The Renaissance

traditional astronomy. The invention of
the telescope in the early seventeenth cen-
tury allowed astronomers more accurate
observations that led to improvements in
the Copernican system. Using a telescope
and colored lenses, in 1611 Christoph
Scheiner observed sunspots—dark spots
that appear at times on the sun—proving
that the sun was a mutable body, and not
a perfect sphere of fire or light. In study-
ing the motion of Mars, Johannes Kepler
concluded that the circular orbits of tradi-
tional astronomy were a mirage. Instead,
according to Kepler, the planets moved in
elliptical orbits, with the sun lying at one
focus of the ellipse. According to Kepler’s
harmonic law, the orbital period of a
planet varied with the distance of the
planet from the sun. Astronomers would
later use this law to calculate the dimen-
sions of the solar system.

The complex equations theorized by
Kepler and others replaced the fixed and
unchanging doctrines of the past. Sir Isaac
Newton introduced the law of universal
gravitation, which explained the relation-
ship between orbit and velocity. The Ru-
dolphine Tables created by Tycho Brahe
and Kepler in 1627 replaced the Prutenic
Tables. Astronomy became a science, car-
ried out through accurate observation. Re-
naissance astronomers dared to question
traditional wisdom, even at the risk of los-
ing their reputations and their lives. The
Italian scientist Galileo Galilei, using a tele-
scope, discovered the moons of Jupiter and
the mountains and craters of the moon.
For his theories on the nature of the solar
system; and his discovery of worlds previ-
ously unknown, he was threatened by the
Inquisition of the Catholic Church—a tri-
bunal that punished heresy—and his
works were censored. Nevertheless, the
work of Galileo and others placed the tra-

ditional view of the heavens through a

transformation, explaining the universe

was a skill passing out of the hands of phi-

losophers and the church and to a class of

scientific specialists who rejected medieval

traditions of astrology and religious doc-

trine altogether.

SEEALSO: astrology; Copernicus, Nicolaus;

Galilei, Galileo; Kepler, Johannes

Aurispa, Giovanni .............................

(ca. 1369–1459)

An Italian scholar and renowned book col-

lector, Aurispa was born in the town of

Noto, on the island of Sicily. In 1413 he

traveled to the island of Chios, where he

unearthed works by the ancient Greek

scholars Sophocles, Euripides, and Thucy-

dides that were still unknown in western

Europe. On two occasions he visited the

city of Constantinople, capital of the Byz-

antine Empire, to search for ancient Greek

books and manuscripts. He gathered 238

volumes before returning to Italy in 1423,

but finding himself without financial

means, he had to pawn many of his finds.

Among these ancient works were the plays

of Sophocles and Aeschylus, the ancient

epic known as theIliad, and works of Xe-

nophon and Plato. Aurispa taught Greek

in Bologna and Florence, Italy, and be-

came secretary to Pope Eugene IV in 1441.

He was kept in this post by Eugene’s suc-

cessor, Nicholas V. Aurispa produced sev-

eral Latin translations of ancient Greek

writers, including Archimedes. He was a

key figure in the rediscovery of classical

literature in Renaissance Italy.

Austria ..............................................

Austria during the Renaissance was a

duchy of central Europe that had impor-

tance as the seat of the Habsburg dynasty.

Aurispa, Giovanni