentation in
his letter of January 1605 and in his Latin treatise Faecialis coelestis. Only new
details were added to complete the interpretation of the meaning of the new star.
On the contrary, Kepler, after writing an initial short report in the first weeks
of the nova's appearance, concentrated on the composition of an exhaustive
critical study, following loosely the model of Tycho's Progymnasmata (1602)
on the previous nova in Cassiopeia. Here Kepler critically examined a series of
70 M.A. Granada
questions regarding the structure of the universe and the processes of natural
causation involving the agency of souls, as well as the problem of the capacity
of man to ascertain the meaning of extraordinary events such as the concurrence
of the nova of 1604 with the great planetary conjunction of 1603, through which
a new period of the "fiery trigon" had begun.
Fabricius's Interpretation of the Nova
The Generation of the Nova
Like most astronomers and the general public of the period, Fabricius was worried
about the effects of the new "fiery trigon." In a letter of 26 December 1603 (O.S.),
12 days after the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Sagittarius, he expressed
to Kepler his wish to know any treatise that the latter should write on the matter. At
the same time, Fabricius mentioned the expectations of widespread renovation, 14
and there is no doubt that, like most astronomers of the time, Fabricius looked
to the heavens in the last days of September 1604 (O.S.) to observe the comple-
tion of the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn with the incorporation of Mars.
And, like everyone else, he was bewildered — as he told Kepler on 27 October —
when on 3 October, after some days of cloudy weather, he observed that a new
star had appeared extremely near the place of the great conjunction, in the foot of
Serpentarius.
In his letter, Fabricius recorded the position of the new star, its first-rank magni-
tude (greater than Jupiter), its scintillation (indicating it was a star), and its lack of
proper motion. Fabricius also connected the phenomenon with two other new stars,
which had appeared a few years earlier: the one he had observed for 2 months in
1596 in the constellation of the Whale, and the second, more recent, in the constel-
lation of the Swan, which appeared in 1600 and was still visible. He added: "you
can see clearly that the significance of the great conjunction is confirmed by the
appearance of this [star]. [. . .] Thus, it appears from this that new stars of this type
appear more frequently [than hitherto suspected]." 15
Later, in his letter of late December, Fabricius reported on the great diminution
in the star's size and on its unchanged location. 16 In the next letter (3 January 1605)
Fabricius wrote, after thanking Kepler for his German treatise, that Kepler's testi-
mony had quieted the vast number of people that had previously derided Fabricius
for claiming that the phenomenon was a new star. 17
Fabricius's next letter (14 January 1605) already contained a full presentation of
his interpretation of the nova's generation and nature. It was followed by the publi-
cation of his first treatise still available to us, Faecialis coelestis Romani Aquilae
revicturi}* printed and sent to Kepler in September. This treatise also offers a
complete presentation of the star's meaning. The fact that Fabricius's conception
remained constant until his final pronouncement allows us to present it by refer-
ring to both this letter and the Latin treatise, paying attention when necessary to the
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 71
other treatises, particularly his Kurtzer und Grundlicher Bericht} 9 where Fabricius
presents his conception of the nova's meaning more fully.
According to his letter and Latin treatise, the reason adduced by Fabricius 's oppo-
nents, mainly theologians, for denying that the phenomenon was a new star was that
a new star contradicted the Mosaic account in Genesis, according to which God had
ceased to create after the sixth day. 20 This interpretation conflicted with the obser-
vational evidence of astronomers, who noted scintillation, a progressive diminution
in size, and a complete absence in celestial globes and star catalogues (Fabricius
mentions neither the unchanged position in the sky nor the absence of parallax). 21
For Fabricius, this reading of Scripture was also too restrictive, its true meaning
being that God "had ceased all work that He then intended to do; and I suppose that
with that statement it is not denied that afterwards He extraordinarily creates special
new things." 22 Fabricius seems to hint at the ever-possible intervention of God's
absolute power (potentia absoluta) after the establishment of the natural order (His
ordinary power or potentia ordinata) and at the subsequent production of miracles
or extraordinary events. In his letter, Fabricius mentioned as well Kepler's support in
the Optics (1604), when the Imperial Mathematician adduced the frequent appear-
ance of these stars, naming "mira Ceti." Fabricius added the new star in the Swan
and concluded: "it appears, then, every fourth year a new star is seen, as in 1596,
in 1600 in the Swan, in 1604 in Sagittarius, and perhaps new stars also appeared in
other times, though they were not observed." 23
Fabricius proceeded to present "his thoughts" on the generation and nature of
the nova, in accordance with the theological principle that new creatures were
impossible, 24 except as a result of an extraordinary intervention by God. His the-
ory, then, was that the nova of 1604 (like the previous ones since 1572) and comets
were "co-created" or coeval with the rest of the heavenly bodies and consequently
present in the heavens from the creation of the world, and they would remain there
until its end and the second coming of Christ. Only the light with which they begin
to shine and become visible is "new." Contrary to the majority of the heavenly bod-
ies, new stars and comets were created opaque, to be illuminated at precise moments
according to God's will, in order to announce to mankind important future events.
As Fabricius stated:
I am certainly led to the opinion that both these new stars and comets were created at the
beginning of the world with the rest of the fixed stars and planets, with this difference,
however: that the latter are always visible and observe a visible movement, whereas those
new ones are not always visible, but are moved around the ether with an invisible motion,
except when God illuminates them at certain times to foretell good or evil to men. [. . .]
Therefore, I say that the bodies of those new stars have been initially created opaque and
dark, and deprived of light, so that they do not always stand open to sight, but are illuminated
only at certain times according to God's will. 25
In support of his theory, Fabricius adduced: (1) the phases of the moon, an
opaque body "that cannot be seen unless illuminated by the Sun;" 26 (2) the har-
mony and all the other accidents in the motions of the new phenomena, similar to
those in the permanent heavenly bodies, which would be useless and in vain unless
they were permanent bodies 27 ; (3) the indication by Tycho in the conclusion of
72 M.A. Granada
his Progymnasmata 2 ^ of the existence of a "gap" in the place where the nova of
Cassiopeia was situated, where most probably "the opaque body of the star still
remains in that place." 29
Two reasons or explanations were given by Fabricius for the appearance of the
nova. First, since it was a divine sign or messenger of future events, if it would shine
permanently, like the other stars, or if it would progressively but slowly increase in
size, it would never be identified by men as a divine sign. On the contrary, its sudden
appearance with such a great size in an environment of unchanging heavenly bodies
and its successive diminution in size induced men to consider it an extraordinary
and intentional act of divine intervention. 30 Second, its progressive diminution in
size could be explained as an indication that men, after having identified God's sign
and will, had sincerely repented of their sins, and consequently God's wrath had
remitted. 31
Before proceeding with the meaning of the nova, it is worth noting briefly some
cosmological points that tacitly emerge from Fabricius 's account. Fabricius contin-
ued using the terms "sphaera" and "orb" to refer to the region of the fixed stars,
thereby indicating his firm belief in the finite universe, closed by a presumably solid
and hard sphere in motion. 32 On the contrary, he never employed these terms to
refer to the planetary region, thereby implying that he, in agreement with Tycho,
already had abandoned belief in solid planetary orbs and posited instead a fluid
or liquid heaven. Accordingly, Fabricius employed rather systematically the Latin
term "septa" ("regions"), 33 and he seems to concede self-motion to the planets, as
indicated by the term "circuitus" to designate their motion. 34
In the two later treatises, Kurtzer und Grundlicher Bericht and Himlischer
Herhold, Fabricius referred to the heavens, in opposition to the sublunar air ("unter-
ste grobe Lufft"), as "oberste Lufft" ("highest air"), "hohe subtile aetherische Lufft"
("high subtle ethereal air"), "summus aether" ("highest ether"), 35 and "freye Lufft"
("open air"). 36 This distinction in the fluid medium between pure and impure air is
presented along with a discussion on refraction, in such a way that we are tempted
to connect Fabricius 's position on this point with that of Christoph Rothmann in
his epistolary discussion with Tycho in the years 1586-1589. Fabricius learned of
this discussion from Brahe's edition of his correspondence with Rothmann and the
Landgrave Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel, Epistolae astronomicae (1596). 37
The Meaning of the Nova
Fabricius was convinced, from the first appearance of the nova, that it signified
"maximal and marvelous mutations in human affairs." 38 Such significance did not
derive merely from its supernatural causation, but rather from the close connec-
tion with the great conjunction of 1603 and its completion in 1604 through the
incorporation of Mars: "there is no doubt that through this nova the meanings of
the great conjunction are confirmed and, as it were, highlighted." 39 The Frisian
astronomer and preacher thus directed his readers to this celestial event, whose
influence on human affairs was increased by the fact that in 1603 it introduced a
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 73
new period of "fiery trigon." The subject of intense discussion in publications of
every sort, 40 the fiery trigon was the third such period of 200 years since the birth
of Christ, the first having begun around the time of Christ's nativity and the sec-
ond around the reign of Charlemagne (ca. 800). Firmly rejecting the privation by
Epicureans of any significance or influence of celestial events as well as their rejec-
tion of any teleology or providence in the universe, 41 Fabricius provided the reader
with a complete exposition of the significance of the new "fiery trigon", even while
rhetorically acknowledging the difficulty of the task and the conjectural character
of his elucidation. 42 Brahe had expressed a similar level of caution concerning the
significance of the nova in Cassiopeia.
According to Fabricius, the effects of the last great conjunction and of the new
period of the fiery trigon would be similar to those following the two previous con-
junctions in the time of Christ's nativity and Charlemagne. The parallelism was
reinforced by the fact that both conjunctions marking the beginning of the fiery
trigon were accompanied by similar novas and by a common political event, to
which Fabricius attributed great importance. Let us examine Fabricius 's conception
as it was initially conveyed in his Faecialis coelestis.
The great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in a fiery sign at the time of Christ's
birth announced the beginning of the Roman Empire, accompanied by the inception
of the Christian religion and the decadence of paganism and Judaism. 43 Two parallel
facts were the new star announcing the nativity of Christ and "the Persian legation
of the Magi," which, guided by the nova, came to Christ. 44 A salient feature of
Fabricius's interpretation, more evident in the following two episodes, is the preem-
inence given to the political side, that is, to the foundation and fortune of the Roman
Empire, over the fortune of Christianity. It seems as though Fabricius, despite his
firm orthodoxy and all the significance that he assigned to the planetary conjunc-
tions in connection with the fate of Christianity, gave priority to the political fate
of the Empire. It was the decadence of the Roman-German Empire that stirred up
Fabricius's anguish and sorrow. In the same way, its renovation and rejuvenescence
aroused his hopes.
Thus, for the next fiery trigon, ca. 800, Fabricius emphasized the political ren-
ovation of the Roman Empire by Charlemagne and its transferral to the Germans.
True, the parallel shift in the Christian religion was presented, but it always came
second to the evolution of the Empire. 45 Here Fabricius noted two accompany-
ing events in order to stress the parallelism that warranted his prediction for the
future after 1604: first, the "Persian legation" which came to Charlemagne's court
at Paderborn, "to venerate the restored Empire;" 46 and second, the extraordinary
nova in the heavens, which Fabricius intended as the comet above Venus seen at that
time by Albumasar. 47 If in 1604 the celestial omen was provided by the marvelous
new star that appeared at the precise moment and place of the great conjunction,
Fabricius could also testify that the same applied for the Persian legation that had
come to Charlemagne's court. These were his words:
1600. A most magnificent Persian legation came to our Emperor Rudolph II. In the interval
of the following four years, this legation was made much more splendid by two other special
legations, a most certain sign and testimony of what is to follow, and it revered by the tacite
74 M.A. Granada
impulse of the heavens the Roman Eagle that is to be restored in short time. When this
Persian legation was still in Prague, a certain illustrious new star began to shine near the
place of the great conjunction [...], as a most certain precursor of the renovation of the
Empire. 48
We can understand how, from these premises, Fabricius was to conclude that the
meaning of the nova connected with the great conjunction was nothing less than
the renovation of the German Empire, united to the renovation of Christianity and
the Church (with the religious side always secondary). In his own words:
Therefore all prudent men, from the congruence of conjunctions and all circumstances, can
easily conjecture that now that time approaches in which a great mutation in the Empire,
in kingdoms, and in religion is to be expected, all the more so if more and greater signs
concur now than before. [. . .] The Roman Eagle will be renovated and shall recover its
former vigour. The dignity of the Roman Empire shall be restored, but not without great
commotions beforehand, which are prefigured by the tremendous light of this new star.
[. . .] After these [commotions], the eagle shall revive and reign widely. 49
Fabricius freely accepted that his political interpretation of the nova's meaning
seemed unbelievable. The present state of the Holy Roman Empire looked like that
of a person at the point of death. Therefore, "this seems ridiculous to many, since
the Roman Eagle lies down prostrate with old age and lethal sickness." 50 Fabricius,
however, overcame this prevalent opinion 51 by appealing to medical experience
and the frequent cases of restoration after suffering from acute illness. Likewise,
the Empire presently suffered from extreme dangers, both external and internal,
and was almost dead. Nevertheless, the great conjunction, the Persian legation, and
the new stars were "critical signs," which testified that the restoration of health
was at hand. 52 Fabricius conceded special prophetic significance to another critical
sign: whereas the sun was setting in Libra at the first appearance of the new star,
Aries was at that precise moment ascending. Since Aries was an emblem of the
Imperial Eagle, and of the Empire itself, this configuration announced "the future
glory of the Empire." 53 Thus, the nova represented — according to Fabricius's opti-
mistic conclusion, appealing this time to a classical myth — the return of the Golden
Age. 54
Kepler's Interpretation of the New Star and His Criticism
of Fabricius in De Stella Nova
The Generation of the Nova
Kepler's acceptance, with great praise, of the observational results achieved by
Fabricius did not keep him from harshly critizising Fabricius's conception of the
generation and significance of the nova. Kepler's criticism on the first point is pre-
sented in Chapter 20, "Whether the Matter and the Body of the New Star Existed
Previously," in which he reaffirms the objections already expressed in his letter of
October 1605.
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 75
First, Fabricius 's theological premise was strongly rejected by Kepler. Apart from
the fact that, according to the theologians, God creates new souls daily, the Bible
itself announces that He shall create a new heaven and a new earth. 55 Moreover, the
theological premise itself is inconsistent: even if the body of the star was present
in the heavens since the work of creation, its light, purportedly new, would be in
contradiction with the creation of light (in entirety) on the first day. Therefore, "he
who ascribes to God this action [of illuminating], makes Him creator of something
new." 56 The assumption that the light was not new, God having only separated the
obstacle or shadow which veiled the light from the beginning, would also contradict
Genesis, since separation was realized on the second day.
Fabricius 's argument was, therefore, untenable. The same applied to the reasons
Fabricius adduced for supporting it: the analogy of the moon, the movement of
comets, the "gap" observed by Brahe where the nova of 1572 had shone. Kepler
triumphantly concluded: "it is quite obvious, I think, that there is no apt reason
for believing that these new stars existed before they were seen and are preserved,
after their extinction, for a new illumination." 57 In sum, Fabricius is "a Theologian"
and argues as such, preferring therefore "non causal teachings" ("anaitiologetous
traditiones"), that is, direct and miraculous interventions by God, to "physical
causes. JO
Contrary to Fabricius, Kepler interpreted the nova as a new body — not existing
before it appeared — produced by physical causes. According to Kepler, a natural
generation was all the more plausible on account of the numerous novas and celestial
comets that had been observed since 1572, not to mention the testimony of Pliny on
motionless "comets" that were located in the region of the fixed stars. 59 This grow-
ing presence of novelties in the heavens went against their miraculous production,
favoring instead a natural causation 60 and the natural mutability of the heavens. 61
Moreover, Kepler applied to this question the "right of citizenship [granted] to the
earth" by Copernicus 62 and affirmed that the difference between the elementary or
sublunary region and the supralunary was not one of essence, but only of distance
or space. 63 He advanced, then, towards the full homogenization of the cosmos by
considering the natural processes in both regions as similar if not identical in struc-
ture, "unless the efficient causes of the same things (light, color, scintillation) are not
identical below the moon and among the fixed stars." 64 While the laws of heavenly
motion were permanent (and this applied as well to the motion of the earth, even if
Kepler did not advance this point), celestial matter, and particularly the liquid celes-
tial matter filling space, was susceptible to alteration and change. 65 Contemporary
examples adduced by Kepler confirmed that celestial matter was liable to changes
in density, so that at different times density was different in the same place. 66
Together with Tycho and other astronomers on the earlier nova of 1572, Kepler
rejected the possibility that the matter for the nova of 1604 could have come from
sublunary exhalations. The whole sublunary realm would not have sufficed for it,
given the enormous dimensions of the nova. 67 He also agreed with Tycho in con-
sidering that, on account of their location near the border of the Milky Way, the
two novas were generated from the highly dense ethereal matter in that area. 68
Nevertheless, Kepler reckoned rather that it was the whole ethereal matter (also
76 M.A. Granada
called by him "aura etherea" and, following Virgil, "campos liquentes") that pro-
vided the matter for novas and comets. Novas appeared too often to originate only
from the Milky Way, and Fabricius had famously observed a nova in the Whale,
very far from the Milky Way. "The heavens in every place are able to afford matter
for these [new] stars." 69
If the star was indeed new and generated from ethereal matter by natural causes,
what was its efficient cause? Kepler addressed this problem in Chapter 24, "On
the Efficient [Cause] of the New Star." This chapter, which consists in Kepler's
explanation of the process of generation, is very short, due mainly to its conjec-
tural or hypothetical character. 70 Kepler was fully aware that in this "new physics of
the heavenly bodies" ("novam Physicen corporum coelestium") supplying an ade-
quate "efficient cause" for the nova was most difficult. 71 Interestingly, the title of
the chapter in the General Index is more explicit, giving some clue of Kepler's con-
ception: "On the Efficient [Cause] of the New Star, whereby the World is Probably
Provided with Some Natural Faculty." 12 This natural faculty, also named "facultas
naturalis architectonica," "operosissimum architectum," "facultas architectatrix," 73
was situated not only in the stellar globes themselves (in this case, the seat would be
multiple), and in the sun (in this case, the seat would be very narrow and its transit
to the stellar region "immense, similar to the infinite"), 74 but throughout the whole
expanse of the ether:
For either there is no seat for it [the natural faculty] except in the empty liquid itself, or, if
[it is] in the globes of the stars, the seat for it will not be one; or, if [it is] in the globe of the
sun, the seat for it will be extremely confined and its transit [to the stellar region] immense,
similar to the infinite. I prefer to say the first, that there is in the whole ethereal substance
one faculty where the planets move, another where the fixed stars rest, similar to the natural
faculty which is in animals, appointed for the particular task to be defined by us. Thus, it
becomes clear why we introduce particularly this faculty into the heavens, which should
exercise those works of new stars just as if secondary works. 75
Kepler's hypothesis of the "natural faculty" as a "physical cause" is intended
neither merely for the nova of 1604, nor for the whole species of novas, but for
the full range of celestial novelties. The natural faculty produces from the ethereal
substance comets in the planetary region and novas in the region of the fixed stars.
Applying the logic of homogenization, Kepler conceived this natural faculty in the
heavens as similar or analogous to the natural faculty in the earth and in man:
Thus, it is consistent that the other globes are also endowed with the same faculty which the
earth, one of the globes, possesses. [. . .] However, since this matter is gathered together and
finally set on fire not in the globes of the stars, but in the liquid fields [in campis liquentibus;
Kepler is quoting Aeneid, 6, 724], however much you may put natural faculties in the globes,
it is necessary to add also a certain other one, which, infused into all the limbs [totos infusa
per artus; Aeneid, 6, 726], permeates the liquid ether, and, so that we take up again examples
for the heavens from terrestrial things, it procures in the ether the same things that some
faculty (very occult by name, very obvious in itself) procures in this our warm air. 76
If this animistic principle was the efficient cause of the nova, how did it perform
its task and for what purpose? The purpose, Kepler thought, was to preserve as clean
and proper the transparent and fluid "campos liquentes" or ethereal matter, always
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 77
encumbered by "perspiration," fatty excesses, and putridity exhaled by the stars. The
procedure was analogous to that by which the elements and man produced different
kinds of animals, from ticks, fleas, caterpillars, leeches, and fishes to monsters in
the sea such as whales:
[. . .] It is thus a property of the ethereal essence to be transparent, and that which is not
fluid cannot be transparent [...]: the heavens, certainly, are not of those transparent things
that retain this effect by a certain hardness, as comets demonstrate, who traverse a path
everywhere without being impeded by any solid orbs. The heavens, then, since they are
fluid, are also necessarily transparent. It is fitting that they are provided with some faculty,
through which this vast field is preserved in its state. [. . .] We shall therefore assign to
this soul the following office, [namely] that either the soul, while purging and purifying
its body, through some essential propriety of itself, assembles and, as it were, cleanses
fat and unclean vapours of this kind, or it occupies excrements from the stellar globes, as
if an empty possession. In both cases, however, from the matter encountered [inventa] or
engendered, it produces amongst the fixed stars an immobile star; amongst the planets, a
mobile comet, with the same instinct as we have said that this terrestrial faculty diffused
amongst animals forms little animals, such as butterflies and similar things. 77
The Meaning of the Nova
If the generation of the nova was a natural process, it seems that its significance and
meaning should also be natural. This, of course, was quite different from the far-
reaching meanings that Fabricius and others attributed to it. Accordingly, Chapter 28
of De Stella nova deals with "The Natural Effects of this New Star in the Sublunary
World." 78 For Kepler, "nothing exists or becomes visible in the heavens whose per-
ception does not pass by some occult reason [occulta quadam ratione] into the earth
and all the faculties of natural things; and these animal faculties are affected here on
earth like the heavens itself is affected." 79 Thus, just as sublunary nature is affected
by the privation of light during an eclipse and reacts to this perception with a number
of effects, the same occurs when the light of the nova is perceived, since "when-
ever something new and unusual appears in the heavens, sublunary nature, over
which some animate faculty presides, is somehow terrified." 80 As with the percep-
tion of the planetary conjunction, sublunary nature, or the earth collectively, will
have reacted to the perception of the nova through its "expulsive faculty" ("facultas
Telluris expultrix"). This reaction consists in different kinds of excretions or per-
spirations resulting in vapors and rains. 81 The same happens with man and human
society. Beyond the rational reaction of men fully conscious of the phenomenon,
and here Kepler refers ironically to the plethora of printed prognostics with all
sorts of predictions, 82 all men will have reacted to it through the non-discursive,
unconscious perceptive faculty common to man and all natural things. According to
Kepler, the effect is a proclivity for innovation. 83
If such are the effects to be assigned to the new star according to its natural
origin, then the meaning attributed to it by Fabricius makes no sense. Moreover,
even the inclination to innovation is only a general tendency, whose precise def-
inition depends entirely on "human counsel and sublunary circumstances." This
78 M.A. Granada
gives Kepler occasion to disavow Fabricius's hope of the arrival of "a great German
Prince" destined for success by virtue of the sun's location and configuration with
respect to the star's first appearance:
Thus, not very mindfully Fabricius dared to promise complete success to a great German
Prince and indeed a great improvement in imperial dignity from the mere fact that the new
star befell his birth with a sextile [aspect], with the sun in that degree at the appearance
of the star. [. . .] The fact that someone should be troubled in the year 1605 by the occult
stimulation of his nature through the star is very different from the fact that, from this year
1605 onward, he ought to expect a special dignity in the German Empire and thanks to his
advice the state of the Empire shall improve. The latter depends on advice and sublunary
circumstances, the former on nature. 84
The question of meaning now seems to be solved. From a purely natural expla-
nation of the origin of the nova, without considering the parallel question of the
planetary conjunction and the onset of a new fiery trigon, Fabricius's interpretation
of the meaning of the nova appears arbitrary, gratuitous, and unfounded. However, at
this moment Kepler makes a decisive step. He considers the coincidence of the new
star with the inception of the fiery trigon and the completion of the great conjunc-
tion by the incorporation of Mars. Had the nova appeared amongst such momentous
circumstances merely by chance?
Kepler examined this question in Chapters 26 and 27 ("Whether the Coincidence
of the Nova with the Great Conjunction in Time and Place was Fortuitous"
and "Examination of the Posited Opinions," respectively). He rejected as wholly
unfounded the opinion of astrologers, who thought that the nova was an immedi-
ate effect of the great conjunction, as was often claimed in the case of comets. 85
But Kepler reckoned as equally untenable the Epicurean thesis that the coincidence
was purely accidental, a thesis stemming from the mistaken aspiration to a life of
pleasure, free of any concern for a providential and rewarding deity. 86
The Aristotelians, for their part, judged that both conjunctions and new stars
stemmed from natural causes. Their coincidence in space and time was fortu-
itous, however, since "the Governor of this world does not intend to procure these
coincidences." 87 Kepler expressed his inclination to accept the coincidence in space,
but the double coincidence in space and time was, to his mind, too much. Kepler's
commitment to the principle of sufficient reason induced him to dismiss fortuitous
coincidence and to accept the intended purpose of an intelligent agent. Thus, Kepler
approached the position of contemporary Christian theologians like Fabricius, who
explained the nova as the miraculous and supernatural intervention of God, who
spoke in this way to humans. 88 Kepler approached the position of theologians such
as Fabricius even more closely by suggesting that the parallelism between the incep-
tion of the fiery trigons coinciding with Christ's nativity and the conjunction of
the superior planets in 1604 was still greater than usually supposed, since Christ,
according to the Polish chronologist Laurentius Suslyga (whose tract on this issue
Kepler presented in large part in an appendix to De Stella nova), was born 4 years
before the commonly accepted date. In this way, the nativity of Christ and the star
that appeared to the Magi drew nearer by the span of just 2 years to the date of the
great conjunction opening the sixth fiery trigon since the creation of the world. 89
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 79
However, this approximation to the position of theologians did not imply that
Kepler had passed entirely to their position. The Imperial Mathematician maintained
his explanation of the origin of the nova according to physical causes. He added to
this the purposeful intervention of an intelligent agent who sent in the form of the
nova and the planetary conjunction a message to humankind. Even if he contem-
plated the possibility that this intelligent agent was Nature herself, acting through
"that spirit which permeates the fields of the whole world," 90 Kepler concluded that
it was too much for the capacity of nature. The combined phenomenon which was
exhibited to men on earth required an omnipotent agent invested also with "the most
ample science" and "finally with a purpose eminently good and philanthropic," 91 all
of which amounted to a number of conditions only possible for an immaterial, tran-
scendent God, "an architect, by whose counsel the star comes into conjunction with
the planets." 92
The combined effect, then, of the planetary conjunction and the new star was
the product of nature under the direction of divine providence. God uses Nature
as His servant, and unites the planetary conjunction, as viewed from the earth,
to the new star produced by the natural faculty in the same moment and place of
the conjunction. Here, Kepler bore witness to God's plan for human redemption. 93
Through this physical explanation subordinated to the insightful providence of God,
Kepler attributed to the star a meaning of major importance associated with the
planetary conjunction. As far as these aspects of his interpretation, Kepler agreed
with Fabricius. What, then, was the star announcing? And what did Kepler think of
Fabricius 's political and religious interpretation?
Kepler dedicated Chapter 30, his final chapter, to this question. 94 It seems to me,
however, that Kepler's thought on this can be best characterized by a biblical pas-
sage (Romans 3: 4) that he had quoted at the end of Chapter 27 with a significant
addition of his own: "let God be true, but every man — therefore also myself and this
interpretation of mine of this prodigy which I reflect upon — a liar." 95 According to
this, Kepler admonished the reader against any positive and fully fledged interpre-
tation of the meaning of the star. Let us now see how Kepler developed this in his
long final chapter.
Apart from Scripture, God addresses men through natural effects, which in this
case have an allegorical meaning to which men must contribute in order to grasp
God's intention. 96 The two most important signs are effects "against nature" ("con-
tra naturam") and effects "beyond the ordinary course of nature" ("praeter naturam
ordinariam"). The former — here Kepler gives the example of the Sun's standstill on
account of Joshua's request — signifies the most important plane of church and reli-
gion, the second that plane next in human importance, empire. The nova of 1604,
if interpreted according to Chapter 27, belongs to this second class of signs. Here
Kepler advances a possible meaning, namely the forthcoming establishment of a
new, universal commonwealth, which will bring peace to the world and put an end to
quarrels and wars. 97 I do not exclude, however, that Kepler is employing here, as in
other parallel texts to be mentioned, a subtle irony, making his discourse ambiguous.
Kepler refused to enter into precise and concrete predictions, and he severely
criticized contemporary "theological" interpretations, first and foremost that of
80 M.A. Granada
Helisaeus Roeslin, 98 but also that of Fabricius. Concerning Fabricius, Kepler was
rather brief and emphasized two points: first, Fabricius 's prognostic was "exces-
sively subtle," 99 Kepler meaning the arbitrariness of his reference to the renovation
of the German Empire according to the position of Aries, the emblem of the Imperial
Eagle, at the first appearance of the nova 100 ; and second, Fabricius's interpretation
also had a highly personal character, because "it contained nothing other than com-
plaints about his neighbours, an opinion about the condition of the Empire, and his
longing for revenge and restoration." 101
Kepler apparently was convinced that there was no art for a correct interpreta-
tion of prodigies 102 and, consequently, men sought in vain to decipher the meaning
intended by God. 103 According to Kepler, a prophetic instinct, or some sort of divine
inspiration, was needed to grasp the meaning of the star. Mixing irony with plain
discourse, Kepler was inclined to concede some touch "by God's rod" ("divina
virgula") to Roeslin, his main concern here, but he was also convinced that such
prognostications were full of wishful thinking. 104
Kepler, for his part, pointed out that several interpretations could be devised.
Probably with some amount of irony, he suggested the following scenarios: a large
process of emigration from Europe to the New World, connected with the general
conversion of the Indies to Christianity, the collapse of the Turkish Empire, and
the conversion of Muslims to the Christian religion, the coming of the Messiah
awaited by the people of Israel, the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, and the
coming (according to the different Christian confessions) of the Antichrist or of
Christ Himself to judge the world. 105 Kepler even reiterated his previous prediction
of a new age of political peace, with the addition of a return to the principles of
Christianity and an ecclesiastical reform. 106
Nevertheless, Kepler's final and most sincere position seems to have been that of
a calling to prudence, inasmuch as it was not absolutely certain that the nova had
been produced beyond the ordinary course of nature. 107 He referred to the nova as an
enigma through which God was summoning men to introspection, an examination
of conscience, and true repentance. 108 For this, Kepler appealed to the precedent of
Tycho, 109 who "followed this path" (Kepler meant most probably the conclusion to
the Progymnasmata, where, however, Tycho had indulged largely in eschatological
prediction with some caution). 110
Kepler adduced a variety of reasons to justify his own prudence: his public posi-
tion as Imperial Mathematician, obliged to restore astronomy rather than act as a
prophet 111 ; the division of Christianity into conflicting sects and the ensuing impos-
sibility of satisfying all of them; and his lack of prophetic ability. 112 He preferred,
then, to insist on the convocation by God to general repentance and on the dif-
ference between astronomy and astrology. 113 He affirmed his own goodness and
pacific German character 114 and, perhaps with some incoherence, urged common
people, devoted to astrology and prophecies, to abstain from his book, which was
purportedly "entirely consecrated to astronomical and physical speculations." 115
Later, in a letter to Herwart von Hohenburg, Kepler was to restate his
position:
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 81
My book on the star has many parts; I concede the least importance to that concerning the
meanings, although there are many philosophical [insights] interspersed. [. . .] You see I
have stirred the battle about the meanings. [. . .] And what else is my whole booklet but a
solemn mortal beating of almost all of judiciary astrology? [. . .] Thus, when you deny that
predictions of particular things depend upon a solid and firm foundation, you find me in
agreement and you will draw nothing else from my book. 116
Conclusion
We can conclude from our study that, despite the originality of his views about the
origin and meaning of the nova, Fabricius 's tracts are representative of the major
trend in literature of the period on novas: generation by an extraordinary interven-
tion of God and a venture to a very definite interpretation of the meaning. This
theoretical position is in accordance with Fabricius 's contemporary discussion with
Kepler on the explanation of the motion of Mars. Fabricius fully accepted the clas-
sical separation between astronomy (conceived as a purely geometrical discipline)
and physics, and consequently he firmly rejected their unification in Kepler's "phys-
ica coelestis." On the contrary, Kepler's attempt in De Stella nova to construct a
purely physical explanation of the origin of the nova is strongly connected with his
"celestial physics" and therefore can be viewed as a part of what Patrick Boner judi-
ciously calls "Kepler's Copernican Campaign" in De Stella nova} 11 even though the
constraints acting on Kepler prevented him from fully incorporating all the com-
ponents of his celestial physics into the Astronomia nova. Nevertheless, De Stella
nova remains a decisive step in the process of changing relations between the disci-
plines related to the heavens and the ensuing emergence of modern cosmology as a
physical astronomy. 1 1 8
The physical explanation of the generation of the nova did not, however, prevent
Kepler from attributing to it a meaning related to the great conjunction of the three
superior planets in the fiery sign of Sagittarius. Thus, Kepler's theory of the nova
rejoins the most typical literature on the subject, even though Kepler's prognostic
remains deliberately uncertain, with a great amount of irony towards this litera-
ture (including Fabricius) and a problematical coherence with the physical results
previously obtained.
Notes
1. For a brief presentation of Fabricius 's biography and writings, see now Menso
Folkerts, "Der Astronom David Fabricius (1564-1617): Leben und Wirken," Beitrdge zur
Wissenschaftsgeschichte 23, 2000, 127-142, with further references to previous studies. Cf.
also Kepler's Somnium: The Dream or Posthumous Work on Lunar Astronomy, translated
with commentary by Edward Rosen (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1967),
226-232, and the biographical sketch in John R. Christianson, On Tycho's Island: Tycho
Brake and His Assistants, 1570-1601 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000),
273-276.
2. Cf. De Stella nova, in JKGW, 1, 210.33-210.37.
82 M.A. Granada
3. For the sake of exactness, mention should be made of several calendars and prognostics. See
the list of these works in Folkerts, "Der Astronom David Fabricius," 134-135.
4. Cf. Fabricius's letter to Kepler of 12 March 1609 (JKGW, 16, no. 524; 232 f., quoted below,
ref. 13). See also the description in David Fabricius, Prognosticum astrologicum Auff Das
Jahr . . . M DC XV (Nuremberg, 1614), sig. Aii, v: "Eben denselben Stern/nach dem er in
die zwelff Jahr lang verschwunden oder unsichtbar gewest/hab ich andermals widerumb zu
Gesicht bekommen/Anno 1609. dem 5. 12. 19. 20. und 22 Febr. vet. styl. deB abends/und
gleiche distantias a vicinis fixis gehabt/als fur 12. Jahren/ist aber bald hernach widerumb
verloschen/ unnd mit der Sonnenstralen bedeckt worden."
5. Johann Fabricius, De maculis in Sole observatis, et apparente earum cum Sole conversione,
narratio (Wittenberg, 1611), reprinted in Gerhard Berthold, Der Magister Johann Fabricius
und die Sonnenflecken: Nebst einem Excurse iiber David Fabricius (Leipzig, 1894), 29-38.
On the issue of the first observation and interpretation in Europe of the sunspots, see William
R. Shea, "Galileo, Scheiner, and the Interpretation of the Sunspots," Isis 61, 1970, 498-519.
Shea does not mention Fabricius, however.
6. Letter of 13 March 1602 (O.S.), in JKGW, 14, no. 211, 18-20, as translated by James
R. Voelkel, The Composition of Kepler's Astronomia nova (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2001), 172.
7. Voelkel, Composition, Chapter 8 ("David Fabricius"). The importance of this correspon-
dence had also been acknowledged by previous studies, such as those by Alexandre Koyre,
The Astronomical Revolution: Copernicus, Kepler, Borelli, translated by R. W. E. Maddison
(London and Ithaca, N.Y.: Methuen and Cornell University Press, 1973); Gerard Simon,
Kepler astronome astrologue (Paris: Gallimard, 1979); and more recently Bruce Stephenson,
Kepler's Physical Astronomy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994).
8. This treatise has been reprinted in JKGW, 1, 393-399. Cf. the English translation by Judith
V. Field and Anton Postl, "Bericht vom Newen Stern," Vistas in Astronomy 20, 1977,
333-339.
9. Faecialis coelestis Romani Aquilae revicturi. hoc est De illustri & Nova quadam Stella,
coniunctionem magnam Saturni & Jovis anni spacio consecuta; futuram Imperii Romani
mutationem, restaurationem & gloriam praesignificante. The term "faecialis" alludes to a
college of functionaries in ancient Rome whose duty it was to make proclamations of peace
and war and to confirm treaties. Fabricius sent to Kepler three copies of the first edition, ded-
icated to Rudolph Wynwood, English Ambassador to the Ostfrisian Parliament, which met
on 1 1-18 September (cf. JKGW, 15, no. 355, 5-7). No copies of this edition have survived. A
second edition, identical to the first but dedicated to a local nobleman, was published in early
1606. Only one copy of this edition is extant, and it is held in Wolfenbiittel by the Herzog
August Bibliothek. It was reprinted in 1894 in Berthold, Der Magister Johann Fabricius,
37-51. On p. 40, the beginning of September [1605] is given as the present moment of writ-
ing: "Sub principium vero Septemb. (quo haec scribo) . . ." In 1606 Fabricius's Latin tract on
the nova was reedited with a new title: Prodromus Romani aquilae iam iam renovandi, hoc
est. De Illustri & nova quadam Stella coniunctionem magnam Saturni & Iovis anni spacio
consecuta; futuram imperii Romani mutationem, restaurationem & gloriam consignificante
(Magdeburg, 1606). This treatise has survived only in one copy preserved in the Oldenburg
State Archive. I am grateful to Menso Folkerts for having provided me with a reproduc-
tion. A comparison of both editions allows me to conclude that no significant changes have
been introduced, Fabricius having limited himself to presenting the materials in modified and
sometimes more abridged form.
10. David Fabricius, Kurtzer und Griindlicher Bericht Von Erscheinung und Bedeutung defi
grossen newen WunderSterns, welcher den I. Octobr. defi 1604. Jahrs gegen dem Sudwesten
nach der Sonnen Untergang zu leuchten angefangen und noch an jetzo zu sehen ist. Darbey
auch von dem Achthundert Jahrigen Climacterico, das ist: Von dem grossen und weitberuf-
fenem Reichs stage der zween obersten Himmlischen ChurfUrsten und Planeten Saturni und
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 83
Iovis, in Decembri defi 1603. Jahrs gehalten, gehandelt wird (Hamburg, 1605). The dedica-
tory letter is dated October 15. This treatise was also reprinted, without changes, in Goslar
in 1612.
1 1 . David Fabricius, Himlischer Herhold und Geliick-Botte Des Romischen Adelers fiirstehende
Renovation oder vorjungung offentlich ausruffendt Das ist: Von dem Newen grossen und
ungewonlichen Wunderstern der Anno 1604. den 30 Septembr. zu scheinen angefangen
und ein gantz Jahr gestanden Des Romischen Reichs zukunfftiges auffnehmen andeutendt.
Dabey auch gedacht wird von dem achthundert Jahrigen Reichstag oder grossen conjunction
der zwey Obersten Planeten Saturni und Iovis. Alles auffs newe mit fleis ubersehen kiir-
zlich einfeltig und ordentlich dem gemeinen Mann zur nachrichtung gestellt und beschrieben
(Magdeburg, 1606). Preserved also in one copy (in the Oldenburg State Archive), this trea-
tise was reprinted by Gerhard Berthold in his study David Fabricius und Johann Kepler:
Vom neuen Stern (Norden und Nordeney, 1897), 11-21; Kepler's German treatise on the
nova is found here on 1-9. Berthold's study concludes with a very complete and accurate
"Bibliographie der Schriften des David Fabricius vom neuen Stern," on 25-37.
12. Concerning the complicated question of the printing process of this work, see Friedrich Seek,
"Johannes Kepler und der Buchdruck," Archiv fur Geschichte des Buchwesens 11, 1970,
609-726, on 630-637.
13. On the reasons for Kepler's abrupt ending of the correspondence in November 1608, see
Voelkel, Composition, 206-210. Fabricius wrote a letter to Kepler in March 1609 (JKGW,
no. 524). In it, he told of the reappareance of "mira Ceti" (lines 265-284) and triumphantly
accepted it as confirmation of his conception of the nature of novas and of comets: "[...]
vides hinc mi Keplere, meam de novis stellis et cometis sententiam esse veram, quod non de
novo creentur, sed priventur saltern interdum lumine et sic cursus suos nihilominus perficiant.
quando vero Deo visum fuerit nobis aliquid significare, accendit ilia corpora invisibilia ut
appareant et in publicum tanquam feciales [on this term, see ref. 9 above] quidam prodeant.
cogita tu de his ulterius. ego puto me non falso coniectasse antea de istis corporibus aethereis.
[...]. sententiam tuam de his scire aveo. res mira [this is the origin of the adjective applied
to the nova, "mira Ceti"] et vera" (lines 272-282). Kepler did not respond.
14. See JKGW, 15, no. 277, 42-46. For a general survey of the expectations, mainly eschatolog-
ical, of that time, see Robin B. Barnes, Prophecy and Gnosis: Apocalypticism in the Wake of
the Lutheran Reformation (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988), where little attention
is paid, however, to Fabricius in relation to the great conjunction of 1603 and the new star.
Cf. also Miguel A. Granada, "Calculos cronologicos, novedades cosmologicas y expectativas
escatologicas en la Europa del siglo XVI," Rinascimento, 2 a ser., 37, 1997, 357-435.
15. JKGW, 15, no. 297, 19-22: "Vides clare significationes coniunctionis magnae eius appari-
tione confirmari. [. . .] sic inde apparet, saepius novas eiusmodi apparere Stellas." See ibid.,
lines 9-28, for the entire commentary on the appearance of the nova.
16. JKGW, 15, no. 315, 10-12: "Vidi hisce diebus eandem novam ante Solis ortum, in eodem
quidem loco zodiaci, sed quantitas multum imminuta est."
17. JKGW, 15, no. 316, 5-8: "Ego hie derisus sum cum mea nova Stella, quod dicerent esse
veterem stellam. Tu vero nunc confirmas novae apparitionem tuo testimonio. iam omnes
abunde credunt, et mihi propter te et per te fidem habent. Tibi igitur maximas debeo gratias."
At this moment, Fabricius, to say nothing of verbal discussions with fellow countrymen, had
published his first treatise in German dialect, Himlischer Herhold und Geliick-Botte.
18. See ref. 9 above.
19. See ref. 10 above.
20. JKGW, 15, no. 3 19, 54-57. Cf. Faecialis coelestis, 41 : "Nonnulli tamen Theologi in eo adhuc
haesitare videntur, ob verba Mosis, Deum septimo die ab omni creationis opere quievisse
scribentis." This reason was already adduced against the nova in Cassiopeia by the Spaniard
Francisco Valles and had been severely critizised by Brahe in his Progymnasmata. See
TBOO, 3, 87 ff. Fabricius does not mention the precedent.
21. Cf., however, Faecialis coelestis Romani Aquilae revicturi, in Berthold, Der Magister Johann
Fabricius (henceforth Faecialis coelestis, always cited according to this edition), 47: "Since,
84 M.A. Granada
then, this new star emulates the very slow movement of the fixed stars, there is no doubt that
it is next to the eighth sphere or orb of the stars." On the absence of parallax, see ibid.: "It
completely lacks parallax."
22. JKGW, 15, no. 319, 59-61: "Textum quoque sic commode explicari et intelligi posse exis-
timo: Cessasse Deum ab omni opere, quod videlicet tunc facere intenderat, nee quo minus
postea specialia nova extraordinarie creet, dicto isto negari puto." Cf. Faecialis coelestis,
41-42: "At intelligenda haec sunt de generalis creationis opere tunc instituto, non vero de
extraordinaria vel speciali quarundam rerum creatione, suo tempore, ob certas causas, pri-
mum instituenda." The Prodromus Romani aquilae (that is, the revised edition of Faecialis
coelestis; cf. ref. 9 above) affirms this clearly: "Existimo igitur sacris literis minime esse
contrarium, aut absurdum credere, Deum etiam nunc interdum pro liberrima sua voluntate,
certis de causis, nova creare corpora," sig. A 6, v.
