group of Lyonnaise poets and a member of the PLÉIADE, he
produced the first volume of his Erreurs amoureuses, con-
taining some of the earliest examples of the French son-
net, in 1549; the influence of RONSARDis discernible in
Le Livre des vers lyriques (1555). Tyard’s prose works,
which include a series of treatises on poetry (Solitaires),
“Discours de la vérité de divination par astrologie,” and
writings on astronomy and philosophy, were published in
the encyclopedic Discours philosophiques (1587). In 1578
Tyard was appointed bishop of Chalon-sur-Saône; his de-
fense of the king during the latter years of the Wars of
Religion caused him to suffer at the hands of the ultra-
Catholic party and he resigned his office in 1594.
Tychonic system The cosmological system devised by
Tycho BRAHE. In 1543 COPERNICUShad argued that, con-
trary to the PTOLEMAIC SYSTEM, the earth and all other ce-
lestial bodies orbited around the sun. Brahe rejected the
crystalline spheres of antiquity on the ground that comets
seemed to pass unobstructed through them, but was
equally dismissive of the heliocentric system of Coperni-
cus. The earth’s supposed solar orbit, Brahe argued,
should lead to a detectable displacement (parallax) in the
position of a number of stars. Failing to detect any such
effect he sought for an alternative system. The resulting
geoheliocentric compromise (see illustration) proposed
that the planets and the fixed stars did in fact orbit the
sun, but that the sun in turn moved around the earth.
Brahe’s system was first revealed in his De mundi aetherei
recentioribus phaenominis (1588). The system found little
support, receiving its final formulation in the Almagestum
novum (1651) of G. B. Riccioli (1598–1671).
Tye, Christopher (c. 1497–1572/3) English composer
Little is known of Tye’s early life, although he was proba-
bly a chorister at Cambridge (1508–1513), where he later
received his doctorate in music (1537). He was the choir-
master at Ely cathedral (1541–1561) and was a member of
Edward VI’s Chapel Royal. He may have been Edward’s
music teacher and dedicated to him his Acts of the Apostles
(1553), metrical settings of Bible texts. Tye was ordained
in 1560 and in the following year he became Rector of
Doddington, Cambridgeshire. After Thomas TALLIS, his
contemporary, Tye is the most important contributor to
the sacred music of early Reformation England, assimilat-
ing Continental structural principles into English music.
His most important Latin work is the Mass Euge bone,
widely regarded as one of the great masterpieces of Eng-
lish Renaissance music. He is credited as the first impor-
tant early English composer of instrumental chamber
music; 31 of his compositions have survived.Tyndale, William (c. 1494–1536) English translator of
the Bible and religious reformer
Tyndale studied in both Oxford and Cambridge before re-
turning to preach in his native Gloucestershire. Having
conceived his project of an English translation of the
Bible, and receiving no encouragement from the English
ecclesiastical authorities, Tyndale retired abroad, first to
Hamburg (1524), and later to Wittenberg, where he met
LUTHER. The publication of his New Testament (com-
pleted at Worms in 1526) increased the hostility of the
English bishops, who made repeated efforts to have him
arrested. Tyndale spent most of his remaining years in
Antwerp, revising his translation and publishing several
other important works, including The Obedience of a
Christian Man (1528), which is his major constitutional
and theological treatise, an attack on Cardinal WOLSEYand
the royal divorce (The Practice of Prelates, 1530), and a de-
fense against Sir Thomas MORE. He was arrested at Vil-
vorde near Brussels in 1535 and executed the following
year.
See also: BIBLE, TRANSLATIONS OF
Further reading: Brian Moynahan, God’s Bestseller:
William Tyndale, Thomas More, and the Writing of the Eng-
lish Bible (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003).typography The design of metal types for PRINTINGat
first closely followed prevailing manuscript trends (see
CALLIGRAPHY). Thus, the first types to be cut for German
printers such as GUTENBERGwere based on the gothic
script that had evolved in northern Europe from the script
known as Carolingian minuscule. These types formed the
gothic or black-letter family of types. In Italy Renaissance
scribes practiced a more rounded variant of Carolingian
minuscule, which became the source for the roman family
of types. The first successful roman fount was introduced
by Nicolas JENSONin Venice in 1470; it was revived in the44776 6 TTyycchhoonniicc ssyysstteemmSaturnJupiterMarsVenusMo
onSEMercuryTychonic system