The Renaissance

universal scholarly language. His famous
work,De Varietate Fortunae, is a medita-
tion on the passing of ancient glories of
Rome. He was an early archaeologist,
studying the ruins of Rome and decipher-
ing their mysterious inscriptions. In 1453
he headed the chancery of the Republic of
Florence, becoming the city’s official histo-
rian. While in office he wrote a history of
the city, in imitation of the Roman histo-
rian Livy. Bracciolini’s work remains one
of the best sources of information on the
early Renaissance in Florence.

Brahe, Tycho .....................................

(1546–1601)

A Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe was
born into a noble and wealthy family, the
son of a minister to the king of Denmark.
He studied at the University of Copen-
hagen,wherehepreparedforacareerin
law. On August 21, 1560, however, he wit-
nessed an eclipse of the sun. Observation
and mathematical calculations had already
predicted the eclipse, an achievement that
inspired Brahe to pursue astronomy. Dis-
couraged by the conflicts and disagree-
ments in astronomical measurements, he
set out to collect as much information as
possible from a single observation point
with the most accurate instruments avail-
able, and develop a more consistent and
accurate system of astronomical observa-
tion.

Brahe built an observatory known as
the Uraniborg on the island of Hven.
There he developed his own model of the
universe, the Tychonic system, which rec-
onciled the conflicts in the old Ptolemaic
(earth-centered) and new Copernican
(heliocentric) systems. In 1572 he observed
a suddenly bright star in the constellation
Cassiopeia, and described his findings in
De Stella Nova, which coined the term “su-

pernova.” This observation was important

for its revolutionary concept that the heav-

ens were not fixed and eternal, as in the

traditional view. Tycho believed in a geo-

centric universe, in which the earth was

fixed, the sun orbited the earth, and the

planets orbited the sun. He believed that if

the earth did move, then nearer stars

should shift with respect to background

stars; this “parallax shift” was indeed

present but not visible at the time. (Brahe

was the last major astronomer to work by

the naked eye, without using a telescope.)

At odds with the king of Denmark

over his theories, Brahe moved to Prague

in 1597 and won the patronage of Em-

peror Rudolf II, who used him as a court

astrologer. Brahe jealously guarded his as-

tronomical measurements; after his death

by unknown causes they fell into the hands

of his assistant, Johannes Kepler. The cir-

cumstances of Brahe’s demise have led

some historians to conclude that Kepler

murdered his employer out of professional

jealousy. Whatever the truth of the matter,

in the following years Kepler relied on

Brahe’s calculations to develop a set of new

laws governing the motion of the planets.

SEEALSO: Copernicus, Nicolaus; Galilei,

Galileo; Kepler, Johannes

Bramante, Donato ............................

(1444–1514)

Italian architect, a leading figure of the

late Renaissance whose palaces, monu-

ments, and church architecture were in-

spired by the ancient ruins of Rome. Born

as Donato di Pascuccio d’Antonio, the son

of a farmer in the village of Monte Asdru-

valdo, in the central mountains of Italy, he

mayhavefirstworkedunderthepatron-

age of Federigo da Montefeltro, the duke

of Urbino. As a young painter, he was in-

fluenced by Piero della Francesca and An-

Brahe, Tycho