23. JKGW, 15, no. 319, 61-80, on 77-79. Faecialis coelestis omits this and mentions (on 42)
the continuous creation by God of new souls to animate new bodies. This argument was
advanced by Kepler in his letter of 11 October; see JKGW, 15, no. 358, 712: "according to
some theologians, God creates souls out of nothing every day." The argument was repeated
in De Stella nova, also against Fabricius, to respond to Fabricius's line of reasoning in accor-
dance with the theologically restrictive interpretation of Genesis. Unless the creation of souls
be counted as an extraordinary intervention of God, the inclusion of this as an example by
Fabricius seems rather incongruous. Moreover, it is intended as original, without acknowl-
edgement of Kepler's use of it. Since Faecialis caelestis was reproduced by Berthold from
the second edition, which was published after Fabricius received Kepler's letter, it is impos-
sible to decide whether the reference to souls is a subsequent addition, since no copy of the
first edition, earlier than Kepler's letter, has survived.
24. Fabricius emphasized this point of orthodoxy: "This opinion of mine also fully satisfies the
opinion of the theologians on the perpetual rest of God after the work of creation," JKGW,
15, no. 319, 108-110. In De Stella nova Kepler would accuse Fabricius of recanting his
former conception of a newly created star; cf. ref. 17 above for Fabricius's initial statement
and ref. 55 below for Kepler's charge.
25. JKGW, 15, no. 319, 82-95: "Ego sane in earn adducor sententiam, quod et Stellas has novas
et cometas initio mundi cum aliis stellis fixis et erraticis conditas esse credam, hac tamen
distinctione, ut hae visibiles semper sint, visibilemque motum observant, illae vero novae non
sint semper visibiles, sed invisibili motu in aethere circumvolvantur, nisi quando Deus illas
illuminet certis temporibus, ad praesignificanda bona vel mala hominibus. [. . .] Quare dico
illarum stellarum novarum corpora initio esse condita ut sint opaca et tenebrosa, lumineque
destituta, ita ut semper visui non pateant, sed certis tantum temporibus ex Dei voluntate
illuminentur." Faecialis coelestis repeats the same idea on 42. It reappears without changes
in subsequent tracts; see Kurtzer und Griindlicher Bericht, sig. Bii, r-v; Himlischer Herhold,
17; Prognosticum astrologicum Auff Das Jahr . . . M DC XV, sig. A ii, v.
26. JKGW, 15, no. 319, 97 f.: "Videmus enim Lunae corpus per se opacum esse nee propter
obscuritatem videri posse, nisi a Sole illuminetur." Fabricius repeated this in Faecialis
coelestis, 42, and in Kurtzer und Griindlicher Bericht, sig. B ii, r, but it disappeared in
Himlischer Herhold. In Faecialis coelestis, however, Fabricius acknowledged the impor-
tant difference that variations in illumination are produced in the moon "mediately," that is,
by ordinary reasons or secondary causes, while in the new stars (and comets) they are pro-
duced "immediately," that is, by God's will: "illaque [opaque bodies of novas and comets]
certis temporibus, ad creatoris nutum, non quidem mediate, ut in Luna fit, sed immediate
illuminari," 42. Fabricius suggests the same in Prodromus Romani aquilae, sig. A 7, r.
27. Faecialis coelestis, 42 f. This example was absent from Fabricius's letter to Kepler.
28. See TBOO, 3, 305.22 f.: "Quin et adhuc hiatus in eo ipso Galaxiae loco cernitur, ubi Stella
haec suas sedes obtinuit." Tycho's Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata was published
posthumously in 1602 under Kepler's editorship.
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 85
29. Faecialis coelestis, 43: "Hunc caeli hiatum [. . .] nihil aliud esse, quam opacum stellae istius
corpus ibi adhuc remanens, omnino credibile est." Cf. JKGW, 15, no. 319, 104-108; Kurtzer
und Griindlicher Bericht, sig. B ii, v.
30. JKGW, 15, no. 319, 88-92: "Si enim hae, quas novas vocant ob rariorem earum appari-
tionem, semper conspicerentur, nemo quicquam significationis novae ex illarum fulsione
cognoscere posset; at cum repente et insolite apparere incipiunt, tunc homines quasi ostento
divino excitati et consternati extraordinarium quid significari mundo non dubitant." In
Faecialis coelestis, Fabricius added: "At pleno lumine illuscentes, augusta sua quantitate
se cito produnt, et omnium oculis ingerunt. Successive autem rursum decrescunt in certissi-
mum veritatis testimonium, quod re vera novae sint, quum ea quantitatis visibilis imminutio
caeteris stellis minime accidat," 43.
3 1 . This explanation is absent from the letter to Kepler, though it appears in Faecialis coelestis:
"Secunda ratio luminis in prima apparitione splendidioris, et postea paulatim decrescentis,
Theologica est. ut ostendatur, Iram Dei initio quidem propter enormia nostra peccata valde
inflammari, at ubi debita poenitentia earn agnoverimus, paulatim tamen remittere, et tandem
omnino evanescere," 43 f.
32. Fabricius mentioned only the movement of precession in the stars, remaining silent on
the diurnal motion. Cf. Faecialis coelestis, 47: "Cum igitur haec nova Stella, tardissimum
fixarum motum proxime aemuletur, dubium non est, earn octavae sphaerae vel stellarum
orbi vicinam esse." At that time, however, Fabricius defended in his letters to Kepler Brahe's
physical objections against the diurnal motion of the Earth. Cf. JKGW, 15, no. 315, 25-32,
where Brahe's argument of the cannonball is presented as the "Herculeum argumentum
adversus motum terrae diurnum."
33. Cf. Faecialis coelestis, 44: "intra vel supra planetarum septa"; 45: "Cometarum vero intra
planetarum septa consistant." In Himlischer Herhold, the term employed is "Planeten
jurisdiction," 15, and "Planeten region," 16.
34. Faecialis coelestis, 45: "[cometae] intra planetarum circuitus versantur," also employed
in Himlischer Herhold, 15. It should be remembered that, for his part, Kepler was
in a similar terminological quest to designate the "path" ("via") of the planets, after
the dissolution of the solid spheres, before adopting the term "orbit" ("orbita"). On
this, see Bernard R. Goldstein and Giora Hon, "Kepler's Move from Orbs to Orbits:
Documenting a Revolutionary Scientific Concept," Perspectives on Science 13, 2005,
74-111.
35. Himlischer Herhold, 14-16.
36. Kurtzer und Grilndlicher Bericht, sig. Ci, v: "[God] solche grosse unbegreiffliche Corpora
[heavenly bodies] in freyer Lufft macht und erhelt."
37. TBOO, 6. See JKGW, 15, no. 319, 242 f.: "Tycho sent to me from Denmark the letter-
book, through which I became more certain of the whole matter [of refraction]." See
Rosen, Kepler's Somnium, 227, and more recently Adam Mosley, Bearing the Heavens:
Tycho Brahe and the Astronomical Community of the Late Sixteenth Century (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2007), 197 f., 300.
38. Faecialis coelestis, 48: "Quod ad novae stellae significationes attinet, dubium non est,
maximas et mirabiles rerum humanarum mutationes ab ea mundo portendi."
39. Ibid.: "dubium non est, per hanc novam conjunctionis magnae significata confirmari et quasi
insigniri."
40. Suffice it to mention, besides the famous treatise by Cyprianus Leovitius, De coniunction-
ibus magnis insignioribus superiorum planetarum, solis defectionibus et cometis in quarta
monarchia, cum eorundem effectuum historica expositione. His ad calcem accessit prognos-
ticon ab anno Domini 1564 in viginti sequentes annos (Lauingen, 1564), two more recent
publications: Brahe's interpretation of the meaning of the nova of 1572 in the conclusion
to his Progymnasmata {TBOO, 3, 309-319) and the unpublished German report by Kepler
to the Emperor, written in 1603 and entitled Ausfiihrlicher bericht Vom jetz angehenden
feurigen Triangul und seiner bedeuttung, in JKGW, 1 1/2, 67-79.
86 M.A. Granada
41. Fabricius only introduced this anti-Epicurean stance in the Kurtzer und Grundlicher Bericht,
sig. Ciii, r. It is, however, a tacit premise of his reasoning and of his explanation of the
generation of the nova from the beginning. As is known, this was also the foundation of the
Melanchthonian program of promoting astronomy and cosmology; see Sachiko Kusukawa,
The Transformation of Natural Philosophy: The Case of Philip Melanchthon (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1995), 124-173. For Kepler's similar position, see now Patrick
J. Boner, "Kepler v. the Epicureans: Causality, Coincidence and the Origins of the New Star
of 1604," Journal for the History of Astronomy 38, 2007, 207-221.
42. Faecialis coelestis, 48.
43. Ibid., 49: "Ut tempore Christi talis superiorum conjunctio in principio trigoni aurei contigit.
Incepit tunc 1. Monarchia Romana [. . .] 2. per Christianismi introductionem, antiquae [sic:
read "antiqua"] Judaeorum religio abolita, et idololatria Ethnica longe late exterminata est."
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.: "sub tempus Caroli [. . .] Imperium Romanum restauratum est, imperatoria simul dig-
nitate per Carolum ad Germanos translata. In Religione ingens mutatio quoque facta est,
idolomania Ethnica in Germania et vicinis regnis feliciter et utiliter exstirpata."
46. Ibid.: "Magnifica quaedam Persarum legatio ad Carol. Mag. Padebornam (ubi tunc aulam
habuit) venit, teste Peucero lib. 4 Chronic, haec sui regis et Orientis totius nomine imperium
restaurandum tacito venerata est." Fabricius 's source was the very influential Chronica by
Johannes Carion, which, completed by Philip Melanchthon and Caspar Peucer, was reis-
sued in 1572 under the editorship of Peucer. The passage meant by Fabricius reads as
follows: "Fuit autem [Carolus Magnus] terrori, & admirationi omnibus exteris regibus ita
ut Persarum rex, et Maurorum principes expetiverint amicitiam eius, missis legatis, qui ab
eo auditi esse scribuntur ad urbem Padebornam," Chronicon Carionis, expositum et auctum
multis & veteribus, & recentibus historiis [. . .] a Philippo Melanchthone, & Casparo Peucero
(Wittenberg, 1572; cited according to the edition of 1612), 547. On the complex issue of
the amplification by Melanchthon and Peucer of the Chronicon, see Uwe Neddermeyer,
"Kaspar Peucer (1525-1602): Melanchthons Universalgeschichtsschreibung," 69-101, in
Melanchthon in seinen Schulern, ed. H. Scheible (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997).
47. Faecialis coelestis, 49: "Nova quaedam Stella vel Cometa supra Veneris Orbem apparuit,
ut Albumasar maximus illius temporis astronomus prodidit. Cujus apparitione novum hoc
Imperium Germanicum a Deo quasi inauguratum et insignitum fuit." In the absence of any
nova documented for the time of Charlemagne, Fabricius resorted to the celestial comet
observed by Albumasar, as reported by many authors in the sixteenth century, among them
Brahe (cf. Progymnasmata, TBOO, 3, 105, 111). As mentioned above, Fabricius assigned
great significance for the confirmation of his conception to these two parallel phaenomena
accompanying the great conjunctions. He attributed the discovery to himself: "Acciderunt
quoque circa hanc coniunctionem [the one in Christ's nativity] duo notabilia, quae in
sequentibus conjunctionibus magnis eodem fere modo, non sine singulari omine, quoque
contigerunt, ut ego primus observavi," ibid.
48. Ibid., 50: "Anno. 1600. Magnificentissima legatio Persica ad Imperatorem nostrum
Rudolphum II. pervenit, quae 4. sequentium annorum spatio, adhuc duabus aliis peculiaribus
legationibus certissimum rei secuturae signum et testimonium, multo clarior facta est, et tac-
ito caeli impulsu Aquilam Romanum brevi revicturum venerata est. Praesente adhuc Pragae
dicta Persarum legatione, illustris quaedam nova Stella circa locum conjunctionis magnae
[...], tamquam imperii renovandi certissimus prodromus illucescere coepit." In Kurtzer und
Grundlicher Bericht, sig. D, r, Fabricius adds that this legation arrived in Germany precisely
at Emden, in the Frisian region where Fabricius resided. He connected this with the episode
reported by Peucer in Carion' s Chronicon, thus establishing the link which seemed to give
full warrant to the restoration, first, of the Empire, and second, of the Christian religion.
49. Faecialis coelestis, 50: "Quare omnes prudentes ex congruentia conjunctionum et circum-
stantiarum omnium facile conjicere possunt, instare nunc tempus illud, quod magna in
imperio, regnis, et religione mutatio exspectanda sit, idque eo magis, quo plura et maiora
signa nunc, quam olim, concurrent. [. . .] Renovabitur igitur Aquila Rom. et pristinas vires
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 87
recuperabit. Imp. Rom. dignitas restaurabitur, sed non sine magnis motibus praecedentibus,
qui a tremebundo hujus novae stellae lumine praefigurantur. [. . .] post has [commotiones]
aquila reviviscet et late imperabit." In Kurtzer und Griindlicher Bericht, Fabricius elabo-
rates extensively (sig. D ii, v-E iii, v) on this theme, insisting on both the present extreme
weakness of the Empire — its authority is universally despised, with the resultant extension
of disdain to the German subjects of the Empire, all this in apocalyptic tones accompanied
by quotations from the Psalms, suggesting that Fabricius was perhaps a resentful German —
and the next instauration of its former greatness as well as of the Christian religion. In the
religious prognostic we find the unique reference in all his tracts to the present moment as
near the Last Day (cf. sig., D i, v; D iv, v). Contrary to Leovitius, Fabricius did not con-
sider the new fiery trigon as the inception of the Fifth Monarchy of Christ, according to the
prophecy of Daniel (Chapter 2), after the presently collapsing Fourth Monarchy, the Roman-
German Empire, but as the restoration of the German Empire. For Leovitius, see De magnis
coniunctionibus, 9: "Huius operis initium non repetemus altius, quam a Monarchia Romana,
in qua nunc admodum languente versamur quae et in ordine quarta est et vaticinio Danielis
futura ultima. Quippe, cum nulla alia expectanda sit nobis, praeter caelestem illam, et sem-
piternam, quam [. . .] Rex, Imperator, victor ac judex, Dominus noster Jesus Christus filius
Dei constituet" (our emphasis). In the religious realm, the Kurtzer und Griindlicher Bericht
announced the emergence of a "Lux nova in tenebris" accompanying the irresistible preach-
ing of the Gospel (sig. D iv, r). Fabricius gave expression to his Protestant conviction in
his concluding call to the Habsburg dynasty to allow the free diffusion of the Gospel, lest
it be deprived by God of its possessions: "Insonderheit aber wolle der Barmhertzige Gott
das hochlobliche HauB Osterreich mit seinen Macht-schulteren stiitzen und unterbawen/und
den newen Stern in ihren Hertzen auffgehen lassen/dass sie das helle Liecht des Evangelii
in ihren Landen und Gebieten/wie auch im ganzen Teutschlande/mogen helffen trewlich
befordern/so wird auch die Krone auff ihren Heuptern bleiben [...]. Welches aber wann es
nicht geschehen solte und wiirde/(wie nicht zu verhoffen ist) kan Gott den Segen in eitel
Fluch verkeren/und ein unversehenes Werck anfangen/7/fe enim est, qui transfert & stabilit
regna ac principatus" (sig. E iii, v).
50. Faecialis coelestis, 50: "Ridiculum hoc multis videtur, cum senio, et laethali morbo decum-
bat Aquila Rom." See also Kurtzer und Griindlicher Bericht, sig. D ii, r: "Es wird zwar
vielen gros wunder nemen/wie es miiglich sey/daB das so gar verfallene Romische Reich
solle wiederumb zu krefften kommen/daB der halb todte Adeler solle wieder lebendig wer-
den/und zu voriger flucht kommen/angesehen/er so gar schwach und alt ist/daB man mit
Paulo wol sagen mochte adHebr. [8, 13] Quod antiquatur & senescit, prope interitum est."
51. See Leovitius's conviction, cit. above, ref. 49.
52. Faecialis coelestis, 50 f.: "At nemo his, queso, offendatur, sed potius cogitet, quid acuto
morbo decumbentibus evenire soleat. Hi sub tempus crisis et mutationis, gravissimis
imprimis infestantur symptomatibus. ut a multis etiam desperetur de eorum salute, verum
in acerrimo isto conflictu natura se saepe erigit, et interni sui roboris signa nonnulla exhi-
bet, quae critica signa vocantur et salutarem morbi exitum indicant. Idem Aquilae Romano
accidit, qui acutissimo morbo ad mortem decumbit, et gravissimos undequaque patitur assul-
tus [. . .], at in ipso pene mortis puncto multa tamen bona signa critica animadvertuntur, quae
salutarem crisin et mutationem imperii in melius secuturam ostendunt."
53. Fabricius, Faecialis coelestis, 51. See also Kurtzer und Griindlicher Bericht, sig. D iii, r;
Himlischer Herhold, 21. This point would be severely criticized by Kepler.
54. Kurtzer und Griindlicher Bericht, sig. E i, v: "Durch auffrichtung und instauration des
Romischen Reichs/die gtildene Friedeszeit wiederumb eintreten wird."
55. JKGW, 1, 249. As mentioned above (ref. 24), Kepler accused Fabricius of recanting his
initial opinion, which was in agreement with his own. See JKGW, 248.34-248.37: "He first
began with the Theologians, whose argument on God's rest after the seventh day he also
attacked as unfounded, following up to that point the thread of my letters." In his letters
following receipt of De Stella nova, Fabricius did not answer this charge explicitly. It is
worth noting, however, that Kepler did not interpret correctly Fabricius 's position, which
88 M.A. Granada
combined the antiquity of the body of the star with the novelty of its light. Fabricius possibly
meant this when he wrote Kepler 2 days after receiving De Stella nova in a letter of 1 June
1607 (O.S.): "I commend your sincerity, although it seems that on some points you have not
understood plainly and completely my intention. It is not worthwhile, however, to reply to
them at length" ("Candorem probo, licet in nonnullis meam mentem non videaris plane et
plene assecutus esse, parum autem refert ilia refellere operose"), JKGW, 15, no. 430, 10-12.
56. Ibid., 4-5.
57. JKGW, 251.23-251.25.
58. Ibid., 248.28 f. The Greek adjective anaitiologetous is the very same that, in the positive form
aitiologetos, or "causal," indicates in the full title of the Astronomia nova that the novelty
of Kepler's Copernican astronomy lies in its being a "heavenly physics." This adjective also
opposes the appeal by Fabricius to God's absolute power (potentia absoluta), a procedure
that implies abandoning the possibility of rational discussion (cf. 248.21 f.; 252.23 f.), and at
the same time tacitly underscores the theoretical continuity of the astronomical program in
the contemporary Astronomia nova with the quest for a "causal" or "physical" explanation
of the new star in De Stella nova.
59. Ibid., Chapter 22, 257.24-257.28. For the testimony of Pliny, see Natural History, II, 23, 91.
60. Ibid., Chapter 24, 267.10-267.13.
61. Cf. Chapter 23, "The Matter of the Heavens is Mutable."
62. Ibid, Chapter 19, "On the Matter of the New Star," 246.23 f.
63. Ibid., 246.18-246.21: "At multa [. . .] arguunt, non tarn essentiae dissimilitudine, quam
intervallis, distincta esse coelestia ab his sublunaribus."
64. Ibid., 246. 16 f.
65. Ibid., Chapter 23, 260.13-260.17: "The laws of the movements remain identical, [. . .] but
our present age tells us differently about the intermediary space, or Moses's Raquia [i.e., the
"expansum" or firmament]. And even the previous age would have taught differently, had our
predecessors attended to it." Kepler excused Aristotle for affirming the immutability of celes-
tial matter, since he had done this in the absence of any changes having been observed in that
region over the course of several centuries. Current Aristotelians, however, who dogmatically
adhered to Aristotelian opinion against strong evidence to the contrary, were inexcusable; cf.
ibid., 259 f. Kepler presented in this long chapter several examples (260-267) confirming
that celestial matter was liable to change and consequently that novas were generated from
celestial matter: "that new fixed stars, which I produce from mutable celestial matter, may
be confirmed by other examples of alterred celestial matter" (260.19-260.20).
66. Ibid., 266.35-266.37: "Celestial matter, since it is diverse at different times, its subtlety dif-
fering greatly, imbibes more brightness at some times than at others. Thus, it blinds the eyes
of men at differing degrees from seeing the stars during the day."
67. Ibid., Chapter 20, 248.4-248.7. For Tycho, see Progymnasmata, TBOO, 3, 304.
37-304.42.
68. Ibid., Chapter 22, 258.3-258.5. For Tycho, see Progymnasmata, TBOO, 3, 305.14 ff. On
the continuity between Tycho and Kepler, see Patrick J. Boner, "Life in the Liquid Fields:
Kepler, Tycho and Gilbert on the Nature of the Heavens and Earth," History of Science 46,
2008, 275-297 (279-282).
69. JKGW, 1, 259.25 f.: "Itaque potius in eo sum; ut credam, coelum undiquaque aptum ad
materiam hisce sideribus praebendam."
70. Ibid., 267.10: "on a dubious question I will not argue extensively" ("in re dubia non multum
contendam").
71. Kepler said: "I hope to be heard with equanimity, especially by [Johann Georg] Brengger
and others, who maintain that this star cannot be ascribed to nature unless a new physics of
the heavenly bodies is devised" (ibid., 267.17-267.20). The only extant letter by Brengger
before 1607 is one of 23 December 1604 (JKGW, 15, no. 310, 82-92), and such a statement
does not appear in this letter. However, the expression used by Kepler ("a new physics of the
heavenly bodies") recalls forcefully the "physica coelestis" contemporarily constructed in
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 89
the Astronomia nova in order to explain the motion of Mars. Thus, the physical explanation
of planetary motion in the Astronomia nova and the physical account of the generation of the
nova in De Stella nova (despite all its conjectural character) are both integral components of
the project of a "new astronomy or celestial physics."
72. JKGW, 1, 155: "De efficiente Novi sideris, ubi Mundus probabiliter facultate aliqua naturali
instruitur" (our emphasis).
73. Ibid., 268.4-268.5; 268.37; 269.8-269.9.
74. This natural faculty is, then, different from the motive force of the planets diffused by the
sun and decreasing with distance until disappearing at the immense distance of the stars.
The expression "similar to the infinite" comes from Rheticus's Narratio prima, Chapter 10,
"immensum praeterea mundum esse et vere infinito similem" (echoing Copernicus 's De rev-
olutionibus, 1: 6 and 10), and ultimately from Pliny, Natural History, 2:1, already quoted
by Kepler at the end of the Mysterium cosmographicum (JKGW, 1, 79.33-79.34). There
is no doubt that Kepler was alluding here to his physical astronomy in the Mysterium and
Astronomia nova.
75. JKGW, 1, 269.9-269.17: "Aut enim sedes ei [facultati naturali] nulla, nisi in ipso liquido
inani: aut si in globis stellarum; sedes ei non una: aut si in globo Solis, sedes ei angustis-
sima, excursus immensus, infinito similis. Primum dicere malo; inesse in tota substantia
aetherea, unam, qua Planetae decurrunt; alteram, qua fixae stant, facultatem similem natu-
rali facultati, quae est in animalibus, praefectam certo operi quae nobis est definiendum; ut
appareat, cui praecipue bono facultatem hanc in coelum introducamus, quae has novorum
siderum veluti succisivas operas juxta exerceat." Nevertheless, as we shall see immedi-
ately, Kepler did not deny the natural faculty to the planets and stars in analogy with the
earth.
76. Ibid., 268.17-268.26. Kepler even refers to the natural faculty as "anima" (269.28). This
animistic conception appears in his letter to Fabricius of 11 November 1605 (no. 358), and
it recalls the Stoic concept of "spiritus," as expressed in the Aeneid, 6:724-727 (quoted by
Kepler in Chapter 24, JKGW, 1, 267.23-267.26). Here Kepler stated, on account of the nova
of 1604 and against the interpretation of Fabricius, his agreement with Cornelius Gemma on
the existence of "a spirit throughout the whole universe, which produces every day all kinds
of bodily forms [. . .] and knows how something can be done easily from any redundant mat-
ter whatsoever," (JKGW, 15, no. 358, 739-742). Just as this spirit produces in the sublunary
world "from any redundant matter" all sorts of little animals, it produces in the heavens "stars
and comets" from "ethereal matter" (ibid., 741 ff.). Kepler had already expressed the same
idea in his letter of 21 February 1605 to Wolfgang Wilhelm von Neuburg (JKGW, 15, no.
332). Interestingly, this adoption of a spiritual principle, active throughout the whole uni-
verse and especially in the heavens, appears in the same letter that announced to Fabricius
Kepler's discovery of the elliptical path of Mars (JKGW, 15, no. 358, 304 ff.: "Itaque omnino
Martis via est ellipsis," on 312). We can say, therefore, that the development of Kepler's
celestial geometry and of his "mechanistic" celestial physics, which explains the displace-
ment of the planets through the action of physical, "mainly magnetical" agents, coincides in
time with this wider cosmology, silenced in Astronomia nova and explicit in De nova Stella,
which assumes the existence of a spiritual agent called the "natural faculty." I have examined
this parallelism in "'A quo moventur planetae?' L' agent du mouvement planetaire apres la
dissolution des orbes solides," Galilaeana 1, 2010, 111-141.
77. JKGW, 1, 269.17-269.36: "[. . .] igitur essentiae aetheriae proprium sit pellucere; neque pos-
sit esse pellucidum, quod non [. . .] fluidum est [. . .] Adhuc ergo coelum cum sit fluidum,
debeat vero esse et pellucidum: consentaneum est, facultatem aliquam ei praeesse, qua in
hoc suo statu retinetur hie ingens campus [. . .] Huic igitur animae dabimus hoc officii, ut
vel ipsa, dum purgat et depurat corpus suum, proprietate sua essentiali, huiusmodi vapores
pingues et impuros cogat, et quasi detergat; vel etiam excretos ex globis stellarum, quasi
possessionem vacuam occupet: utrolibet vero modo, ex materia inventa, vel genita; inter
fixas, stellam immobilem; inter Planetas, Cometam mobilem efficiat; eo instinctu, quo hanc
90 M.A. Granada
terrestrem facultatem inter animalia diffusam, animalcula, ut papiliones, et similia, fabricari
diximus." Cf. Boner, "Life in the Liquid Fields," 283 f. See also JKGW, 1, 268.26-269.1.
Near the end of the seventeenth century, Kepler's conception of comets was still remem-
bered: "it is probable that the acute Kepler is in the right, who conceiveth a Comet to be a
long Collection of corrupt and filthy matter, a kind of an Apostem in the Heavens, that as
Man's Body putrid Humours often gather into one part, so they do in the Heavenly ones.
And these superfluous and excremental humours breaking out, the Aether (like the Body of
Man) is thereby kept Sound and Hale, the unwholsome matter is purged and drained away
by these Catharticks. By this means the Heavens exonerate themselves of Noxious Qualities
which had been long gathering, and would in time corrupt them. So that the evacuation of
this matter is for the Preservation of the Heavens," John Edwards, Cometomantia (London,
1684), as quoted by Sarah J. Schechner, Comets, Popular Culture, and the Birth of Modern
Cosmology (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), 102.
78. JKGW, 1, 314-324. The quotation translates the title of this chapter.
79. Ibid., 315.19-315.21.
80. Ibid., 315.22-315.24.
81 . Ibid., 3 17 f. Kepler compares this natural reaction to the emission of semen by living beings.
The animistic and vitalistic dimension of Kepler's "celestial physics" thus becomes most
evident. On this, see Patrick J. Boner, Kepler's Living Cosmos: Bridging the Celestial and
Terrestrial Realms, Ph.D. Dissertation (University of Cambridge 2006), 61-70.
82. JKGW, 1,320.
83. Ibid., 322.17-322.20: "The same [as in cultivated people] can be said of that occult faculty,
common to men and all natural things; and also of course those who had heard nothing of
the birth of the new star, by an occult instinct in their nature (since it took into account the
new star), were inclined to innovations."
84. Ibid., 324.24-324.37: "Itaque non valde meditate Fabricius, magno Germaniae Principi, ex
eo solo quod nova Stella ortum eius sextili feriret, Sole sub ipsum exortum stellae in illo gradu
versante, ausus est felicia omnia, et quidem magnam in Imperio dignitatis accessionem pol-
liceri. [. . .] longe aliud est, aliquem Anno 1605. inquietari ex occulta stimulatione naturae
suae per stellam facta: et, eundem ex hoc anno 1605. in posterum praecipuam dignitatem in
Imperio Germanico expectare debere, suisque consiliis Imperii statum in melius emendatu-
rum. Hoc consilii est, circumstantiarumque sublunarium: illud naturae." Kepler is referring
to Fabricius, Faecialis coelestis, 51. Cf. ref. 53 above.
85. For the Copernican Kepler, the nova was not only above the superior planets, but at an
immense distance from them. This was incompatible with the "physical axiom" that causality
proceeded downwards, that is, from the periphery towards the centre of the world. In addi-
tion, the conjunction of the planets was an optical phenomenon for the observers dwelling
on the earth, which he saw as a planet moving in the heavenly region. See JKGW, 1, 275 f.,
280-282.
86. JKGW, 1, 276 f., 283-286. This position reflected Kepler's inclusion in the traditional
Christian conception of astronomy, invigorated in contemporary Germany by the program of
Melanchthon; see above, note 41. It was also reinforced by Kepler's commitment to the prin-
ciple of sufficient reason. Cf. JKGW, 1, 284.18-284.21: "What is, then, chance? Certainly
an idol most detestable, and nothing but an offense against the highest omnipotent God and
the most perfect world that He created."
87. Ibid., 277.
88. Ibid., 278.
89. Ibid., 279 f. For Suslyga's thesis, see the appendix entitled De Iesu Christi Servatoris nostri
vero anno natalitio, Consideratio novissima sententiae Laurentii Suslygae Poloni, quatuor
annis in usitatam Epocham desiderantis, 357-390.
90. Ibid., 289: "Haec igitur afferre possit aliquis, ad causam Naturae defendendam; novi huius
sideris copulationem cum conjunctione magna, vindicans Mi Spiritui, totius Mundi cam-
pos permeantF (our emphasis); the expression is intended to recall Kepler's citation of
Virgil's Aeneid in Chapter 24 (267.23-267.26), with which Kepler associated his "natural
5 Johannes Kepler and David Fabricius: Their Discussion on the Nova of 1604 91
faculty" responsible for the natural production of the nova. See our analysis above. This
position resembles the Stoic conception of an intelligent nature, which contained the divinity
immanently.
91. Cf. 287.32-287.40: "Primum enim potentissimum esse hunc spiritum necesse erit [...].
Deinde et scientia amplissima requiritur [...]. Denique eximie bonum et phildnthropon
evincit finis, ad quern haec providentia contendit." Kepler showed here the same line of
thought that in the Astronomia nova led to the rejection, following the dissolution of the solid
spheres, of self-motion in the planetary bodies on account of the conditions that planetary
intelligences should fulfil. See Granada, "A quo moventur planetae?"
92. JKGW, 1, 290.2-290.3: "adhuc Deo architecto opus est, cujus consilio Stella in concilium
Planetarum veniat."
93. Ibid., 290.6-291.18: "[God] uses Nature created by Him as His servant. [. . .] I affirm with
full confidence and most assured [that] this new celestial prodigy was associated by Almighty
God Himself to the three planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, then conjoined, with a certain
counsel, directed to human salvation" ("qui [Deus] Natura a se condita, utatur ministra. [. . .]
securissime et plena fiducia pronuncio: associatum esse novum hoc coeleste prodigium ab
ipso omnipotente Deo, tribus Planetis, Saturno, Jovi et Marti, tunc conjunctis, certo consilio,
ad hominum salutem directo").
94. Ibid., 335-356.
95. Ibid., 292.1-292.3 (italics are mine to indicate Kepler's addition).
96. Ibid., 337.37, 338.10-338.12: "Utitur ille [God] alio sermonis genere, per cursum naturae et
motum corporum; [. . .] Deus iste noster commonef actum s nos de re aliqua, potius allegoriis
uti creditur, quam expressis verbis; ut homines in his temporalibus, quod est reliquum, de
suo addant."
97. Ibid., 341.17-341.26: "Qui hanc viam ingreditur, is eliciet: Novam ex hoc tempore
Rempublicam adolescere, cujus imperio generali, regna hodie varie tumultaria subigantur
olim: ut ita mundus nimium inquietus et ferox, aliquandiu sub hujus Monarchiae tutela
conquiescat. [. . .] Significari videtur simpliciter post turbas quies."
98. Concerning this, see Miguel A. Granada, "Kepler v. Roeslin on the Interpretation of Kepler's
Nova: (1)," Journal for the History of Astronomy 36, 2005, 299-319.
99. JKGW, 1, 343.23: "mihi nimium videtur subtilis." Kepler would repeat his criticism 3
years later in his Antwort aujfD. Helisaei Roslini Discurs Von heitiger zeit beschajfenheit,
Prague 1609 [JKGW, 4, 115.43-115.44]: "er [Fabricius] zu genaw gehe/vnd ohne gnugsame
vrsachen den Sternen furnemlich auff Teutschlandt ziehe."
100. Ibid., 343.19-343.35. Cf. ref. 53 above.
101. Ibid., 354.25-354.28: "[. . .] Fabricio, cujus scriptum de significationibus hujus stellae nihil
aliud continet, quam querelas de suis vicinis, opinionem de statu Imperii, et desiderium
vindictae atque emendationis."
102. Ibid., 343, marginal note: "Non esse artem quae doceat interpretari legitime prodigia."
103. Ibid., 346.38-346.40: "I sometimes believe this: if God wanted to signify openly to men
what He wished, He would have written in the heavens with clear letters. Thus, men struggle
in vain with their conjectures on the divine will."
104. Ibid., 343.39-344.16.
105. Ibid., 347-351.
106. Ibid., 352. Kepler added that, in order to preserve peace, prognostics by demagogues would
be forbidden: "non permittentur amplius Concionatores scribere prognostica, fidemque et
existimationem ordinis hac vanitate labefactare," lines 28-30. Again, we find it difficult not
to perceive here a certain irony in Kepler's words.
107. Ibid., 351.28-351.30: "Sed tamen monitos volo, considerent, non plane certum esse, num
Stella haec sit opus Naturae (cum jam aliquot hujusmodi fuerint), an ipsius Dei immediatum,
ut supra dictum. Itaque judicium ne praecipitent."
108. Ibid., 347.1-347.3: "dum consentaneum esse dixi, Deum hac aenigmatis propositione nos
invitare velle ad penitius inspicienda nostra negocia"; 354.39-355.1: "[Deus] generale
92 M.A. Granada
signum omnium partium oculis exhibuit spectandum: ut admoneret singulos, in se descen-
derent, suaque vitia examinarent, et cognitis suis erroribus, suisque sceleribus, ad veram
paenitentiam converterentur."
109. See Hakan Hakanson, "Tycho the Apocalyptic: History, Prophecy and the Meaning of
Natural Phaenomena," on 211-236 in Science in Contact at the Beginning of Scientific
Revolution, ed. J. Zamrzlova (Prague: National Technical Museum, 2004), 230-236.
110. JKGW, 1,355.1-355.3.
111. Ibid., 354.12-354.14: "perpendantque conditionem meam, qui a Caesare conductus sum, non
ut essem publicus vates; sed ut astronomiam genuino suo Magistro, Tychone destitutam, pro
viribus perficerem."
112. Ibid.
1 13. Ibid., 355.23-355.24: "neque distinguunt inter astronomiam et astrologiam."
1 14. Ibid., 355.38-355.39: "spero me comprobasse me bonum et pacificum Germanum."
115. Ibid., 355.35-355.37: "ab hoc vero libello, quern ego astronomicis et Naturalibus specula-
tionibus totum dicavi, oculos huic materiae infensissimos abstineant."
116. JKGW, 15, no. 424, 166-176: "Libelli mei de Stella partes sunt multae; quarum earn quae
significationibus est minimi facio; etsi multa inspersa philosophica. [. . .] De significationibus
vides me litem movere. [. . .] Et quid aliud est totus libellus, quam solennis apotympdnisis
totius fere Astrologiae judiciariae [. . .] Itaque dum negas praedictiones rerum particularium
niti solido et firmo fundamento, habes me consentientem, nee aliud ex libro erueris."
1 17. See Patrick Boner's contribution to this volume.
118. On the changing relations of disciplines in De Stella nova, see Miguel A. Granada, "Novelties
in the Heavens between 1572 and 1604 and Kepler's Unified View of Nature," Journal for
the History of Astronomy 40, 2009, 393-402.
Chapter 6
Kepler's Copernican Campaign
and the New Star of 1604
Patrick J. Boner
In a letter of 27 October 1604, David Fabricius (1564-1617) eagerly reported to
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) his observations of a brilliant new luminary in the
constellation of Sagittarius. Fabricius had first observed the new luminary "near
the location of the great conjunction," 1 which had occurred just 10 months ear-
lier. His eyes had been drawn to the area by the proximity of the three superior
planets when "Mars and Jupiter were conjoined and Saturn had by then returned
directly to the location of the great conjunction." 2 There, Fabricius had identified
"a new star, with no motion of its own," in the outer sphere encasing the cosmos. 3
The star had surpassed Jupiter "in diameter and silvery splendor," 4 and its scin-
tillation had proven incomparably swift. As an indication of the star's astrological
significance, Fabricius suggested that the gravity of the great conjunction was con-
firmed by the star's chronological and positional proximity. 5 Fabricius also noted
that "new stars of this sort" were appearing more often, and he referred to two
others that had also recently appeared: in August 1596, Fabricius had witnessed
"a new star of the second magnitude" in the constellation of the Whale, and in
November 1601 he had observed a new star in the constellation of the Swan. 6
Fabricius requested that Kepler report to him "at what time [the new star] had
first become visible" in Prague. 7 Regarded by Kepler as Europe's finest obser-
vational astronomer following the death of Tycho Brahe ( 1 546-1 60 1), 8 Fabricius
offered in exchange a series of observations that strengthened the empirical basis
on which Kepler composed his comprehensive study of the new star, De Stella nova
(1606).
In this essay, I explore another form of exchange that contributed deeply and
directly to Kepler's study of the new star. Through the exchange of letters with his
patron, Bavarian Chancellor Johann Georg Herwart von Hohenburg (1553-1622),
Kepler was made aware of the opinions of other scholars and given the opportu-
nity to formulate his own views. I begin by considering Kepler's critical response
to the curious work of a Paduan philosopher, whose books on the new star Herwart
P. J. Boner (El)
Department of the History of Science and Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,
MD 21218, USA
e-mail: patrickjboner@jhu.edu
P.J. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27, 93
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6_6, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
94 PJ. Boner
supplied to Kepler in exchange for his opinion. A curator at the court library in
Munich, Herwart loaned Kepler two books by Antonio Lorenzini (b. ca. 1540),
who opposed the use of parallax for determining celestial distances. By arguing
that astronomers had been deceived by parallax and that "all distances of the heav-
ens [were] uncertain," 9 Lorenzini gave Kepler plenty of reason for disapproval.
In his public critique of Lorenzini in Chapter 15 of De Stella nova, Kepler char-
acterized his criticism as a favor, a request that he had fulfilled for his patron as
much as he "could stomach." 10 I argue that Herwart helped shape the elementary
nature of Chapter 15 by affording Kepler a clearer sense of his readership, to whose
abilities and interests he tailored his account of "the immeasurable distance of the
star." 11
Next, I assess Herwart's influence on the following chapter of De Stella
nova, where Kepler upheld the enormous distance of the fixed stars according
to Copernican parameters. In the spring of 1605, around the time that Herwart
requested Kepler's opinion of Lorenzini, Kepler was engaged in an exchange with
Herwart on the credibility of the heliocentric hypothesis. Herwart, who rejected
the theory outright, received in a letter from Kepler a series of arguments that col-
lectively accounted for "the mathematical and physical causes" of the Copernican
cosmos. 12 Claiming that nothing throughout "all the sciences" prevented him from
promoting the theory, 13 Kepler presented to Herwart his Copernican campaign.
Here, Kepler deployed causal principles rather than the observational evidence that
Tycho had sought in his own Copernican campaign. 14 In his letter, Kepler referred
to earlier ideas, such as the polyhedral hypothesis in the Mysterium cosmograph-
icum (1596), 15 as well as others that would appear in De Stella nova (1606) and the
Astronomia nova (1609).
A key part of Kepler's campaign was the proposal of a new understanding of cos-
mic proportion. In consideration of "the greatest gap between Saturn, the highest of
the planets, and the sphere of the fixed stars," credited by Copernicus to the great-
ness of "the divine fabric \fabrica] of God Almighty," 16 Kepler suggested another
way of seeing greatness — in our relative smallness. In his Mysterium cosmograph-
icum, Kepler had resolved "why such large spaces were left between each pair of
planets" by showing that "God in the Creation had looked to the proportions" of
the five regular polyhedra. 17 In his letter to Herwart, however, he explained how the
distance of the sphere of the fixed stars, "similar to infinity," suggested a sense of
proportion that stressed, rather than negated, the nobility of human beings: God had
granted mathematical minds to human beings, as small as "specks of dust," and our
smallness allowed for the acquisition of astronomical knowledge and the appreci-
ation of God's greatness. 18 In this sense, our smallness was an aesthetic property
that proved our providential place in the cosmos, from where we were called "to
appreciate the amplitude of divine power." 19 The close reproduction of this proposal
in Chapter 16 of De Stella nova reveals that Kepler saw his correspondence with
Herwart as a forum for developing his ideas. More significantly, Kepler's study of
size and proportion appeared in his letter to Herwart amongst arguments that would
emerge elsewhere in the Astronomia nova, the core of whose celestial physics was
nearly complete before Kepler began De Stella nova in the spring of 1605. 20 Kepler
took up the question of distance in De Stella nova as a pivotal opportunity to promote
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 95
the heliocentric hypothesis. As witnessed by his letter, Kepler's effort to introduce
a new sense of cosmic proportion was central to his understanding of Copernican
astronomy. 21
Kepler and Lorenzini on the Distance of the New Star
Keenly aware of the "Copernican abyss" separating Saturn from the outer sphere of
the fixed stars, Kepler set out to determine in Chapter 15 of De Stella nova "the loca-
tion of the new star in the diameter of the world, or its immeasurable distance from
the center of the Earth." 22 His first step, whereby he situated the star beyond the
Moon, was curiously modest. Over the course of the chapter, Kepler would grad-
ually build up to the calculation of the star's distance "according to the opinion
of Copernicus," an incredibly wearisome calculation that entailed "toiling over the
immeasurability of the world without any rest from counting." 23 Readers would
arrive at this calculation, however, as the only acceptable way of reconciling the
star's immobility.
Before beginning with the Moon, Kepler offered an elementary introduction to
the principle of parallax. He referred mathematically more sophisticated readers to
Chapter 9 of the Astronomiae pars optica (1604), 24 where he had described parallax
in greater technical detail. There, Kepler had spoken of "the enormous circle, or
spherical surface of the outermost world," which was so far removed from the Earth
that our distance from the Sun, "the center of the world," was infinitely small by
comparison. 25 In the case of the Sun and the planets, their positions could be plotted
reliably against the backdrop of the fixed stars. Kepler saw parallax as a God-given
gift allowing "for the grasp of the distance of visible things," a gift made possible
in astronomy by the motion of the Earth, "so that man would lift up his eyes to the
heavens and carefully consider such great monuments to God's knowledge." 26 In
De Stella nova, Kepler was more concerned with simply conveying the concept of
parallax in a generally comprehensible way. With a simple analogy, he compared
parallax stemming from the separation of our eyes to that deriving from the distance
of two points on the Earth's path around the Sun:
Take the following coarse and palpable example. Keep your head still, close your eyes one
at a time, and with your open eye look at your nose. If you look with your right eye, your
nose will appear on the left side of a book or the pavement. Yet if you look with your left
eye, your nose will cover the right side of the book. Your nose will appear to make a leap
as often as you switch eyes, even though it remains at rest. Next, look not at your nose
but at your thumb, still and slightly farther away from your face. With alternate eyes, your
thumb will do the same things that your nose did before, though it will make leaps that are
not so long. From this, common sense concludes that your thumb is more distant than your
nose, since your thumb should produce a smaller parallax or change of apparent location.
