All_About_Space_-_Issue_94_2020

Not a drop

3

On returning home, Tycho

is unable to urinate. Keple

reports that he attempts

various remedies usin

medical treatments o

without success. He i

understandably, unab

The difficult pupil

Johannes Kepler is often considered

the prime suspect. An abstemious

protestant and almost a mirror-

image to Tycho, some say he killed

for unfettered access to the Dane’s

meticulous observations or to win

the post of Court Mathematician.

These theories ignore the fact that

Tycho had already proposed working

asequals on the Rudolphine Tables,

and lobbied that Kepler should

receive an Imperial post of his own.

The murderess?

Barbara Keplerwasalreadya widow

twice overby 23 whenshemetand

married her third husband Johannes.

Two of their children also diedin

infancy, and Danish scientist Bent

Kæmpe used this as evidencefor

her possible role as a ‘serial killer’,

poisoning Tycho out of jealousyand

to advance her husband’s position.

Considering the high mortalityrates

of the time, her sad family history

was not particularly unusual.

The jealous king

ChristianIVofDenmarkhad his

opinionsturnedaginsttheBrahe

familybyrivalc rs– butcould

hehaveorder bekilled?

Onesugges eloped

a hatred g

• rightl
  astr
  hi

The secret agent

Erik Brahe wasa Swedishnobl

anddistantcousinofTycho’s,kno

tocarryoutsecretmissionsfor

ChristianIV.His surprise appearance

atPragueandlater visits toTycho’s

bedsidejustasthe astronomer was

recoveringseem suspicious, as do

someentriesinhis diaries from the

time.Butwithout scientific evidence

oisoning,can he really be framed

ntractkiller?

Sequence

of events

Justwhatdid happen in Prague,

October1601, over the 11 days leading

uptoT choBrahe’sdeath?

Ty c h o

isthathe

Tychoaftersuspec

ongly– thatthe

omerwashh anaf r w

mothe d er queen.

o

er

Politenesskills

2

Tycho typically

overindulgedat

the dinner table.

However, unable

to leave the table

to relieve himself

due to strict courtly

etiquette, he suffers

acute bladder pain.

Fa te f u l inv i

1

Tycho Brah

his friend Councior

Minckwicz attend the

banquet of spendthrift

and libertine Baron Pete

Vok von Rosenberg in

Prague. Also presentis

Tycho's distant Swedish

cousin Erik Brahe.

d? jl i

nexpected visitor

On 20 October ErikBrahe

makes the first of threevis

o Tycho’s house. It’s

hether Tycho was truly

ecovering at this point,

ut his health certainlyent

inal decline from hereonwards.

r

sits

s

v

taii

er iits

Illustrations © Ed Crooks

Ty c h o B r a h e