Murder in Prague
January 18, 2009 2:31 PM Subscribe
Astronomer Tycho Brahe was one of the more colorful characters of the scientific Renaissance. He
lost his nose in a duel; flouted the rules of Danish nobility and married a commoner; built, on the island of Hven,
Uraniborg, the best astronomical observatory of his day; kept a
beer-drinking pet moose; and amassed the data that would ultimately allow Johannes Kepler to derive the
three laws of planetary motion.
His chief sponsor had been Danish king Frederick II, but Frederick's heir, Christian IV, quarreled with Tycho and kicked him out of Hven. Insulted, Brahe left Denmark for Prague and the sponsorship of Rudolph II. New evidence has emerged suggesting that the offended king
may have had Tycho assassinated.
For a long time, the circumstances of Brahe's death were considered merely unfortunate,
if not laughable. It was thought that he'd held his urine for too long during an official dinner and burst his bladder. When chemical analysis showed a
high concentration of mercury, it was suggested that he had poisoned himself during alchemical experiments. Others have speculated that
Kepler was responsible.
The latest evidence, however, is a diary from a cousin named Erik Brahe, known to have a sort of secret agent for the Danes. Because of this new evidence, Brahe's body is
scheduled to be exhumed for additional tests.
The year before my mom had toured Uraniborg. She's a total nerd. I'm not.
posted by uandt at 2:47 PM on January 18, 2009 [3 favorites]