The example squares plainly with our subject. For what for us are our two eyes are for
astronomers two locations in the world; what in the example are our nose and thumb are for
astronomers the Moon and some more remote star; what the book or the pavement is for us
are for them the sphere of the fixed stars. 27
Kepler's comparison was "a simple demonstration," a straightforward analogy
showing that the star "would have changed [its] apparent location beneath the zodiac
96 PJ. Boner
more than the Moon, had it been closer [to the Earth] than the Moon." 28 The star's
complete lack of parallax prompted Kepler to ask precisely "how much apparent
change of location would have been produced, had the star been in the confine of
the lunar course." 29 Before turning to Kepler's answer, it is worth considering why
Kepler took such pains to prove the star's supralunar position in the first place.
As Kepler admitted, the task of determining the star's supralunar distance was
already well prepared by "that greatest of astronomers," Tycho Brahe. 30 In his work
on the new star of 1572, De nova Stella (1573), Tycho had found "by diligent obser-
vation" that the star had not moved "a single minute" from the site of its original
appearance in the constellation of Cassiopeia. 31 Fully motionless for 6 months, the
star was situated by Tycho in the sphere of the fixed stars:
... If this star were situated in any one of the orbs of the seven planets, it would necessarily
be led round with the same orb to which it were affixed, contrary to the daily revolution.
And again this motion would be observed in the extremely slow progress of the orb of
Saturn in so great an interval of time [of six months], without looking with any instrument.
Accordingly, this new star is located neither in the elementary region below the Moon nor
in the orbs of the seven planets, but in the eighth sphere amongst the other stars. 32
Since the star possessed "no motion of its own, neither in latitude nor in longi-
tude," Tycho also ruled out the possibility that it was "any sort of comet or fiery
meteor." 33 It could only be a star, "shining in the firmament, never before seen since
the beginning of the world." 34
In the light of Tycho's testimony on the star of 1572, it would not seem pressing
for Kepler to ponder the Moon's parallax, particularly if, as he put it, the star of 1604
was "not even nearer [to the Earth] than the Sun itself." 35 So why did Kepler devote
so much attention to disproving the star's sublunar location? Perhaps one reason
was the work of Antonio Lorenzini, a Paduan philosopher described by Kepler as
"distinguished in medical books." 36 Claiming no academic title and quite possibly
collaborating with Cesare Cremonini (1550-163 1), 37 Lorenzini published an Italian
tract on the star of 1604, entitled Discorso intorno alia nuova Stella (1605). There,
Lorenzini opposed the idea expressed by astronomers that the new luminary had
formed from "a dense part of the eighth sphere, in the manner of a star." 38 Instead,
Lorenzini accepted the Aristotelian opinion that generation and corruption occurred
only in the sublunar sphere, where the four elements continually combined and cre-
ated new forms. More surprisingly, Lorenzini challenged the claim of astronomers
to measure the sizes and distances of celestial objects. Such measurements as the
length of the Earth's shadow could "not possibly be known by human reason," nor
could "the size of the Sun" or "its distance from the Earth" be the subject of math-
ematical study. 39 Essentially, Lorenzini opposed the measurement of what he saw
as physical principles in the heavens, since things "so distant" were grasped only
"uncertainly." 40 Lorenzini also questioned the qualitative continuity of celestial and
terrestrial objects: the four elements were simply "contrary to the heavens," 41 and
there was no way of projecting their physical principles. In the opening chapter of
the Discorso, Lorenzini anticipated a more elaborate expression of his argument
in a work "written in the Latin language," which would "soon come to light." 42
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 97
A year later, Lorenzini's De numero, ordine, et motu coelorum (1606) was pub-
lished in Paris. Extending his argument against astronomers, whom he accused of
"erring often" by moving beyond "the measure of the motions," 43 De numero aimed
squarely at parallax as a mistaken way of measuring the heavens. Lorenzini pre-
sented it as a sort of philosophical rejoinder to astronomers recently led astray by
the misuse of mathematics.
In his dedicatory preface to Giovanni de' Medici (1563-1621), Lorenzini sug-
gested that scholars engaged in "the honorable endeavor of advancing the sciences
would appear to have at some time been deceived." 44 Astronomy, in particular, had
recently suffered setbacks. As "something of a sign of devotion" to the Medici
family, De numero singled out Giovanni as the central beneficiary of Lorenzini's
admonition. 45 A successful military leader in the service of King Henry IV of
France (1553-1610), Giovanni stood to benefit from mathematics as much as
Demetrius I (337-283 B.C.) had done when besieging cities with mathematically
inspired apparatus. 46 If Giovanni were to aspire to such heights, however, Lorenzini
asked that he consider the recent accomplishments of mathematics with caution.
Under the guidance of Christoph Clavius (1538-1612) and Giovanni Antonio
Magini (1555-1617), astronomy had witnessed the increasing acceptance of two
subtle forms of stellar displacement, libration and trepidation. Lorenzini targeted
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) as the leading proponent of the two forms,
each of which resulted in the slight shifting of the stars in declination and right
ascension. Amongst other astronomers, Clavius and Magini had taken up the two
motions without adopting Copernicus 's heliocentric hypothesis. Less than charita-
ble in his characterization of Copernicus, Lorenzini described his target's motives
as "either intellectual fame or, as I understand more benevolently, more certain
calculation." 47 Such motives were masked by the heliocentric theory, whereby the
Earth was moved "by a compound motion" and existed "together with the Moon
in the third heaven, between Venus and Mars, while the Sun stood motionless at
the center of the world." 48 Lorenzini accused Copernicus of distorting the opinion
of the Pythagoreans in order to support his own idiosyncratic agenda. Copernicus
had breached what Lorenzini saw as the bounds of human inquiry. Since celestial
objects such as the planets and stars could appear similarly "at a greater or lesser
distance," 49 how could astronomers determine their distance with any degree of
certainty? Lorenzini's query led directly to a critique of parallax.
In Chapter 8 of De numero, Lorenzini referred to parallax as "the principal rea-
soning" for determining the dimensions of the cosmos, every other basis being
"imperceptible to man, and so vain." 50 Yet Lorenzini argued that parallax was
equally imperceptible. If astronomers were incapable of determining "the center
of the Sun or the Moon at such a distance from us," 51 how could they conceive of
calculating the centers of planets farther away? If "a visual line" was drawn from
"the perimeter of a planet," how could astronomers consider "a change of location
according to appearance," 52 when a series of factors suggested magnitude as a more
reliable measure? In turn, Lorenzini saw magnitude also as unsound. "In considera-
tion of the orbs," Lorenzini reasoned, Venus was "greater than the Sun, and Mercury
still greater," yet by how much one was greater than the other could not be known
98 PJ. Boner
"by any mind." 53 Lorenzini claimed that magnitude could not be measured with-
out "a pre-determined distance, just as distance [could] not be measured without
magnitude." 54 Locked in a vicious circle, Lorenzini sought the security of "other,
pre-known conditions," 55 which he did not find. The shadow of the Earth, for exam-
ple, would be shorter "if the Sun were closer," and the Sun would be larger "if the
shadow of the Earth were shorter," 56 yet Lorenzini saw no way of distinguishing
or prioritizing the two forms of measurement. Precisely the same sort of obscurity
surrounded parallax, which Lorenzini attributed to the combined determination of
distance and size. In the example of Mercury, Lorenzini argued that any apparent
change of location was the combined product of the planet's distance and size, a
troublesome tandem that produced contradictory conclusions. With such problems
plaguing the inferior planets, there was no telling what lay in store for the sphere of
the fixed stars.
In his critical response to Lorenzini, Kepler portrayed his Italian counterpart as an
adversary of learning. "With so much evidence for the doctrine of parallax and with
such a great consensus of philosophers with mathematicians," Lorenzini opposed it
for leading astray a community of scholars whose talents surpassed his own. 57 Even
more surprisingly, Lorenzini had launched his attack in Padua, a gathering place of
scholars such as Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who had lectured publicly on parallax
and the supralunar location of the star of 1604. 58 Galileo's lectures attracted large
audiences, and he wrote to several scholars in other cities, such as Ilario Altobelli
(1560-1637) in Verona, to obtain observational data that would help him determine
the star's parallactic displacement. 59 Touted as typical "of the miserable condition
of the time," 60 Lorenzini was sharply criticized by Kepler for denouncing a central
doctrine in a major intellectual municipality:
With so much evidence for the doctrine of parallax and with such a great consensus of
philosophers with mathematicians, nevertheless there exists a certain someone, not a com-
moner, but a philosopher distinguished in medical books and a most excellent man; not in
some foreign region, but in Italy; not in an obscure corner of Italy, but in Padua, in such a
great gathering of eminently learned men, at such a great concourse of Europe. He does not
doubt [the doctrine of parallax] but openly denies [it]. He does not indicate a weakness of
intellect or a lack of training and unfamiliarity with mathematical figures, but exhibits all
of this erudition. Yet nevertheless he rises up against this doctrine, explained by him with
clear and eloquent words (unless perhaps some mathematician, far more learned than the
author, has hitherto directed his hand), with disgraceful arguments. He abuses authority and
the celebrity of title that he arrogates to himself, and he finds security in solitude from men
skilled in mathematical matters. He dares to affirm that astronomers are deceived on the
doctrine of parallax. 61
Judging by Kepler's parenthetical comment on the author's mathematical skills,
Lorenzini may only have been responsible for the chapters of the Discorso and De
numero involving the rejection, rather than the relation, of parallax. Those "clear and
eloquent words" relating parallax may have actually been written by Cremonini, a
professor of natural philosophy at Padua and a strong supporter of the incorrupt-
ibility of the heavens. In debates on the university campus, Cremonini responded
critically to Galileo's refutation of Aristotelian theory, and his efforts may have
extended to collaborating with Lorenzini. If Cremonini was a contributing author, it
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 99
would then be clear how Lorenzini, a less capable mathematician, could reach such
an unsatisfactory conclusion. In response, Galileo composed a dialogue under the
pseudonym of Cecco di Ronchitti, in which he explained at length the many practi-
cal applications of parallax. As Kepler quipped, if Lorenzini denied that astronomers
did not encounter "one or two scruples without the risk of error, he would have to
admit himself as well." 62 In fact, the claim that astronomers could not determine
whether the star was situated below the Moon conflicted with a sizeable projection
for the star's sublunar parallax.
[Lorenzini] denies that it is possible for astronomers to declare from the doctrine of parallax
whether the star was below the Moon. And so he denies that the observations of astronomers
are accurate within 52 \ arc min. 63
To return to Kepler's question concerning the parallax that the star would have
produced in proximity to the Moon, Kepler calculated in De Stella nova dramatic
changes of declination and right ascension for a suitably sublunar location. "If
[the star] had been no farther than 60 earth radii," the distance of the Moon, "and
had stood motionless beneath the same place in the sphere of the fixed stars, it
would have produced a sufficiently large parallax." 64 More specifically, the star
would have shifted in the constellation of Sagittarius by "a difference in latitude
of 52 V 2 arc min," 65 no perceptible measure of which was ever witnessed. On the
contrary, "the distance of the star from the head of the Serpent Bearer was always
the same," 66 and it did not deviate at any observable instance. Arguing that the
star could not be clearly situated beyond the Moon suggested that the observa-
tions of astronomers were not within 52 V 2 arc min of accuracy, an implication
that called into question Kepler's observational sources. Plagued by poor vision,
Kepler relied primarily on David Fabricius, whose observational authority he readily
acknowledged when affirming the star's immobility. Kepler reproduced Fabricius 's
figures from his books and letters, and he admired the East Frisian astronomer for
his "diligence of observing the heavens," coupled with "an eminently acute tal-
ent for examining the motions of the planets." 67 By contrast, Lorenzini gave little
evidence of ever having made an observation. If he denied the possibility of dis-
cerning the Sun's center, Kepler asked, how could Lorenzini ever have observed the
Sun? Essentially, Lorenzini appeared to have completely ignored the observations
of astronomers, "much less ever observed himself." 68 With no observational expe-
rience and little mathematical ability, Lorenzini was encouraged by Kepler to learn
from his Paduan colleagues rather than lecture them:
Such a man should not have taught in Paduan society those things that he dreams up about
the new star, even to other astronomers. Instead, he should have learned from an eminently
learned society those things that he has hitherto ignored. 69
Given the inferiority of Lorenzini 's argument, it would seem that Kepler had
squandered his efforts on an unworthy opponent. If Lorenzini truly was "a blind
teacher," "plainly ridiculous in his reasoning," 70 why had Kepler devoted so
much time to his work? Did Lorenzini pose any real threat to the mathematical
community? In his appeal to German mathematicians such as Johannes Krabbe
(1553-1616) and many Italian mathematicians, Kepler feared that they would
100 PJ. Boner
"turn a blind eye to such a great disgrace." 71 Did they perhaps consider the work
"unworthy nonsense," meriting at most pseudonymous responses such as Galileo's
dialogue? If so, why had Kepler stooped so low? In concluding his criticism of
Lorenzini, Kepler made it clear that he originally undertook the task of reading the
work as a favor to a patron:
Indeed, it can scarcely be said how much I stomached reading his book on celestial mat-
ters, written against mathematicians and published in Paris. However, I read it necessarily
to please a patron. Oh, egregious occupations of the human race! What one man builds
another man destroys because he has not learned how to build, no doubt in such a way that
something of the work and place remains for a third man to rebuild. 72
The patron in question was Bavarian Chancellor Johann Georg Herwart von
Hohenburg, who had previously sent Kepler a copy of Lorenzini's Discorso. In a
brief letter of 28 March 1605, Herwart had asked Kepler to communicate his opin-
ion on an enclosed copy of the Discorso, which Kepler could then "send back
afterwards." 73 On 27 April, Kepler returned the Discorso along with a letter in
which he shared his opinion. Although he did not possess "a great knowledge of the
Italian language," 74 Kepler understood Lorenzini's argument well enough to con-
jecture that the author was conducting an academic exercise rather than a serious
critique. Had Lorenzini devised the Discorso as a form of play, composed accord-
ing to "the custom of the Italians," 75 as a means of training mathematicians? For his
own part, Kepler found it difficult to take Lorenzini seriously. Kepler could simply
not imagine the same author perceiving "the power of parallax even in refuting it"
and mounting an earnest attack. 76 Rather, he preferred to read the text as a playful
challenge.
At some point in the following year, Herwart had made a similar request regard-
ing Lorenzini's second book, De numero (1606). And, judging by Kepler's critical
response to De numero, it is quite possible that Kepler had Herwart's request in mind
when composing Chapter 15 of De Stella nova. Kepler's appeal to the mathemati-
cal community extended far beyond his relationship with Herwart, of course, but
the Bavarian Chancellor was clearly connected with the composition of De Stella
nova. In addition to his significance as a book supplier, 77 Herwart corresponded
with Kepler on a number of subjects, beginning with an initial exchange on chronol-
ogy in September 1597. Described as "a learned madman," 78 or less unfavorably
as "a scholar of great energy, if little judgment," 79 Herwart pursued various lines
of inquiry in the time remaining from his responsibilities at the Bavarian court.
Whether as a result of his frequent obligations or his questionable familiarity with
the topics under focus, Herwart often required a review of the relevant principles, a
task that Kepler fulfilled either by referring to his published works or by patiently
providing an explanation. Kepler's elementary account of parallax in Chapter 15,
accompanied by a mathematical figure that showed that the star, "in proximity to
the Moon, could never have appeared beneath the same place amongst the fixed
stars," 80 recalled letters to Herwart that reviewed basic principles. In one instance,
Kepler corrected Herwart's claim that the Moon was "clearly discerned in a solar
eclipse" from "a northern latitude" since, if Herwart had implied the entire globe
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 101
of the Earth, the Moon was fully discernible in all solar eclipses at any latitude. 81
Many of Herwart's inquiries "urged Kepler to a more objective reconsideration" of
his ideas, 82 and they arguably enhanced his abilities as an author by offering him a
sense of his readership, particularly in the case of De Stella nova, whose audience
extended beyond professional mathematicians. Not coincidentally, Kepler's account
of parallax in Chapter 15 recalled Galileo's own "seemingly unnecessarily elabo-
rate discussion" in the pseudonymous dialogue that he launched against Lorenzini
following his public lectures. 83
Kepler and Herwart on the "Copernican Abyss"
A far more explicit example of Herwart's influence on De Stella nova is found
in Chapter 16. With the motionlessness of the star securely resolved in the pre-
vious chapter, Kepler moved on to a much more imposing question, namely "the
immeasurability of the sphere of the fixed stars in the Copernican hypotheses." 84
In Chapter 15, Kepler had determined that the distance of the Moon, measuring
approximately 60 earth radii, would produce 52 V 2 arc min of parallax, and that the
distance of the Sun, measuring approximately 1,200 earth radii, would produce 3 arc
min of parallax. 85 If, according to the Prutenic Tables, the star was situated "at the
farthest point of the orbit of Saturn," 86 Kepler projected a parallactic displacement
of approximately 6 degrees. Since, however, the star had not changed its location
by even a tenth of a degree, Kepler suggested that it was "farther than 60 times
the distance of Saturn [to the Earth]," which in turn was "10 times the distance of
the Earth to the Sun." 87 If observations were accurate enough "to reach 6 min of
parallax," the star would then be 600 times the distance of the Sun from the Earth,
or approximately 720,000 a.u. 88 "Since all of the most reliable observations agreed
within 2 min," however, the star was "at least 3 times farther away according to the
opinion of Copernicus." 89 Accordingly, there lay "at least 2,160,000 a.u. between
the star and the Earth." 90 Having moved considerably far beyond the Moon, Kepler
anticipated the incredulity of his readers, many of whom would mock Copernicus
in the face of such a frightening distance:
Indeed, those distances that we have hitherto considered for the new star are child's play, so
long as we abide by the usual opinion of the motionlessness of the Earth. Yet if we should
lay bare the Copernican abysses of immensity, good God, to how great an altitude will this
star be raised? 91
In his response to critics of Copernicus, Kepler recognized that the remoteness
of the fixed stars was difficult to grasp. "For many," he admitted, "the mind tires
from observing the immeasurability of the world, in which it finds no rest from
counting." 92 There seemed to be no sight of ever reaching the outer sphere, "no
extremity of returning" from the faraway reaches of the fixed stars. 93 In Chapter
16, Kepler attributed 14,320 earth radii to Saturn's greatest distance from the Earth,
relatively close to Tycho's own estimate of 12,300 earth radii. 94 The two differed
dramatically over the distance of the sphere of the fixed stars, however. Tycho had
seen no reason for removing the fixed stars to a distance far enough to explain the
102 PJ. Boner
absence of annual parallax, so the fixed stars lay just 14,000 earth radii away, imme-
diately above the sphere of Saturn. 95 For Kepler, however, the sphere of the fixed
stars was removed by fully 34,077,066 2 /3 earth radii, more than 15 times farther
than his projection in Chapter 15 according to the Prutenic Tables. Despite the spec-
tacular expansion of the cosmos, Kepler noted that the distance of the fixed stars
was approximately V 4 of their swiftness around the Earth according to the standard
geocentric scheme. 96 In a clear reference to Sacred Scripture, Kepler compared the
supposed speed of the fixed stars to "the enormous log" in the eyes of critics who
concerned themselves rather with the distance of the fixed stars:
And so why do the philosophers bother to remove from the eye of Copernicus that speck of
dust of the immensity of the fixed stars, when at the same time they fail to notice in their
own eye the enormous log, more than 4 times greater, of the incredible swiftness of the fixed
stars? 97
Kepler confronted a number of issues concerning the curious dimensions of the
Copernican cosmos. 98 One of these was the relative smallness of the region of the
planets, "the mobile world," 99 in proportion to the enormous space between Saturn
and the sphere of the fixed stars. If the outer sphere was so vast, what proportion
would be left for the planets? According to Tycho, the shortest distance of Saturn
was approximately half the distance of the fixed stars, a suitable form of symmetry
that bore the sign of the Creator. 100 There did not seem to be any sense of balance
between the two areas for Copernicus, however, only "an enormity as incredible
for the one sphere of the fixed stars as the meagerness of all of the planets [was]
contemptible." 101 Such would be the case for the human body, Tycho had objected,
"if a finger or a nose should surpass in size the many parts of the entire rest of the
body." 102 In his dedicatory preface, Copernicus had complained of the introduction
of eccentrics as a way of manufacturing "a monster rather than a man," as an assem-
bly of miscellaneous parts that parodied the coherence of the cosmos "and the true
symmetry of its parts." 103 Had the revision of one source of asymmetry required
Copernicus to accept a far greater form of disproportion? In correspondence with
Christoph Rothmann (ca. 1550-1600), Tycho had argued that "the annual motion of
the Earth would remove the eighth sphere [of the fixed stars] so far that the orb of the
Earth would disappear with respect to it." 104 The distance from the Sun to Saturn
would be less than 700 times smaller than the distance from Saturn to the sphere
of the fixed stars, and stars of the third magnitude would equal in size "the entire
annual orb of the Earth." 105 Having read Tycho's correspondence with Rothmann
in the Epistolae astronomicae (1596), Kepler suggested a sense of proportion that
would support the vastly expanded sphere of the fixed stars. Convinced that our aes-
thetic insight elucidated "the deepest truths about the fabric of the world," 106 Kepler
claimed that nobility increased "with the diminution of size" in such a way that the
smallness of creatures was compensated by their significance. 107 Kepler reproduced
this proposal nearly word for word from a letter previously written to Herwart.
In March 1605, Herwart had written to Kepler with a petition for his opinion on
the heliocentric hypothesis. Although the letter is lost, it is clear from Kepler's reply
that Herwart had asked for "the mathematical and physical causes" that encouraged
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 103
Kepler to abide by his opinion. 108 Perhaps Herwart had found it difficult to believe
that Copernicus could even be taken "for a considerate and mildly clever man,"
yet Kepler was prepared to defend the heliocentric hypothesis without anything
deterring him "in the least from the open profession" of his opinion. 109 One of the
objections to which Kepler responded in his reply of 28 March was the disproportion
deriving from a significantly enlarged outer sphere. Kepler began by calculating the
size of the outer sphere, whose numbers, though still staggering, would appear more
precisely in Chapter 15 of De Stella nova. In the Copernican cosmos, Kepler wrote,
the sphere of the fixed stars would be "similar to infinite." 110 Here, Kepler recalled
the words of Georg Joachim Rheticus (1514-1574), who had described the sphere
of the fixed stars as "similar to the infinite" in the Narratio prima (1540). 111 If the
distance between the Sun and the Earth did not produce an annual parallax of at least
V3 of an arc min, the perimeter of the outer sphere would measure approximately
80,000,000 a.u. 112 The distance of the fixed stars from the Sun would then be more
than 10,100,000 earth radii, "such that the sphere of the fixed stars would be more
than 10,000 times greater than the sphere [of the Earth] and 1,000 times greater than
the sphere of Saturn." 113 Kepler acknowledged that such a distance was practically
inconceivable, though he saw it as "no less absurd than that monstrous swiftness" of
the fixed stars for Ptolemy. 114 With an emphasis on economy he echoed Copernicus,
who had argued that the daily rotation of the sphere of the fixed stars was far more
astonishing than that of the Earth, "the world's least part." 115 Perhaps more dramat-
ically, Kepler countered with a comparison between the proportion of the Earth's
diameter and the height of the human body. Through his comparison, Kepler sug-
gested that the proportion of the human body to the Earth was far smaller than the
proportion of the region of the planets to the sphere of the fixed stars:
How small is man, compared to the globe of the Earth? The globe of the Earth extends 860
Roman miles to its center, and since there are 5,000 paces in a Roman mile, there are then
4,300,000 paces, a fifth of the number of feet, or 21,500,000. . . Allow 7 feet for the height
of a man, so a total of 3,100,000 men will extend in an unbroken series from the surface
of the Earth to the center. And so 6,000,000 men should measure the globe of the Earth,
10,000 globes of the Earth (and slightly more) should measure the sphere of the region of
the planets, of which Saturn is the outermost, and only 1,000 spheres of the mobile world
should measure the sphere of the fixed or motionless stars. 116
Following a similar calculational sequence, Kepler argued in Chapter 16 that
while everyone accepted the immense proportion of the Earth's diameter to the
human body, the supremely expanded sphere of the fixed stars involved far less
imposing proportions. 117 Along with his comparison of the Earth and the human
body, Kepler argued that "monstrous proportions" were also common amongst
animals. 118 As an example, Kepler compared the size of a small worm to that of a
serpent reportedly 120 feet in length. In the Naturalis historia, Pliny had described a
serpent so large that Roman soldiers had attacked it "with catapults and crossbows,"
and whose jaw and skin had been taken from Africa "and preserved in a Roman
temple until the Numantine War." 119 Tycho had reported to Kepler that an even
larger serpent had been seen by sailors in the Norwegian Sea. 120 The proportion of
the Nordic serpent to the small worm extended "to 100 miles in length." 121 Such
104 PJ. Boner
proportions were present everywhere, and the relative smallness of an object did not
suggest a lesser measure of significance.
On the contrary, Kepler stressed that the smallness of an object was compen-
sated by a correspondingly greater measure of nobility. In his letter to Herwart,
Kepler began with the sphere of the fixed stars, which was unmatched in immen-
sity yet "inert, without any motion." 122 Kepler then considered "the mobile world"
of the planets, "all the smaller as more divine." 123 On account of their "admirable
and ordered motion," Kepler saw the planets as superior to the sphere of the fixed
stars. 124 Yet the planets did not possess the ability to act in any way beyond pre-
serving "an impression" that brought about their motion. 125 The Earth, however,
was informed by a soul. "This little cottage of ours" was the author of "miracu-
lous works," and it generated "the little souls of every plant, fish, and insect." 126
Considering the generative capacity of the Earth's soul, it surpassed in nobility the
rest of the surrounding cosmos. Finally, Kepler took up "the tiny specks of dust
called men," made in the image of God, who collectively constituted the living body
of Christ. 127 "Which one of us," he asked, would trade his body for "the amplitude
of the world," 128 if such an exchange entailed the loss of one's soul? As significant
as spectacularly small, men were encouraged by Kepler to accept the Copernican
abysses as an opportunity to appreciate God's greatness. The measure of magnitude
made little difference in a world that was "not great for God." 129 Our relative small-
ness, however, like the Earth's annual motion around the Sun, suggested a privileged
position for contemplating "the amplitude of divine power." 130
Kepler expressed precisely the same line of reasoning in Chapter 16. Echoing his
earlier words to Herwart, Kepler claimed that the degree of nobility and perfection
increased as we moved inwards from the sphere of the fixed stars. 131 "Those little
specks of dust" inhabiting the earth were blessed with rare abilities, like "clothing
themselves, arming themselves, and teaching infinite arts," and amongst "an infi-
nite architecture" of animals, they alone could use their abilities "to make progress
daily." 132 Incomparably large, the sphere of the fixed stars could not compare with
the smaller parts of a world whose Creator privileged "the perfection of minute
things" over the sheer magnitude of matter:
And so let us learn the benevolent will of the Creator, who is the author both of course matter
and the perfection of minute things. Indeed, He does not glory in matter but ennobles those
things that He wished to be small. 133
Of course, Kepler may have also felt compelled to emphasize our importance
when calculating the size of the new star, a topic that he had not taken up in his
letter to Herwart. In the closing lines of Chapter 16, Kepler estimated the enormity
of the new star as being well beyond that of Sirius. If the Dog Star, which "occupied
just 4 arc min," was "much larger than the entire arrangement of the planets accord-
ing to the hypothesis of Copernicus," Kepler refrained from reckoning the size of
the new star, to which he attributed at least 3 arc min. Rather than "express the
star's magnitude in numbers," he preferred to avoid further "ridicule by the profane
multitude". 134 Instead, he suggested that our smallness should inspire our efforts to
acknowledge "the immensity of divine power":
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 105
In short, let us learn little by little, through these intervals from the Earth to the Sun, from
the Sun to Saturn, and from Saturn to the fixed stars, to rise to recognizing the immensity
of divine power. 135
Kepler's correspondence with Herwart had effectively served as a forum for
expressing ideas that would appear again in Chapter 16, and it is clear that his patron
had also played an influential part in the previous chapter. Just as Fabricius had pro-
vided Kepler with an epistolary test case for his celestial physics, one who had
played "a decisive role in determining the content and rhetorical character of the
Astronomia nova" Herwart had shaped the substance and form of De Stella nova
significantly. 136 Arguably more important, however, is the fact that the above study
of size and proportion appeared in Kepler's letter as part of a larger agenda, a veri-
table Copernican campaign. Kepler's Copernican campaign aimed to explain away
objections and to deploy a series of arguments in favor of the heliocentric hypothe-
sis. These arguments variously appeared in Kepler's published works, though their
appearance in the same letter indicated their author's common commitment to a
sun-centered astronomy based on causes. In reference to the recently published
Astronomiae pars optica, for example, Kepler turned to the spherical propagation
of light as support for the centrality of the Sun. If the Sun was "the source of
light," it was necessarily in the center, and light would be distributed instanta-
neously and spherically, "in equal lines." 137 Kepler also recalled earlier ideas from
the Mysterium cosmographicum (1596), such as his polyhedral hypothesis and the
comparison of the spherical cosmos to the Holy Trinity, whose center, the Sun, cor-
responded to "the image of God the Father." 138 Amongst the many arguments that
he drew from the Astronomia nova, 52 chapters of which were complete by March
1605, 139 Kepler suggested that the Sun served as the source of motion for the plan-
ets. "I showed in the Astronomia nova that the Sun is the source of motion," Kepler
wrote, and he located the Sun "at the center," in such a way that the emanation of its
motive virtue was uniformly distributed. 140 The motive virtue acted on the bodies of
planets by moving them without subsisting in "the intermediary between the source
and the planet, like light." 141 Kepler explained how the increase and decrease of
motion resulted from the proximity of each planet to the Sun. In addition, Kepler
argued for the absurdity of Tycho's hypothesis that the Sun would "be moved by the
ignoble Earth" in the same way that the five other planets were moved by the Sun. 142
Together with the above arguments, Kepler's commentary on the expansion of the
sphere of the fixed stars constituted a well-rounded response to Herwart 's request.
Kepler also offered his patron a glimpse of the coherence of his cosmological
agenda. In his summary of arguments, Kepler presented a platform whose principles
he variously applied in his published works. In De Stella nova, Kepler reproduced
those parts of his letter that would support the acceptance of the Copernican abyss
extending from Saturn to the sphere of the fixed stars. Undeterred by such daunt-
ing dimensions, Kepler claimed that greater things came in smaller packages. The
expansion of the cosmos only underscored our privileged place. The distance of the
new star, like the motion of Mars, reinforced the causal supremacy of the Copernican
143
cosmos.
106 PJ. Boner
Conclusion
Kepler's letter had little impact on Herwart. In his reply of 12 April, Herwart sim-
ply suggested that he would "write further about the motion of the Earth" at his
"earliest opportunity." 144 Apparently, that opportunity was lost amongst his other
interests. The exchange proved fruitful for Kepler, however. His letter to Herwart
had expressed a series of arguments that gave coherence to his cosmological enter-
prise, namely the reality and causal superiority of the heliocentric hypothesis. If the
Copernican cosmos was "the ultimate manifestation of God's design," 145 Kepler
set about uncovering the principles behind it. His new sense of cosmic proportion
came from the same quarry of Copernican causes found in his other works. 146 In
the case of De Stella nova, Kepler saw the remoteness of the new star as an oppor-
tunity to illustrate "the beauty of the proportion of the fixed stars to the planets." 147
What Copernicus had determined as "the greatest difference" between the two areas
Kepler understood as a sign of our epistemological and providential privilege. 148
Kepler had elaborated on this idea earlier in his letter to Herwart. The resistance of
his patron had inspired a series of arguments that would appear variously in print.
Yet how did Kepler's account of proportion relate to his more famous formulation
of a celestial physics? Kepler was well aware of the resistance to physical causes in
astronomy, and his introduction of a new sense of proportion in De Stella nova bore
some of the same signs as his defense of Copernicus in the Astronomia nova. 149
Just as in the Astronomia nova, Kepler suggested the superiority of the heliocentric
hypothesis based on principles that some scholars saw as unsuited to astronomy.
Kepler first formulated his celestial physics in a series of letters to Fabricius, who
opposed physical causes in astronomy, and Kepler took similar pains in proposing
a sense of proportion that flew in the face of Herwart 's understanding of Ptolemaic
and Tychonic astronomy. In De Stella nova, parallax provided a way of project-
ing the distance of the new luminary in the sphere of the fixed stars. It was the
actual arrangement of the heavens, however, that determined how far away it was.
Kepler distinguished the different arrangements according to a sense of proportion
that gave new meaning to the standards of "measure, number, and weight" in the
Book of Wisdom. 150 The Ptolemaic cosmos was smaller, yet it attributed a swift-
ness to the fixed stars even more incredible than the dimensions of the Copernican
cosmos. In his comparison with the Tychonic cosmos, Kepler claimed a sense of
proportion that made the mobile world of the planets "the proportional medium
between the Sun and the sphere of the fixed stars." 151 Above all, Kepler was con-
cerned with harmony, a proportional relationship that involved "beauty and reason"
that privileged the place of human beings. 152 If his Astronomia nova supplied the
physical causes for Copernican astronomy, Kepler's De Stella nova elucidated the
mathematical structure and cosmological design of the Creator. 153
AcknowledgementsThis paper proceeds from a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Science
Foundation, "The Supernova of 1604 as a Source of Scientific Debate" (no. 0749138). I would like
to thank the many individuals whose comments and suggestions contributed to the improvement
of it. I am especially grateful to Miguel A. Granada, Robert A. Hatch, and Lawrence M. Principe
for their editorial insight.
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 107
Notes
1. JKGW, 15, no. 297, 17-19.
2. Ibid., 16-19.
3. Ibid., 10-17.
4. Ibid., 14-15.
5. On Fabricius' astrological interpretation of the new star in his letters and published works,
see Miguel A. Granada's contribution to this volume.
6. JKGW, 15, no. 297, 21-25: "Thus, it then appears that new stars of this sort are appearing
more often. For on 3 August 1596 I also saw a new star of the second magnitude that dis-
appeared in October, followed by plague and agricultural ruin throughout Europe ... I also
observed that [star] that appears in the Swan and is still visible." The new star of August
1596 is now identified as the variable star, Mira Ceti. On the significance of the star for the
astronomical studies of Ismael Boulliau (1605-1694) and Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687),
see Robert A. Hatch's contribution to this volume.
7. JKGW, 15, no. 297, 20-21. In a subsequent letter of December 1604, Fabricius enclosed a
copy of his first published pamphlet on the new star, "a hasty work" that he had written for
the general public. Fabricius asked for Kepler's honest opinion of the work, and he requested
Kepler's own "observations and interpretation of the new star." See JKGW, 15, no. 315, 5-13.
8. JKGW, 1:210.33-210.36.
9. Antonio Lorenzini, De numero, ordine, et motu coelorum adversus recentiores (Paris, 1606),
ix. 18-21.
10. JKGW, 1:230.19.
11. Ibid., 227.2.
12. JKGW, 15, no. 340, 69-76.
13. Ibid., 77-81: "You will perhaps wonder how it happens that Copernicus is taken for a con-
siderate and mildly clever man. I affirm, however, that there is nothing throughout all the
sciences that inhibits me from thinking this, nothing that frightens me away from the open
profession of my opinion, except the singular authority of the Sacred Scriptures, from which
that authority is badly distorted."
14. On Tycho's "carefully planned program" to undermine the Ptolemaic model "by demon-
strating that the Earth-Mars distance was substantially less than the Earth-Sun distance," see
Owen Gingerich and James R. Voelkel, "Tycho Brahe's Copernican Campaign," Journal for
the History of Astronomy 29, 1998, 1-34.
15. JKGW, 15, no. 340, 328-330. Cf. Albert Van Helden, Measuring the Universe: Cosmic
Dimensions from Aristarchus to Halley (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985), 54-59.
16. Nicolaus Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (Brussels: Culture et Civilisation,
1966), 10.19-10.24.
17. JKGW, 1:48.11-50.5. On the determination of distances between each pair of planets
according to the common measure "provided by the separation of Earth from Sun," see
Nick Jardine, "Kepler, God, and the Virtues of Copernican Hypotheses," on 269-281 in
Nouveau ciel Nouvelle terre: La revolution copernicienne dans VAllemagne de la Reforme
(1530-1630), ed. Miguel Angel Granada and Edouard Mehl (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2009).
18. JKGW, 15, no. 340, 281-287.
19. Ibid., 286-287. Cf. Jardine, "Kepler, God, and the Virtues of Copernican Hypotheses," 276:
"Providentially located in the cosmos, and mentally informed by the geometrical archetypes,
we can rest assured that our aesthetic responses are reliable guides to the deepest truths
about the fabric of the world." In his analysis of aesthetic features in favor of the Copernican
cosmology, Nicholas Jardine suggests an "uncanny and pleasing" observational experience
that "reveals a harmony and dynamic order in the night sky which is sadly lacking" in
our "chaotic 'Ptolemaic' experience of it." See Nicholas Jardine, The Scenes of Inquiry:
On the Reality of Questions in the Sciences (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000), 209-212; cf.
Paul M. Churchland, Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of Mind (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1979), 31-34.
108 PJ. Boner
20. In a letter of 6 March 1605 to Michael Mastlin (1550-1631), Kepler claimed that there
would be "about 60 or 70 chapters" in the Astronomia nova, and that 52 chapters were
already written. The remaining chapters would consist largely of "explication and geometri-
cal demonstrations." JKGW, 15, no. 335, 182-184. Cf. Bernard R. Goldstein and Giora Hon,
"Kepler's Move from Orbs to Orbits: Documenting a Revolutionary Scientific Concept,"
Perspectives on Science 13, 2005, 74-111, on 102: "The history of composition of the
Astronomia nova is not entirely clear . . . even if all the main results had been found by
1605, Kepler surely polished his text during the next 3 years."
21. Kepler's overall agenda in astronomy can be characterized by the foundation of a heliocen-
tric astronomy based on causes. See, for example, Anastasia Guidi Itokazu, "A Forca que
Move os Planetas: Da Nocao de Species Immateriata na Astronomia de Johannes Kepler,"
Cadernos de Historia e Filosofia da Ciencia 16, 2006, 211-231, on 211.
22. JKGW, 1:231.17.
23. Ibid., 232.10-232.14.
24. JKGW, 2:265.28-278.31.
25. Ibid., 266.24-266.28.
26. Ibid., 268.20-270.11. On Kepler's belief that the Earth was "the best vantage point from
which to contemplate the planets," see Jardine, "Kepler, God, and the Virtues of Copernican
Hypotheses," 275.
27. JKGW, 1:227:14-27: "Sit tamen crassum et palpabile exemplum hoc. Tene caput immo-
tum, oculos alternis claude, aperto Nasum inspice. Si dextro inspexeris, ad sinistram partem
libri aut pavimenti nasus videbitur: sin sinistro inspexeris oculo, Nasus dextras libri partes
occultabit. Quoties oculos permutaveris, Nasus videbitur saltum facere, etsi quiescat. Postea
ne nasum, sed pollicem inspicito immotum, paulo longius a facie distantem: alternatis oculis,
faciet eadem pollex, quae prius nasus fecerat: at saltus non ita magnos faciet. Ex quo sensus
communis judicat, pollicem plus distare quam nasum, quia minorem faciat parallaxin, seu
apparentis loci commutationem. Plane quadrat exemplum ad rem nostram. Quo denim sunt
nobis bini oculi, id sunt Astronomis bina loca in mundo; quod in exemplo Nasus et Pollex,
hoc illis Luna et remotior aliqua Stella: quod hie liber aut pavimentum, hoc illis Sphaera
fixarum."
28. Ibid., 227.8-227.10.
29. Ibid., 228.7-228.10.
30. Ibid., 227.4.
31. TBOO, 1:24.4-24.6.
32. Ibid., 27.30-27.37: ". . . si haec Stella in aliquo orbium septem errantium siderum constituere-
tur, necessario cum ipso orbe, cui affixa esset, contra diurnam revolutionem circumduceretur.
Atque hie motus etiam in lentissimo Saturni orbis progressu tanto temporis intervallo
. . . absque . . . instrumento intuenti animadverteretur. Quapropter haec Stella nova nee in
Elementari regione infra Lunam, nee in orbibus septem errantium siderum, sed in octava
sphaera inter reliquas fixas locum habet."
33. Ibid., 28.12-28.16.
34. Ibid.
35. JKGW, 1:227.6-227.7: "First, I will demonstrate that this star was not only located above
the orb of the Moon, but that it was not even nearer [to the Earth] than the Sun itself." On the
formalization of the term "orbit" in the Astronomia nova as a term that implies "a physical
explanation for the path a planet describes in three dimensions as it revolves about the Sun,"
see Goldstein and Hon, "Kepler's Move from Orbs to Orbits," 82-96.
36. JKGW, 1:229.10.
37. On Cremonini's highly probable contribution to the Discorso, see Stillman Drake, Galileo at
Work: His Scientific Biography (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), 106-108.
38. Antonio Lorenzini, Discorso intorno alia nuova Stella (Padua, 1605), 3.18-19.
39. Ibid., 5.2-5.15.
40. Ibid., 4.33-4.34. Cf. Drake, Galileo at Work, 106-108.
4 1 . Lorenzini, Discorso, 4.21.
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 109
42. Ibid., 1.31-1.33.
43. Lorenzini, De numero, 3.14-3.19.
44. Ibid.,iv.lO-ll.
45. Ibid., v.7-26.
46. Ibid., vi. 10-16.
47. Ibid., 33.5-33.10: ". . . Copernicus, either to acquire intellectual fame for himself or, as I
understand more benevolently, for the more certain calculation of the variable motion (for
not even Copernicus perhaps persuaded himself of his own fancies), claims not only more
motions for the first orb . . . but he pretends that the Earth is moved by a compound motion
and exists together with the Moon in the third heaven, between Venus and Mars, while the
Sun stands motionless at the center of the world . . ."
48. Ibid., 33.13-33.18.
49. Ibid., 85.25.
50. Ibid., 82.19-84.18.
51. Ibid., 84.19-84.21.
52. Ibid., 85.8-85.15.
53. Ibid., 86.6-86.11.
54. Ibid., 86.25-87.2.
55. Ibid., 87.3-87.4.
56. Ibid., 86.15-86.24.
57. JKGW, 1:229.8-229.9.
58. Drake, Galileo at Work, 106: "[Galileo's] two chief purposes in the November lectures were
to explain the nature and application of parallactic reasoning to measurement of distances
and to refute the Aristotelian theory that new stars and comets were sublunar phenomena in
the supposed region of fire above the air and below the moon."
59. Ibid., 105. Cf. Massimo Bucciantini, Galileo e Keplero: Filosofia, cosmologia e teologia
nell'Eta della Controriforma (Torino: Giulio Einaudi, 2003), 121-122: "According to Juan
Casanovas, the cometary theory that Galileo elaborated in the years 1618-1619 was none
other than the fruit of a long reflection that had originated in studies on the nova [of 1604],
that is, when Galileo took into serious consideration that novae were, by contrast with what
Tycho [had] upheld, terrestrial vapors or exhalations that ascended to the heavens." Galileo
eventually broke with his original adherence to the use of parallax as a reliable means of
measuring the distances of comets and 'new stars.'
