Famous Renaissance Figures

Reputation and Accomplishments

 

Nicolaus was well known in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, canon law, medicine and economics. You may know him more as an astronomer than the other one of the fields. He was raised in the kingdom of poland and mainly remained in Poland.

 

Copernicus, as you might know, is the man who first told the world that he thought the earth revolved around the sun and the sun was the center unlike what others thought. This information was released 2 months after he died making his greatest accomplishment known after his death. This was what people think is his greatest accomplishment now but not so much back then.

 

When the folks living in the 1500’s first heard this, they thought that Copernicus was crazy for accusing their beliefs weren’t true. and the idea was against the Catholic church as well. His reputation as a great astronomer took a great downfall and no one but Copernicus, and a couple other astronomers believed that his idea, was true. People never took him seriously and shook off the thought. His idea about the earth and other planets wasn’t totally correct because he thought the planets all orbit in exact timing around the sun.

 

It wasn’t until Galileo proved Copernicus’s thought right, people started to look at the situation again. Even though Galileo’s thoughts were right, he was sent to jail because of heresy by the Catholic Church. Many years later, after more and more astronomers saw what Copernicus saw, that people believed in the thought.

 

Personal Life

 

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Thorn, Poland on February 19, 1473. Copernicus’s was not born in the best caste. His father was a merchant and his mother was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Growing up, he wasn’t that rich but he had enough to survive. He was the youngest of 4 siblings. His father died when he was 10. His uncle took care for him after that and made sure that Copernicus had an education and good career options. His uncle wanted him to become a part of the Catholic Church. In school, he studied astrology as people in those days thought it was important for priests and doctors. Astronomy was also a very big part of this and it is probably where he found his interest in astronomy.

 

Copernicus studied mathematics and astronomy at the University of Krakow. Because of his uncle's influence, Copernicus was appointed a canon (church official) of the Catholic Church. He used the income from being canon to help pay for his side studies.

 

While attending the University of Bologna, he lived and worked with astronomy professor Domenico Maria de Novara by doing research and helping him record his observations of the sky above. Novara questioned him about what he thought was in the sky above and what his beliefs were. When he returned from the university, his house was very close to an observatory giving him more of a chance to study the sky and increase his interest. Copernicus never became a priest but instead an astronomer.

 

Nicolaus Copernicus died on May 24, 1543. Two months later, his files were found and the people discovered what he found, the Earth and the Sun. The Earth went around the Sun.