60. JKGW, 1:229.7-229.8.
61 . Ibid., 229.8-21 : "In tanta luce doctrinae de parallaxibus, tanto consensu Philosophorum cum
Mathematicis, existere tamen unum aliquem, non plebeium, sed Philosophum, medicis libel-
lis clarum, excellentissimumque virum: idque non in barbara aliqua regione, sed in Italia:
non in obscuro eius angulo, sed Paduae, in tanta doctissimorum virorum frequentia, tanto
Europae concursu: non qui dubitet, sed qui aperte contradicat; non qui fateatur ingenii imbe-
cillitatem, exercitationisve defectum, et schematum Mathematicorum insolentiam; sed qui
omnem hanc eruditionem prae se ferat: et tamen contra hanc doctrinam, disertis et perspicuis
verbis a se ipso explicatam (nisi forte Mathematicus aliquis, authore longe doctior, hactenus
manum ipsi direxit) argumentis pudendis insurgat; abusus authoritate et celebritate nominis,
quam sibi arrogat; et confisus solitudine a viris rerum Mathematicarum peritis: ausus est
affirmare, decipi Astronomos in doctrina Paralapseon."
62. Ibid., 229.23-229.25.
63. Ibid., 229.27-229.29: "Negat esse possible Astronomis, ex doctrina Parallaxeon de hoc pro-
nunciare; utrum Stella sub Luna fuerit. Negat igitur, observationes Mathematicorum intra 52
12 minuta certas esse."
64. JKGW, 1:228.7-228.10. Cf. Goldstein and Hon, "Kepler's Move from Orbs to Orbits;' 11:
"Ptolemy believed that the maximum distance from the Earth to the Moon was about 64
terrestrial radii, and this led to a distance from the Earth to the fixed stars of 20,000 terrestrial
radii." Cf. Copernicus, De revolutionibus, 7.32-8.3: "On the other hand, those who locate
Venus and Mercury below the Sun claim as their basis the amplitude of space that they
110 PJ. Boner
measure between the Sun and the Moon. For they found that the maximum distance of the
Moon from the Earth is 64 1/6 earth radii, and that this is approximately 18 times smaller
than the minimum distance of the Sun [from the Earth], or 1,160 earth radii. Thus, there are
1,096 earth radii between the Sun and the Moon."
65. JKGW, 1:228.20-228.29.
66. Ibid., 228.21-228.22.
67. Ibid., 210.35-210.38.
68. Ibid., 230.11.
69. Ibid., 230.13-230.16: "Talem hominem non decuit in Paduano coetu docere ea, quae som-
niat de Stella nova, et caeteris astronomicis; sed discere a doctissimo coetu, quae hactenus
ignoravit."
70. Ibid., 229.36-230.1.
71. Ibid., 229.29-229.35. In his appeal to the mathematical community, Kepler also called on
French scholars, "in whose country the second book was printed . . . Why do you turn a blind
eye so patiently to such a great disgrace?"
72. Ibid., 230.17-230.24: "Eius quidem librum de rebus coelestibus contra Mathematicos scrip-
turn, et Parisiis impressum, quanto cum stomacho legerim, dici vix potest. Erat autem
necessario legendus, in gratiam patroni. O egregias occupationes generis humani; quod hie
aedificat, alter diruit, quia aedificare non didicit; scilicet ut aliquid operae locique supersit
tertio ad reaedificandum."
73. JKGW, 15, no. 339, 5-6.
74. JKGW, 15, no. 345,4-5.
75. Ibid., 8.
76. Ibid., 10-11.
77. On the scarcity of standard works for scholars like Kepler, see Anthony Grafton,
"Chronology, Controversy, and Community in the Republic of Letters: The Case of Kepler,"
114-136, on 134-135 in Worlds Made by Words (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
2009).
78. Anthony Grafton, Commerce with the Classics: Ancient Books and Renaissance Readers
(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997), 198.
79. Anthony Grafton, Defenders of the Text: The Traditions of Scholarship in an Age of Science,
1450-1800 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991), 187.
80. JKGW, 1:228.32-229.6.
81. JKGW, 15, no. 345, 50-51. Kepler calculated the dates and visibility of eclipses in
support of Herwart's chronological studies. See Grafton, "Chronology, Controversy, and
Community," 121.
82. Dieter Albrecht, "Hans Georg Horwarth (Herwart) v. Hohenburg," on 722-723 in
Neue Deutsche Biographie 8, ed. Historische Kommission, Bayerische Akademie der
Wissenschaften (Berlin: Duncker and Humblot, 1969).
83. Drake, Galileo at Work, 108.
84. JKGW, 1:232.17-232.18.
85 . In his second-edition copy of De revolutionibus (1566), Herwart inserted the following anno-
tation in Book 1, Chapter 10: "The Sun, when closest to the Earth, is 1,160 earth radii away
from it. The Moon, when farthest away from the Earth, is 64 1/6 earth radii away from it.
Thus, the interval between the Sun and the Moon contains 1,096 earth radii. That such an
interval should be empty appears absurd." (Nicolaus Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium
coelestium (Basil, 1566), 8; cf. Owen Gingerich, An Annotated Census of Copernicus' De
revolutionibus (Nuremberg, 1543 and Basil, 1566) (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 192.) Herwart's
copy is currently held by the Russian State Library (RSL), Moscow, under the old indices
Db 1610 4°. It was originally acquired by the University of Ingolstadt in 1656 and at
some time transferred to the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher in Halle. For more on
Herwart's colorfully annotated copy, see Owen Gingerich, The Book Nobody Read: Chasing
the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus (New York: Walker, 2004).
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 111
86. JKGW, 1:231.32-231.35. Kepler used the term orbis to refer to the distance of Saturn at
different points on its path around the Sun. On Kepler's early use of the term orbis "as a
geometric term devoid of material existence," see Goldstein and Hon, "Kepler's Move from
Orbs to Orbits," 79-82.
87. JKGW, 1:231.39-232.3. As the basis for his scheme of absolute sizes and distances, Kepler
suggested elsewhere that the distance of an astronomical unit was greater than 700 earth radii
and less than 2,000 earth radii, though he adopted for didactic purposes the figure of 1,200.
See Van Helden, Measuring the Universe, 78.
88. JKGW, 1:232.4-232.8.
89. Ibid., 232.8-232.11.
90. Ibid., 232.11-232.13.
91 . Ibid., 23 1 . 14-23 1.19: "Verum puerilia sunt ista diastemata, quae pro novo sidere expendimus
hactenus; dum in usitata sententia, de quiete telluris, manemus. At si Copernicanos immen-
sitatis abyssos aperiamus; Deus bene, quantam in altitudinem sidus hoc elevabitur?"
92. Ibid., 232.13-232.15.
93. Ibid., 232.14-232.15.
94. For a complete summary of Tycho's scheme of sizes and distances, see Van Helden,
Measuring the Universe, 50.
95. Ibid. Kepler similarly refers to "the sphere of Saturn" to indicate the interval extending from
the closest point to the furthest point of Saturn from its central reference. See JKGW, 1 :235.9.
96. Ibid., 235.21-235.27. On the swiftness of the sphere of the fixed stars as a target of
Copernican criticism, see Michel-Pierre Lerner, "L'Achille des coperniciens," Bibliotheque
d'Humanisme et Renaissance 42, 1980, 313-327.
97. Ibid., 235.28-235.32: "Quid igitur satagunt Philosophi, eximere ex oculo Copernici festucam
hanc immensitatis fixarum, cum interim dissimulent in suo oculo, trabem ingentem, amplius
quam quater maiorem, insanae celeritatis fixarum." Cf. Matthew 7:3-5.
98. For a summary of Kepler's consideration of cosmic proportion in Chapter 16, see Miguel
Angel Granada, "The Defence of the Movement of the Earth in Rothmann, Maestlin and
Kepler: From Heavenly Geometry to Celestial Physics," 111-112 on 95-119 in Mechanics
and Cosmology in the Medieval and Early Modern Period, ed. Massimo Bucciantini,
Michele Camerota, and Sophie Roux (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2007).
99. JKGW, 1:237.18-237.19.
100. Ibid., 235.37-235.39: "Tycho sets the distance of Saturn at 7,000 earth radii, yet he grants
twice this distance to the fixed stars, the former, in fact, by necessary demonstration, accord-
ing to the very supposed form of the world, the latter, however, according to probable
conjecture."
101. Ibid., 232.28-232.29.
102. Ibid., 232.29-232.31.
103. Nicholas Copernicus, On the Revolutions, trans. Edward Rosen (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1992), 4. On the rhetorical nature of Copernicus's dedicatory preface
as "a sophisticated response" to Girolamo Fracastoro (1478-1553) and his homocentric
astronomy, see Miguel A. Granada and Dario Tessicini, "Copernicus and Fracastoro: The
Dedicatory Letters to Pope Paul III, the History of Astronomy, and the Quest for Patronage,"
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 36, 2005, 431-476.
104. TBOO, 6:197.20-35. Cf. Van Helden, Measuring the Universe, 51-52. In a later letter to
Rothmann, Tycho rejected the heliocentric hypothesis as "an ungeometric, asymmetric, and
disordered way of philosophizing" that would produce something "very foreign to divine
wisdom and providence." See Adam J. Mosley, "Heaven and Earth in the Late Sixteenth
Century: Tycho and Kepler on the Sub- and Supra-Lunary," on 143-154 in Nouveau
ciel Nouvelle terre: La revolution copernicienne dans VAllemagne de la Reforme (1530-
1630), ed. Miguel Angel Granada and Edouard Mehl (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2009). On
Rothmann's response to Tycho, in which Rothmann suggested the superiority of the helio-
centric hypothesis "in terms of proportion and harmony," see Miguel Angel Granada, "The
112 PJ. Boner
Defence of the Movement of the Earth," 99-105, 117. Philip Lansberg (1561-1632) sim-
ilarly stressed the aesthetic superiority of the heliocentric hypothesis "as an expression of
divine order." See Rienk Vermij, "Putting the Earth in Heaven: Philips Lansbergen, the Early
Dutch Copernicans and the Mechanization of the World Picture," 123-125 on 121-141
in Mechanics and Cosmology in the Medieval and Early Modern Period, ed. Massimo
Bucciantini, Michele Camerota, and Sophie Roux (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2007).
105. TBOO, 6: 197.20-197.35. Cf. Granada, "The Defence of the Movement of the Earth," 102.
106. Jardine, "Kepler, God, and the Virtues of Copernican Hypotheses," 276.
107. JKGW, 1:237.17.
108. JKGW, 15, no. 340, 69-71.
109. Ibid., 77-80. Herwart was certainly familiar with Copernicus's claim to cosmic harmony.
In his second-edition copy of De revolutionibus, Herwart made the following annotation in
the margin alongside the author's reference to "a true nexus of harmony of the motion and
magnitude of the orbs" in Book 1, Chapter 10: "The closer a planet is to the Earth, the greater
its progress and regress. The further away a planet is, the more frequent its retrogression."
(Copernicus, De revolutionibus, 10; RSL, Db 1610 4°, lOr.) A fuller analysis of Herwart's
annotations will appear in my forthcoming paper on his courtly role as Kepler's patron, "A
Statesman and a Scholar: Hans Georg Herwart von Hohenburg as a Critic and Patron of
Johannes Kepler."
110. Ibid., 246-247.
111. Georg Joachim Rheticus, Narratio prima, 107-196, on 144-145 in Three Copernican
Treatises, trans. Edward Rosen (New York: Dover, 1959). Herwart underlined this pas-
sage in his copy of the Narratio prima, which was appended to the second edition of De
revolutionibus (RSL, Db 1610 4°, 203v).
112. Ibid., 246-251.
113. Ibid., 251-253.
114. Ibid., 253-255.
115. Copernicus, On the Revolutions, 13.
116. JKGW, 15, no. 340, 255-265: "Quantulus est homo ad Terrae globum? Qui porrigit ad cen-
trum 860 milliaria . . . et quia in uno milliari sunt 5,000 passus, ergo passuum sunt 4,300,000,
pedum quintuplum, nempe 21,500,000. Da hominis longitudini pedes septem, ergo tricies
semel centena hominum millia denique a superficie Terrae ad centrum, continuata serie per-
tingent. Esto ita sexcentae myriades hominum metiantur globum Terrae, myrias una (et paulo
plus) globorum Terrae, metiatur sphaeram regionis mobilium, quorum extimum Saturnus:
Millenarius unus mobilis mundi sphaerarum metiatur sphaeram fixarum seu quiescentium."
117. JKGW, 1: 237.2-237.15: "How small is man, I ask, compared to the globe of the Earth? Let
us calculate. From the surface to the center [of the Earth], there are 860 Roman miles, which
you may multiply by 5,000 paces. This comes out to be 4,300,000 paces. There are 5 times as
many feet, however, or 21,500,000. Allow fully 7 feet for the height of a man, and divide [the
radius of the Earth] by this number. And so if you arrange 3,100,000 men in a line along the
same length, it will extend from the surface of the Earth to its center. Thus, the diameter of
the Earth will equal more than 6,000,000 men. Everyone accepts this immense proportion of
man to the globe of the Earth, yet they now call 'incredible' the proportion of the Earth to the
heaven [coelum] of Saturn, which is 1:12,000; and they now call 'incredible' the proportion
of the mobile heavens to the immobile heaven of the fixed stars, which is 1:3,000."
118. Ibid., 236.6-236.7.
119. Pliny, Naturalis historia, 8:14.
120. JKGW, 1: 236.37-236.40.
121. Ibid., 236.40-237.1.
122. JKGW, 15, no. 340, 269-270.
123. Ibid., 270-271.
124. Ibid., 271-272.
125. Ibid., 272-275: "Yet that place [of the planets] neither discourses nor reasons, nor is it
endowed with an animal or vegetative faculty. It did not learn what it does, but rather
6 Kepler's Copernican Campaign and the New Star of 1604 113
preserves an impression. It will never be what it is not, nor did it bring about what it is
now. It simply continues in the same way that it was created."
126. Ibid., 275-278.
127. Ibid., 281-282.
128. Ibid., 282-283.
129. Ibid., 285: "The world is not great for God, yet we are small for the world." In correspon-
dence with Tycho, Rothmann argued that there could be no way of "placing limits on the
scope of divine creation" since such a limitation would suggest impiety. See Granada, "The
Defence of the Movement of the Earth," 104.
130. Ibid., 285-287.
131. JKGW, 1:237.16-237.17: "Perfection is left wanting where magnitude excels, and nobility
increases with the diminution of size."
132. Ibid., 237.31-237.34.
133. Ibid., 237.36-237.38: "Discamus igitur creatoris bene placitum; qui et rudis molis, et minu-
torum perfectionis author est: nee tamen mole gloriatur, sed nobilitat ilia, quae minuta esse
voluit."
134. Ibid., 238.3-238.8.
135. Ibid., 237.39-237.41: "Denique per haec intervalla a Tellure ad Solem, a Sole ad Saturnum,
a Saturno ad fixas, discamus paulatim conscendere ad agnoscendam divinae potentiae
immensitatem."
136. On the contributions of Fabricius to the composition of the Astronomia nova, see James R.
Voelkel, The Composition of Kepler's Astronomia nova, 170-210.
137. JKGW, 15, no. 340, 289-291: "The first reason [in favor of the heliocentric hypothesis] is
drawn from the nature of light spreading out into a full sphere. Since the Sun is the source of
light, it is in the center, so that it may disperse and spread light in equal lines."
138. Ibid., 321-327.
139. JKGW, 15, no. 335, 182-185.
140. JKGW, 15, no. 340, 328-329: "I showed in the Astronomia nova that the Sun is the source
of motion. It is fitting, however, that the source [of motion] be in the center, so that the
emanation is equal. What is more, the origin of motion should not move. In fact, it is the
center of a stationary location."
141. JKGW, 3:240.37-240.39. On the differentiation of light from the motive virtue of the Sun in
the Mysterium cosmographicum and the Astronomia nova, see Itokazu, "A Forca que Move
os Planetas." Also, for a persuasive account of why "the solution proposed by Rabin to
interpret the solar force as a material propagation is not borne out by Kepler's texts," see
Anastasia Guidi Itokazu, "Da Potencia Motriz Solar Kepleriana como Emanacao Imaterial,"
Cadernos de Historia e Filosofia da Ciencia 17, 2007, 303-324. Cf. Sheila J. Rabin, "Was
Kepler's Species Immateriata Substantial?" Journal for the History of Astronomy 36, 2005,
49-56.
142. JKGW, 15, no. 340, 341-343: "If the Sun is moved around the Earth, then it must strain
and slacken in its motion like the other planets, without the ministry of the orbs, which do
not exist. Yet so much is incredible for the source of motion of the others. What is more, it
is necessary that the most noble Sun be moved by the ignoble Earth, just as the five other
[planets] are moved by the Sun. This is entirely absurd. Accordingly, the Earth will be moved
along with the five other planets by the Sun, and the Moon alone by the Earth." Cf. JKGW,
3:238.39-239.6. This part of Kepler's letter to Herwart also appears in translation in Carola
Baumgardt, Johannes Kepler: Life and Letters (New York: Philosophical Library, 1951), 74.
143. Kepler also suggested the higher probability of the heliocentric hypothesis. See, for example,
JKGW, 15, no. 340, 331-336: "Tycho and I put the five planets in motion around the Sun,
though he also accepts that the Sun moves around the Earth along with the entire system.
Copernicus arranges six bodies around the Sun, with the Moon around the Earth. It is more
probable, however, that the Moon alone is moved by a double motion rather than the five
planets, not only per se but also because the Moon has an argument in favor of this in the
phenomena [in phaenomenis], while the others have none."
114 PJ. Boner
144. JKGW, 15, no. 343, 51-52.
145. On the reality of Copernicanism as a religious calling, see Voelkel, The Composition of
Kepler's Astronomia nova, 212.
146. I borrow the brilliant metaphor of Kepler's quarry of cosmic mysteries from Jardine, "Kepler,
God, and the Virtues of Copernican Hypotheses," 275.
147. JKGW, 1:155.3-155.4.
148. Copernicus, On the Revolutions, 22.
149. On the rhetorical character of the Astronomia nova, see Voelkel, The Composition of Kepler's
Astronomia nova, 211-246.
150. Book of Wisdom, 11:21.
151. JKGW, 1:234.30-234.32.
152. Ibid., 25-27.
153. Kepler claimed that his account of cosmic proportion provided a mathematical explanation
for the arrangement of the cosmos in three parts. Cf. ibid., 27-32: "The perfection of the
world is motion, which is a sort of life for it. Three things are required for motion, a motor,
a mobile body, and a location. The motor is the Sun, the mobile bodies are from Mercury to
Saturn, and the location is the outer sphere of the fixed stars. Yet if something physical may
be expressed mathematically, the mobile bodies are the proportional medium between the
motor and the location." Cf. Copernicus, On the Revolutions, 21: "[The sphere of the fixed
stars] is unquestionably the place of the universe, to which the motion and position of all the
other heavenly bodies are compared."
Chapter 7
From Cosmos to Confession: Kepler
and the Connection Between Astronomical
and Religious Truth
Aviva Rothman
In October of 1595, Johannes Kepler joyfully conveyed to Tubingen the news that
he had completed his first book, the Mysterium cosmographicum. "I truly desire,"
he wrote to Michael Maestlin, his former professor of mathematics, "that these
things are published as quickly as possible for the glory of God, who wants to be
known from the Book of Nature [...]. I wanted to be a theologian; for a long time
I was distressed: behold God is now celebrated too in my astronomical work." 1
Unable to devote himself to the Book of Scripture directly, 2 Kepler had turned
his focus to God's other book — the Book of Nature — which, he believed, also
revealed God's providential plan. The astronomer who unfolded and clarified this
plan, Kepler argued, performed a task analogous to the theologian — one illuminated
God's words, while the other illuminated God's works. 3
That Kepler saw deep links between astronomy and theology is clear. The pur-
pose of this paper is to move beyond these general linkages and to consider the
extent to which Kepler saw concrete continuities between cosmos and confession —
that is, between the structures and objects in the heavens, and specific religious
debates on earth. This question is particularly significant given the context in which
Kepler lived and worked. The turbulent religious and political debates that fractured
Europe, as the Thirty Years War loomed on the horizon, were deeply troubling to
Kepler. On a personal level, they cast a shadow of misfortune over his own life, forc-
ing him to move from one place to another, disrupting his work, and putting the lives
of his loved ones at risk. Yet these disputes troubled Kepler on a communal level
as well, and he spent much of his career lamenting the discord between the confes-
sions and arguing for a newly unified and harmonious church, one that echoed the
harmony he saw underpinning the cosmos. 4 This paper seeks to link Kepler's life-
long focus on both churchly harmony and the harmony of the spheres by asking one
central question: did Kepler see any way in which his astronomical pursuits could
help settle some of the confessional disputes that so vexed him? To what extent,
that is, did the continuities he saw between his astronomy and his theology have
A. Rothman (^)
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
e-mail: atrothma@princeton.edu
PJ. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27, 115
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6_7, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
116 A. Rothman
practical implications that could help him realize the dream of a harmonious and
unified church?
In the following pages I will consider two instances that shed light on this
question, focusing in particular on Kepler's early career. First, I will look at the
aftermath of the writing of the Mysterium cosmographicum, and the dispute sur-
rounding the inclusion of a proposed section of the book reconciling Copernicanism
and Scripture. 5 In debating the merits of including this section, Kepler and Matthias
Hafenreffer, his former professor of theology, discussed the extent to which it was
appropriate for the spheres of astronomy and theology to overlap, and the possible
implications of such an overlap. In the course of this debate, Kepler reflected, with
some highly unorthodox results, on the implications that his work might have for
one of the most pressing confessional disputes of his day — the true nature of the
Eucharist.
Moving forward in time, and from cosmology to astrology, I will next consider
Kepler's correspondence with Herwart von Hohenburg following the celebrated new
star of 1604. Kepler discussed the potential implications of the new star at greatest
length in his De Stella Nova. Rather than focus on the book itself, however, I will
focus on a "speculation" that Kepler and Herwart discussed, on the ways in which
the heavenly bodies might represent the specific sacraments of the Catholic Church,
and on the possible implications of the new star in this context. As we shall see,
though Kepler willingly engaged in such speculation, he was unwilling to draw the
kind of concrete confessional implications from it that he drew from his earlier
cosmological work in the Mysterium cosmographicum.
In the first interchange with Hafenreffer, Kepler was a young, opinionated, and
relatively unknown district mathematician in the increasingly Catholic city of Graz;
in the second, with Herwart, he was Imperial Mathematician in the cosmopoli-
tan and religiously tolerant city of Prague. Yet this alone does not account for
the difference in his approach. Rather, I will argue, Kepler's attitude differed in
these two interchanges because he believed that very different degrees of certainty
could be achieved by cosmological and astrological claims, and he was wary of
the ways that such claims could be mobilized by bitterly divided confessions, all
eager to prove the truth of their own particular beliefs. Astronomical pursuits could
contribute to the reconciliation of religious conflict, Kepler believed, not only by
pointing to specific answers to particular religious questions, but more importantly
by providing a model of true harmony, revealing the correct path for all else to
follow. 6
The Mysterium Cosmographicum, Religious Community,
and the Eucharist Debate
In the Mysterium cosmographicum, Kepler believed that he had used a priori rea-
soning to reveal the fundamental geometric structures underpinning the cosmos. He
demonstrated that by nesting the Platonic solids one inside the other, and then cir-
cumscribing circles around each one to represent the positions of the planets, one
7 Kepler and the Connection Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 117
could arrive at the distances between the planets, ordered according to Copernican
theory. Kepler further argued that the structuring of the cosmos according to the
Platonic solids made perfect sense, for geometry was the tool with which God had
created the universe and all things in it. To be intelligible was to be geometrical,
Kepler contended, because the human mind was imprinted with the very geomet-
rical archetypes that also structured the cosmos, and was thus uniquely suited to
understand God's creations. 7
Kepler had hoped to include within the book a discussion of the manner in which
one could reconcile Copernicanism with Scriptural passages that seemed to imply
the centrality and immobility of the earth. However, when Kepler told Matthias
Hafenfeffer of this plan, Hafenreffer wrote to him and urged him to reconsider. 8
Hafenreffer noted that Kepler felt the need to reconcile Copernicanism and Scripture
only because he operated from the standpoint that Copernicanism was physically
true, and as such it must be reconciled to Scripture. Instead, argued Hafenreffer,
Kepler ought to emphasize the Aristotelian disciplinary divisions between mathe-
matics (including astronomy, one of the mixed mathematical sciences) and physics,
or natural philosophy. 9 Hafenreffer stressed that natural philosophers alone could
discourse on the true nature of the heavens, while astronomers, practitioners of a
mathematical discipline, could only describe the positions of heavenly bodies. 10 If
Kepler underscored that he adopted Copernican theory strictly from the standpoint
of a mathematician, his claims would not be viewed as dangerous or particularly
controversial. Given the perspective that the true could follow from the false, many
of Kepler's conclusions could be utilized in order to improve astronomical cal-
culations, while the basic Copernican premise could be discounted as a useful
fiction. 11
Though Hafenreffer urged Kepler to act as an abstract mathematician and ignore
the relationship between Copernicanism and Scripture, Kepler was strongly com-
mitted to the physical truth of the Copernican system, and a strictly mathematical
approach was deeply unsatisfying to him. 12 Hafenreffer, however, went one step
further, and argued for the omission of the proposed chapter on grounds that would
have appealed much more strongly to Kepler. He urged Kepler to consider the
cohesive bonds of community, rather than simply the strict bounds of doctrine. His
concern, he wrote in a private letter to Kepler, was not merely that Kepler himself
would be contravening an accepted truth of the church, but rather that since many
Lutherans would perceive Kepler's actions that way, and since some might even
agree with him, Kepler's actions could only increase the strife and disagreement
in an already contentious and fractured Lutheran Church. "I advise and admon-
ish you as a brother," Hafenreffer implored, "that you not attempt to propound
or fight for that stated harmonization publicly, for thus many good men would
be offended, and not unjustly, and the whole business could either be impeded, or
tainted with the grave stain of dissension." 13 With this plea, Hafenreffer appealed
not to Kepler's sense of orthodoxy, but rather to Kepler's desire for harmony in the
church. 14 Hafenreffer's own desire for church harmony was so important to him, he
wrote, that potential harm to the church — by which he meant the Lutheran Church
in particular — would totally invalidate any good that may have come from Kepler's
118 A. Rothman
discovery. "As it is," Hafenreffer lamented, "in the Church of God there is already
more contention than is advisable for the weak." 15
Hafenreffer 's own position makes a great deal of sense given his post as a the-
ologian at Tubingen. The Tubingen theologians had played a central role in shaping
the post-Reformation theological climate, and in fashioning the Lutheran move-
ment into a strong and unified confession. 16 Jakob Andreae, Tubingen Chancellor
from 1561 to 1590, was a pivotal figure in the attempt to create doctrinal accord
between the different branches of Lutheranism. As Wurttemberg, the province in
which Tubingen was located, was straddled by Catholic Bavaria and the Calvinist
Palatine, the need for Lutheran unity was pressing. Andreae had argued that the
best way to achieve confessional unity was to create a simple list of articles of faith
with which the majority of theologians could agree. He was instrumental in drafting
the Formula of Concord, which enumerated these articles and sharply distinguished
between Lutherans and their Catholic and Calvinist adversaries. 17 After its com-
pletion in 1577, the Formula of Concord was adopted by two-thirds of Lutheran
Germany, including the province of Wurttemberg, where all government and cleri-
cal officials, as well as all teachers and university professors, were required to sign
their assent. 18
The Formula of Concord was thus the symbol of the quest for Lutheran unity,
a quest which emanated directly out of Wurttemberg and Tubingen University and
which drew its strength from the perceived need for stability and agreement in the
face of threats from Catholics and Calvinists, the enemies of the Lutheran Church. In
light of this, it is clear that Hafenreffer's plea that Kepler not disturb Lutheran unity
by raising the contentious issue of Scripture and Copernicanism stemmed directly
from a theological environment which prized Lutheran unity — and the particular
doctrinal orthodoxy that undergirded it — above all else. Yet Hafenreffer focused not
on the orthodox doctrines themselves, but rather on the importance of unity, hoping
that this alone would sway Kepler as no doctrinal arguments could.
As it turns out, Hafenreffer was right to assume that this plea for unity would
appeal to Kepler. Interestingly, however, Kepler argued for a strong and explicit
emphasis on religion and the physical truth of Copernicanism in his Mysterium
cosmographicum, for precisely the reasons that Hafenreffer had argued for their
exclusion — the goal of strengthening a divided church. When Kepler had earlier
described his book to Michael Maestlin, he had asserted that he hoped it would serve
to strengthen its readers' faith in God. This strengthening of the faith, he clarified in
a letter in 1597, would be achieved by the book's emphasis on geometry as the basic
tool with which God had created the universe and all things in it. Kepler argued
that his book had illuminated the way that God had fashioned humans in his image,
by making them uniquely capable of recognizing and understanding geometrical
forms, and in turn the structure of the natural world. He wrote,
For as the eye was fashioned for understanding colors and the ear for understanding sounds,
thus the mind of man was fashioned not for understanding anything whatsoever, but [specif-
ically] for understanding quantities. And the closer something is to bare quantities — as it
were, to its own origin — the more properly the mind perceives it; the farther it recedes from
this, the more obscurity and errors there are. For our mind carries its notions about its own
7 Kepler and the Connection Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 119
nature, built upon the category of quantity, with it toward the study of divine things: if it is
deprived of them, it is able to assert nothing except mere negations. 19
Kepler here contrasted "quantities" with "numbers" — the latter he understood to
be abstract and mathematical, while the former were concrete and geometrical. 20
Kepler argued that mankind was specifically created to appreciate and understand
geometrical quantities on a very fundamental level. Thus by demonstrating that
the underlying structure of the universe was geometrical, Kepler believed he had
increased man's ability to understand and speak about God and his creation. 21
But Kepler did not end his argument here. Rather, he argued for a much more
explicit continuity between his idea of the heavens and the religious conflicts on
earth, one which, he believed, could have immediate and wide-ranging effects.
Specifically, he believed that the central motif of the Mysterium cosmographicum
clarified an objection of the Calvinists against the Lutheran doctrine of "illocal
presence," central to the Lutheran understanding of the Eucharist. 22 Luther had
argued that Christ's statement "hoc est corpus meum" implied his real presence
in the Eucharist, and that this presence could not be understood in only a spiritual
sense. Christ's body was actually present in the bread and the wine. Yet the presence
of Christ's body was not restricted to the bread and the wine at the moment of Mass.
According to Luther,
Because we believe that Christ is God and man, and the two natures are one person, so
that this person cannot be divided in two. . .it must follow that he. . . is and can be wher-
ever God is, and that everything is full of Christ through and through, also according to
his humanity — not according to the first, corporeal, limited manner, but according to the
supernatural, divine manner. 23
This doctrine, known as ubiquity, implied that as God was omnipresent, so too
was Christ's body to be found everywhere throughout the universe.
By extension, Luther did not assert a miraculous change of the substance of the
bread and the wine into the body and blood, for Christ's body and blood were
already there, as they were everywhere. The Mass was a powerful testament that
Christ left behind for his followers, not a particular, localized miracle or transforma-
tion. Moreover, Luther argued that believers needed to refine their understanding of
Christ's body, and what its presence actually implied. Rather than a kind of panthe-
ism to which the doctrine of ubiquity steered dangerously close, Luther maintained
that Christ's body was not corporeal in the usual sense, and was not subject to any
physical or natural limitations. Christ's body, according to Luther, was really present
everywhere, but not locally so. The Eucharist did not link the body of Christ directly
to the physical world, for it was divine, and as such the presence of Christ's body in
the Eucharist could only be understood in a non-material and non-corporeal sense.
Kepler referred to this notion of "illocal presence" in his 1597 letter to Maestlin,
arguing for the theological value of his Mysterium cosmographicum. He maintained
that his book made the Calvinist objection to the doctrine of "illocal presence"
understandable, and indeed, persuasive. The Calvinists argued against the idea of
a physical presence in the Eucharist — though God's presence was real, it should be
understood only spiritually. Kepler had shown in his book, he noted, that everything
120 A. Rothman
in the physical world could only be understood through geometric quantities — that
is, corporeally. The idea that Christ's body was a body in any sense of the word, and
yet was not subject to natural and material limitations, as the Lutherans maintained,
was meaningless, Kepler wrote, channeling the Calvinists. To speak of a presence
that was both real and illocal was to speak incoherently and obscurely, and "to assert
nothing except mere negations." As Kepler explained,
From here comes that agitation of the Calvinists toward the phrase "illocal presence." For
both the expression (presence) and the thing understood behind the expression were chosen
from the creation of this world, which exists in space and time, and they indicate [the idea
of] quantities, even to those who are most cautious. If anyone at all were to take the oppor-
tunity to carefully assess these and similar things selected from my little book, I think that
the factions differing in religion would come one step closer together. 24
In other words, by forcefully demonstrating the centrality of geometry to the
entire physical world in his Mysterium cosmographicum, Kepler believed that he
was clarifying, and, he hoped, helping to eliminate a point of tension between
the Lutherans and the Calvinists. In so doing, he believed he was helping to repair
some of the breaches in the church, and uniting the factions that were at war.
The implications of this exchange with Hafenreffer, along with Kepler's related
claims to Maestlin, are twofold. First, Kepler and Hafenreffer each made their cases
with the same goal in mind. Kepler believed that emphasizing the physical and reli-
gious aspects of his book would bolster the unity of the church, by helping the
hostile confessions better understand one another, and perhaps resolve their dif-
ferences. Hafenreffer argued that those emphases would further divide the church
by creating more disagreement, and that eliminating the chapter on Scripture and
Copernicanism would far better preserve the unity of the church. It is clear, however,
that Kepler and Hafenreffer had two separate notions of "the church" in mind. For
Hafenreffer, the church whose unity he hoped to preserve was the Lutheran Church.
As a theologian at Tubingen, a mainstay of Lutheran orthodoxy, Hafenreffer saw
Lutheran unity as preeminent. The inter-confessional doctrinal debates, among
Lutherans, Catholics, and Calvinists, needed to occupy the full energy of the church.
The church could not afford to worry about debates within its ranks, if ultimately it
hoped to maintain its integrity in the face of external opposition.
For Kepler, however, the "divided" church that needed repair was the whole
of Christendom, not merely the Lutheran confession. The struggles within the
Lutheran Church were real, but they paled in comparison to the debates dividing
the church understood in a more universal sense. While some believed that those
inter-confessional debates were irreconcilable, and indeed that such reconciliation
was undesirable (for only one particular confession represented the true church),
Kepler's ultimate goal was a united Christendom, and he believed that reconciliation
of the confessions was indeed possible.
And here is where the second implication of this exchange arises. Kepler not only
felt that reconciliation of the church was a priority, he also felt that his cosmologi-
cal work was an important tool in the enterprise of reconciliation, for the truths of
astronomy, demonstrated a priori in his book, showed that some of the debates divid-
ing the confessions, like the nature of the Eucharist, could be definitively decided.
7 Kepler and the Connection Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 121
The specific continuities between cosmos and confession, that is, could be mobi-
lized to settle some of the sharpest confessional disputes, in ways that would brook
no dissent. For how could one argue with certain knowledge, demonstrated a priori,
of the very fabric of the heavens? Of course, Kepler had demonstrated a truth that
contradicted the beliefs of his own Lutheran Church — and indeed, this issue was to
cause trouble later in his life, when Daniel Hitzler, pastor in Linz, denied him the
communion because of his unorthodox position on the Eucharist. Yet though Kepler
considered himself a devout Lutheran, the unified church he envisioned contained
elements of all the confessions — for, as he later wrote, "Christ the Lord who spoke
this word . . . neither was nor is Lutheran, Calvinist, Papist." 25
Despite Kepler's belief in the importance of his discovery, Kepler evidently found
Hafenreffer's arguments persuasive — or, perhaps, still felt too closely bound to his
Tubingen roots to defy the advice of his mentor, particularly on so contentious
an issue. He followed Hafenreffer's advice and eliminated the proposed chapter
on Copernicanism and Scripture from the Mysterium cosmographicum — though he
later would include it in the Astronomia nova. "What are we to do?" he wrote to
Maestlin, after describing Hafenreffer's position. "The whole of astronomy is not
worth one of Christ's little ones being offended." 26 Yet Kepler took pains to note
that he did this out of respect for unity, and not because he felt that there was any-
thing objectionable about the material he wanted to include. Moreover, he argued to
Maestlin that the same was true for Hafenreffer himself. Hafenreffer, he noted, had
"eloquently praised the discovery," understanding full well its Copernican import.
And though Hafenreffer pretended to find the idea of heliocentrism problematic,
Kepler wrote,
I truly cannot believe that he is averse to this opinion. He pretends, in order that he may
reconcile his colleagues, whom perhaps he offends with the promotion of my book. And
this must be conceded to him. For peace with his colleagues is more important to him than
with me. 27
Kepler could not accept the possibility that a close mentor and friend, one whom
he so respected, could have read his book and not been persuaded by the arguments
he had so clearly outlined. 28 Yet he accepted Hafenreffer's seeming opposition, for
peace and unity, he believed, should be the ultimate guides for the behavior of all
those who cared for the church, from the followers of established church doctrine
all the way up to those who established it.
The New Star of 1604: Heavenly Representations
and the Religious Implications of Astrology
In September of 1604, observers across Europe were enthralled by a dazzling new
object in the sky, often referred to as a new star. Portentous in its own right, the
new star was made doubly significant by the place of its emergence: it appeared
in close proximity to the conjunction of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in the sign
of Sagittarius — a conjunction which initiated the Fiery Trigon, a period of great
122 A. Rothman
astrological significance. These two momentous events, and their close proximity,
resulted in a flood of pamphlets arguing for the new star's earthly significance.
Kepler also produced a work that focused on the implications of the new star —
De Stella nova — though it was not published until 2 years later, and it was far more
circumspect than many of the texts that preceded it. 29 The majority of the book was
devoted to the physical significance of the new star, while only the final chapters
addressed what future events it might portend. And though Kepler willingly spec-
ulated on some possibilities for its future significance — among them the fall of the
Islamic empire, the second coming of Christ, and the conversion of all non-believers
to Christianity — he did not endorse any option as certain. Reading detailed signif-
icances into the heavens was risky business, he argued, because God had provided
no formula by which heavenly phenomena could be easily interpreted. "If it had
pleased God to openly indicate what he wished to men," he wrote, "he would have
inscribed it in the heavens with written words; thus men struggle in vain to con-
jecture about the divine will." 30 Though he considered it clear that the new star,
appearing precisely where and when it did, was a sign of divine providence, Kepler
hesitated to proclaim what such providence signified in the realms of communal
politics or religion. Instead, he urged his readers to use the new star as an oppor-
tunity to examine their own lives, while maintaining a sense of humility about its
global significance. 31
Rather than focus on the arguments in De Stella nova, I want to consider instead
an exchange that took place shortly after its publication, between Kepler and
Herwart von Hohenburg, Bavarian Chancellor and friend and patron of Kepler's. In
De Stella nova, Kepler had suggested — though only as possibilities — some religious
implications of the new star, yet he had not considered what significance the new
star might have when viewed within a specifically confessional context. In March
of 1607, however, Kepler received a letter from Herwart, asking him to contemplate
the distinctively Catholic significances of the heavenly bodies. Kepler's discussion
of the new star and the birth year of Christ, Herwart wrote, had motivated him to
provide Kepler with a brief judicium he had written which considered questions of
astrology and religion, as he was aware that there were many Catholic theologians
who still attributed inclinations or significances to the stars. Herwart maintained a
degree of skepticism on the question, noting that he had yet to find a firm founda-
tion on which to base such suppositions; as such, he admitted, "I would well have
cause to withhold [my judicium], for perhaps it is not worth the effort of writing or
of rebuttal." 32 Yet he had read in Kepler's astrological writings a similar uncertainty
on issues of astrological inclination or signification, he wrote, and for that reason, he
hoped that Kepler would openly communicate his thoughts on the matter. He asked
that Kepler keep Herwart's musings secret, since they were, after all, only "bare
speculation." 33 Moreover, he emphasized that though his speculations were "drawn
out from the tradition of our Catholic Church," with which he knew Kepler was not
in full agreement, he hoped that Kepler would take them as nothing less than well
intentioned. 34
Despite the Catholic Church's formal opposition to the practice of judicial astrol-
ogy, Herwart's contention that many Catholic theologians still accepted its basic
7 Kepler and the Connection Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 123
tenets is well supported by the historical literature. Ugo Baldini describes the
paradox of a society in which, up until the seventeenth century, "outright condem-
nations of judicial astrology coexisted with its widespread and public practice . . .
and with its substantial acceptance by social elites, and even by the ecclesiasti-
cal hierarchy." 35 Part of this paradox lies in the church's somewhat unsystematic
approach to the discipline of astrology, to the distinctions between natural and
judicial astrology, and to the enforcement of its own astrological condemnations.
Though Pope Sixtus V's bull "Coeli et terrae creator Deus" of 1586 formally con-
demned astrology in fairly restrictive terms, arguing that "God has reserved certain
knowledge of future things only unto himself," 36 the bull focused specifically on the
application of judicial astrology to the future lives of individuals, and did not dis-
cuss the implications of natural astrology more broadly. 37 And even after the Pope's
bull was officially accepted by the Catholic world, judicial astrology still had many
supporters; Jesuits still taught private classes in astrology, 38 Catholic courts still had
official judicial astrologers, 39 and astrological discourses were still addressed even
to cardinals at the papal court. 40
Though officially on doctrinally shaky ground, then, Herwart's astrological spec-
ulation was in good company, as he indicated. In the "judicium" that he appended
to his letter to Kepler, Herwart began his speculation by equating the three divisions
of the heavens with the three aspects of God — the supreme and invisible heaven,
according to Herwart, signified the Father; the intermediate heaven, or the fixed
stars, signified the Son; and the lower heaven, or the seven plants, signified the Holy
Spirit. This kind of association, he would have known both from Kepler's letters and
books, was very familiar to Kepler, who himself had identified the Trinity in the con-
figuration of the heavens. Kepler's argument for the Trinity was slightly different,
of course. He first analogized the sphere to the Trinity, with the center symboliz-
ing God the Father, the surface symbolizing the Son, and the intermediate space
symbolizing the Holy Spirit. He then extended this analogy to encompass the entire
cosmos, with the sun in the center of the universe representing the Father, the fixed
stars at the surface representing the Son, and the intermediate ether representing
the Holy Spirit. But despite these differences, the Trinity was essential to Kepler's
own cosmological perspective, and he would have been sympathetic to Herwart's
invocation of it in this context.
Herwart then moved on to the more exclusively Catholic portion of his judicium.
Since the seven planets, in his view, represented the Holy Spirit, they represented
more specifically the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or the seven Sacraments. The moon,
because of its connection with water, represented baptism. Mercury, wrote a cynical
Herwart, represented the sacrament of marriage, as it was "somewhat obscure, wan-
dering, constantly beneath the sun, [and] requiring penance." 41 By extension, Venus,
"clear, lucid, shining, most beautiful of all," represented the sacrament of Holy
Orders. 42 The sun represented penance, as it was the source of all the other planets,
which all inclined themselves toward it and depended on its motion, just as all the
other sacraments depended on penance. Mars, which recurred every 2 years, corre-
sponded to childhood, and hence to confirmation. Jupiter, recurring every 12 years,
corresponded to puberty, and hence to the Eucharist. Finally, Saturn's 30 year cycle
124 A. Rothman
corresponded to the sacrament of extreme unction, as Herwart noted that 30 years
"concludes the age of the perfect man" — likely an allusion to Jesus, who began to
preach at the age of thirty, according to Luke. 43
In his reply to Herwart, Kepler first addressed Herwart's contention that he hadn't
clearly articulated his own astrological position, and he took pains to emphasize
that he generally considered himself an opponent of the kind of astrology practiced
by the majority of its adherents. "What else is the entire little book," he wrote of
De Stella nova, "but a near crucifixion of all judicial astrology, with the aspects
alone enduring as parts of the natural order?" 44 But he willingly engaged with the
linkages that Herwart had posited between the heavens and the seven sacraments,
and included a "judicium de speculatione" of his own at the end of his letter. He first
addressed the premise that the heavens represented the church overall, and deemed
this premise "probable." 45 "Because it is a general belief," he explained, "that God
sends us signs with reference to our earthly circumstances, and sends these signs
from the heavens . . . [and] the most important of our circumstances are those related
to the Church." 46 Therefore, he concluded, it was sensible to assume that heavenly
signs referred to churchly matters.
Kepler then went one step further, and conceded it likely that heavenly signs
referred not merely to churchly matters, but to matters specifically relevant to
the Catholic Church. His argument for this assumption was based primarily on
practicality. He wrote,
If I concede it plausible that it is not absurd that God speaks with astrologers, who are small
in number, and forms his words from the particular principles of astrology, although little
certain, it will be much less absurd [to believe] that God says something through celestial
signs to those who extend the name of Rome through the whole breadth of the Catholic
Church — for they are today the most numerous and most powerful part of the world — and
that he speaks to them in their principles, and according to their understanding. 47
God wants to speak to his people, Kepler explained, and to do so he will employ
whatever means necessary for them to understand him. In his interpretation of
Scripture, Kepler had employed the traditional principle of biblical accommodation,
which asserted that scriptura humane loquitur — Scripture speaks in the language of
man. 48 When the Bible spoke of Joshua stopping the sun, for instance, it portrayed
the event as men would perceive it, not as it had actually occurred. Along similar
lines, Kepler here implied that even if the sacraments of the Catholic Church carried
no great weight from a divine perspective, God might employ them as a means to
transmit his messages, given their significance for so many people on earth.
One might suppose that Kepler conceded so much to Herwart because of the
value of his patronage, not because of genuine agreement on Kepler's part — Herwart
was a courtier with important connections, and Kepler certainly had no wish to alien-
ate him. Yet Kepler, as a Lutheran, clearly and openly disagreed with his Catholic
patron on many questions of religion. Here, however, he exhibited no such dissent.
"This all seems to me entirely believable," he concluded, so much so that he would
be willing to deny that it was possible to produce a better comparison of heavenly
bodies with churchly things. 49
7 Kepler and the Connection Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 125
Given this acknowledgment, Kepler readily concurred with Herwart's particular
designations of each planet with each respective sacrament, and ventured still fur-
ther to contemplate the meaning of the new star in this context. The new star, he
speculated, signified a great new bishop, and its coincidence with the Fiery Trigon
signified a new doctrine or heresy connected with the sacraments of extreme unc-
tion, the Eucharist, or confirmation. He speculated still further that because the new
star appeared along the ecliptic, it signified that the new bishop would assume power
in the usual way, through apostolic succession. And as the new star was beautiful,
the new bishop would entice people with his words, but would fall from power
quickly, as the new star had disappeared in February or March of 1606.
At this point Kepler rather abruptly backed away, and ceased elaborating fur-
ther on the star's significance. Because his speculation had led him to the realm of
prophecy, he wrote, he would end his ruminations and be content with this short
"prelude," as he called it. He likened this to his attitude in De Stella nova, in which
he had briefly speculated on the new star's future significance only at the end of
the book, where, as he wrote, "I wanted to include the conventional ending of a
fabula." 50 "For truly," he explained, "there is no other method in my predictions
than the one that my speculation has used here." 51 His astrological predictions,
that is, like the speculation he sent to Herwart, were based on mere probabilities,
and on assumptions that needed to be accepted in order for the conclusions to
seem valid.
This is not the only place where Kepler highlighted the probability that lay at
the heart of astrological speculation. He emphasized precisely this point in De Stella
nova, when he left the significance of the new star undecided. There and elsewhere,
Kepler compared the practice of astrology to the practice of medicine — both were
imprecise arts, based on a posteriori observations and experiences, in striking con-
trast to the certain demonstrability of mathematics. 52 Kepler also emphasized the
degree to which the practice of astrology was tied up with cultural assumptions —
he included here the signs of the zodiac and their associations with the earthly
elements. 53 Should any of those assumptions be false, predictions based on them
would also be false. Finally, Kepler emphasized the inscrutability of God's inten-
tions; professing certainty about the meanings of obscure divine mysteries could
only be a sign of hubris. 54
Kepler's speculative play with Herwart, then, is revelatory on two levels. First, it
provides us with an interesting perspective on Kepler's conception of confessional
identity, and on God's relationship with his people, be they Lutherans, Calvinists, or
Catholics. Kepler himself had a complicated view of his own confessional identity,
and he certainly sympathized with some aspects of Calvinist and Catholic thought. 55
Yet Kepler's consideration of Herwart's Catholic astrology is not indicative, as some
have argued, of any close affinities with Catholic sacramental thought. 56 Instead, it
reveals Kepler's very practical understanding of God's communications with his
people, as well as his broad sense of who God's people were. Kepler extended
the principle of accommodation — the belief that God speaks in the languages of
man — from the realm of the physical to the realm of the theological. Just as God
could utilize any physical theories or perspectives of men in order to convey some
126 A. Rothman
greater message, Kepler maintained, so too could God utilize any theological doc-
trines of men in order to do the same. 57 Moreover, unlike many of his time, for
whom God's people represented very narrowly their own confessional allies — and
for whom members of competing confessions were not merely misguided, but sinful
heretics — Kepler understood God's people in a very broad sense. Much as we saw
earlier, in his arguments for a unified Christendom with Hafenreffer, God's people
were all Christians, regardless of confession. And as God undoubtedly intended to
communicate with all his people — among whom Catholics still encompassed the
majority by far — considerations of the manner in which he might do so were surely
warranted.
The other noteworthy aspect of Kepler's discussion with Herwart lies in the
reason why he hesitated to speculate too closely on any concrete confessional impli-
cations of the planets. Kepler argued that such speculations were impractical, as
they lacked method and certainty and were based on mere probability. Yet given the
nature of the topic, it is likely that Kepler recognized not merely the impracticality
of such speculations, but also the danger inherent in them. After all, the problems of
confessional divide were tearing Europe apart in direct and deadly ways, ways with
which Kepler was already all too familiar. 58 To attempt to speak about the future of
an individual was uncertain business, to be sure — but to attempt to do so about reli-
gious groups, and in weighted, confessional terms, was a far more dangerous game
to play. Kepler was fully aware that his speculations could easily be mobilized by
opposing groups to suit their own agendas, and could be used to fan the flames of a
fire already perilously out of control. 59 Moreover, much as he knew that astrological
predictions were based on cultural assumptions, he knew too that religious conflicts
were based on assumptions of their own. Kepler had argued in De Stella nova that
David Fabricius, a Lutheran theologian and astronomer who had also observed and
interpreted the new star, had allowed his own biases to color his interpretations.
Fabricius's predictions, he wrote, were "nothing other than complaints about his
neighbors, his opinion concerning the condition of the empire, and his desire for
vengeance and improvement." 60 Worried that any predictions he might make would
either be interpreted similarly, or still worse, used to further the grievances of others,
Kepler steered clear of making claims with obvious confessional implications when
they were based on so uncertain a foundation to begin with.
Conclusion: Certainty vs. Probability and the Harmony
of the Church
The two episodes I've considered both touch on potential connections between the
objects in the heavens and religious practices on earth. In the first, Kepler argued
decisively that the cosmological theories underpinning his Mysterium cosmograph-
icum demonstrated clear problems with the Lutheran doctrine of the Eucharist. In
the second, Kepler playfully speculated about the potential significances of the heav-
enly bodies for the Catholic sacraments, and of the new star for the future of the
Catholic Church. Yet he shied away from making any decisive claims, emphasizing
7 Kepler and the Connection Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 127
instead the uncertainty of his method and the unreliability of any assertions that
followed from it.
On a personal level, the difference between these two episodes may relate to
the very different relationships that tied Kepler to both Hafenreffer and Herwart.
Hafenreffer was a close mentor, a friend who generally shared Kepler's religious
outlook and a pivotal member of the same cultural and educational networks as
Kepler. By contrast, Herwart, though a respected patron, was a courtier who moved
in very different circles, held philosophical views with which Kepler often dis-
agreed, and religious views that Kepler could often not bring himself to adopt.
Kepler may have felt more willing to speak openly with Hafenreffer and to state
his views forcefully and unequivocally, and more inclined to respond playfully to
Herwart, rather than reveal his true thoughts.
Yet I argue that something more underpins the difference in attitude between
these episodes — namely, a fundamental difference Kepler saw between the certainty
and demonstrability of the two disciplines in question. Kepler emphasized with
pride the a priori nature of the claims made in the Mysterium cosmographicum.
"What Copernicus established from the phenomena," he wrote, "from the effects,
a posteriori ... all that, I say, is discovered to have been established very properly
by methods deduced a priori, from the causes, from the idea of Creation." 61 Kepler
believed that the claims of the Mysterium cosmographicum were demonstrable via
reason alone, and as such, indisputable. 62 By contrast, as we have seen, Kepler
emphasized that astrology was a discipline characterized by probability, by a pos-
teriori observations and experiences collected over time. Though the new star was
clearly a divine portent, its meaning was elusive. And even Herwart' s ideas about
the relationship between each planetary body and the sacraments, though probable,
were based on assumptions that could easily be disputed.
All this was particularly relevant due to the violent intensity of religious debates
at the time. If astronomical ideas could help settle religious conflicts, Kepler was
clearly willing to make the necessary connections. In the case of his ideas on the
Eucharist, he believed that because his claims were so demonstrably certain, they
could only help to settle debates — for if one were to consider the issue rationally,
one would be forced to conclude as he had, and there would be no further grounds
for argument. In the case of the relationship between the planets, the new star, and
the sacraments, Kepler understood that his claims were only probable at best. In
this case, they would be more likely to aggravate disputes between the confessions,
rather than settle them. When it came to the continuities between cosmos and con-
fession, Kepler was guided by a keen awareness of the potential effects of such
continuities, and by a desire to help heal the church, rather than add to its troubles.
This, of course, points us to another connection between the two episodes I've
considered. Though Kepler certainly felt more closely tied to Hafenreffer and the
world he represented than to Herwart and his world, his attitude in each of these
exchanges demonstrates the extent to which he attempted to transcend the limits of
both spheres, and to articulate a conception of the scope of the church that was more
expansive than those of many of his contemporaries. Whereas Hafenreffer urged
Kepler to limit any speculations that might weaken the Lutheran faith — for it was
128 A. Rothman
Lutheranism that represented for Hafenreffer the true church — Kepler argued that
the church was far broader than Hafenreffer imagined, and hoped that his arguments
would help strengthen that larger church, paving the way for a unification of the
confessions. Likewise, in his acknowledgment to Herwart that God might very well
make use of Catholic doctrine to speak with His people, he made it clear that God's
people encompassed the church in this broad sense, rather than any individual creed
or confession. Much as Kepler's willingness to publicly broach issues of confession
was guided by a desire for harmony, his conception of the church itself was guided
by the goal of a universal harmony of the church that mirrored the harmony of the
world.
In sum, the idea of harmony writ large represents a central linkage throughout
Kepler's thought. Kepler often explicitly connected the ideas of harmonia mundi and
harmonia Ecclesiae; he saw the two as inseparable. 63 Though he firmly identified
himself as a Lutheran 64 and a German, 65 he cultivated deep scholarly friendships
that crossed these lines, 66 and prayed for a world where such categories would no
longer divide. In his 1623 Confession of Faith, a small pamphlet summarizing his
religious views, he wrote,
Alas, it hurts me in my heart that the three great factions have miserably torn the truth
among themselves, and that I must cast about for it piece by piece, wherever I find it [. . .].
Even more do I devote myself to reconciling the parties, where I can, with the truth [. . .]. 67
Kepler was, of course, not unique in this desire for unification and reform. The
wars of the seventeenth century severely disrupted the works and worlds of a wide
range of central European intellectuals, many of whom also articulated plans for
newly harmonious communities. 68 Johann Valentin Andreae, for instance, argued
for a united brotherhood of Christians, in which a new reformation in religion would
lead to an improvement in knowledge and society more broadly. 69 Andreae, of
course, was a product of the very same Tubingen context as Kepler — he too worked
closely with Hafenreffer and Maestlin. He even mentioned Kepler in one list of the
members of his projected new society. 70
Yet in some ways Kepler stands apart from Andreae. For one, Andreae 's society,
like those of many others who put forth plans, was grounded in a particular con-
fessional context — Andreae's was a society of Lutherans. Kepler's view was clearly
broader than this. And while Andreae maintained that a reformed and harmonious
religion would lead to a reformed and harmonious science, Kepler seemed to argue
that the arrow of reform ran in the other direction. He voiced his agreement with
Plato, who emphasized that geometry led "from ambition and other forms of greed,
out of which wars and other evils arise, to the love of peace and to moderation
in all things," and hoped that "my mathematics would always be ready to propose
. . . pleasures certainly not unworthy of a Christian man." 71 This move from right
mathematics to right religion might relate to the specific continuities between cos-
mos and confession that we considered earlier — to Kepler's idea, for instance, that
his cosmology demonstrated the proper approach to one of the most holy and con-
tentious of Christian rituals. Yet it might also relate more broadly to the link that
Kepler argued must exist between the harmonia mundi and the harmonia Ecclesiae.
7 Kepler and the Connection Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 129
Someone who devoted his life to the first would eventually be drawn to the second,
Kepler hoped, for true continuity between heaven and earth would ultimately mean
harmony in both.
Acknowledgements I would like to thank Patrick Boner, and all the participants at the conference
where this paper was originally presented, for their helpful questions and comments. Special thanks
as well to Anthony Grafton for his valuable suggestions, and to Elliot Gardner, as always.
Notes
1. JKGW, 13, no. 23, 253-257.
2. Kepler studied theology at Tubingen, and had hoped to devote his life to the Lutheran Church.
The faculty at Tubingen, however, had other plans for him, and he was directed to accept
a position in Graz as District Mathematician and teacher of mathematics at the Lutheran
Stiff there. See Max Caspar, Kepler, trans. C. Doris Hellman (New York: Dover Publications,
1993), 50-51.
3. For a discussion on the trope of "God's two books" in early modern science, see Kenneth
J. Howell, God's Two Books: Copernican Cosmology and Biblical Interpretation in Early
Modern Science (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992). See in particular
Chapter 3, "Kepler, Cosmology, and the Bible," 109-135.
4. See, for example, Kepler's discussion of confessional divide in his Glaubensbekenntnis
{JKGW, 12, 19-38), cited later in this paper. Kepler's far-reaching conception of "harmony,"
encompassing church and community more broadly, will be discussed at much greater length
in my forthcoming dissertation.
5. Edward Rosen also considers this dispute in "Kepler and the Lutheran Attitude Towards
Copernicanism in the Context of the Struggle Between Science and Religion," 317-338, in
Kepler, Four Hundred Years: Proceedings of Conferences Held in Honour of Johannes Kepler,
eds. Arthur Beer and Peter Beer, Vistas in Astronomy 18 (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1975).
6. The Harmonice Mundi is the obvious culmination of this idea-see, for example, the Digressio
politica, where Kepler pauses in his discussion of heavenly harmony to consider the idea of
earthly justice and the ideal state.
7. See J. V. Field, Kepler's Geometrical Cosmology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1988).
8. Though Kepler was working in Graz at the time, the Mysterium cosmographicum was pub-
lished in Tubingen, with the approval of the University Senate. Kepler was aided in the
printing primarily by Maestlin, but also by Hafenreffer, whom Kepler called the "promoter
of the printing" and the "eloquent admirer of the discovery." See JKGW, 13, no. 85, 128.
9. See James A. Weisheipl, "The Nature, Scope, and Classification of the Sciences," 461-482,
in Science in the Middle Ages, ed. David C. Lindberg (Chicago, University of Chicago Press,
1978).
10. See JKGW, 13, no. 93, 47-48. This is, of course, an overly simplified approach to disciplinary
divisions that were already evolving by Kepler's time. For an account of the place of astronomy
and its evolution over the early modern period, see William Donahue, "Astronomy," 562-595,
in The Cambridge History of Science, Volume 3: Early Modern Science, eds. Katharine Park
and Lorraine Daston (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
11. Hafenreffer draws here on the position dubbed the "Wittenberg interpretation" in Robert
Westman, "The Melanchthon Circle, Rheticus, and the Wittenberg Interpretation of the
Copernican Theory," Isis 66, 1975, 165-193. It allowed for the study and spread of
Copernicanism by avoiding the physical (Aristotelian) and religious (Scriptural) objections
to Copernican theory, since it adopted only the technical innovations while discarding their
physical implications. Erasmus Reinhold, for instance, used Copernicus's technical innova-
tions to construct a new set of astronomical tables, the Prutenic Tables. Yet Reinhold and
130 A. Rothman
his successor, Caspar Peucer, argued against the theory that the earth moved. See also Peter
Barker, "Constructing Copernicus," Perspectives on Science 10, 2002, 208-227 and Peter
Barker, "The Role of Religion in the Lutheran Response to Copernicus," 59-88, in Rethinking
the Scientific Revolution, ed. Margaret Osier (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
12. Kepler argued forcefully in many places that the true could not follow from the false. His
realist stance comes through particularly clearly in his Apologia for Tycho against Ursus.
See Nicholas Jardine, The Birth of History and Philosophy of Science: Kepler's A Defence of
Tycho against Ursus, with Essays on Its Provenance and Significance (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1984), and Nicholas Jardine, "The Forging of Modern Realism: Clavius and
Kepler against the Sceptics," Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 10, 1979, 141-173.
13. JKGW, 13, no. 93,40-43.
14. Hafenreffer was certainly aware of Kepler's desire for churchly harmony, even at this early
stage. He concluded his letter to Kepler with the plea that Kepler endeavor to "constantly
foster tranquility in the church, as I know was agreeable to you before." See ibid., 67-68.
15. Ibid., 62-63. The comparison with the more famous story of Galileo is an interesting one.
Galileo was censured because his comments on theological matters were deemed to transgress
the guidelines of orthodoxy set by the Council of Trent. (See Ernan McMullin, "The Church's
Ban on Copernicanism, 1616," 150-190, in The Church and Galileo, ed. Ernan McMullin
(Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005)). In a similar fashion, Hafenreffer's
response to Kepler was shaped by the backdrop of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.
Yet in Hafenreffer's case, the objection centered squarely on the way that the Reformation and
its aftermath had ruptured the fabric of the church, rather than on the specifics of orthodox
dogma that needed to be maintained by its disciples.
16. See Charlotte Methuen, Kepler's Tubingen: Stimulus to a Theological Mathematics
(Brookfield and Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998), 41-46.
17. See Lowell C. Green, The Formula of Concord: An Historio graphical and Bibliographical
Guide (St. Louis: Center for Reformation Research, 1977).
18. In summarizing the situation for Kepler and his environs, I've simplified a story that was
neither this uncomplicated nor this uniform. First, while the Formula of Concord did take
seriously some concerns of both Philippists and Gnesio-Lutherans (or Flacians), it largely
followed the more uncompromising Gnesio-Lutheran approach. Moreover, while in some
areas, like Wurttemberg, it received overwhelming support, there were others, like Sweden
and Denmark, where Philippism continued to flourish.
19. JKGW, 13, no. 64, 113-119.
20. See JKGW, 13, no. 23, 54-58.
21. Kepler here was also responding directly to a tradition of negative theology, in which
God could only be defined via negation — a tradition espoused by Nicholas of Cusa, whom
Kepler greatly admired. See for example, Clyde Lee Miller, Reading Cusanus: Metaphor and
Dialectic in a Conjectural Universe (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press,
2002), 12-67. Kepler's suggestion is that quantity, and geometry more broadly, can enable
people to speak directly about the divine, not merely through negation.
22. What follows is a brief summary of the Lutheran position at this time. For a more complete
explanation of the various debates about the Eucharist, see Lee Palmer Wandel, The Eucharist
in the Reformation: Incarnation and Liturgy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
23. Vom Abendmahl Christi Bekenntnis, D. Martin Luthers Werke, Weimarer Ausgabe (Weimar,
1883-1929), Schriften, 26, 332b: "Weil unser glaube helt, das Christus Gott und mensch ist,
und die zwo naturn eine person ist, also das die selbige person nicht mag zurtrennet warden
... so mus folgen, das er . . . sey und sein muege allenthalben, wo Gott ist, und alles durch und
durch vol Christus sey auch nach der menscheit, nicht nach der ersten leiblichen begreifflichen
weise, sondern nach der ubernatuerlichen goettlichen weise."
24. JKGW, 13, no. 64, 113-119.
25. Glaubensbekenntnis, JKGW, 12, 29.17-29.19.
26. JKGW, 13, no. 99, 502-503.
7 Kepler and the Connection Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 131
27. JKGW, 13, no. 85, 129-133.
28. Kepler's conviction in the utter persuasiveness of his argument, and the clarity with which he
believed he had made his points, stands in marked contrast to his more cautious approach, and
his attentiveness to the possibility of disagreement, in the Astronomia nova. James Voelkel
describes Kepler's keen awareness of "the negative response his physical reformation of astro-
nomical theory faced from within the astronomical community" and his calculated attempts
throughout the book "to convince his readers of the necessity of his approach and to lead them
through difficult and contentious material." See The Composition of Kepler's Astronomia nova
(Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2001), 2.
29. For a detailed discussion of Kepler's approach in De Stella nova, see Patrick Boner's 2006 dis-
sertation, "Kepler's Living Cosmos: Bridging the Celestial and Terrestrial Realms," currently
unpublished.
30. JKGW, 1, 346.38-346.39.
31. See also Patrick Boner, "Kepler v. the Epicureans: Causality, Coincidence and the Origins of
the New Star of 1604," Journal for the History of Astronomy 38, 2007, 207-221.
32. JKGW, 15, no. 412, 36-37.
33. Ibid., 48-50.
34. Ibid., 52-56.
35. See Ugo Baldini, "The Roman Inquisition's Condemnation of Astrology: Antecedents,
Reasons, and Consequences," 79-110, on 87, in Church, Censorship and Culture in Early
Modern Italy, ed. Gigliola Fragnito, trans. Adrian Belto (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2001).
36. Ibid., 91 ; see also Bullarum, Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum
Taurinensis Editio, VIII, Turin, 1863, 646-647.
37. See also Ugo Baldini, "The Roman Inquisition's Condemnation of Astrology: Antecedents,
Reasons, and Consequences," 79-110, in Church, Censorship, and Culture in Early Modern
Italy, ed. Gigliola Fragnito, trans. Adrian Belton (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2001).
38. See Henrique Leitao, "Entering Dangerous Ground: Jesuits Teaching Astrology and
Chiromancy in Lisbon," 371-404, in The Jesuits II: Cultures, Sciences, and the Arts,
1540-1773, eds. John W. O'Malley, et al. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006).
39. Giovanni Antonio Magini, for instance, served as judicial astrologer in the court of Mantua
beginning in 1599.
40. In The History of Magic and Experimental Science (New York: Columbia University Press,
1953), 6:171, Lynn Thorndike notes the publication of an astrological discourse by Gioanni
Bartolini addressed to a cardinal at the papal court in 1618.
41. JKGW, 15, no. 412, 127-128.
42. Ibid., 129.
43. Ibid., 142-144.
44. JKGW, 15, no. 424, 172-174.
45. Ibid., 192.
46. Ibid., 192-194.
47. Ibid., 202-208.
48. On the idea of accommodation, see Amos Funkenstein, Theology and the Scientific
Imagination from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1989), 213-221. See also Ernan McMullin, "Galileo on Science and Scripture,"
271-347, in The Cambridge Companion to Galileo, ed. Peter K. Machamer (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1998). Kepler employed this argument in the introduction to
the Astronomia nova, noting that ". . . the Holy Scriptures . . . speak with humans in the human
manner, in order to be understood by them [...]. No wonder, then, if Scripture also speaks
in accordance with human perception when the truth of things is at odds with the senses,
whether or not humans are aware of this." See New Astronomy, trans. William H. Donahue
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 60.
132 A. Rothman
49. JKGW, 15, no. 424, 208-211.
50. Ibid., 226-228.
51. Ibid., 228-229.
52. See Boner, Kepler's Living Cosmos, 21.
53. Ibid., 25.
54. See, for example, JKGW 1, 292.1-292.6.
55. On Kepler's theological outlook, see Jurgen Hiibner, Die Theologie Johannes Keplers
zwischen Orthodoxie und Naturwissenschaft (Tubingen: Mohr, 1975).
56. Hiibner, for example, cites this interchange with Herwart as an example of the fact that Kepler
embraced certain Catholic teachings openly and actively (. . . er die katholische Lehre nicht
nur mit seinem Willen, sondern auch durch sein Urteil anerkenne). Ibid., 155.
57. See also Miguel A. Granada, "Roeslin and Kepler: (2) Their Discussion on the Significance
of the Celestial Novelties (1607-1613)," Journal for the History of Astronomy, forthcoming.
Granada notes that in Kepler's Antwort of 1609, Kepler similarly suggests the possibility of
God employing human customs to convey divine messages.
58. Kepler was expelled from Graz permanently in 1600, and dealt with the ravages of expulsion
and war throughout his life.
59. On the astrologer as a political figure — and the consequent dangers of such a role — see
Anthony Grafton, "The Astrologer as Political Counselor," 109-126, in Cardano's Cosmos:
The Worlds and Works of a Renaissance Astrologer (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1999).
60. JKGW, 1, 354.25-354.28.
61. JKGW, 1,26.24-26.29.
62. On Kepler's belief in the a priori nature, and thus the certainty, of cosmology, see Rhonda
Martens, Kepler's Philosophy and the New Astronomy (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
2000), 48-56. It is noteworthy, however, that by 1607, Kepler already recognized that the
polyhedral hypothesis he had outlined in the Mysterium Cosmographicum did not account for
the phenomena as fully as he had once believed.
63. See, for instance, Kepler's description of the reasons why he hoped to dedicate the Harmonice
mundi to King James I of England, in JKGW, 15, no. 357, 91-94.
64. Kepler devoted a great deal of energy attempting to challenge Daniel Hitzler's decision to deny
him the Lutheran communion, and he refused to convert to another confession. He wrote that
"Christianus sum, Augustanam confessionem ex institutione parentum . . . hanc amplector"
and maintained that "simulare non didici, seria in religionibus tracto, non ludicra." {JKGW, 13,
no. 107, 195-198)
65. See, for example, Kepler's letter of 1617 to Johann Anton Roffenus in JKGW, 17, no. 761,
18-19.
66. See Anthony Grafton, "Chronology, Controversy, and Community in the Republic of Letters:
The Case of Kepler," 1 14-136, in Worlds Made By Words: Scholarship and Community in the
Modern West (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009).
67. Glaubensbekkentnis, JKGW, 12, 27.16-27.19: "Es thut mir im herzen wehe, daB die drey
grosse factiones die Warheit under sich also elendiglich zuriBen haben, das ich sie stuck-
sweise zuBamen suchen muB, wa ich deren ein Stuck finde [. . .].Viel mehr befleiB ich mich,
die Partheyen zu conciliiren, wa ich es mit der Warheit kann [. . .]."
68. See Donald R. Dickson, The Tessera of Antilia: Utopian Brotherhoods & Secret Societies
in the Early Seventeenth Century (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 1998) and Conciliation and
Confession: The Struggle for Unity in the Age of Reform, 1415-1648, eds. Howard P. Louthan
and Randall C. Zachman (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004).
69. See Richard van Dulmen, Die Utopie einer christlichen Gesellschaft: Johann Valentin
Andreae (1586-1654) (Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog, 1978) and Donald R. Dickson,
"Johann Valentin Andreae's Utopian Brotherhoods," Renaissance Quarterly 49, 1996,
760-802.
7 Kepler and the Connection Between Astronomical and Religious Truth 133
70. See Johann Valentin Andreae: Gesammelte Schriften, ed. Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann
(Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog, 1995), 2:474: "Cui ordini jam Tubingae Wilhelmus
Schiccardus, Argentinae Matthias Bernegerus, Linzii, Jo. Kepplerus, Altorphi, Daniel
Schwenterus, alii alibi, meo & Christophori Besoldi conductu, nomina dedissent [. . .]."
71. SqqJKGW, 8, 11.27-11.35, 12.3-12.7.
Chapter 8
Johannes Phocylides Holwarda
and the Interpretation of New Stars
in the Dutch Republic
Rienk Vermij
Seen from the perspective of Kepler or Galileo, the new star of 1604 was an impor-
tant event. It helped them in formulating and defending new views of the cosmos.
However, Kepler and Galileo were exceptional individuals. To many other people,
the cosmological significance of the nova was not that clear. New stars might be
wondrous or even terrifying phenomena, but in themselves they did not raise any
questions about the constitution of the universe. The meaning attributed to new stars
would depend on people's general world- views, which in its turn would be greatly
influenced by the local circumstances. It makes sense, therefore, to study the debate
on new stars in a variety of specific contexts.
In this article, I will take a closer look at the situation in the Dutch Republic, an
important center of culture and learning. By the end of the sixteenth century, the
University of Leiden had become a center of humanist scholarship, with professors
like Lipsius, Scaliger, and others. By the middle of the seventeenth century, the phi-
losophy of Descartes made its entry and the Dutch universities now became (not
without strife) leading centers for the propagation of Cartesian ideas. Throughout
the period, astronomy and the study of the heavens were eagerly pursued, and
Copernican ideas were accepted early on. Whereas humanist scholars promoted
mathematical astronomy, Cartesian philosophers were mainly interested in theories
on the physical nature of the universe. 1
While there exist studies of the reception of the Copernican system and of the
debates on comets, the place of new stars in the cosmological debates of the Dutch
Republic has not been analyzed in any depth. 2 In this essay, I propose to study what
Dutch scholars wrote concerning new stars and what this tells us about their gen-
eral views on the universe, especially the question of "cosmological continuity."
(Consequently, my essay will be largely confined to questions of natural philosophy
and pay only scant attention to observational or mathematical astronomy). In partic-
ular, I will compare the reactions to Kepler's nova of 1604 with the reactions to the
discovery (or rediscovery) by Johannes Phocylides Holwarda of a new star in the
Whale.
R. Vermij (ISI)
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
e-mail: rienk.vermij@ou.edu
PJ. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27, 135
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6_8, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
136 R. Vermij
The New Star of 1604
Unlike the situation in some other places in Europe, in the Dutch Republic the new
star of 1604 did not give rise to public debate. In fact, we do not know of any
contemporary public utterance upon the event. One treatise on the star of 1604 was
written by an author who was originally Dutch, Johannes van Heeck (Heckius), but
he lived in Italy and does not appear to have been in contact with scholars in the
Netherlands. 3 That the nova was observed in the Netherlands at all is known only
from sources of a private character: a letter by Nicolaus Mulerius and an album entry
by Philips Lansbergen. As these were important astronomers, it is still worthwhile
to consider what these documents say about their ideas.
Nicolaas Mulerius was a well known mathematician and astronomer. In 1604,
he was earning his living as a physician, but in 1614 he was to become the first
professor of medicine and mathematics at the University of Groningen. 4 Today, he is
especially known as the editor of the third edition of Copernicus' De revolutionibus
(1617). Mulerius mentioned the nova in a private letter to a friend, the secretary of
the town of Harlingen, on 12 December 1604 (O.S.). The letter is largely devoted to
family matters, but at the very end Mulerius writes:
This done, let me add the following. For two months, we see in the sky a new star, clear and
bright, brighter than any fixed star. It is not a comet, but as I said a splendid star. It was seen
in the Southwest shortly after the setting of the sun. By now, it can be seen in the morning in
the Southeast, about an hour before sunrise. The same happened, as you know, in the year
1572. It would be difficult to decide what these new phenomena portend to us. But as it is
sure (as the philosopher says) that God and nature do nothing in vain, it is certain that this
celestial image is exhibited to the aging world for some purpose. 5
Mulerius published an annual almanac (the oldest known is for 1604), and there
he may have further speculated on the meaning of the new star. In his almanac
for 1608, he pondered the meaning of the comet which had appeared in 1607.
Unfortunately, from his almanac for 1605 (written and published by the end of 1604)
no copies have been preserved. 6 In Mulerius' later astronomical works, there are no
other references to Kepler's nova.
Philips Lansbergen was a minister at Goes in Zeeland and one of the principal
astronomers of the Dutch Republic. In the 1590s, he had started an ambitious pro-
gram of astronomical observation, aimed at restoring the astronomical wisdom of
the ancients. As in the case of Mulerius, in 1604 most of Lansbergen 's works had
yet to appear, but he had already published a book on trigonometry and was known
as a diligent observer of the skies. 7 He saw the new star for the first time on 4
October 1604 (O.S.). On the spot, he composed a Latin poem. Here, he called the
phenomenon a "comet without hair" ("sine crine cometam"). Some time later, how-
ever, by the time that he inscribed the poem into the "Album Amicorum" of a friend,
the Middelburg merchant and lover of learning Johannes Rademacher (Rotarius),
Lansbergen had apparently had time to study the phenomenon more closely. He
now called it a new star, both in the title ("in stellam novam [. . .]") and in his expla-
nation at the end. The poem itself is completely religious in tone. The "comet"
announces the advent of the Avenger of Babel's misdeeds, who will strike the head
8 Johannes Phocylides Holwarda and the Interpretation of New Stars 137
of the old serpent. The truly faithful can take heart, as Christ will return to avenge
them, though Babel should tremble. 8
In Lansbergen's later astronomical work, as in the case of Mulerius's, there are no
references to the phenomenon. It hardly can have drawn wide attention, considering
the fact that after it had been shining for 2 months, Mulerius still reported on it as
a novelty. It seems that both Mulerius and Lansbergen regarded the new star as a
significant portent, though not significant enough to devote tracts or pamphlets to
it. The interpretation as a portent must have been common in this period. Pieter
Schagen in a dedication of 1607 referred to the novae of 1572, 1604, and the one
in the Swan, exclaiming: "O miraculous time, in which everything that was hidden,
begins to come to light." 9 Schagen considered it significant that the only other time
that a new star had appeared had been during Christ's nativity. The comparison of
the nova of 1572 with the star of Bethlehem was also made by the Dutch poet Jacob
Cats in a pamphlet on the comet of 1618. 10
What deserves special notice is that neither Lansbergen nor Mulerius appear to
have regarded the star as an object of astronomical study. In part, this may have
been due to its extraordinary character: if the star was outside the ordinary course
of nature, it could tell us little about the constitution of the universe. On the other
hand, both Mulerius and Lansbergen were mathematical astronomers who stood in
a humanist tradition. They were looking for order and harmony in the world, not for
new physical principles. Partly for religious reasons, they were heavily committed to
upholding the distinction between the elementary and the celestial worlds. Mulerius
wrote a pamphlet on the comet of 1618 wherein he was mainly interested in its sig-
nificance. While he also discussed the physical aspects of comets, his main concern
was how their supralunar position could be brought into agreement with traditional
cosmology. He preferred Cicero's position that comets were eternal bodies, moving
in a circular orbit. However, as he stated, he put this "not in the affirmative, but only
in the deliberative sense, to maintain the position of Aristotle and other scholars
that above the moon nothing new can be generated, nor anything decay there." 11
Lansbergen, although a convinced Copernican, speculated in a Platonic vein on a
triple heaven as a stairway to God. Mulerius and Lansbergen were quite happy with
ancient philosophical traditions on the cosmos, so they had little reason to study the
nova as an indication that those traditional views required a general overhaul.
Philosophers and New Stars
Mulerius' and Lansbergen's attitude would seem to reflect a general lack of inter-
est in a new celestial physics among Dutch astronomers and philosophers of this
period. The various comets which appeared in the sky between 1577 and 1618 were
also hardly commented upon in print. 12 New stars were not among the "philosoph-
ical" topics normally discussed in an academic setting. Incidentally, however, they
were mentioned in student disputations. In 1600, a disputation on meteors, defended
at Leiden University under the professor of philosophy Petrus Bertius, included a
paradoxon on the star of 1572. It stated that this phenomenon was not a comet
138 R. Vermij
and existed in the firmament among the stars. This paradoxon is at the very end of
the disputation and was probably added by the student who acted as respondent, Th.
Orthius. In 1606, the later Arminian leader Simon Episcopius took a doctoral degree
in philosophy at Leiden. As an extra, he added to his disputation a thesis on the star
of 1572, asserting that it was a new star in the ether, not something below the sphere
of the moon. 13
The first known discussion of new stars in a natural philosophical setting was
undertaken in 1627 by the Leiden professor of philosophy Franco Burgersdijk. In
a disputation De coelo (On the Heavens), defended on 16 June 1627, Burgersdijk
explained that when the celestial matter becomes concentrated in some place, a
celestial comet will emerge, as the one seen in 1572. Such comets are very differ-
ent from those in the elementary region, Burgersdijk claimed, and their causes are
unknown. This explanation put novae on a par with the fixed stars, for Burgersdijk
held that the fixed stars, too, are denser parts of the heavens (a view more commonly
found at Leiden). 14 In some later work, Burgersdijk again referred to new stars. 15
Burgersdijk's discussion of this topic should be seen in relation to his general
philosophical stance. He was an Aristotelian, but at the same time felt that Aristotle's
philosophy was in need of revision and correction. He was aware of the new astro-
nomical discoveries and recognized the need to consider how far these should affect
physics. Accordingly, he doubted whether sublunar and supralunar matter were
really different and he even seriously pondered the motion of the earth. In his revis-
iting of Aristotle's cosmological ideas, it made sense to pay attention to new stars
as well. 16
For the time being, Burgersdijk remained an exception among academic philoso-
phers. (There was greater openness outside academia, as I shall argue later on.)
Textbooks or disputations by other authors are silent upon the subject. For instance,
Institutiones physicae by the Leiden professor Jacchaeus maintains that comets do
not exist in the heavens, as they are immutable, and does not mention new stars. 17
The phenomenon of new stars was certainly known in the Dutch Republic, but they
were seen primarily as portents. Their cosmological significance was not a major
issue.
Mira Ceti
The lack of interest in new stars in this period of the Dutch Republic was perhaps
more representative of European astronomers in general than the avid attention paid
to them by Kepler or Galileo. This at least is suggested by the fate of the earliest
observations of Mira Ceti. Also known as omikron Ceti, Mira Ceti is a variable
star in the constellation of the Whale. Its luminosity varies with a period of about
11 months. Only when its luminosity reaches its maximum does Mira Ceti become
visible for naked eye observers on earth. Even then, it is not a very bright star and
astronomers before the sixteenth century seem to have missed it.
Mira Ceti was first observed and recognized as a hitherto unknown star in August
1596 by David Fabricius, a minister at Osteel in the principality of Eastern Frisia
8 Johannes Phocylides Holwarda and the Interpretation of New Stars 139
and one of the foremost astronomers of the period. 18 By October, the star was no
longer visible. Fabricius concluded that it had been a nova like the one of 1572, and
just like its predecessor had disappeared again. He reported his discovery to Tycho
and Kepler, and the latter included Fabricius 's observation in his book on the nova
of 1604. The star itself drew no further attention, but in February 1609, Fabricius,
much to his surprise, saw it again. The star remained visible until March and then
again disappeared. Kepler looked for it in August of the same year but could not find
it. Although a remarkable discovery, nobody seems to have felt the need to continue
observing the area where the star had now appeared twice. There appear to have
been a few other isolated observations in the next 30 years, though nobody attached
much significance to them. The star in the Whale was allowed to sink into oblivion
and when Holwarda saw it in 1638, he felt that he had made a new discovery. 19
This time, however, Holwarda's "discovery" did not remain an incidental obser-
vation. Holwarda prepared a book on his discovery, even before he was aware of
the variable nature of the star. Moreover, he saw the star reappear after its period
of invisibility and was in time to include this fact in an appendix to the book. 20
From that time on, he appears to have continued observing the star. In a textbook he
published a few years later, in 1642, he gave a list of the constellations, wherein he
mentioned the various new stars which had been observed in them: the nova of 1600
in the Swan, the one of 1572 in Cassiopeia, and the nova of 1604 in Serpentarius.
Under the heading of the Whale, he stated:
In this constellation appeared that admirable new phenomenon that was first observed at the
end of 1638. It appears in the fall in sudden splendor, finally fades in early spring, and so
gradually disappears. This has happened in this way for several years now. 21
In his first book, which appeared in 1640, Holwarda had briefly mentioned
Fabricius 's earlier observation of a new star in the Whale, but appears not to have
got the idea that it might be identical with his own discovery. However, within a
year of Holwarda's discovery the probability of this identity was pointed out by the
Utrecht professor Jacob Ravensberg. 22 It is hard to believe that Holwarda was not
aware of this. All the more remarkable is the fact that in the list from 1642, he clearly
stated that the phenomenon in the Whale was first observed in 1638 and completely
ignored Fabricius 's observations. The omission must have been deliberate, though
the reasons remain unclear.
Holwarda's treatise on the new star put philosophers on the alert. New stars now
suddely became a topic at the Dutch universities. In Utrecht, Ravensberg, who had
added a corollary on Mira Ceti to his disputation on the system of the world in
1640, included a thesis on new stars in an overview of the mathematical sciences in
1642. 23 At the same university, Bernard de Moor took his PhD in 1642 with a dis-
sertation that dealt in part with "new planets," but which actually discussed mainly
new stars. De Moor discussed the various opinions on their origin, referring to the
works of Kepler and Galileo. He further argued that they existed in the supralunar,
celestial region and concluded with a section on their motion. 24 At the University of
Harderwijk, the professor Anthonius Deusing had a disputation defended "on new
stars and celestial comets" on 31 March 1641. 25 The phenomenon also attracted the
140 R. Vermij
attention of Rene Descartes, who was living in the Netherlands at the time. Descartes
included a section on new stars in his Principia Philosophiae of 1644, wherein he
even discussed variable stars. 26 Thus, Holwarda's discovery was certainly not lost,
but rather incorporated into textbook knowledge.
The subject of these writings concerned the nature of new stars in general, not the
exact characteristics of Mira Ceti. Systematic astronomical observations appear not
to have been undertaken; at least, no such observations have come down to us. It took
another 20 years until the periodicity of Mira Ceti's variability was established by
the French astronomer Boulliau. 27 For the moment, new stars like Mira Ceti were
not so much the object of astronomical research as of philosophical speculation.
This clearly indicates that they were deemed interesting because of the ongoing
debates on the constitution of the universe.
By now, all authors dealt with new stars as mere natural phenomena, with-
out referring to a possible ominous significance. That is true even for traditional
Aristotelian philosophers. The philosopher Albert Kyper in 1645-1646 published a
textbook on physics, wherein he rejected the new philosophical ideas and defended
a Biblical world-view. However, he had no difficulty in admitting new stars in the
heavens, knowing of Holwarda's work, as well as that of Kepler and others. In his
classification, there existed both new fixed stars and new planets, that is, comets.
Kyper added that the star of Bethlehem must have been of a completely different
nature. 28
In short, something seems to have changed in the Netherlands between 1604
and 1640. Novae were no longer regarded merely as curiosities but had become
objects of philosophical speculation. This suggests that they had acquired a new
meaning and were seen in a different way; or, rather, that philosophy now posed
different questions: the explanation of new stars had become relevant in the light
of wider cosmological issues. These cosmological issues were explicitly discussed
by Holwarda. His treatise is by far the most elaborate statement on the meaning of
Mira Ceti, and I shall therefore discuss it at some length.
Holwarda and Mira Ceti
Holwarda was born in Holwerd, a village in the Dutch province of Friesland, in
1618. In 1632, he matriculated at the University of Franeker, the town where his
father was a minister at the time. He studied philosophy and took his PhD in 1637.
Apart from philosophy itself, he paid much attention to astronomy. Initially, the
professor of mathematics and astronomy at Franeker was Adriaan Metius. After
his death in 1635, his chair was given (in May 1636) to the professor of eastern
languages, Bernard Fullenius. Not much is known about Fullenius, as he left no pub-
lications, but he and Holwarda appear to have collaborated rather closely. Holwarda
referred at several instances to observations made by Fullenius. 29
Holwarda appears to have been a rather ambitious young man who was deter-
mined to acquire for himself a name and a position in the sciences. 30 One of
the ways he tried to achieve this goal was by attacking others. This is clear
8 Johannes Phocylides Holwarda and the Interpretation of New Stars 141
from his first book, Panselenos, which he started when he was 20 years old.
Its main object was a critical examination of the "Perpetual Tables" of the fore-
most Dutch astronomer, the abovementioned Philips Lansbergen. For this purpose,
Holwarda closely observed the lunar eclipse of 1638 and compared his results with
Lansbergen 's tables. Not satisfied with simply stating the results, he followed this
with a "Succinctum astronomiae Lansbergianae examen," a "Short Examination of
Lansbergian Astronomy," though the denomination "short" is rather misleading.
Here, Holwarda gave a detailed and devastating critique of his opponent's celebrated
work. 31
Lansbergen himself had died in 1632, but Holwarda hoped to engage in debate
Lansbergen's main student and advocate, Martinus Hortensius, professor at the
Atheneum of Amsterdam (from 1639 at Leiden). Unfortunately, Hortensius also
died, in August 1639, when Holwarda's book was still in press. In an appendix,
Holwarda expressed his regrets, not just because of the loss to the mathematical sci-
ences, but also because fate had robbed him of the glory of further measuring his
strength against Hortensius.
Holwarda must therefore have been pleased when he hit upon yet another oppor-
tunity to draw attention to himself. While looking into the sky for the lunar eclipse
of 1638, Holwarda observed an unknown light. At first he did not pay much atten-
tion to it, he explained, presuming that it might be some meteor. But when Fullenius
told him that he had also observed it, he decided that it must be a new star. He
promptly added a second part to his treatise, wherein he announced and discussed
his discovery. 32
Holwarda's reasons for studying the new star were quite distinct from the views
expressed by Mulerius or Lansbergen. Unlike those older astronomers, Holwarda
did not raise the question of the star's ominous significance. Apparently, that ques-
tion had lost its relevance for him. Only at the very end of his treatise did he explain
that he felt it superfluous to say much about the astrological predictions from such
appearances, "which I thoroughly detest as idle abominations, forbidden by our reli-
gion and punishable as blasphemies." 33 There is no indication, by the way, that
Holwarda was less orthodox a Calvinist than Mulerius or Lansbergen. He served
several times as an elder of the Reformed Church at Franeker.
On the other hand, Holwarda emphasized that we should study the new star as a
natural phenomenon. He ridiculed philosophers who saw it as miraculous:
As if there are not many things in nature, which at first sight would be taken for miracles,
that is, produced by God's extraordinary power, but, if you have a closer look, appear to
be so by natural causes. As if nature would be anything but a divine force and ordinary
power, which God pours into the individual bodies, be they simple or mixed. As if God by
his infinite and incomprehensible providence, by which He has created this whole universe
in one moment in the wisest fashion, and now keeps and governs it in a sublime way, did
not use the ministry of secondary causes from the very beginning. 34
There is little in this that could not have been said by a medieval scholastic, but
it is certainly not the way sixteenth-century authors normally described omens or
portents.
142 R. Vermij
Holwarda's reason for paying so much attention to the new star appears not to be
its ominous nature, but the fact that it allowed him to attack Aristotelian philosophy.
The question he discussed at length is what physical interpretation we should give
to the new star. He proceeded in a highly polemical way. A large part of his treatise
is devoted to refuting the opinions of others — scholastic philosophers, but not only
them. He deals with the following opponents successively: 35
- Some people held that the star Holwarda claimed to have seen did not exist at all,
and that he had made the whole thing up. Holwarda emphasized that he had really
met such people, but understandably, he felt little sympathy for them.
- Others admitted that indeed a star could be seen, but held that it was not new. It
had been there since the creation, but somehow, it had escaped earlier observers.
Holwarda argued against these people that new stars had been seen before and
were not so extraordinary as many felt.
- After that, he arrived at his main opponents, the Aristotelians. They did admit the
phenomenon, but maintained that it existed in the elementary, sublunary world.
This led Holwarda to a long explanation of parallax.
- Others admitted that it existed among the planets, but felt that it still drew its origin
from earthly exhalations.
- A fifth group maintained the reverse: that it consists of pure celestial matter. (It
will be remembered that this had been defended by Burgersdijk in 1627.) These
people tried to uphold the old distinction between the celestial and the terrestrial
world. Holwarda, however, rejected the celestial "ether" and maintained (as we
shall see shortly) that the universe is filled with a very fine and fluid air.
- Finally, there were those who tried to save in some way the immutability of the
heavens. These people held that the new star was not recently generated. It had
existed earlier, but was not visible to us because of its smallness. Recently, it had
either come closer to the earth, or an ethereal aura had attached itself to it and
made it appear larger.
In refuting these opinions, Holwarda made it clear that he was not impressed
by any philosophical argument. The science of the heavens must be based on
observations, and he sharply refuted dogmatic philosophers:
Those who dare separate and exclude the celestial observations, the science and learning of
the stars, from Physics, and accuse these of a lack of certainty, will never obtain anything
unless they appeal to their own tribunal. [. . .] From which the experts in celestial matters
will appeal to a higher court, that is, to the observations and true securities [xripnaeig], in
which the heart of the matter is. [. . .] For as both, Physics and the science of observed phe-
nomena, form one bond and a single body, so too can the latter judge the former, sufficiently
instructed by herself, and she chairs the tribunal as a prince. 36
In line with this disdain of philosophical arguments, Holwarda was a proponent
of the Copernican system. He refuted the arguments of the geocentrists at length,
including the arguments from Holy Scripture. He stated that the geocentrist scholars
did not see the truth because of their ignorance of mathematics, and advised them
to take some courses in this field. 37
8 Johannes Phocylides Holwarda and the Interpretation of New Stars 143
Ironically, by the time his book was published in 1640, Holwarda was himself a
professor of philosophy. He had been appointed extraordinary professor of logic at
Franeker on 29 August 1639. His clamorous way of calling attention to himself had
apparently born some fruit. His main interest remained astronomy, however, and his
most important publications were in this field. Holwarda was among the first Dutch
scholars to defend Kepler's theories of planetary motion. However, he remained a
professor of philosophy at Franeker for the remainder of his life. He would never
obtain a chair in mathematics or astronomy. As he was only extraordinary, he also
took a medical degree and practiced medicine. He became ordinary professor in
1647 and died in 1651.
As a matter of fact, anti- Aristotelianism was nothing new in the seventeenth cen-
tury. In the heavens, many things had been discovered which only with difficulty
could be brought into agreement with Aristotle's tenets. Mainly from a lack of an
alternative, though, Aristotelian philosophy held undisputed sway at the universi-
ties. As a rule, university professors preferred to accommodate the new discoveries
with the old ideas in some way or other, rather than reject the latter outright. For a
professor of philosophy, Holwarda's radicalism was somewhat unusual.
Holwarda 's View of the Universe
Having refuted his various opponents, Holwarda came to his own views of the uni-
verse, for which indeed he largely referred to the various new observations and
discoveries of the last half-century. Holwarda felt that the old distinction between
the celestial and terrestrial worlds could no longer be upheld. In his view, all bodies
in the universe were of one kind: "Great is the affinity and similarity [affinitas et con-
venientia] of all the bodies of the whole universe to each other. It would appear much
greater still if we would study a bit closer the similar substance of the globe of the
earth with the other planets." At another place, Holwarda spoke of "the admirable
symmetry and affinity of all bodies in the world." 38
Instead of a distinction between sublunar and supralunar phenomena, Holwarda
made a distinction between luminous and dark bodies. As he explained, God at the
creation had given the primordial light, which is like the soul of the universe, to the
various globes in such a way that some were luminaries and emitted light, while
others had the disposition to receive it. The act of emitting the light is in the center
and the circumference of the universe, especially in the sun, which is like a king on
his throne. The potency of receiving the light is in the earth and the planets. 39
Holwarda then demonstrated the similarity of the earth to the other planets. He
pointed to the phases of Venus, the mountains and valleys on the moon, and the
transit of Mercury across the sun as observed by Gassendi, to argue that these are all
dark, earth-like bodies. He refuted the observations which seemed to demonstrate
that the moon has a light of its own. To this end, he quoted a passage, several pages
long, of Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius on the ashen light of the new moon. 40
However, according to Holwarda the earth is cognate not only to the planets, but
to all other bodies in the universe. This basic similarity is in their nature to produce
144 R. Vermij
exhalations. These exhalations have, in turn, a central place in Holwarda's view of
the universe. He feels that the heavens are made of some very thin air or ether, so
that the celestial bodies can move freely through space, as birds do through the air.
This ether is homogenous. Only close to the various celestial bodies is the ether
contaminated by the vapors and exhalations which arise from them and cause an
atmosphere, clouds, etc. On the earth, this atmosphere supports and sustains the life
of humans and animals. 41
Traditionally, vapors and exhalations were considered an essential element of the
physics of the sublunar world. Aristotle in his Meteorologia had described how they
caused all kinds of phenomena, such as rain, dew, wind, thunderstorms, earthquakes,
and comets. 42 Holwarda aims at demonstrating the basic similarity of the terrestrial
and celestial worlds by showing that the celestial bodies also produce exhalations,
just like the earth. Here again, Holwarda proceeds mainly by reporting observations.
As for the moon, he points to annular solar eclipses, which he claims are caused by
the refraction of solar rays by the lunar atmosphere. He also points to the fact that
we do not see mountains on the edge of the moon: the atmosphere apparently blurs
the contours. Holwarda argues that vapors around the moon cause it to be seen
as not always having a perfectly circular shape. Finally, Holwarda describes how
Maestlin had seen during a lunar eclipse in 1605 a large dark spot on the moon,
which appeared like large rain showers. "This was an extraordinary cloudy col-
umn of exhalations, bigger than usual," he explained. "Be this what it may, this
clearly shows us to what degree the moon, and the other planets as well, emit smoke
when hit by the rays of the sun, and exhale into the nearby ether." 43 Holwarda then
explains that the earth and the planets do have the faculty of exhalation, but they
lack an innate power to activate that faculty. Their potential for exhalation is actual-
ized only by a force exerted by an external body, that is, when they are struck by the
light of a luminous celestial body.
This is different in the case of the sun and the stars, which shine with their
own light. "Those bodies burn with a perpetual fire which will last for the dura-
tion of time, and yet they will neither be consumed nor destroyed, because of the
very viscous and adhesive concretion of the matter that constitutes their globes." 44
Holwarda argued his case by referring to sunspots, which he regarded as a kind of
cloud moving over the surface of the sun. He referred to Snellius's description of
sunspots (in his Descriptio cometae of 1618), which he quoted extensively. Snellius
felt it probable (and Holwarda agreed) that the spots had erupted from the burn-
ing, densest matter of the sun. As Holwarda quoted him: "Those spots are therefore
exhalations of the sun, placed between us and the sun [to which Holwarda added: or
rather, surrounding the sun at all sides], and which, like the clouds from exhalations
from earth and water, drift at a low altitude over the sun, which is burning and vom-
its them from the hidden depths of its body by way of its craters, as on the earth the
Etna, Hecla, Atlas, Vesuvius, and various others." (Holwarda added that he doubted
the volcanic nature of the Atlas). 45
Having laid this groundwork, Holwarda had no trouble suggesting an expla-
nation for the new star. He argued that new phenomena, both comets and new
stars, had their origin in the exhalations and evaporations which the celestial bodies
8 Johannes Phocylides Holwarda and the Interpretation of New Stars 145
continuously sent into space. As he explained, these exhalations gather and become
dense in a suitable place, helped by a certain magnetic disposition, by which they
attract what is similar to their nature. Finally, they are ignited by the impressions of
the stars and their own internal disposition. Those phenomena which draw their ori-
gin from the exhalations of the planets have their place among the planets, between
the sun and the orbit of Saturn, and imitate the planets in their motions. Holwarda
thought that we then see them as comets. New stars as the one Holwarda had discov-
ered in 1638 originate from exhalations from the fixed stars. They have their place
among the fixed stars, he wrote, and have no motion of their own. 46
New Stars and Changing Views of the Cosmos
After his violent polemic against the philosophers, Holwarda's own position on
new stars may come as something of an anticlimax to the modern reader, since he
kept many traditional philosophical elements. The role of exhalations is taken from
Aristotle's physics. In the first decades of the seventeenth century, new stars were
often regarded as a kind of comet. Aristotle regarded comets as meteors, caused
by exhalations from the earth. Galileo himself appears to have toyed with the idea
that the nova of 1604 had its origin in exhalations, which also caused the northern
lights. 47 Holwarda accepted that both comets and new stars were celestial bodies.
He therefore preferred to see them as the result of celestial rather than terrestrial
exhalations.
Thus, the alternatives Holwarda proposed, both in his treatise on the new star
and in some later works, to the Aristotelianism he so emphatically rejected were,
from our present point of view, half-hearted and unconvincing. Holwarda was a
Copernican, but he still held to the idea of a finite, ordered universe, and even took
it for probable that the sphere of the fixed stars was turning around the sun (thereby
causing the precession of the equinoxes). He believed in atoms, but described their
properties in terms of sympathy and antipathy — even if he explained these qualities
purely according to the atoms' geometrical "fit." Historians of philosophy gener-
ally regard Holwarda as an eclectic who combined ideas from Pierre Gassendi with
elements from Renaissance philosophers like Kepler and Julius Caesar Scaliger. 48
However, the term "eclectic," in so far as it suggests a bookish learning which
weighs and selects authoritative texts, does not seem to do Holwarda full justice. In
fact, his work appears rather representative of an important tendency which devel-
oped in Dutch thinking during the period, independent of the dominant humanist
scholarship. This new view was not so much based on the reading of philosophi-
cal authorities, but rather tried to account for the new discoveries and observations
in science and astronomy: Galileo's telescopic discoveries, parallax measurements
of comets and new stars, and of course the Copernican system. In the case of a
well-informed person like Holwarda, one can add the transit of Mercury.
The attempt to make sense of these phenomena was not initiated by academic
philosophers or astronomers, who in general were averse to radical innovations.
In so far as they did not simply ignore the new discoveries, they rather tried to
146 R. Vermij
incorporate them into the old framework. Outside academia, however, there was a
greater variety of ideas and even radical philosophical innovations could be and were
suggested. Copernican ideas were defended by people like Stevin and Lansbergen
well before they entered the academic world. (The first university professor who
openly professed the motion of the earth was a student of Lansbergen, Martinus
Hortensius, whom Holwarda targeted in his "Short Examination.") 49 The nature of
the heavens also became a topic of interest. The telescopic discoveries of Galileo
had pressed home the continuity of the celestial and terrestrial worlds. Speculation
grew on the possibility that other celestial bodies were inhabited, just like the earth.
Such ideas had been put forward by Kepler and (at least orally) by Galileo. They
were not discussed at Dutch universities, but were eagerly picked up by amateurs. 50
Moreover, much of this cosmological speculation went on in a rather mecha-
nistic vein. This distinguishes it from earlier attempts to come up with a physics
of the universe, like that of Kepler, who gave a rather vitalistic explanation of the
universe involving the generation of new stars. Holwarda preferred to explain the
world in naturalistic and atomistic terms. His blending of atomism with elements
of Renaissance philosophy may appear strange to us, but it was not unique. It can
be argued that much of early mechanical philosophy was mainly concerned with
the explanation of seemingly occult forces from manifest properties. These philoso-
phers did not picture the world as a machine in the modern sense, but tried to explain
seemingly hidden powers in a mechanical way. 51
Moreover, the Dutch did not need Gassendi to learn about atoms. Early forms of
mechanical philosophy were blossoming on Dutch soil itself. The most important
Dutch natural philosopher of the period was Isaac Beeckman, who worked largely
outside the academic sphere. He studied some time at Leiden, where he received
instruction in mathematics from Rudolf Snellius, but initially he earned his living
as a craftsman. Only after several years did Beeckman opt for a scholarly career
and become headmaster of a Latin school, first at Rotterdam and then at Dordrecht.
Beeckman developed what he called a physico-mathematical philosophy to explain
the phenomena of the world, one of the first examples of what we now call mechan-
ical philosophy. He did not publish his ideas, but recorded them in a diary. Because
of his contacts with Descartes, Mersenne, Gassendi, and others, his influence on the
development of seventeenth-century science was still considerable. 52
Beeckman rejected the old dichotomy between the sublunar and supralunar
worlds. He believed in a sun-centered, closed universe. Light was an important ele-
ment in the physiology of the world and a source of many phenomena, but it is
important to note that he regarded light as a material substance. The sphere of the
fixed stars and the central sun supported each other with their light. The basic simi-
larity of the stars, the sun, and the planets (including the earth) is the subject of some
notes Beeckman made in the years 1629-1630, a productive period which followed
his renewed acquaintance with the young Descartes and his reading of the work of
Kepler. It appears that exhalations were an important element in Beeckman's cos-
mology as well. The sun radiated light because of its many exhalations, which were
inflamed in the upper layer of the sun's atmosphere. The earth, being much smaller,
exhaled far less vapors and exhalations than the sun, but Beeckman speculated that if
8 Johannes Phocylides Holwarda and the Interpretation of New Stars 147
the earth was as big as the sun, it would also be luminescent. The moon, being much
smaller than the earth, emitted even fewer exhalations. Still, even the moon gave off
a faint light of its own according to Beeckman. Because of their exhalations, the sun
and stars could also support inhabitants just like the earth did. 53 (Holwarda, it will
be remembered, allotted a similar role to exhalations of supporting life on earth, but
he did not touch upon the possibility of life on the other planets.)
As for comets, Beeckman believed that they originated among the stars from
exhalations; not just from earthly exhalations, which had been rocketed into space,
but also exhalations (or excrements) from other celestial bodies. These coagulated
and caught fire. Normally, they would burn at the one side more than at the other,
which gave them a tail and caused a proper motion. In rare cases, however, they
burned evenly on all sides, and in that case we observed new stars — or new earths,
which were, according to Beeckman, the same thing. 54
There are differences between Holwarda's and Beeckman's ideas, but there is an
overall family resemblance. Both allot an important place to light while rejecting
occult qualities or vitalist principles. They especially agree on the central role of
celestial exhalations in the origins of comets and novae. Although they certainly use
earlier authors, such as Kepler, their overall philosophy of nature is different. They
reinterpret vital or occult forces in material terms and reject any prophetic meaning
of phenomena like new stars.
The novelty of Holwarda's work was not in the ideas themselves, but in the fact
that he introduced such physical and cosmological speculations into academic think-
ing. They moved thereby from the marginal to the mainstream. A new generation of
university professors quickly followed suit. At Utrecht, Jacobus Ravensberg claimed
in an overview of the mathematical sciences of 1642 that comets drew their origin
from the body of the sun. 55
It should be noted that the cosmological speculations of the first half of the seven-
teenth century, even if they owed much to observations, surely went beyond what we
would call the purely physical. These speculations concerned the entire established
order of the world, including religious beliefs. In some cases, the new discover-
ies were interpreted eschatologically. Thus, the engineer in the Dutch army Albert
Girard explained that celestial bodies were kept in their places because of their sym-
pathies and antipathies to each other. Stars which were changed in quality would
move to a new place and be seen as comets. The earth too, when getting older, would
change its quality and become a comet, "that is to say (I do not dare to be specific,
as this belongs only to God), [it] will fall and change its place, when our Lord will
come to judge it, and bring it into another place." 56 Similar speculations were ven-
tured by the miller Balthasar van der Veen, who spoke of the stars as worlds, which
had already been "clarified," apparently referring to the glorification at the end of
times. According to Van der Veen, the earth would also one day be a shining star. 57
Such eschatological elements, which are a part of popular rather than academic
thinking, are not completely absent from the case of Holwarda, either. In his descrip-
tion of solar volcanoes, Snellius had added that he was convinced by their eruptions
that the earth would finally be conflagrated, and Holwarda agreed. As the volcanic
fire consumed the bowels of the earth and was to destroy it, so the fire of the sun
148 R. Vermij
would also contribute to the disintegration of the sun and the whole world (mundus).
Holwarda again was sympathetic to this opinion, and felt that this might be true for
the other stars as well. Still, in quoting Snellius, Holwarda suggested a few mod-
ifications. Where Snellius had said that the subterranean fire would "destroy" the
earth, Holwarda preferred to say "purge." And where Snellius said that the fire of
the sun would contribute to the "disintegration" of the world, Holwarda added the
alternative of "mutation." 58 Whereas Snellius thinks only of the conflagration of
this world of ours, Holwarda' s words seem to indicate that he thought of the estab-
lishment of a new heaven and a new earth at the end of time as a result of natural
processes. Rather than a half-hearted eclectic tinkering with the elements of book-
ish learning, to his contemporaries Holwarda must have appeared a philosophical
radical.
Holwarda 's Place in the History of Cosmology
Very quickly, however, Holwarda was overtaken by even more radical innovators,
who took the mechanizing tendencies even more seriously. In 1637, 1 year before
Holwarda had first spotted his star, Descartes had published his Discours de la
methode. Here, Descartes carried cosmological continuity to extremes. According
to him, the universe was merely geometrical, homogenous space, governed by the
immutable laws of nature. Soon, Descartes 's philosophy would carry the day in the
Dutch Republic, including Dutch universities, and go on to modernize philosophy. 59
Within this perspective, Holwarda's work no longer made any sense. He seemed to
belong to a bygone age.
On closer inspection, however, the physical speculations of the second quarter
of the seventeenth century, on which Holwarda drew, and the mechanical philoso-
phy of the third quarter, of which Descartes was the most prominent representative,
though clearly different, appear not entirely unrelated. In response to the same cos-
mological problems, both attempted to unite the heavens and the earth. Moreover,
Descartes, for all his originality, was not completely independent of earlier thinkers.
His mechanical interpretation of nature owed a great deal to Beeckman. As for
explanations of specific phenomena, Descartes freely used the idea of sunspots as
eruptions from the sun's interior, by which the sun purified itself; and of stars which
became planets or comets.
Nevertheless, Descartes did not accept the cosmological significance of exhala-
tions. His theories of new stars were quite distinct from those of Beeckman and
Holwarda. According to Descartes, each star is the center of a celestial vortex. On
the stars' surfaces, heavier particles of matter coagulate to form dark spots, like
sunspots. Sometimes a spot covers the whole surface, whereupon the star becomes
invisible. When the balance between the celestial vortices is disturbed, the fiery
matter inside the star at some point may dissolve the dark surface by its own force,
whereupon the star suddenly shines forth brightly. If the star's vortex collapses, the
star will turn into a planet or a comet. This was not just a theory of new stars, but
a general theory of celestial bodies, whereby not only the sun was just a star, but
8 Johannes Phocylides Holwarda and the Interpretation of New Stars 149
all other bodies also drew their origin from stars. The celestial and terrestrial worlds
did not just behave according to the same physical principles — they really were fully
identical. 60
Conclusion
The debate on new stars in the Dutch Republic demonstrates that new stars in
themselves did little to press the case for "cosmological continuity." As long as
astronomers preferred to believe in the unchangeability and incorruptibility of the
heavens, they simply ignored these strange phenomena or regarded them as signs
which were against the ordinary course of nature. Only for those who were willing
to consider seriously the possibility of a basic unity of the celestial and elementary
worlds could new stars become meaningful physical phenomena, as evidence for the
nature of the universe. Such a change in outlook was brought about not by a single
observation, but rather by the accumulation of a century of discoveries, observa-
tions, and philosophical debates. Galileo's telescopic discoveries were probably the
one event with the most impact, but they could have their effect only because many
traditional ideas had already been placed in doubt. Once the Aristotelian world- view
had lost its credibility, there was room for alternative explanations. New stars were
just one element in the debate on the nature of the heavens and the universe, but they
are an element which offers a revealing view on more general ideas.
In the Dutch Republic, this debate has its own characteristics, moving somewhat
between extremes. By the time of the nova of 1604, the traditional view of the uni-
verse was still dominant. Nobody studied the new star as a physical object, although
Dutch astronomers must have known about the debates among scholars in other
parts of Europe. Their lack of interest in this vein was probably due to the dominance
of humanist scholarship, with its main center at Leiden University. Whereas Leiden
humanism furthered many other fields of study, these scholars were clearly reluctant
to abandon a universe defined in Biblical and traditional philosophical terms.
By the middle of the seventeenth century, however, the Dutch clearly had made
up arrears. Dutch philosophers eagerly discussed a unified universe, governed by
largely mechanical forces. Thanks to the work of Holwarda, new stars played a
prominent part in this debate for some time. Descartes then turned mechanism
into a coherent and all-encompassing explanatory principle for the whole of mate-
rial reality. With Descartes, the idea of "cosmological continuity" went as far as it
could go.
Notes
1. Rienk Vermij, The Calvinist Copernicans: The Reception of the New Astronomy in the Dutch
Republic, 1575-1750 (Amsterdam: Edita KNAW, 2002); Wiep van Bunge, From Stevin to
Spinoza: An Essay on Philosophy in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic (Leiden: Brill,
2001), 30-32.
150 R. Vermij
2. Vermij, Calvinist Copernicans; Tabitta van Nouhuys, The Age of Two-Faced Janus: The
Comets of 1577 and 1618 and the Decline of the Aristotelian World View in the Netherlands
(Leiden: Brill, 1998); Eric Jorink, Het boeck der nature: Nederlandse geleerden en de
wonderen van Gods schepping 1575-1715 (Leiden: Primavera Pers, 2006), 114-185.
3. Saverio Ricci, "Federico Cesi e la Nova del 1604: La teoria della fluidita del cielo e un opus-
culo dimenticato di Joannes van Heeck," Atti delV Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, rendiconti
morali 43, 1988, 111-133.
4. On Mulerius, see H. G. M. Jorink, "Tussen Aristoteles en Copernicus: De natuurfilosofis-
che opvattingen van Nicolaus Mulerius (1564-1630)," on 69-83 in Zeer kundige professoren:
Beoefening van de filosofie in Groningen van 1614 tot 1996, ed. H. A. Krop, J.A. van Ruler,
and A. J. Vanderjagt (Hilversum: Verloren, 1997); Vermij, Calvinist Copernicans, 45-52.
5. Mulerius to Onias Geldorpius, 12 December 1604. Leeuwarden, Provincial Library, Gabbema
Collection.
6. For an overview of Dutch almanacs, see J. Salman, Populair drukwerk in de Gouden Eeuw:
De almanak als lectuur en handelswaar (Zutphen: Walpburg Pers, 1999).
7. On Lansbergen, see Vermij, Calvinist Copernicans, 13-91.
8. The poem was discovered by Fernand Hallyn, who published it, with a translation and com-
mentary, in Fernand Hallyn, "Un poeme inedit de Philippe Lansbergen sur l'etoile nouvelle de
1604," Humanistica Lovaniensia: Journal of Neo-Latin Studies 46, 1997, 258-265.
9. Wonder-vondt van de eeuwighe bewegingh/ die den Alckmaersche philosooph Cornells
Drebbel . . . te weghe ghebrocht heft . . . (Alkmaar, 1607), dedication by Gerrit Schagen to
Adriaen Anthonisz.
10. Van Nouhuys, The Age of Two-Faced Janus, 543-544.
11. Quoted by Jorink, "Tussen Aristoteles en Copernicus," 82.
12. Van Nouhuys, The Age of Two-Faced Janus, 214.
13. Petrus Bertius, Theses physicae de meteoris (Leiden, 1600) (Th. Orthius resp.): "Stella quae
Anno 1572 juxta Cassiopeae sidus apparuit, non fuit Cometes, neque in aere regione, sed in
firmamento sive caelo stellarum sedem suam habuit." The disputation is discussed, and the
paradoxon quoted, in Van Nouhuys, The Age of Two-Faced Janus, 325-326. Simon Egberti
Episcopius, Positiones philosophicae (Leiden, 1606): "An Stella ilia quae apparuit anno 1572
infra orbem Lunae fuerit, an in aethere nova aliqua Stella? Hoc asserimus." Episcopius' printed
disputation bears the date of 27 February, but a manuscript note in an archive copy at Leiden
University indicates that he took his degree on 13 March.
14. Franco Burgersdijk, Disputatio physicarum septima, de coelo (Leiden, 16 June 1627) (M.
Mamuchet resp.), thesis 13. See also Vermij, Calvinist Copernicans, 132-133.
15. Franco Burgersdijk, Collegium physicum (second edition, Leiden, 1637), disputatio 10 ("De
stellis ordinariis & extraordinariis") thesis 7 (109-110).
16. E. G. Ruestow, Physics at Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Leiden: Philosophy and the
New Science in the University (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1973). See 28-32 on Burgersdijk, 30-31
on Burgersdijk's position on new stars. See also Van Bunge, From Stevin to Spinoza, 30-32.
17. Gilbertus Jacchaeus, Institutiones physicae (new edition, Leiden, 1624).
18. Menso Folkerts, "Der Astronom David Fabricius (1564-1617): Leben und Wirken," Berichte
zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte 23, 2000, 127-142. On his discovery of Mira Ceti: 129. For
more on Fabricius and his early observations of Mira Ceti, see the contribution by Miguel
A. Granada (Chapter 5), this volume.
19. On Holwarda's "discovery," see the article by Robert A. Hatch (Chapter 9), this volume.
See also Michael Hoskin, "Novae and variables from Tycho to Bullialdus," Sudhoffs Archiv
61, 1977, 195-204, on 200-201. Partly repeated in ibid., "Novae and Variables Before the
Spectroscope," Journal for the History of Astronomy 38, 2007, 365-379, on 367-368.
20. Joannes Phocylides Holwarda, TlavaeXijvog eicXeiTiTiKY] Scavya^ovaa. Id est dissertatio
astronomica quae occasione ultimi Lunaris anni 1638 deliquii manuductio sit ad cognoscen-
dum I. Statum astronomiae, praesertim Lansbergianae II. Novorum phaenomenon exortum &
interitum (Franeker, 1640, hereafter referred to as Panselenos.) The reappearance of the star
is described in an "Appendix ad lectorem necessaria" (277-288).
8 Johannes Phocylides Holwarda and the Interpretation of New Stars 151
21. Johannes Phocylides Holwarda, Epitome astronomiae reformatae generalis (Franeker, 1642)
25, 27: "In hoc Asterismo apparuit admirandum illud Novum Phaenomenon, quod anno
1638. labente primum animadversum, autumno subito fulgere apparet, primo vere tandem
deficit, atque ita paulatim evanescit: id quod ab eo tempore singulis praecise annis hactenus
evenit."
22. Jacob Ravensberg, Disputatio astronomica de mundi systemate (Utrecht, 1640), corollaria,
no. 22.
23. See preceding note. Jacob Ravensberg, Encyclopedia mathematica (Utrecht, 1642), astronom-
ica, no. 5.
24. Bernard de Moor, Disputatio philosophica inauguralis de continuo, novis planetis, et sto-
icorum erroribus circa affectus (Utrecht, 28 November 1643). (Utrecht dissertations had a
metaphysical, a physical, and an ethical part.) For new stars, see theses 2-5 of the physical
part.
25. Anthonius Deusing, De novis stellis & cometis coelestibus (Harderwijk, 31 March 1641). This
disputation was published as an appendix to Deusing's Disputatio physica quinta: De operibus
quarti diei (Harderwijk, 25 February 1641) (Joh. Achterkerken resp.).
26. Rene Descartes, Principia philosophiae (first edition, Amsterdam 1644) Part 3, Sections 104-
114. Edition used: Oeuvres de Descartes, ed. Charles Adam and Paul Tannery (Paris: Leopold
Cerf, 1905)8:158-162.
27. See the contribution by Robert A. Hatch (Chapter 9), this volume.
28. Albertus Kyper, Institutiones physicae, 2 vol. (Leiden, 1645-1646) 1:36. See the arti-
cle on Kyper by Han van Ruler on 2:581 in Dictionary of Seventeenth and Eighteenth
Century Dutch Philosophers, ed. Wiep van Bunge a.o. (Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 2003)
2:581.
29. The most up-to-date entry on Holwarda is by Han van Ruler on 1: 440-447 in Dictionary
of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Dutch Philosophers. See also Vermij, Calvinist
Copernicans, 129-130. Arjen Dijkstra (University of Twente, Netherlands) is presently writ-
ing a PhD thesis on Friesian mathematicians in the seventeenth century, wherein Holwarda
will be given due attention. He kindly communicated to me an unpublished paper of his on
Holwarda.
30. In his paper mentioned in the previous note, Dijkstra analyzes Holwarda's strategies to gain a
position.
31. Holwarda, Panselenos, 16-184: "Succinctum Astronomiae Lansbergianae examen." See
Curtis Wilson, "Predictive Astronomy in the Century after Kepler," 161-206, on 166 in
Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the Rise of Astrophysics: Tycho Brake to
Newton, ed. R. Taton and C. Wilson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989) (General
history of astronomy, 2A).
32. In 1938, a Jacob Cohen made a Dutch translation of this second part, along with the introduc-
tion to the book. It was never published, but a manuscript draft is preserved at the provincial
archives and library at Leeu warden, Netherlands. I owe gratitude to Arjen Dijkstra (University
of Twente, Netherlands) for sending me a PDF file of this manuscript.
33. Holwarda, Panselenos, 276: "quas ego sane odi pessime, tanquam vanissimas abomina-
tiones, & sub maledictionis poena in sacris nobis interdictas."
34. Holwarda, Panselenos, 204.
35. Ibid., 198-230.
36. Ibid., 216.
37. Ibid., 247-254.
38. Ibid., 235, 247.
39. Ibid., 235-236.
40. Ibid., 236-247.
41. Ibid., 261-269.
42. On Aristotelian meteorological theory, see S. K. Heniger, A Handbook of Renaissance
Meteorology (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1960); J. Ducos, La meteorologie en
francais au MoyenAge (XIII-XIV siecles) (Paris: Honore Champion, 1998).
152 R. Vermij
43. Ibid., 269. Maestlin's observation is reported by Kepler in his Dissertatio cum nuncio sidereo
(1610); see Johannes Kepler, Gesammelte Werke, 4:300. With thanks to Patrick Boner, who
identified the reference.
44. Holwarda, Panselenos, 270.
45. Ibid., 270-272. On Snellius's theory of comets, see Van Nouhuys, The Age of Two-Faced
Janus, 356-358.
46. Holwarda, Panselenos, 214.
47. Eileen Reeves, Painting the Heavens: Art and Science in the Age of Galileo (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1997) 57-90.
48. Van Ruler, in Dictionary, ed. Van Bunge. See also S. Galama, Het wijsgerig onderwijs aan de
hogeschool te Franeker 1585-1811 (Franeker: Wever, 1954), 91-100.
49. For this paragraph, see Vermij, Calvinist Copernicans, passim.
50. Cf. Vermij, Calvinist Copernicans, 111-112.
51. On the "mechanization" of occult qualities, see Rienk Vermij, "Putting the Earth in Heaven:
Philips Lansbergen, the Early Dutch Copernicans and the Mechanization of the World
Picture," 121-41, in Mechanics and Cosmology in the Medieval and Early Modern Period,
ed. Massimo Bucciantini, Michele Camerota, and Sophie Roux (Florence: Leo S. Olschki,
2007). See especially 135-139. The University of Franeker had harbored atomist ideas at the
beginning of the century, notably those of De Veno and Gorlaeus. There is no evidence that
this may have influenced Holwarda, but the issue deserves further scrutiny.
52. On Beeckman, see K. van Berkel, Isaac Beeckman (1588-1637) en de mechanisering van
het wereldbeeld (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1983). An English translation is due to appear soon.
Beeckman's diary has been published: Journal tenu par Isaac Beeckman de 1604 a 1634, ed.
Cornells de Waard, 4 vols (The Hague: Martinus Hijhoff, 1939-1953).
53. Beeckman, Journal, 3:160: "Nam si Terra tarn esset magna quam Sol, ita ut tot effluvia circa
se haberet, non minus clare quam Sol lumen praeberet." See also 117, 207, for some further
speculations on the role of exhalations.
54. Beeckman, Journal, 3:100-101, 163-164 ("Novae vero stellae aut Terrae (quod idem est)
creantur, cum [...]").
55. Ravensberg, Encyclopedia mathematica, astronomica, no. 6.
56. Simon Stevin, Les oeuvres mathematiques, trans. Albert Girard (Leiden, 1634), 185; quoted
in Vermij, Calvinist Copernicans, 118.
57. Van der Veen's ideas were recorded by Beeckman in his Journal, 2:389 (a note of 4 March
1627).
58. Holwarda, Panselenos, 272.
59. Van Bunge, From Stevin to Spinoza, 34-64.
60. Descartes, as in note 26.
Chapter 9
Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change
and Cosmic Continuity
Robert Alan Hatch
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
English Nursery Rhyme
In early September 1648 — quite unexpectedly — Ismael Boulliau (1605-1694)
received a letter written by the Danzig astronomer, Johannes Hevelius (161 1-1687).
Although the letter addressed a number of topics, of particular interest here was
news from Hamburg about a strange New Star in the constellation Cetus. Hevelius
would later call it a "Trickster." 1 Importantly, like the New Star, the letter itself sig-
naled unforeseen circumstances. Although Boulliau and Hevelius had met in Paris
in the early 1630s, the two most noted astronomers of their day had yet to cor-
respond. But the letter — at least in retrospect — changed everything. To be clear,
Hevelius 's letter had been intended for Marin Mersenne (1588-1648), not Boulliau,
and indeed, the Minim never saw it — he died the day after it was written. 2 But
this dark turn of events, as we now know, had a bright side. Thanks to the letter,
Boulliau would not only become the new "Mail Box of Europe" but his exchanges
with Hevelius — which would continue for another 3 decades — returned again and
again to the variable star now known as Mira Ceti. None of this could be predicted,
of course, in September 1648.
Traditional narratives about the New Science and celestial change often revolve
around two justly-famous super novae, Tycho's Star (1572) and Kepler's Star
(1604). 3 Bursting forth unexpectedly, both blazed for little more than a year and
then, with equal drama, disappeared. 4 Mira Ceti was different. Although the first
appearance of the New Star was unexpected, its continuing importance is that it
appeared and disappeared again and again. Surprisingly, the standard narrative
about the early history of the "Wonderful Star" in the Neck of the Whale — the old-
est, largest, and brightest variable star — is often muddled and remains surprisingly
incomplete.
R.A. Hatch (0)
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
e-mail: ufhatch@ufl.edu
RJ. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27, 153
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6_9, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
154
R.A. Hatch
In this brief essay I wish to take a fresh look at Mira Ceti and the challenge
it posed to notions of celestial change and cosmological continuity. I also wish to
consider Mira's subsequent histories. Like Mira itself, discovery narratives represent
an archetype of sorts, often enough a triumphal sequence that emphasizes major
figures while overlooking messier moments of human doubt and folly. Although
this account enlists traditional heroes from earlier narratives, notably Fabricius
and Holwarda, it now expands the story to include several other astronomers. As
evidence, I use neglected contemporary sources and little-known manuscripts to
suggest that discovering Mira Ceti is a story about assumptions and expectations, a
story about luck — both good and bad.
In the short narrative that follows I introduce two new heroes. Although we begin
with Fabricius 's first sighting in 1596, the new pivot point in the drama is the col-
laboration between Hevelius and Boulliau that began around 1660. As it happens,
Learned Europe paid little attention to Mira in the generation after the first scattered
sightings of 1596, indeed, nearly 70 years passed before the New Star was given a
working identity. Like Columbus discovering America, Fabricius and Holwarda saw
different things — for convenience, I call them Fabricius 's Star and Holwarda' s Star.
Hevelius's Historiola (Danzig, 1662) and Boulliau's Ad astronomos (Paris, 1667)
presented a different vision. It made Mira famous. As I shall argue, if Hevelius gave
Engraving of Mira by Hevelius. Hevelius, Historiola (Danzig 1661, Fig. H, [164a])
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 155
Mira a history, Boulliau gave Mira a future. 5 In the end, the New Star not only
challenged the ancient cosmos, it became an enduring icon for the New Science, a
returning reminder of celestial continuity and cosmic order.
Fabricius— 1596 and All That
On Tuesday, in the early morning of 13 August 1596 (NS), David Fabricius (1564-
1617) noticed an unfamiliar light in the constellation Cetus. 6 Historical accounts
differ on circumstances. While attempting to observe Jupiter in the vicinity of
the Whale, 7 Fabricius saw an object of about the second magnitude. 8 I call this
Fabricius 's Star. Having confirmed that the strange phenomenon was not found
in the catalogues of Ptolemy or Tycho, Fabricius recorded a handful of sightings
into early September. Then, around the middle of October — quite unexpectedly —
the New Star vanished. In the months that followed Fabricius sent a brief notice
to Tycho Brahe, who carefully noted the sightings 9 in his private journal. 10 In
response, Tycho sent Fabricius copies of several of his recent works, and in turn,
Fabricius paid Tycho two visits, first at Wandsbek (1598) and later at Prague
(May, 1601). Although he was disappointed not to have met Kepler during his
second visit, Fabricius would soon establish an important correspondence with
the German astronomer. 11 In the meantime, Learned Europe heard little about
Fabricius 's New Star.
Following Tycho 's death in October 1601, Fabricius turned his energy to
establishing a relationship with Kepler. As is evident from their letters, they main-
tained an important correspondence, and Kepler's regard soon bolstered Fabricius 's
reputation as Europe's foremost observer, perhaps second only to Tycho himself.
For all that, Fabricius' Star was all but forgotten until the appearance of yet another
New Star, the Star of 1604— Kepler's Star. 12
In the meantime, although neither Tycho nor Kepler had observed Fabricius 's
Star, at least one observer took note. 13 In 1602, Johann Bayer (1572-1625), the
German celestial cartographer, sighted the star and listed it as Omicron Ceti in
his Uranometria (1603). 14 Bayer's place in the history of Mira Ceti is sometimes
muddled. As it happens, Bayer had no idea that Omicron Ceti had been sighted
by Fabricius, nor did he offer any indication that the star varied in brightness.
Similarly, Fabricius never mentioned Bayer's observation, and similarly (glancing
to the future) neither did Holwarda. In the end, Bayer simply listed a fourth mag-
nitude star he had depicted, rather vaguely, in the constellation Cetus. Surprisingly,
although his atlas was innovative and handsomely illustrated, Bayer did not take
note of stellar latitudes or longitudes, and hence the precise position of Omicron Ceti
remained unclear. As Hevelius later lamented, Bayer's charts would be appreciated
more by painters than by astronomers. 15
The novelty and historical importance of Fabricius 's Star was that it appeared
again. On the evening of 15 February 1609 (NS) while attempting to locate Jupiter
as it approached conjunction with Mars, Fabricius famously noticed a bright object
in the same vicinity as the Star of 1596. 16 This second reappearance of a New Star
156 R.A. Hatch
was entirely unprecedented. In response, Fabricius wrote Kepler on 12 March 1609
proclaiming the wondrous reappearance a sign from God. The wonder, of course,
was not that the New Star had disappeared — like Tycho's Star and Kepler's Star —
but that Fabricius' Star (1596; 1609) had returned. As Riccioli and Holwarda later
discussed at length, new cosmological issues were at stake. 17 As a practical matter,
Fabricius used this second opportunity to report the star's celestial position, 25° 47 r
of Aries and 15° 54 r south latitude, 18 thus adding essential information omitted in
his earlier letter for the Star of 1596. In retrospect, the exchange of information was
slow and surprisingly shoddy. 19
In the end, Fabricius 's Star was poorly served by circumstances. Although he had
sighted the New Star in 1596, and recognized it again in 1609, Fabricius 's efforts
to make his results known seemed doomed from the start. As the record shows,
there were surprisingly few public references to the New Star, and skepticism only
intensified in later generations. There were, of course, ongoing confusions about the
New Star, its magnitude, latitude, and its relation to Mercury and Jupiter. But more
generally, how had Tycho and Kepler, the two most noted astronomers of their day,
failed to observe the New Star? And similarly, how had Bayer sighted it in 1602
when Fabricius had not? The traditional response has not changed. Following on
the heels of Tycho's Star, contemporaries assumed Fabricius's Star (1596) simply
vanished, a conclusion later reinforced when Kepler's Star (1604) simply vanished.
Because no one expected the New Star (1596) to return, no one searched for it. 20
In the end, what remained was a dozen scattered sightings. Later in the century, key
astronomers — Riccioli, Hevelius, Boulliau — questioned then dismissed Fabricius's
sightings. Riccioli concluded that the New Star (1596) never existed. 21
Holwarda — Doubling Down
Over the next 3 decades Learned Europe forgot about the New Star. 22 Indeed, the
next observer, Johannes Phocylides Holwarda (1618-1651), was born the year after
Fabricius's death. But both heroes — traditional Mira celebrities — share similar sto-
ries. Preparing to observe a total lunar eclipse on Christmas evening 1638 (OS),
Holwarda noticed a bright but unfamiliar light in Cetus. As he would later note,
viewing conditions were excellent, the sky clear with a strong but dry west wind. 23
Holwarda noted that the strange apparition exceeded stars of the third magnitude,
though after several sightings, it started to diminish in early February 1639 (NS).
Thereafter it continued to decline and finally disappeared by August 1639. Much to
his credit, Holwarda published a detailed account of the New Star.
But Holwarda' s account, long and earnest, was flawed by poor instruments and
imprecise observations. Later criticized by Hevelius, Holwarda also overlooked
basic observational elements of the New Star, notably the star's first and last appear-
ance and key details about its increase and decrease in magnitude. On such matters,
Holwarda frankly admitted, "we are able to say nothing which is entirely certain and
true." 24 Holwarda's main concern was stellar latitudes and longitudes, particularly
parallax. Here Holwarda again apologized for the questionable accuracy, concluding
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 157
that his inferior instruments were nevertheless sufficient to show the star had no
significant shift in position.
Holwarda's erudite narrative on stars — lapsing into Greek and citing ancient
authorities — was largely an attack against those who doubted celestial novelty. The
key to his argument was his New Phenomenon. Here he happily placed Holwarda's
Star in that privileged pantheon occupied by Tycho (1572), Kepler (1604), and
Fabricius (1596; 1609). To support his claim, Holwarda quoted Kepler's now-
familiar lines associating the Star of 1604 with that bright star in Cetus that Fabricius
used to measure the distance of Mercury. 25 By accepting Kepler's erroneous sub-
stitution of Mercury for Jupiter, Holwarda failed the credibility test used by later
astronomers.
Although he published the first detailed discussion of what is now called a vari-
able star, Holwarda nowhere suggests Holwarda's Star was Fabricius's Star (1596
and 1609) or Bayer's Omicron Ceti (1602). Holwarda's lapse is difficult to assess.
But in the end, instead of evaluating relationships between the several New Stars,
Holwarda focused on defending New Stars as signs from God. His key concern was
to show that these signs arose from secondary causes.
Holwarda's first assessment, however, was soon followed by a second chance
to revise his views. As described in his Dissertatio, Holwarda again sighted the
New Star in November 1639. But with his freshly printed Dissertatio about to be
released by his publisher, he hastened to add an Appendix ad Lectorem necessaria,
which he placed at the end of his book. To his credit, Holwarda had continued
to search for his New Phenomenon since mid- summer with his friend, Bernard
Fullenius (1602-1657). 26 The second sighting came on 7 November 1639 (OS) in
the same place it appeared earlier that year. 27 But while his new Appendix provided
minor adjustments, Holwarda said nothing new about the New Phenomenon — no
new observations, no fresh assessment. Although he had specifically mentioned
Fabricius's Star earlier in the body of his text, without comment, Holwarda again
made no connection between Fabricius's Star (1596, 1609) and Holwarda's Star
(1638, 1639), and as before, no connection with Bayer's Omicron Ceti (1602). 28
But if good fortune offered Holwarda a second chance, it also offered a third.
In his Philosophia naturalis (1651), published posthumously, Holwarda provided
readers with a lengthy and quite sophisticated treatment of physics and astronomy.
Here Holwarda associates his work with the names of Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler,
Galileo, and Bayer, and in addressing stellar scintillations and magnitudes he dis-
cusses a dozen stars by name. Nowhere, however, does he mention Mira Ceti, the
star historians continue to link to Holwarda's name. 29
By 1640 the New Star in the Neck of the Whale had made many appearances. But
as the record shows, barely two dozen sightings had been recorded in the decades
following August 1596. A key difficulty was the lack of systematic observations, and
more telling, the New Star had taken different names and assumed several identities.
But in the end, Mira Ceti would not be discovered by chance. The traditional story
of Mira's discovery is familiar but deeply flawed. Like Columbus discovering the
Indies, Fabricius and Holwarda laid claim to an unknown continent — indeed, two
separate continents.
158 R.A. Hatch
Hevelius — History and Identity
When Hevelius published his Historiola in 1662, Learned Europe knew little about
Fabricius or Holwarda, and indeed, the New Star was all but forgotten. 30 During the
2 decades following Holwarda' s death — between 1640 and 1660 — no one searched
systematically for the New Star. Hevelius changed that tradition. In mid-December
1659, nearly 70 years after Fabricius 's first sighting, the Danzig astronomer estab-
lished a rigorous observational regimen for the New Star that continued for nearly
25 years (14 December 1659 to 18 August 1683). During this time Hevelius pub-
lished three works on Mira, each supplying an updated ephemeris for the New
Star. His first installment appeared in his Mercurius in Sole visus (Danzig, 1662)
in a section entitled Historiola, Mirae Stellae (146-171), and thereafter supple-
ments appeared in his Cometographia (1668) and Annus climactericus (1685).
Hevelius — not Bayer — put Mira on the map. 31
Hevelius 's contribution to understanding Mira Ceti is difficult to overstate. In
effect, his Historiola gave Mira a name, a history, and a working identity. In
bringing Mira to the attention of the Republic of Letters, Hevelius transformed a
string of chance sightings into a working chronology. Most of the observations,
from Holwarda, 32 Bernard Fullenius, 33 and Joachim Jungius (1587-1657), were
otherwise entirely unknown. After establishing an historical ephemeris for Mira,
Hevelius then added dozens of his own observations from 14 December 1659
through 3 March 1662. 34 As announced in his Historiola, his aim was to provide
a short history of the New Star with the promise that more detailed treatment would
appear in his forthcoming Cometographia.
As it happens, the Historiola would be Hevelius 's most important work on Mira.
If his central purpose was to establish Mira's history and identity, Hevelius also
aimed to create higher standards of observation. To that end, Hevelius was sharply
critical of earlier sightings, and indeed, his first gesture was to dismiss Fabricius's
claims from his ephemeris. As we shall see, many earlier observations received
harsh criticism while others were accepted only tentatively. In addition to supplying
a critical analysis of Mira's history, Hevelius was equally eager to establish a new
cooperative effort throughout Europe, and in the bargain, to assert his authority as
the foremost observer. Hevelius begins by untangling the web of inherited obser-
vations, which he now insists, represent a single star. After careful scrutiny of the
evidence, he argues,
... no one can fail to be entirely persuaded that this star is the exact same star observed by
Fabricius (when Tycho was still living), by Phocylides in 1638, and by us, now so many
times in recent years. Hence, we see clearly, after some span of time has passed, that this
star has returned frequently and again has vanished. 35
Hevelius aimed to announce a new era where accuracy and continuous obser-
vation would take center stage. He also issued a challenge. After rejecting
Fabricius's sightings, Hevelius lambasted Holwarda's efforts in measuring paral-
lax. His criticism stemmed from several concerns. From a theoretical perspective,
he hints that Mira may undergo a small but as yet unconfirmed local motion, perhaps
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 159
amounting to only several seconds of arc. Hevelius set the bar very high. In effect,
he announced that he would be the sole arbiter on issues of observational accuracy.
Hevelius asserted his authority in other ways. Given his correspondence network
and work ethic, no one was better informed about astronomical activities in Poland,
Germany, and Central Europe. 36 As evidence, Hevelius was the first to inform
Learned Europe about the observations of Fullenius (1639; 1641; 1644) and Jungius
(18 February-July 1648). 37 Here too Hevelius was equally critical, quickly expand-
ing his criticism to other "so-called astronomers" for their lack of interest in stars
and plain negligence (if we may speak freely, he says) regarding Mira. 38 Hevelius
concludes his opening salvo suggesting that early observations of Mira have been
so poor that there is no agreement whether the New Star appeared in 1645 and 1646
or not. 39
Hevelius 's opening narrative demonstrated clearly that next to nothing had been
learned about Mira since 1596. In the wake of Holwarda's second sighting, much
like the vast gulf between Fabricius and Holwarda, only ten attempted sight-
ings were made between 1638 and 1648. 40 They are easily enumerated. Bernard
Fullenius (1602-1657), a colleague of Holwarda, observed the New Star on 23
September 1641 and again (curiously) on that precise date in 1642. 41 Two years
later, in August 1644, Fullenius reportedly searched for the New Star, but in vain.
In Hamburg, Joachim Jungius (1 587-1 657) 42 observed the star at the third magni-
tude on 18-20 February 1647, noting simply that it disappeared between July and
November 1648. Such was the fruit of 2 decades.
The working substance of Hevelius 's contribution was his ephemerides.
Spanning only three and one-half pages, the chronological list begins with
Holwarda on 1 December 1638 and continues through Jungius 's vaunted efforts on
3 November 1648. Thereafter, all subsequent observations are Hevelius 's own, from
5 January 1648 through 3 March 1662. Brief but comprehensive, the ephemerides,
taken together, include four observations from Holwarda, three from Fullenius,
and three from Jungius; ten total sightings, not only incomplete, but as Hevelius
hints, wildly unsystematic. The structure of Hevelius 's chart highlights the defi-
ciencies. As an idealized grid, the chart provided for observer, year, month, day,
and hour, as well as a column for notes. At a glance, the chart shows glaring
absences that highlight a smattering of disconnected sightings. The section for
notes, a place of hope, offered little insight about changing magnitudes, much less
sequenced phases. Hevelius 's first observation of Mira on 5 January 1648 is itself
telling. Although it was among the most useful early sightings, Hevelius simply
describes the star as greater than the third magnitude. Hevelius showed his hon-
esty by including the observation; but surely he knew it was flawed. The flaw is
that readers, then as now, are left to wonder if the star appeared at the beginning
or end of its maximum phase — a period of at least 2 weeks. Had he recorded or
recalled the details, Hevelius surely would have published them. 43 Mira set the bar
very high.
Hevelius 's first sighting of Mira on 5 January 1648 was followed by yet another
10-year lapse of interest. Turning his interests elsewhere, he did not observe
Mira again until 14 December 1659. 44 Hevelius was relentless thereafter. As his
160 R.A. Hatch
Ephemeris (152) describes in detail, beginning in December 1659, Hevelius estab-
lished a strict schedule that continued to the end of his life. Between July 1659
and 3 March 1662, during the 3 years prior to publishing his Historiola, Hevelius
recorded some 75 observations of Mira in less than 3 years, five times more than
all the observers since Fabricius in 1596. For all that, Hevelius remained skeptical
about the regularity of Mira's appearances. As he noted, Mira was at one time a
weak ruddy color, at other times bright and blazing white, and more telling, it did
not change consistently in its cycles or reappear with any regularity. 45 In the end,
Hevelius concluded that Mira was "subject to no definite laws, neither a certain
regular cycle nor motion." 46 In the decades that followed, Hevelius claimed again
and again that Mira was an "impostor" whose veiled and tricky behavior demanded
caution and constant vigilance. 47
In the decades that followed, Hevelius's first impression of Mira guided his obser-
vational assumptions and approach. Although he offered admirably precise verbal
descriptions of Mira's changing color and brightness, he never made systematic
efforts to observe Mira's overall periodicity, and perhaps more to the point, Mira's
changing phases of magnitude. Instead, Hevelius's efforts continued to focus on
Mira's parallax. 48
If the Historiola was Hevelius's most influential work on Mira, it was because his
Cometographia (Danzig, 1665-1666) proved disappointing. Although he promised
to treat Mira at greater length, the assessment in his Cometographia was short and
surprisingly repetitious. Equally clear, Hevelius continued to harp about Mira's
parallax, and more generally, his views about Mira's fickle behavior are not
reassessed. 49 Instead, given Mira's early behavior, Hevelius again suggested that
the "trickster" was beyond prediction, finally concluding that Mira's future appear-
ances might be anyone's guess: "What the future holds, whether it will attain a
greater magnitude or soon begin to diminish again, only time will tell." 50 Hevelius
never overcame his reluctance to analyze Mira's changing magnitudes as phases in
a predictable cycle.
But Hevelius did not hesitate to philosophize. In his Climactericus he engages
in a number of speculations about Mira's behavior. If the problem was to explain
Mira's changes in brightness, he began by measuring Mira's apparent diameter
at maximum. With this, Hevelius chose to consider Mira's physical composition
and consequent appearances and motions. Mira was indeed astronomically large.
By Hevelius's calculation, it was some 287,496,000 times larger than earth. 51
And the consequences? Hevelius first suggests that Mira's appearances might arise
from internal physical processes or perhaps from motions that could be observed.
He quickly rejects the possibility that Mira physically coalesces and periodically
dissipates — this "I scarcely think any philosopher would readily grant." 52 He also
rejects prospects that Mira's apparent changes in brightness arise from rectilinear
motions, either toward the observer (increasing magnitude) or away (decreasing
magnitude). More likely, he reasoned, Mira emitted effluvia, like all other celes-
tial bodies, and over time its surface is periodically covered by different densities
of vapor. Hevelius finally concluded that Mira's changes in brightness arise from
thick clouds that cover the luminous surface, this on the assumption that the density
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 161
changed with the seasons, much like earth, or shifted periodically, like sunspots. 53
Hevelius concluded such a state of affairs was not only likely but obvious. Having
philosophized at length, Hevelius again concluded that, in any case, Mira "obeys
no fixed or periodic time for its first appearance, and so similarly for the establish-
ment of its substance and nature, now in this month, now in that, as it first begins
to shine." 54 In the end, Hevelius's mature view of Mira's behavior echoes his ear-
liest assumptions. That perspective shaped Hevelius's schedule for observing Mira,
a regime which showed little systematic interest in identifying Mira's phases of
changing magnitude. 55
Hevelius's last assessment of Mira appeared in his Annus climactericus (Danzig,
1685) in a section entitled Continuatione Historiae novae Stellae in Collo Ceti
(89-104). Appearing 2 years before his death, it provided his final installment of
Mira ephemerides (102-104), and of particular interest, two letters Hevelius had
sent to Henry Oldenburg, each with an attached ephemeris. Taken together, these
last two ephemerides completed the vision he had proposed in his Historiola, now
extending the observations from 1 December 1638 through 18 August 1683. 56 In the
end, the two letters Hevelius sent to Oldenburg are at once predictable and strange.
Here Hevelius echoed his view that Mira obeyed no rule of regularity, which he now
buttressed with a curious historical narrative. 57 Hevelius's continuing caution was
not without reason. 58
Boulliau — Identity and Difference
C'est vn spectacle a f aire desesperer Aristote & ses disciples . . .
Boulliau to Huygens, 15 September 1662 59
In the summer of 1658 Boulliau became interested in stellar variation. 60 His first
object of interest, as detailed in an unpublished manuscript, was the new star in the
Swan. Two years later his attention shifted to Mira Ceti, and thereafter, Boulliau
searched for the New Star without fail for 27 years — until age 83 — from March
1661 to 22 February 1688. 61 Boulliau's first flirtations with Mira were consum-
mated during his visit to Danzig in early 1661. There, between March and August,
Boulliau and Hevelius followed Mira continuously. Finally returning to Paris in July
1662, 62 Boulliau began to focus on Mira's changes of phase. After studying the early
sightings of Fabricius, Holwarda, Jungius, and Fullenius, Boulliau resolved to make
public predictions. 63 In the end, if Hevelius gave Mira a history and an identity,
Boulliau gave Mira a future and an ongoing audience.
In early 1667, Boulliau published his Ad Astronomos Monita Duo, or Two
Advisements to Astronomers, a short but influential treatise concerning two star-
like appearances that varied in brightness. 64 It was the first publication devoted
primarily to Mira Ceti. Here Boulliau's concern was "to excite astronomers to dili-
gent observation" of this Wonderful Star. 65 Now recognized as France's foremost
astronomer — and arguably Kepler's most influential student — Boulliau was elected
unanimously to the Royal Society in 1667. By now his methods for reforming plan-
etary astronomy were also familiar. 66 Boulliau's strategy for Mira was similar. 67
162 R.A. Hatch
Given the irregular appearances of the New Star, Boulliau sought to establish a long
baseline of observations in order to calculate more precise mean motions. 68 As with
the planets, his strategy would help expose Mira's deepest uniformities. Boulliau's
second strategy was to promote public interest. Having recently engaged in the con-
troversy on comets of 1665, Boulliau took a cue from his friend, Adrien Auzout
(1622-1691), who had boldly predicted the comet's future path. Auzout sparked
public interest and a firestorm of controversy. 69 Boulliau took a longer view. In call-
ing the Republic of Letters to arms, Boulliau aimed not only to excite but sustain
an army of observers with the discipline of Spartans. Correspondence networks —
now a daily agent of change — helped to enlist observers, encourage cooperation,
and ensure timely responses. It was a new kind of community.
Boulliau's Ad Astronomos, particularly the first section on Mira's phases,
required several readings. Consisting of only four pages, Boulliau's opening anal-
ysis of Mira's appearances offered an open challenge to the casual reader — critical
readers required a second look. In effect, Boulliau presented his hypothesis for
Mira backwards. To be clear, Boulliau presented a series of seemingly disconnected
examples, and then, only at the end of his argument, he finally presents his hypoth-
esis. If Boulliau's approach seems strange, it is not by chance. His strategy was to
engage the reader in identifying ambiguities and assessing assumptions. The suc-
cessful reader — patient if not stubborn — would be asked to rediscover Mira Ceti by
confronting key assumptions and inherent lapses in the observational record.
Boulliau begins his analysis with a rhetorical "hook." Imagine, Boulliau sug-
gests, the relationship between a specific future appearance of Mira and a decidedly
vague observation from 1638:
Astronomers and those studious of Celestial matters are advised that a Star, which was
sighted many years ago in the Neck of the Whale, will again be observed next year in 1667,
early in March, equal to, or perhaps greater than, stars of the third magnitude. Near the
end of that same month, unless twilight interferes, its maximum phase will be observed,
provided that it retains the same proportion of motion and periodicity as observed from the
year 1638 to the year 1664. 70
Boulliau then proceeds by supplying additional examples, each moving from
general circumstances (older observations and longer periodicities) to more specific
instances (more recent and precise observations). If Boulliau's first concern is to
establish Mira's overall mean period, he also wishes to show that Mira's individual
changes in phase must be understood first. As the reader soon discovers, each of
Boulliau's examples supports his working hypothesis, and by turns, each example is
finally shown consistent with his empirical hypothesis. Boulliau's argument — each
carefully selected example — is finally based on Boulliau's own observations made
between 1660 and 1664. 71
Having hinted at a long-term periodicity, Boulliau then compares two sight-
ings by Holwarda (1638) and Hevelius (1660). After ignoring Fabricius's sightings,
Boulliau then suggests that these two appearances represent the most useful long-
term "proportion of motion and periodicity" for predicting Mira's re-appearance
in March 1667. Because the comparison remains vague, even casual readers are
confronted with questions. How is Mira's mean period to be measured — from first
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 163
appearance, last visibility, mean maximum — a key difficulty given that each phase
varied cycle to cycle, usually by several days, sometimes several weeks? As read-
ers soon learn, Boulliau had already decided on the mid-point of Mira's maximum
phase (not first or last visibility, for example) to define the overall mean period. 72
If Boulliau's first example was incomplete, his second example puts the reader on
full notice. Boulliau begins his next paragraph with a perplexing assertion: "Hence,
for a period of some 22 years minus 40 days, the same brightness recurred twice
at the same time of the year and at the same phase." 73 Although Boulliau omits
details, he appears to trust his reader to identify the necessary assumptions and to
engage the issues first hand. Though veiled, Boulliau makes it clear that his second
example is firmly tied to the first. Here Boulliau compares the sightings of Jungius
(18 February 1647) and Hevelius (5 January 1648), and again, the example aims to
identify assumptions.
Hence, for [a period of] some 22 years minus about 40 days, the same brightness recurred
twice at the same time of the year and at the same phase. This was confirmed by the obser-
vation of the same Hevelius on the 5th day of January in the year 1648, when he took note of
the same magnitude of the phase. In the preceding year 1647, on the 18th day of February,
it was seen to equal stars of the third magnitude by the most learned Joachim Jungius. ... It
then became clear that the maximum brightness of the star anticipated single years by one
month and several days, and it appeared earlier in the year, as shown clearly by our own
observations and those of the Illustrious Hevelius. In the year 1660 maximum brightness
was observed near the end of October and the beginning of November. 74
Again Boulliau's argument must be unpacked. In this example, Boulliau silently
provides Jungius 's observation with an Old Style date, Hevelius 's with a New Style
date, and then simply claims that both observations record Mira at the 3rd magni-
tude. One unspoken problem is that Mira appears at the 3rd magnitude twice in each
overall cycle (as it ascends to and then descends from near the 2nd magnitude). 75
As before, Boulliau trusts his reader to evaluate the evidence; but without apology,
he seems to admit that this is a messy affair. Because the sightings are imperfect,
assumptions and decisions had to be made. Boulliau's second example, at first blush,
is surely the most puzzling. 76
Boulliau's third example is based on his own observations. Here readers finally
receive Boulliau's general hypothesis: "From these observations we conclude that,
year by year, the star reaches its greatest maximum by anticipating whole years by
32 or 33 days." 77 With this, Boulliau then presents his observations from October
1660 through June 1664. 78 He then returns to the task of prediction:
In the following year 1667, at the beginning of March, this extraordinary star will be
observed to equal, or perhaps even exceed, the brightness of stars of the third magnitude.
When the above pattern is repeated, the star's maximum brightness will occur around the
19th day of March. Thereafter, in years that follow, it will recur, and in 1668 the star's max-
imum brightness will reappear around the 14th day of February and so on by returning
successively towards the beginnings of the months. 79
Boulliau finally presents his working hypothesis. With this, most readers likely
experienced awareness, if not an appreciation, for his veiled approach.
164 R.A. Hatch
Given our observations of the star's maximum phases, we conclude that a period of almost
333 days seems assured. Further, the interval of time between the endpoints, beginning to
end, when it equals stars of the sixth magnitude, is about 120 days. The phase of maximum
brightness persists for about fifteen days, as observations made in 1660 demonstrate. 80
Surely the patient reader, having come this far, would now reread the text
from the beginning. 81 Armed with the working hypothesis of "almost 333 days,"
the reader would then see a series of simple examples sustained by a coher-
ent argument. 82 Boulliau's rhetorical strategy also becomes clear. His purpose in
prompting readers to take a second look was to show how obvious evidence — like
the Trickster itself — often passed unexpectedly. What readers missed at first blush
now appeared with an embarrassing shock of recognition. The drama of unmasking
the Trickster involved a flash of comedy reminiscent of Kepler's "O me ridiculum."
Boulliau's assessment of Mira Ceti was difficult by design. Beginning with his
working hypothesis, he first suggests that Mira's complete cycle of brightness (from
one maximum to the next) is almost 333 days. Thereafter, in order to determine
Mira's overall periodicity, his task was to determine Mira's individual phases —
onset, maximum, diminution. Here Boulliau silently developed a working model
with an overall period of about 120 days and a maximum phase of 15-20 days. 83
In practice, arguing from general to particular, Boulliau's working hypothesis of
"almost 333 days" was calculated as 332.75 days (365.25 - 32.5), though his
final hypothesis was based empirically on his observations from 1 November 1660
through 21 April 1666, that is, 332.83 days. 84 Having established a detailed analysis
of Mira's mean period, and its changing phases of magnitude, Boulliau then turns
his attention to explaining those appearances.
The second part of Boulliau's assessment of Mira was entitled "Concerning
the Causes of Change in the Emergence and Concealment of this Extraordinary
Star." This section stands in stark contrast to the first. If the first section ana-
lyzed Mira's appearances from particular circumstances, Boulliau now provided a
geometrical assessment from general circumstances. The argument was straightfor-
ward. No longer troubled by historical assumptions and messy inferences, Boulliau
sought to display Mira's possibilities in the most elegant geometrical fashion. His
demonstrations, executed in almost Euclidean style, aimed to explain the causes of
Mira's emersion, diminution, and disappearance — as Cassini later wrote, "Pour ren-
dre raison de ce phenomene . . ," 85 But Mira's wild fluctuations would not be easily
tamed:
It is particularly difficult and painstaking to investigate and discover the reasons for the
successive changes observed in the increases and decreases of this star. For in all of its
phases of brightness, it is increasing or decreasing. Does this arise from a change in the
observed distance; from a change in its fixed location, or from a changeable direction, which
varies with the angle of sight? Or finally, does it arise from the increase and decrease in the
intensity of its own light? 86
Boulliau begins by demonstrating that any apparent change in brightness due to
changes in distance must result from the star's moving in a circle (or some other
curved line) or in a straight line. Assuming that the New Star has no observed
change in position, Boulliau shows that any apparent change in brightness cannot
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 165
be attributed to its motion in a circle, and by extension, to a motion in any curved
line, not even the most elongated ellipse, that is, a straight line. This is true, of
course, whether the motion is either toward or away from the observer. 87 To satisfy
his conclusions, Boulliau shows that each possibility violates the assumptions or the
appearances.
[A]s we have demonstrated that it is impossible that this star moves in a circle, and indeed,
that its moving in a straight line is not probable, no other real and true cause, or at least
approximately true cause, for the emergence and concealment of the star can be brought
forth, than if it is shown that the greater part of this spherical body is hidden and incon-
spicuous to us, the other part smaller but luminous, and the revolution of the entire body
of the star is around its own center on a single axis. Across one interval of time, the
star will exhibit a luminous portion to the Earth, at another time the bright portion will
be drawn away. For it is not probable that fires are kindled in the body of this star, and
that at prescribed times flames take hold of the matter and shine, or at other times are
extinguished. . . 88
After exhausting the geometrical possibilities — and carefully foreshadowing his
working hypothesis — Boulliau then considers two physical possibilities. He begins
by suggesting that fires may be kindled periodically inside the Star, causing it to
appear bright, and thereafter, when the combustible matter is exhausted, the internal
flames burn out. Boulliau quickly dismisses this hypothesis, concluding that internal
periodic fires are cumbersome and physically implausible. Instead, as with his other
physical theories — the motion of planets and the nature of light — Boulliau aimed to
invoke the fewest assumptions. Here he concludes that the star's internal state was
stable. Mira's complex appearances would stem from a single cause at once simple,
uniform, and fixed.
Boulliau 's hypothesis was elegant and intuitive. Mira, he imagined, was a spher-
ical body that rotated uniformly on its axis, and hence, by turns, it displayed a
surface partly dark and partly luminous. As required by observation, the smaller
part was bright and the larger part dark. Mira's more subtle patterns of change —
from first to last appearance — were explained by the size and shape of the luminous
surface. 89 Hence, like Mira's overall mean periodicity, individual phases derived
from the simplest principles, fixity and uniformity. 90 Not unlike Galileo's analysis
of sunspots (involving foreshortening on a sphere) Boulliau aimed to explain Mira's
most subtle complexities, its rapid rise in brightness, its 15-day maximum, its asym-
metrical diminution, and its final disappearance. 91 Mira's mysteries were unveiled
in short order. Like his Conical Hypothesis for the planets, Boulliau 's model for
the New Star was simplicity itself. His theory for Mira was widely but quietly
embraced.
Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon.
We have the stars.
Camille Beauchamp, Now, Voyager 92
The fixed stars — once the stately backdrop for the Celestial Dance — became an
anachronism with the dawn of the New Science. Existing outside of time, stars had
traditionally signaled stability and order; if they showed signs of life it came from
the constellations, imaginary patterns representing gods and heroes that evoked
166 R.A. Hatch
stories of human hope, fate, and fortune. Eternal by nature — fixed in time and
space — individual stars often had names but no history. Not until the New Science.
Tycho's Star (1572) and Kepler's Star (1604) heralded a New Age that dismantled
the Old Cosmos. Now known as Super Novae, these stars were dramatic because
they appeared unexpectedly and then disappeared forever. 93
Mira was different. Mira appeared and disappeared again and again. Like no
other celestial object, Mira challenged traditional notions of celestial change and
cosmic order. In practice, star charts would change. Charts would now represent
more stars with more precise positions; changes in stellar magnitude and color
would add time to the old category of space (position; location). For theorists,
the ancient rift between Heaven and Earth raised new questions about matter and
motion, more cosmic concerns about change and continuity. 94 In the end, hav-
ing challenged the Ancient Cosmos, the Wonderful Star in the Neck of the Whale
emerged as an enduring icon for the New Science. Mira insisted that behind the daily
flux of things deeper patterns persisted. Like Halley's Comet, Mira was a reassuring
reminder that the world remained somehow rational.
By the end of the century the New Science and Mira Ceti had become common
property. In the century that followed, William Herschel (1738-1822) published
his first professional paper on Mira Ceti, and later championed the view that neb-
ulae, stars, clusters, and galaxies undergo continuous change from simple to more
complex forms. Herschel, of course, was not the first to suggest that the sprawl-
ing Tangled Bank of stars showed patterns that evolved over time. Earlier, Isaac
Newton hinted that the stuff of sunspots, mottled stars, and comets were all joined
together in a kind of continuing cosmic creation. In the last paragraph of Book
III of his Principia, Newton linked the grandeur of the stars — hitherto the most
exalted object of contemplation — to a much richer and more earthy mix. 95 From
so simple a beginning one might imagine endless forms most beautiful and most
wonderful:
As to those fixed stars that appear and disappear by turns, and increase slowly and by
degrees, and scarcely ever exceed the stars of the third magnitude, they seem to be of
another kind, which revolve about their axes, and, having a light and a dark side, show
those two different sides by turns. The vapors which arise from the sun, the fixed stars,
and the tails of the comets, may meet at last with, and fall into, the atmospheres of the
planets by their gravity, and there be condensed and turned into water and humid spir-
its; and from thence, by a slow heat, pass gradually into the form of salts, and sulphurs,
and tinctures, and mud, and clay, and sand, and stones, and coral, and other terrestrial
substances. 96
Acknowledgments An early draft of this essay was presented at the conference "Cosmological
Continuity" at Johns Hopkins University in 2009. I wish to thank Patrick Boner and Lawrence
Principe for their invitation, and Bruce Stephenson, of the Adler Planetarium, for providing copies
of portions of several of Hevelius's published works. I also wish to thank readers of an early draft
of this essay, A. Mark Smith, Wilbur Applebaum, Brian Dolan, Nick Dorn, Daniel Julich, Michael
Morse, and G. Matt Adkins. For assistance with preliminary Latin translations, I also wish to thank
Maureen Hyland-Carver and Shawn Daniels.
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 167
Notes
1. Hevelius wrote: "Caeterum scias me nuper adhuc par literarum, alteras 14 Martij, 1 Iunij
a Te datus accepisse; ad quas breviter itaque respondeo. Stellam quidem illam, quam
scribis Hamburgi observatam, hie quoque per totam Hyemem singulis serenis noctibus, clare
admodum conspeximus. Veram nullatenis inter novas primum exortas; sed inter antiquas
fixas merito numerabitur. Nam ut in Globis minime reperiatur, neque a Tychone, quantum
sciam, sit observata; a Bayero tamen iam dudum animadversa, atque inter suas ad 26° lon-
git. circiter, et 15° latit. relata, teste eius Uranometra. Quanquam illud adhuc desiderem, quod
in coelo major appareat quam Bayerus illam aestimavit; non excedere tamen stellam tertij
honoris. Unde facile colligor egregie illos fuisse hallucinatos, qui illam pro nova et miracu-
losa decantavint." BNF, f.fr. 13043, f. 7r-9r. For details on the Boulliau correspondence, see
Robert A. Hatch, The Collection Boulliau (BN, FF 13019-13059): An Inventory (Philadelphia:
American Philosophical Society, 1982).
2. Hevelius to Mersenne, 31 August 1648, BNF, f.fr. 13043, f. 7r-9r. In the top left margin
Boulliau wrote: "Escrite au Pere Marin Mersenne/& apportee apres sa mort. arriuee/au com-
mencement de Septemb/1648/" Mersenne died on 1 September 1648. Boulliau's response to
Hevelius marks the beginning of the most extensive correspondence between two seventeenth-
century astronomers.
3. For example, see the excellent article, Patrick J. Boner, "A Tenuous Tandem: Patrizi and Kepler
on the Origins of Stars," Journal for the History of Astronomy 40, 2009, 381-391.
4. Tycho's Star was observed from 8 November 1572 to early May 1574; Kepler's Star from 19
October 1604, and following conjunction (about 3 January 1605) it remained visible until 8
October 1605 and perhaps into early 1606.
5 . See Alexandre-Guy Pingre, Annales celestes du dix-septieme siecle, ed. Guillaume Bigourdan,
Paris, 1901. Pingre lists few publications on Mira; observers include: Schickard; Holwarda;
Palmer; Fullenius; Jungius; Boulliau; Hevelius; Kretzmer; Cassini; Picard; Flamsteed; and
Kirch. My comprehensive chronology of Mira observations for the seventeenth century stems
overwhelmingly from Hevelius and Boulliau.
6. David Fabricius (1564-1617) studied theology at Helmstadt (1583) before moving to
Resterhave. He was murdered at the age of 53 by a thief he denounced from the pulpit for
stealing geese. See John R. Christianson, On Tycho's Island: Tycho Brahe and His Assistants,
Cambridge University Press, 2000, 273-276.
7. Kepler added to public confusion in his Optics: "David Fabricius sent to Brahe certain obser-
vations which he had made in Friesland while measuring the distance of Mercury from a
certain bright star in the Whale. That star could not be found anymore, by Fabricius or by any-
one else" [my emphasis]. GW, II, 376: 3-6. See Edward Rosen, Kepler's Somnium (Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1967), 226.
8. Fabricius claimed the star was brighter than Alpha Arietis (Hamal), the brightest star in Aries
(second magnitude); Kepler publicly reported it at the third magnitude.
9. Fabricius later sent Kepler the observation but in haste omitted the star's latitude, and hence,
it was omitted in Kepler's brief mention in his Optics. See Johannes Kepler, Ad Vitellionem
paralipomena, 446; GW (Munich, 1937 -), 2: 376.
10. "Observationes quas misit mihi Dominus David Fabricius", in Tycho Brahe, Tychonis
Brahe Dani opera omnia, ed. J.L.E. Dreyer and Eiler Nystrom. 15 vols. (Copenhagen:
Gyldendal, 1913-1929) 13: 114-115. A partial translation follows: "Observations of a Certain
Supplementary Star Which Appeared in the Constellation Cetus in 1596. On the morning of
3 August of the aforementioned year I was about to observe Jupiter and its distances from
the prominent stars in its vicinity (as the faintest stars were hardly visible due to the summer
air at dawn). When I set about observing with my instrument, I noticed to the south in the
constellation Cetus an unfamiliar star not previously observed in that place or of that magni-
tude. When I inspected it with care and considered its location, I was struck immediately with
the idea that a new comet had appeared. I then inspected my celestial globe and checked the
168 R.A. Hatch
star catalogue of the Prutenic Tables to see if a star of that magnitude might be listed there.
Yet I found nothing that agreed with the location or indeed with the observed magnitude ....
The distance between Jupiter and the bright star to the south (this is how I identified the star,
as I knew nothing certain about it) was about 20° 22 r . . . This star is of the second magni-
tude, somewhat greater than the bright star in the Ram [Alpha Arietis] and reddish like Mars
I no longer observed its location with instruments after 21 August, as I could not detect
any change from earlier sightings. Even so, I observed the star on several occasions there-
after through the first days of September, although it grew more faint almost every day. . . I
sought to judge its magnitude by the brightness of Jupiter ... I affirm that I have reported
nothing, not one jot or tittle, beyond what I observed." Translation after Rosen, Kepler's
Somnium, 226.
11. Fabricius and Kepler had a substantial correspondence; Fabricius sent 13 letters (1 October
1602 to 1 October 1616); Kepler sent 36 letters (23 June 1601 to 10 November 1608). Overall,
Kepler's GW (vols. 13-18) represents some 1146 letters (22 May 1590 to 24 January 1631), a
network similar in size to that of Mersenne.
12. Kepler's views are sketched further in De Stella nova, 112; GW, I: 259: "Prima, quod David
Fabricius, quern in observationibus supra quoque fide dignum celebravi, animadvertit anno
1596. 3/13. Augusti . . . matutino tempore novam stellam tertiae magnitudinis invenit in 25.45'
Arietis, cum latitudine Australi 15.54': quae post Octobrem eiusdem anni disparuit. Ille vero
locus a via lactea abfuit longissime."
13. Kepler accepted Fabricius 's conclusion that the new star varied in brightness and then finally
disappeared. In a marginal note he wrote: "I do not propose this suspicion of a new phe-
nomenon rashly, or without precedents. For it seems to be not so rare that, like comets, stars
are also seen wandering in this way. David Fabricius sent Tycho Brahe certain observations
made in Friesland, having measured the distance of Mercury from a certain bright star in Cetus,
which could no longer be found either by Fabricius or by anyone else." Kepler, Ad Vitellionem,
446; G W (Munich, 1937), 2: 376; Optics, Paralipomena to Witelo & the Optical Part of
Astronomy. Translated by W. H. Donahue (Sante Fe, New Mexico: Green Lion Press), 250.
Hevelius could not believe that Tycho had failed to observe such a star, calling the prospect
"unspeakable". Historiola, 167.
14. Johann Bayer (1572-1625) studied philosophy at Ingolstadt before becoming a lawyer in
Augsburg. His Uranometria (Augsburg, 1603; 1639; 1648; 1655; 1661; 1697-1723) added
twelve constellations and identified stars with Greek letters.
15. Historiola, 163.
16. Fabricius wrote: "When on 5 February I was observing the approaching conjunction of Jupiter
and Mars, I observed in Cetus an unfamiliar star, which I inspected immediately. When I
examined the distances on a [celestial] globe, I found them to agree with the position indicated
on the globe for the star which I observed in August and September of '96. Since that time
I had not seen that star. Wondrous thing! As God is my witness, I saw and observed it twice
at different times. It is remarkable that Jupiter had nearly the same position in Taurus as it
occupied in '96. 1 cannot admire God sufficiently for his work, hence you see, my good Kepler,
that my opinion about new stars and comets is true, they are not created anew, but are only
deprived of light from time to time, and yet their course is complete. And when God would
have us know something beyond the ordinary, he lights those invisible bodies so they might
appear, and in public might produce certain prophets. I think I have not argued incorrectly
about those bodies of aether. From the end of February I saw and observed it clearly; now,
because of the hazy sky, the [star's] proximity to the horizon, and the moonlight, I have not
been able to observe it, and I ask if you have observed it or know if anyone has observed it? I
wish to know your view on these matters. A wondrous thing and true. Its position (as I wrote
in my German treatise concerning the new star) was 25° 47 r Aries, south latitude 15° 54V
Fabricius to Kepler, 12 March 1609, GW, 16 (Brief 1607-1611), Letter No. 524: 226-236,
232-233. Translation from Latin (with modifications) after Rosen, Kepler's Somnium, 1967,
229. Fabricius's last letter was 10 January 1616. The Latin text in the GW 16 (232) gives
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 169
the symbol for Taurus (not Aries) for the location of Jupiter in 1596. It is not clear if the
substitution is owing to Fabricius, GW editors, or Rosen.
17. Almagestum novum, II, Sectio Secunda; Riccioli became aware of Fabricius's first sighting
from Kepler's De Stella nova. See Riccioli, Almagestum novum, II, Sectio Secunda, 175.
18. "Prima, quod David Fabricius, quern in observationibus supra quoque fide dignum cele-
bravi, animadvertit anno 1596. 3/13. Augusti . . . matutino tempore novam stellam tertiae
magnitudinis invenit in 25. 45 r Arietis, cum latitudine Australi 15. 54 r ; quae post Octobrem
eiusdem anni disparuit. Ille vero locus a via lacteal abfuit longissime." Johannes Kepler, De
Stella nova, Chapter XII, 112; GW, I: 259.
19. The few public references to Fabricius's Star (1596 and 1609) appeared as brief notices pub-
lished by Kepler. A decade after his first sighting, Fabricius sent Kepler the correct latitude
and longitude, which Kepler had omitted from his Optics in 1604; here Kepler reported that
Fabricius had sighted the new star while observing Mercury, not Jupiter. Later, in his De Stella
nova (1606), Kepler incorrectly reported the star had appeared at the third not second magni-
tude. Kepler made a third short reference to the star in his Answer to Roslin (Prague, 1609);
GW4:9-15.
20. Hevelius later confessed that after observing Mira in January 1648 he had "almost forgotten
it, thinking it had disappeared entirely." Cometographia, 377.
21. Riccioli discusses new stars in his Almagestum novum, II, Sectio Secunda, "De novis stellis",
130-193, esp. 166 et seq. On Fabricius's Star of 1596 he writes: "Decima Stella Nova est
ilia 3. magnitudinis, quam David Fabricius die 13. Augusti anno 1596. dicitur obsevasse in
Ceto, ut referent Keplerus de Stella Serpentij pag. 112. & in Opticis pag. 446. Fromondus &
Resta, diciturq. per 3. menses ibidem conspicuam fuisse, cuius Licetus quoque meminit. Visa
est autem in Arietis Gr. 25. 45 r cum latitudine Australi. Gr. 15. 14 r procul a via Lactea"
(132). In his chronological list of possible new stars, Riccioli omits Fabricius's sighting of
1609 and Holwarda's sighting of 1639 (132). On Holwarda, Riccioli writes: "Decima sexta
Novarum Stellarum ac novissima, quae anno 1638. in Ceto apparuit, quam Ioannes Phocilides
Holuarda descripsit in libello de hoc phaenomeno, una cum Eclipsi anni eiusdem, & cuius
etiam meminit Geotefridus Vendelinus in Epistola ad Antonium Mariam de Rheita, quam
recitat ipse Rheitensis lib. 4 Radij Sideromystici cap. 1. Membro 1." etc., 132. Riccioli
consulted Holwarda's Dissertatio but apparently overlooked the Appendix. Seldom noticed,
Riccioli omits the New Star from his Star Catalogue (265-279) in Astronomia reformata
(Bologna, 1665).
22. Schickard saw Mira on 14 October 1631 equaling Alpha Ceti (2.8 magnitude). Alpha and
Delta Ceti served as companion comparisons for Boulliau and Hevelius.
23. Johannes Phocylides Holwarda. Panselenos ekleiptike diaugazou [romanized form], id est,
Dissertatio astronomica quae occasione ultimi lunaris anni 1638 deliquii manuductio sit ad
cognoscendum, I. Statum astronomic?, pracesertim Lansbergiance, II. Novorum phenomenon
exortu & interitum. Typis Idzardi Alberti, ejusdem[que] & Ioannis Fabiani Theuring, impensis.
Franeker, 1640, 190. Presented in two sections, "Pars secunda, de Novis Phaenomenis, sive
stellis" is a lengthy contribution (185-276). It is followed by the "Appendix ad Lectorem
Necessaria" (277-288) added after Holwarda's second sighting of the New Star.
24. "De tempore vero ipsius Apparitionis atque Disparitionis nihil quod omnino absolute certum
ac verum est dicere possumus. Quam vis suspicer, imo indubius credam iplius Ortum nulli
melius, quam isti [Moon] Deliquio adseribi poste; ante enim istud tempus nobis observantibus
nihil in Ceto notari potuit. Disparitio vero incidit in id tempus, quo propter Solis ad borealia
Signa appropinquationem in iisque moram, Stelle quae simul cum iis oriuntur & occidunt
videri non potuere." Dissertatio, 197.
25. Holwarda quotes Kepler: "Sed hanc marginalem notam alia longe illustriori adhuc confir-
mat pag. 446. in Notis, hisce verbis: Hanc novi phcenomeni suspicionem non temere, aut
sine exemplis moveo. Videtur enim non aded rarum, ut cometas, sic Stellas quoque peregri-
nas videri. Misit David Fabricius ad Brahceum observationes quasdam in Frisid habitas.
Dimensus Mercurii distantiam, a clard quadam in Ceto, quce nee a Fabricio potuit [203]
inveniri amplius, nee a quoquam alio." Dissertatio, 202-203.
170 R.A. Hatch
26. Holwarda claims that his sighting of the first appearance was hindered by confusions in Tycho
and "all other catalogues and globes." Appendix, 286.
27. The date would later be disputed, as Hevelius repeatedly recorded 7 December 1639 instead
of 7 November 1639. The error appears in the Historiola (152); Cometographia (376, 377);
and Annus climactericus (89).
28. Dissertatio, 285; excerpted by Hevelius, Cometographia (Danzig, 1665-1668), 376-377.
29. Holwarda' s last book, Philosophia naturalis seu physica vetus-nova, Ex optimis quibusque
Autoribus, Antiquis partier & Neotericis deducta, Propriisque Speculationibus & Inventis
aucta & Illustrata. Franeker, 1651. Part II "Phisica Coelestis" (1 19-400), is devoted to astron-
omy, including Chapter X, "De stellis Affixis, eorumque Motu" and Chapter XI, "De Affix.
Luce, Numero & Magn." Holwarda discusses nebulous stars and nova but makes no men-
tion his New Star. Also published posthumously, Friesche Sterre-Konst, Ofte Een korte, doch
volmaeckte Astronomia (1651/1652; 1668) appeared in the vernacular ("Friesian astronomy")
and is now very rare.
30. Few contemporaries mentioned Fabricius' sightings. Here I wish to note that Hevelius had
access to the bulk of Kepler's manuscripts by 1661. Happily, when his observatory burned
down on 26 September 1679, the sturdily bound volumes were easy to defenestrate. Hevelius
also had a selection of Tycho documents which Boulliau likely copied during his visit to
Danzig in 1661.
31. Here it is important to note that private exchanges between Hevelius and Boulliau spurred
their mutual interest, particularly after the French astronomer visited Hevelius at Danzig in
1661. Boulliau and Hevelius exchanged some 220 letters between 1648 and 1686. Between
1660 and 1686, some 30 letters specifically address Mira Ceti.
32. Hevelius cites the Dissertatio astronomica (1640) directly: "Johannes Phocylides Holwardus,
anno 1638, & quidem primus omnium (quantum hactenus compertum est) initio Mensis
Decembris, occasione Eclipsis Lunaris detexit: uti legere est in Elegantissimo Libello, de
eodem phaenomeno anno 1640 edito, multa rara complectente. Inter alia vero pag. 107,
de ejus magnitudine haec asserit: Denique magnitude erat tarn nudis oculis, qudm per
Telescopium, quce Stellas tertii fulgoris excederet, quales in ore, & gena Ceti, ut & nodus
Piscium sunt, verum sensibiliter quoque minor erat Stellis secundce magnitudinis, mandibuld
nimirum atque Lucidd in Capite Arietis. Interim decrescebat paulatim, atque pedetentim,
usque dum in occasu suo Heliaco cequaretur quarti circiter honoris & magnitudinis Stellis."
Historiola, 147.
33. Hevelius quotes Holwarda: "Addit praeterea pag. 285. Nota; nos novo isti a nobis observato
[148] phcenomeno disparitionem adscripsisse. Vide pag. 197. Et revera sic se res habet. Media
cestate, aliquoties summo mane surreximus, postquam illud ipsum Heliace ortum alias fuis set;
Caelum diligentis sime intentis oculis lustravimus, vidimus Nodum, Os, Genam, Mandibulam
Cete, aliasque vicinas circumcirca Stellas, nullum tamen novce Stellce tunc vestigium observari
potuit. Neque ego unicus observator fui, plures mecum testes idonei; quin & clarissimus Vir
Bernardus Fullenius, Matheseos Professor, phcenomenon multoties inquisivit. Frustra omnia.
Certum indicium illud quasi disparuisse. At die 7 Novembris annijam labentis 1639 Juliani,
post continua aliquot dierum, imb septimanarum apud nos nubile, vesperi Ccelo tandem
aliquando claw, forte egressus illud observavi, atque etiamnum cuivis observare liberum
relinquitur, eodem precise loco, eodem situ quo ante." Historiola, 148.
34. Hevelius continues: "Num autem subsequentibus annis, utpote 45 & 46 rursus apparuerit,
nihil penitus certi constat; at vero anno 1647, ut D. Joachimus Jungius Professor ac Rector
Gymnasii Hamburgensis, D. Laurentio Eichstadio, die 3 Novembris ejusdem anni Uteris sig-
nificavit: se novam Stellam Ceti vidisse primum die 18 Febr. hujus anni St. v.; sequenti [149]
die (scriptsit) amicis & auditoribus ostendi, die 20 Febr. tertium vidi, post semel adhuc
viderunt Auditores. Vlteriils non est conspecta; Primum ob nubes, deinde propter occasum
heliacum. Inde a Julio mense solicite a me qucesita, necdum comparuit. Mira hcec Stella nobis
hie apparuit tertian magnitudinis &c. Rogo Germanicum Galilceum Dn. Hevelium meo nomine
salutes, & hac de re moneas. Locum mirce Stellce ita invenire doceo meos. Ducatur recta
per duas lucidiores in Cornibus Arietis, principalem scilicet & trium mediam (quce Tychoni
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 171
sequens in Cornu precedent) ea cadit in quartanam, quam voco claram Lini Piscium sequen-
tis; dein duco rectam ex hdc clard Lint, per nodum Piscium, item aliam rectam per Lucidam
Mandibular (secundanam) & prcecedentum trium ad genam (ut Tycho) ubi duaz posteriores
rectce concurrunt, ibi locus mirce Stellce. Hinc perspicuum est, Stellam hanc in Collo Ceti a
Julio Mense, ad 3 Novembris usq; neutiquam apparuisse." Historiola, 148-149.
35. Hevelius, Historiola, 168.
36. Stanislaus Lubienietzki (1623-1675) was also well informed and exchanged several letters
with Boulliau concerning Mira Ceti. Among others, see Lubienietzki to Boulliau, 5 February
1667, BNF, Collection Boulliau, f.fr. 13031, f. 392r-393v.
37. Most historical accounts ignore these sightings, having ignored Hevelius.
38. "Credibile itaq; est, etiam illam ipsam Stellam nonnunquam initio hujus seculi, ad an. 1638
illuxisse, & non penitus delituisse. Quod autem nobis de his apparitionibus [169] nihil prorsus
innotuerit? non nisi Astrosophoru turn extantium incuriae, si libere eloqui liceat, imputan-
dum esse videtur. Plurimi enim (proh dolor!) de nomine tantum audiuntur Astronomi: cum
raro admodum sub diu prodeant; imo, si aliquando adhuc Stellas, animi gratia Ccelo sic invi-
tante, ex obliquo quasi adspiciut, non nisi praecipuas Stellas, utpote Sirium, Lyram, Capellam,
Arcturum, Aldebaran, Pleiadas contemplando, vix unquam, imo nunquam omnes & sin-
gulos Asterimos, eorumq; Stellas pervestigando; utrum aliqua nova nee ne, vel quaedam
major minorve deprehendatur? Nequaquam, profecto; id nimium videtur laboris (ut quidem
etiam revera est) quia accuratam & plane distinctam, etiam omnium minimarum Stellarum
cognitionem, id negotium requirit; de quo vero vel paucissimi sunt soliciti." Historiola,
168-169.
39. Hevelius, Historiola, 148-149.
40. Hevelius, Historiola, 152.
41. A colleague of Holwarda, Bernard Fullenius (1602-1657) and his son, also Bernard (1640-
1707), taught mathematics at Franeker. The younger Fullenius was befriended by Hevelius
and later became known to Huygens.
42. Joachim Jungius was born 22 October 1587 and died at Hamburg, 23 September 1657.
Educated at Rostock, he took a medical degree at Padua and became Professor of Mathematics
and then Rector of the Akademisches Gymnasium at Hamburg.
43. In his Ephemeris Hevelius notes his observation on 5 January 1648, at 9 in the evening,
and that "It appeared greater than the Knot of the Line and that one in the mouth of the
Whale which is of the third magnitude, but less than Lucida in the Jaw [second magnitude]."
Historiola, 152. Mira remains at maximum on average for about 2 weeks.
44. Hevelius writes: "A quo vero tempore ad annum 1659, ut ingenue fatear, me illam raro
admodum, quantum memini, data opera quaesivisse." Historiola, 149.
45. See Historiola, 155.
46. See Historiola, 157.
47. In his Historiola Hevelius suggests the New Star is something of a "trickster" (imposterum),
"Haec cum animadvertissem, nee non supra commemorate mihi in mentem revocassem, peni-
tus mecum statui, diligentius imposterum ei invigilandum esse, quo recte experirer, an iterim
anno subsequente 1660, ea ratione, omnia sic evenirent." (151). Hevelius further suggests,
because the New Star is "tricky" (156-157) to observe, that the "deceptive one" or "trick-
ster" (163; 164; 170) needs to be "unveiled" (detegere, 163). Similar references appear in the
Cometographia (377) and continue in his letter to Oldenburg of 2 January 1677, "Ex quibus
Astrophili haud obscuro intelligent omnes quid hue usque in his tribus stellis novis a duodecim
ellapsis annis deprehensum est; quid vero imposterum accidet, sequentium annorum observa-
tiones docebunt." Hevelius to Oldenburg, 2 January 1677 [NS], BNF, f.fr. 13044, f. 152r-154v,
f. 152v. [This manuscript includes the Mira Ephemeris.] Cf. Hevelius to Oldenburg, [NS],
Volume 13: 162-165, in Correspondence of Henry Oldenburg, ed. A. Rupert Hall and Marie
Boas Hall, 13 vols. (vols. 1-9, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison and London, 1965-
1973; vols. 10 and 11, Mansell, London, 1975 and 1977; vols. 12 and 13, Taylor and Francis,
London and Philadelphia, 1986).
172 R.A. Hatch
48. See Historiola, 158-164. Observations for 1659-1661 record changes between Mira and
a companion star in Orion of V 15" the first year, V 10" the second year, and an over-
all change of 2' 5" . These figures signal superior instruments, unrivalled skill, and hence
Hevelius's observational authority. Hevelius had not forgotten his earlier dispute with Huygens
regarding instruments, accuracy, and theory that shaped the controversy surrounding Saturn's
rings. For details see Robert A. Hatch, "Between Friends: Huygens and Boulliau," De
zeventiende eeuw: Cultuur in de Nederlanden in interdisciplnair perspectief, 12 (1996):
106-116.
49. Hevelius indicates his earlier Historiola had provided sufficient detail. Cometographia,
376; 378.
50. After his detailed report on Mira's appearances, Hevelius concludes: "Atq; haec sunt,
quae hucusq; a nobis fuere observata. Quid autem porro futurum, utrum majorem
adhuc acquiret magnitudinem, an vero rursus decrescere brevi incipiet, tempus docebit."
Cometographia, 378.
51. If variation in brightness was due to a straight-line motion, given Mira's immense size, the
required distances and speeds would be absurd. Cometographia, 378-380.
52. Hevelius, Cometographia, 379.
53. Flamsteed later adopted a variant hypothesis involving a bright interior surface surrounded
by a shell of dark matter. See Eric G. Forbes, "Early Astronomical Researches of John
Flamsteed," Journal for the History of Astronomy 1, 1976, 124-138, on 130.
54. "Adhaec quo exspirationes istae sunt tenaciores, atque durabiliores, eo tardius dicta nova Stella
in oculos incurrit, latetque diutius; sic ut nullum prorsus statutum, sive periodicum observet
tempus sua prima apparition; verum pro constitutione materia? & qualitate, modo hoc mense,
modo illo primum exardescere incipiat." Cometographia, 380.
55. The French astronomer and physicist Francois Arago (1786-1853) stands alone in the histo-
riography of Mira Ceti in identifying a key element in the discovery: "As regards the time
necessary for the accomplishment of an entire period of increase and diminution of brightness
of [Omicron] Ceti, is it constant, and, in that case, what is the duration? Are the augmenta-
tions and diminutions effected with the same rapidity? How many days does the star remain at
its maximum, and how long does it remain invisible? In its successive maxima has it always
the same degree of brightness? These questions were hardly proposed — they were not, at any
rate, resolved — when Boulliaud [sic] attacked them in 1667." Popular Astronomy , I (London,
1855), Book. 9, Chapter 15, 252.
56. Hevelius to Oldenburg, 2 January 1677 [NS], BNF, f.fr. 13044, f. 152r-154v, f. 152v. The
published version of this letter in OC 13: 162-165 lacks the ephemeris, as does Hevelius's
second letter dated 8 December 1677 [NS], OC 13: 365-366.
57. Hevelius's letter to Oldenburg of 2 January 1677, excerpted here, contains unexpected claims:
"It is well known that this new star in the neck of the Whale was observed continuously
from 1638 to 1662, and always in the same location; [. . .]. But in truth, I think that what has
happened to this star in subsequent years, and particularly after 1665 to the present, has not
been similarly well investigated by everyone. [...]. You will notice in particular that the said
new star in the neck of the Whale allowed itself to be observed in each year up to October
1672, although with different aspects as I just noted; thereafter, however, for four full years
(that is, from about October 1672 until 23 December of the last year, 1676) it did not once
appear, although, as I often took to observing on clear nights, I always directed my attentive
eyes with greatest diligence." OC 13: 164-165, 164. Readers will judge whether Mira had
been "observed continuously from 1638 to 1662." More curiously, Boulliau observed Mira at
the third magnitude on 7 and 8 February 1676 (the first of Mira's two cyclic appearances that
year) and again through 19 February when it equaled Alpha Cetus. He was not alone. In March
1676 Cassini and Flamsteed judged it greater than the third magnitude. Hevelius sighted it on
23 December when Mira appeared a second time that year. Hevelius apparently missed Mira's
first cycle in 1676. Boulliau's observations are found at the Bibliotheque de l'Observatoire,
Paris (BO, Paris) MSS B5-B12.
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 173
58. Boulliau was aware of possible difficulties. In a marginal note for 1676 he writes: "A Februario
1667 ad Februar. 1676 sunt anni IX cum dieb. 2. propter bissextiles, qui continent dies 3287.
Reuolutiones X. absolute jtare fulsiones maximas redears singulis annis post dies 329 fere." In
the next marginal note for year 1677 he writes: "A Januario 1668 ad 1677 X en Reuolutionem
hoc tempore absoluit Noua in collo Ceti, adeo vt ejus reuolutio ab vna maxima fulsione ad
sequentemsit dierum quam proxime CCCXXVIIII fer." BO Paris, MSS B5-12. Boulliau's
published calculation in 1667, remarkably close to the current figure, suggests a lucky
star.
59. Boulliau to Huygens, 15 September 1662, UB Leiden, Collection Huygens 45; in his
subsequent letter dated 27 September, Boulliau wrote: "Les Sieurs Claramontius & Licetus
s'ils viuoient encores, que pourroient ils alleguer pour fauuer les opinions d' Aristotle de
1'incorruptibilite & ingenerabilite des cieux; & que diront ceux qui le tiennent pour infallible
dans les chose naturelles. Si nous auions la veue assez bonne je croy que nous verrions souuent
des mutations dans le ciel." Similarly, Hevelius wrote of Mira: " Sine dubio obstupout modo
Peripatetici Nostri, imo plane obmutescent, ad tantus Caeli alterationes, et ad tot inexspectata
Caeli phenomena: ad quae ut omnes Caeli Interpretes aliquanto impensius imposterum, quam
hactenus factum est, attendant, serio admonendi erunt." Hevelius to Boulliau, 1 May 1671,
BNF, Collection Boulliau, f.fr. 13044, f. 108rv.
60. Boulliau ignored news from Hamburg of the New Star that Hevelius had sent to Mersenne in
early September 1648. Mira would not be a topic for Boulliau and Hevelius for another decade.
See Boulliau to Hevelius, 11 December 1648 [III Id Dec], BNF, N.a.f. 5856, f. 15r-18v.
61. BO, Paris, MS 5-12.
62. Huygens responded to Boulliau's last letter from Danzig: "After the information which you
gave me concerning the Star in the Neck of the Whale, I also observed it for the first time on
the 15th of this month, and I found it in the same position that M. Hevelius places it, and with
almost equal clarity as that of in the Jaw .... it will not be long before I discuss these matters
in my own writing." Huygens to Boulliau, 24 August 1662, BNF, Collection Boulliau, f.fr.
13029, f. 222r-223v [my translation].
63. For example, see Boulliau to Leopoldo, 30 August 1662, BNC Florence, Gal. 276, f. 175rv,
and Boulliau to Hevelius, 16 July 1666, BNF, N.a.L. 1642, f. 64rv.
64. Ismael Boulliau. Ismaelis Bullialdi ad astronomos monita dvo. Primum, De Stella Noua,
quae in Collo Ceti ante annos aliquot visa est. Alterum, De Nebulosa in Andromedae cin-
guli parte Borea ante biennium iterum orta. Parisiis, apud Sebastianvm Mabre-Cramoisy . . .
M.DC.LXVII. [Paris 1667, 4°, 17 pp]. Boulliau sent Leopoldo a copy indicating the work
appeared in the last days of the previous year. Boulliau to Leopoldo, 7 January 1667, BNC
Florence, Gal. 278, f. 6r.
65. The Philosophical Transactions (PT) summarizes: "The chief end of the Author in publishing
this Tract, seems to be, To excite Astronomers to a diligent observation, both of that New Star
in the Neck of the Whale, to be seen in February and March next [. . . and] that, as it hath
appeared for many years in the said place, so it will in the beginning of March next appear
equal to the Stars of the third Magnitude . . . noting that from the Observations hitherto made
of this Star, it is manifest, that the greatest Phases thereof do every year anticipate by 32. or
33. dayes;. . .. That one Period from the greatest Phasis to the next, consists of about 333.
dayes: but that the interval of the time betwixt the times of its beginning to appear equal to the
Stars of the Sixt Magnitude, and of its ending to do so, consists of about 120. dayes: And that
its greatest appearance lasts about 15. dayes." The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society (Hereafter, PT), 381-383, 381-382.
66. Boulliau learned astronomy from his father; he made observations during his early teen years
and by age 20 was a Copernican. By the age of 30, Mersenne judged Boulliau "one of the most
excellent astronomers of the century," and by age 45 Gassendi bestowed the title "premiere
astronomer of the century" (1650).
67. In addition to historical research, Boulliau was a dedicated observer, maintaining one of the
most comprehensive records of the century from 1623 to 1687. His first published account on
stars appeared in his Astronomia philolaica (Paris 1645), Book 5 (217-225). Foreshadowing
174 R.A. Hatch
his interest in Arabic astronomy, particularly the Andromeda Cloud (M31), Boulliau pro-
vides one of the first European references to the work of al-Sufi. Cf. H.C.F.C. Schjellerup,
Description des etoiles fixes composee au milieu du dixieme siecle de notre ere par
I 'astronome person Abd-al Rahman al-Sufi. St. Petersburg, 1874, esp. p. 3. Despite his excel-
lent analysis of difficult Arabic manuscripts (Copenhagen and St. Petersburg), Schjellerup
overlooked Boulliau's pioneering Ad astronomos. Similarly, see Gotthard Strohmaier, Die
Sterne des Abd ar-Rahman as-Sufi, Miiller & Kiepenheuer, Hanau/Main, 1984.
68. As Hoskin suggests, "Hevelius failed to detect a rhythm which underlay the wild fluctuations
in Mira's brightness at successive maxima. This important discovery was therefore left for
Ismael Bullialdus." Michael Hoskin, "Novae and Variables from Tycho to Bullialdus," 22-28,
in Michael Hoskin, Stellar Astronomy, Historical Studies (Science History Publications,
1982), 24.
69. See Boulliau to Hevelius, 15 April 1667, BNF, N.a.L 1642, f. 70r-71r. For background, see
Robert Alan Hatch, "The Republic of Letters: Boulliau, Leopoldo, and the Accademia del
Cimento," 165-180, in The Accademia del Cimento and Its European Context, eds. Marco
Beretta, Antonio Clericuzio, and Lawrence M. Principe (Sagamore Beach, MA: Science
History Publications, 2009). Here I argue that the New Science was linked intimately to corre-
spondence networks and the Republic of Letters, and that a new kind of community emerged
in the middle decades of the century that helped shape the nascent Public Sphere.
70. Boulliau, Ad astronomos, 5.
71. Hevelius never published a prediction for Mira's appearances. In 1667, when thanking
Boulliau for his copy of Ad astronomos, he wrote: "Monita Tua ad Astronomos ab 111. Dno
Nucerio recte accepi [f. 79v] accepi, pro quibus gratias habeo: dissertatio haec perplacuit, cum
haud longe a vero ratione affulsionis, aberraveris. Habui olim de hac, alijsq[ue] novis stellis,
plane aliam hypothesia, sed apparitiones adeo accurate eius adminiculo divinare haud possum,
ut suo loco pluribus loye[r]." Hevelius to Boulliau, 15 March 1667, BNF, Collection Boulliau,
f.fr. 13044, f. 79r-80v.
72. Boulliau follows Hevelius in giving Holwarda's Christmas observation in Old Style. In his
Historiola (1661) Hevelius gives all other dates in New Style. Boulliau trusts the reader's
intelligence to note errors and identify unspoken assumptions.
73. Ad astronomos, 6. The reader is left to surmise that the two observations were made during
the star's maximum phase, which Boulliau later indicates varies significantly with an average
period of about 2 weeks.
74. Boulliau, Ad astronomos, 6.
75. Although Boulliau leaves readers wondering, they soon come to appreciate that existing
observations were haphazard for the simple reason that no one had proposed a clear theory
for anticipating phases, and in turn, for devising a systematic schedule of observation. For
example, a single sighting at the third magnitude, even with a date, was of no use.
76. The date Boulliau provides for Jungius' observation of the New Star at the 3rd magnitude
is 18 February 1647 OS [28 February 1647 NS]. The date Boulliau provides for Hevelius's
observation of the New Star when brighter than the 3rd magnitude is 5 January 1648 NS. The
examples require a working hypothesis. To be clear, the Jungius example makes no sense until
the reader applies Boulliau's hypothesis, which assumes a mean period of 332.75 days. After
a second reading, the Jungius example contains a clear but veiled conclusion: the New Star
sighted at the 3rd magnitude (up to its heliacal setting) was observed near the end of its dimin-
ishing phase, and from the hypothesis, about 15-25 days after the mid-point of the maximum.
Boulliau then concludes: "In the year 1660 maximum brightness was observed near the end of
October and the beginning of November" {Ad Astronomos, 6). Readers comparing Hevelius's
observations of 5 January 1648 and 1 November 1660 discover a period of some 4,684 days,
an almost perfect reckoning of 14 cycles of 332.75 days. Boulliau's final hypothesis was based
on his observations from 1660 to 1666 which show a mean period of 332.83 days.
77. Boulliau, Ad astronomos, 1.
78. Boulliau acknowledges the difficulties, as he wrote Hevelius on 15 January 1666: "nouam
quidem in collo Ceti ab anno 1663. conspicere nee Tibi nee mihi nullique hominum in Europa
9 Discovering Mira Ceti: Celestial Change and Cosmic Continuity 175
licuit." Columbia U. Library, Smith Historical Papers; Boulliau's draft is found at BNF, Paris,
f.fr. 13026, f. 145r-146r.
79. Boulliau, Ad astronomos, 7.
80. Boulliau, Ad astronomos, 7.
81. Simple calculation is required. Boulliau claims Mira's mean period was almost 333 days, the
greatest maximum anticipating whole years by 32 or 33 days (365.24 - 32. 5d = 332.75).
This figure, involving notable assumptions, is consistent with observations of Holwarda and
Hevelius, and fits nicely with those of Jungius. Calculation shows Boulliau's data for 1660-
1664, and his prediction dates for future maxima (1667; 1668; 1669; 1669; 1670; 1671) are
remarkably consistent.
82. Boulliau's success with Mira's mean period has been the stuff of hagiography, particularly
in older biographical dictionaries. Elsewhere, Cassini, in his Elemens d'astronomie (Paris,
1740), praised Boulliau's figure of 332.75 days but thought 334 days more accurate (67-68).
As I write, the accepted mean period is 331.96 days.
83. Internal evidence suggests Boulliau used Mira's 1660 cycle as an archetype.
84. Hoskin suggests a key discovery: "Bullialdus was able to specify a periodicity of some 333
days, a very accurate value. For the very first time, a changing star was lawlike in its behaviour,
and Bullialdus could actually invite astronomers to observe future maxima on dates which he
could announce to them in advance; prediction was possible, and to that extent understanding
had been achieved. He also offered a physical explanation of variable stars that was to endure
for centuries." Hoskin, "Novae and Variables," 24-25.
85. Cassini, Elemens, 66.
86. Boulliau, Ad astronomos, 9.
87. Boulliau appears to provide a general argument in response to a specific concern expressed by
Hevelius. Hevelius dismissed the possibility that Mira's variations might result from a motion
either toward or away from the observer. Given Mira's apparent diameter at maximum, the
immense size, distances, and speeds would be absurd. See the Cometographia, 378-379.
88. Boulliau, Ad astronomos, 12.
89. Boulliau imagined the "spot" luminous but small. If spots meant "dark spots" they would cover
most of Mira's surface. See Riccioli, Almagestum novuum, T. 2, 177, Decimatertia opinio.
90. Lockyer concludes, "This, so far as I know, is the first proposed explanation of stellar variabil-
ity on record." Lockyer, "On Stellar Variability," Nature, Volume 42 (Issue 1087), 415-419,
on 417.
9 1 . Boulliau's hypothesis became the accepted explanation of variable stars. Newton supported the
rotational hypothesis (Book III, Principia), though other theories also appeared (Maupertuis
suggested a disc shape that disappeared like Saturn's rings). Herschel's first published paper
appeared in the Philosophical Transactions (PT, Vol. 70 (1780): 338-344) and was devoted
to Mira Ceti. The musician who gave stars and clusters and galaxies a history embraced
Boulliau's hypothesis, but not by name.
92. In Now, Voyager (1941), a film about shifting identities and discovery, Bette Davis plays
Ms Charlotte Vale, who in the end unveils herself as Camille.
93. A pioneer in the history of variable stars suggested "Just as the novae of 1572 and 1604 are
connected with the names of Tycho Brahe and Kepler, Mira Ceti should be connected with
Ismael Boulliau." Helen Lewis Thomas, "The Early History of Variable Star Observing to the
XIX Century", unpublished dissertation (Harvard, 1948), unpaginated [37].
94. Over the centuries, the star charts of Hipparchus and Ptolemy were simply updated for pre-
cession. After Ulugh Beigh (c. 1393-1449), key innovations were made possible by Tycho
(Tabulae Rudolphinae, 1627) and Hevelius (Prodromus Astronomiae, 1690). Only Bayer and
Hevelius list Mira Ceti; over the centuries the number of stars assigned to Cetus increased
steadily in number: Ptolemy lists 9 stars; Beigh 22; Tycho 21; Bayer 23; Riccioli 25;
Hevelius 46.
95. In a private manuscript Newton makes similar observations regarding possible connections
between the sun, stars, and earthly processes; see Isaac Newton, "Cosmography," 374-377,
on 376, in Unpublished Scientific Papers of Isaac Newton, ed. A.R. Hall and M.B. Hall
176 R.A. Hatch
(Cambridge, 1962). The Newton manuscript is found at the British Library, MS. Add. 4005,
fols. 21-22.
96. Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton's Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy and His
System of the World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1947), Translated Andrew
Motte (1729), ed. Florian Cajori, Book III, 542. Neither Newton nor Herschel mention
Boulliau's name. William Herschel, "Astronomical Observations on the Periodical Star in
Collo Ceti," PT10 (1780): 338-344.
Index
Achillini, Alessandro, 16-18, 20, 26, 30
Albategnius (al-Battani), 43
Albumasar, 73, 86
Alfraganus (al-Farghani), 43
Almagestum novuum (Bologna, 1651),
175
Alpetragius (al-Bitruji), 18-19, 30, 47
Altobelli, Ilario, 98
Amico, Giovanni Battista, 18, 20, 30, 61
Ancient, 2, 5, 7-8, 27-28, 36, 44, 47, 82, 110,
136-137, 155, 157, 166
Apollonius, 22
Arago, Francois (1786-1853), 172
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 172
Aratus, 36
Aristotelianism, 145
Aristotle
Aristotelian astronomy, 2
Aristotelian meteorology, 3
Aristotelian natural philosophy, 38
Aslacus, Conradus, 32
Astrology, 3-4, 9, 18, 36, 44-45, 47, 49, 51,
61,80-81, 116, 121-126, 131
Astronomia reformata (Bologna 1665), 169
Astronomy
Arabic, 28, 31, 174
Copernican, 1, 3, 7, 88, 95, 106
Kepler's, 30, 32
mathematical, 1, 31, 37, 135
stellar, 6, 174
Athenaeum of Amsterdam, 141
Atmosphere, 3, 144, 146, 166
Auzout, Adrien (1622-1691), 162
Averroes (Ibn Rushd)
Averroism in astronomy, 23
Averroism in natural philosophy, 23
Averroism, 23
B
Barnes, Robin B., 83
Barrientos, Bartolome, 34
Bayer, Johann (1572-1625)
Mira Ceti (Omicron Ceti, 1602), 155, 157
Uranometria (1603), 155, 168
Beeckman, Isaac, 146-148, 152
Berthold, Gerhard, 82-83
Bertius, Petrus, 137, 150
Boulliau, Ismael (1605-1694), 4, 107, 140,
153-156, 161-167, 169-176
Ad Astronomos Monita Duo (1667), 161
Astronomia philoldica (1645), 173
Mira Ceti (Omicron Ceti), Variable Star,
107, 140, 153, 161, 164, 171, 175
Brahe, Sophie, 37
Brahe, Tycho (1546-1601), 2, 24, 28, 33, 48,
52, 56, 61-62, 67, 81, 85, 93, 96, 107,
151, 155, 167-168, 175
Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata,
34, 39, 48, 84
De nova Stella, 52, 62, 89, 96
Epistolae astronomicae, 72, 102
Tycho's Star (1572), 153, 156, 166-167
Brengger, Johann Georg, 88
Brudzewo, Albertus, 14-15, 20, 28-29
Bruno, Giordano A., 46, 63-65
BudweyP, Wenceslaus Faber, 15, 29
Burgersdijk, Franco, 138, 142, 150
Calonymus, Calus, 18-19, 30
Camerarius, Elias, 33, 56, 64
Capuanus de Manfredonia, Franciscus, 14, 28
Cardano, Girolamo, 4, 132
Carion, Johannes, 86
Cartesianism, 135
Casa de la Contratacion (House of Trade),
39,41
RJ. Boner (ed.), Change and Continuity in Early Modern Cosmology, Archimedes 27,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0037-6, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
177
178
Index
Cassini, Jacques (1677-1756), 164, 167, 175
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 164
Catholic sacraments, astrological representa-
tions of, 116, 124, 126
Cats, Jacob, 137
Cedillo Diaz, Juan; first Spanish translation of
Copernicus's De revolutionibus, 42, 45,
49, 107, 109-110, 112
Celestial body, 5, 39, 47, 57, 144
Celestial novelties, 33-50
Celestial spheres, 8, 10, 14, 20, 24, 26-27, 32,
40,43
Charlemagne, 73, 86
Christ, 52-53, 55, 71, 73, 78, 80, 87, 104, 119,
121-122, 137
Christianson, John R., 81, 167
Cicero, 2, 137
Ciruelo, Pedro (Petrus Ciruellus Darocensis),
15-16
Clavius, Christoph (1538-1612), 25, 32, 40,
43, 97, 130
Comet
of 1577, 51,57
of 1607, 69
of 1618,42, 137
Consejo de Indias (Council of the Indies),
41
Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543); De
revolutionibus orbium coelestium, 5,
7-32, 35-37, 39, 41-43, 45, 48-49,
63, 75, 82, 89, 94-95, 97, 101-104,
106-107, 109-114, 127, 129-130, 136,
150, 157
Cosmography, 33, 39, 41-42, 49, 175
Cosmology, 1-3, 5, 7-9, 59-61, 65, 86,
89-90, 93, 107, 111-112, 116,
128-129, 132, 135, 137, 146, 148-149,
152
Cremonini, Cesare, 96, 98, 108
D
Descartes, Rene (1596-1650), 135, 140, 146,
148-149, 151-152
Desnoyers, Pierre (Nucerius), 174
De stella nova (1606), 60, 65, 68-69, 74-81,
84, 87-89, 92-95, 99-101, 103,
105-106, 110, 116, 122, 124-126, 131,
168-169
Deusing, Anthonius, 139, 151
Diego de Zuniga, 39, 48
Digges, Thomas, 33, 35, 56, 64
Domenico de Novara, 20
Duhem, Pierre, 7, 16, 27, 30
E
Episcopius, Simon, 138, 150
Eschatology, 56
Eucharist, Lutheran understanding of, 119
Fabricius, David (1564-1617), 67-93, 99,
105-107, 113, 126, 138-139, 150,
155-161, 167-170
Fabricius's Star (1596, 1609), 155-156
Field, Judith V., 82, 129
Fine, Oronce, 34
Folkerts, Menso, 81-82, 150
Fracastoro, Girolamo (1478-1553), 18, 20,
30,111
Frisius, Gemma, 34, 46, 57, 61
Fullenius, Bernard (1602-1657), 140-141,
157-159, 161, 167, 170-171
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 157-158,
161
Fullenius, Bernard, The Younger (1640-1707),
171
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 159
G
Galilei, Galileo (1564-1642), 2, 25-26,
42-44, 98
Garcia Cespedes, Andres, 41
Gassendi, Pierre (1592-1655), 143, 145-146,
173
Gemma, Cornelius (1535-1578), 33-35, 46,
51-65,89
Gerard of Cremona, 9
Girard, Albert, 147, 152
Goldstein, Bernard R., 8, 26-27, 30, 32, 47,
65,85,108-109,111
Grassi, Orazio, 42
Guy Lefevre de la Boderie, 34
H
Hafenreffer, Matthias, 116-118, 120-121,
126-130
Hagecius, Thaddaeus (1525-1600), 33-35, 46,
52-53, 57-58, 61-62, 64
Hakanson, Hakan, 92
Harmony, 71, 106-107, 111-112, 115-117,
126-130, 137
Heeck, Johannes van, 136, 150
Herschel, William (1738-1822), 4-5, 166,
175-176
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 166, 175
Herwart von Hohenburg, Johann Georg
(1553-1622), 80, 93, 100, 112, 116,
122
Index
179
Hevelius, Johannes (1611-1687)
Annus climactericus (1685), 158, 161, 170
Cometographia (1668), 158, 160, 169-172,
175
Historiola, Mirae Stellae (1662), 158
Mercurius in Sole visus (1662), 158
Holwarda, Johannes Phocylides (1618-1651)
Dissertatio astronomica (1640), 150,
169-170
Holwarda's Star (1638, 1639), 154, 157
Philosophia naturalis (1651), 157, 170
Hon, Giora, 26, 30, 32, 85, 108-109, 111
Hortensius, Martinus, 141, 146
Huygens, Christiaan (1629-1695), 161,
171-173
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 161, 172-173
Jacchaeus, Gilbertus, 138, 150
Johannes of Sacrobosco (John of Holywood),
9-11, 13, 15-17, 19,25
Johann Valentin Andreae, 128, 132-133
Juan de Herrera, 42
Jungius, Joachim (1587-1657), 158-159, 161,
163, 170-171, 174-175
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 158-159
Jupiter, 22, 26, 44, 52, 70, 73, 91, 93, 121, 123,
155-157, 167-169
K
Kepler, Johannes, 1, 65, 67-93, 108, 112-113,
115, 129, 132, 152, 167, 169
Astronomiae pars optica (1604), 44, 95,
105
Astronomia nova (1609), 21, 24, 32, 44,
67-68, 81-82, 88-89, 91, 94, 105-106,
108, 113-114, 121, 131
cometary theory, 3, 109
De stella nova (1606), 60, 65, 68-69,
74-81, 84, 87-89, 92-95, 99-101, 103,
105-106, 110, 116, 122, 124-126, 131,
168-169
Kepler's Star (1604), 153, 155-156,
166-167
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 153, 175
Mysterium cosmographicum (1596),
24-25, 32, 67, 89, 94, 105, 113,
115-121, 126-127, 129, 132
stellar theory, 3-4
Kepler's Star (1604), 153, 155-156, 166-167
Koyre, Alexandre, 44, 61, 65, 82
Krabbe, Johannes, 99
Kusukawa, Sachiko, 31, 86
Kyper, Albert, 140, 151
Lansbergen, Philips (1561-1632), 43, 112,
136-137, 141, 146, 150, 152
Leovitius, Cyprianus, 33, 62, 85, 87
Liebler, Georg, 1-2, 4-5
Light, 2-4, 36, 43, 52, 59, 71, 74-75, 77, 88,
96, 105, 113, 116, 118, 137, 140-141,
143-144, 146-147, 155-156, 164-166,
168
Lipsius, Justus, 135
Longomontanus, Christianus Severinus, 32, 43
Lorenzini, Antonio
De numero, ordine et motu coelorum
(1606), 97-98, 100, 107, 109
Discorso intorno alia nuova stella (1605),
96, 108
Lubienietzki, Stanislaus (1623-1675), 171
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 171
Lucretius, 2
M
Maestlin, Michael (1550-1631), 2, 4-5, 111,
115, 118-121, 128-129, 144, 152
Magini, Antonio (1555-1617), 23, 31, 42-43,
97, 131
Magnetism, 50
Manilius, 36
Mars, 21-22, 24, 52, 68-70, 72, 78, 81, 89, 91,
93, 97, 105, 107, 109, 121, 123, 155,
168
Mathematics, 2, 4-5, 10, 29, 34, 37-40, 42,
45-47,49,58,97, 115, 117, 125,
128-130, 136, 140, 142-143, 146, 171
Medici, Giovanni de' , 97
Medici, Leopoldo de' (1617-1675), 97
Medicine, 27-28, 48, 51, 61, 125, 136, 143
Melanchthon, Philip (1497-1560), 23, 31, 86,
90, 129
Mercury, 31, 42, 50, 97-98, 109, 114, 123,
143, 145, 156-157, 167, 169
Mersenne, Marin (1588-1648), 146, 153,
167-168, 173
Meteor, 96, 141
Metius, Adriaan, 140
Mira Ceti (Variable Star)
Boulliau, Ismael (1605-1694), 153,
155-156, 161-167, 169-175
Fabricius' Star (1596, 1609), 155-156
Hevelius, Johannes (1611-1687), 158-161,
163, 167-175
Holwarda's Star (1638, 1639), 154, 157
Omicron Ceti (1602), 157
Molina de la Fuente, Juan, 34
180
Index
Moon, 9-10, 14-15, 26, 28, 35-36, 40,
43-44, 64, 71, 75, 84, 95-97, 99-101,
108-110, 113, 123, 137-138, 143-144,
147, 165, 168-169
Moor, Bernard de, 139, 151
Moses, 88
Mosley, Adam, 85, 111
Mulerius, Nicolaus, 136-137, 141, 150
Munoz, Jeronimo (1520-1591), 33-43,
45-48, 53
Mysterium cosmographicum (1596), 24-25,
32, 67, 89, 94, 105, 113, 115-121,
126-127, 129, 132
N
Neoportuensis, Judocus Chlichtoveus, 18, 30
New star
of 1572 in Cassiopeia, 33-39, 41, 46,
51-65,96,75,85,137
of 1601 in the Swan, 93, 107
of 1604 in Sagittarius, 39-41, 43, 45,
67-92, 93-114, 135, 139, 145, 149
Newton, Isaac (1642-1727), 166, 175-176
Nieremberg, Juan Eusebio, 44-45, 50
Nifo, Augustino, 30
Nunez, Pedro, 43
Nunez Zamora, Antonio, 40-41, 49
O
Oldenburg, Henry (c. 1619-1677), 161,
171-172
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 161
Omen, portent, 73, 127, 137
Orthius, Th, 138, 150
Osiander, Andreas, 35
Parallax, 2, 34, 39-40, 52-53, 56-58, 62, 71,
84, 94-103, 106, 108-109, 142, 145,
156, 158, 160
Pena, Johannes (Jean de la Pene), 24, 32, 40,
48-49
Perez de Mesa, Diego, 39-41, 48-49
Peucer, Caspar (1525-1602), 23, 31, 86, 130
Peurbach, Georg (1548-1600), 7-32, 43
Philosophy, 1-2, 4-6, 23, 27, 29-32, 38-40,
44-45, 48-51, 56, 61-62, 65, 86, 98,
111, 117, 130, 132, 135, 137-138, 140,
142-143, 145-150, 168, 176
Planet, 10-11, 21-22, 24, 37, 42, 52, 58-59,
68,90,97,105,108,112,125,148
Pliny, 2, 35-37, 47, 75, 88-89, 103, 112
Pomponazzi, Pietro, 30
Postel, Guillaume, 34, 46, 52, 61-62
Postl, Anton, 82
Prierias, Sylvester Mazzolini, 14, 17-18, 28,
30
Ptolemy, Claudius (fl. 140 A.D.), 5, 7-8,
10-11, 16, 18, 20, 22-23, 26-28,
30-31, 36-37, 43, 47, 103, 109,
155, 175
Almagest, 8, 10, 14-15, 28, 37, 43-45, 47
R
Rademacher, Johannes, 136
Raimundus, Hannibal, 33
Ravensberg, Jacob, 139, 151-152
Regiomontanus, Johannes (1436-1476), 10,
13,27-28,36,43
Reinhold, Erasmus (1511-1553), 23, 31, 43,
129
Reisacherus, Bartholomaeus, 34, 36, 38, 46
Republic of Letters, 50, 110, 132, 158, 162,
174
Rheticus, Georg J. (1514-1574), 89, 103, 112,
129
Riccioli, Giovanni Battista (1598-1671),
61-62, 156, 169, 175
Roeslin, Helisaeus (1544-1616), 57-58, 61,
64,80,91, 132
Rosen, Edward, 27, 81, 85, 111-112, 129,
167-169
Rosenskrantz, Jens, 37
Rothmann, Christoph, 24, 27, 32, 56, 58, 72,
102, 111, 113
Rudolph II, 'Holy Roman Emperor', 73
Saturn, 22, 24, 31, 53, 70, 73, 91, 93-96,
101-103, 105, 111-112, 114, 121, 123,
145, 172, 175
Scaliger, Joseph (1540-1609), 135
Scaliger, Julius Caesar (1184-1558), 3, 145
Schagen, Pieter, 137, 150
Schechner, Sarah J., 90
Schickard, Wilhelm (1592-1635), 167, 169
Mira Ceti (Variable Star), 167, 169
Seek, Friedrich, 83
Seneca, 2, 5
Serrano, Gabriel, 40
Shatir, Ibn ash-, 22
Shea, William R., 82
Simon, Gerard, 82
Snellius, Rudolf, 146
Snellius, Willebrord, 144, 147-148
Spain, 15, 33-50
Stapulensis, Jacobus Faber (Jacques Lefevre
d'Etaples), 14-15, 28-29
Index
181
Star of Bethlehem, 55, 137, 140
Star, fixed star, 53, 136
Stephenson, Bruce, 82, 166
Suarez de Arguello, Francisco, 41-42
Sun, 5, 9-10, 12-15, 17, 21, 23-24, 41-44, 50,
68, 71, 74, 76, 78, 89, 95-99, 101-111,
113-114, 123-124, 136, 143-148,
166, 175
Sunspot, 3, 67, 82, 144, 148, 161, 165-166
Suslyga, Laurentius, 78, 90
Tengnagel, Franz, 67-68
Thabit Ibn Qurra, 43
Theon of Alexandria, 37
Theophrastus, 36
Tycho's Star (1577), 153, 156, 166-167
U
University of Franeker, 140, 152
University of Groningen, 136
University of Harderwijk, 139
University of Leiden, 61-62, 110, 132, 135,
137-138, 141, 146, 149-152, 173
University of Utrecht, 28, 139, 147, 151
University of Tubingen, 1-2, 5, 115-118,
120-121, 128-129
Urdi, Mu'ayyad al-Din al-, 22
Valles, Francisco, 38-39, 41, 48, 83
Variable star, 67, 107, 138, 140, 153, 157, 175
Veen, Balthasar van der, 147
Velez, Juan Bautista, 42-43
Venus, 31, 42, 44, 50, 73, 97, 109, 123, 143
Virgil, 2-3, 36, 47, 56, 76, 90
Voelkel, James R., 68, 82, 83, 107, 113-114,
131
W
Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel, 72
Wittenberg astronomical tradition, 23
Zamorano, Rodrigo, 41
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