In 1543 the doctor, astronomer and cathedral administrator Copernicus in Frauenburg (today Frombork) published his mathematical work "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" – On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres – which shook the world view of his time. He claimed that the earth and the other planets rotated around the sun (heliocentric world view). Since Aristotle it had been assumed that the earth was the centre of all celestial bodies. This corresponded to the impression of a motionless earth with stars moving above it and was in line with the Christian doctrine of creation, which saw man and his earth at the centre of divine activity.
Opposition initially came from the Protestant side. Later, the Catholic Inquisition also took a critical look at it when Galileo Galilei, owing to his telescopes, also experimentally supported the theoretical model of Copernicus in 1609.
With Luther's Reformation in 1517 and Columbus' trip to America in 1492, Copernicus was one of the great innovators.
Illustrations:
1.) Portrait of Copernicus, anonymous copperplate
Copernicus, born in Thorn (today Toruń) as the child of a wealthy family of craftsmen, became an orphan at an early age. His uncle Lucas Watzenrode, who was later the prince-bishop of Warmia (Ermland), made him pursue a church career that also led him to Italy. Later he worked as an administrator and canon in Frauenburg (today Frombork) and Allenstein (today Olsztyn).
He made astronomical observations with the simplest means; he did not yet know a telescope. His mathematical models were not exact, since he still assumed circular motion and not elliptic orbits.
2.) Copernicus monument in Allenstein
Since the 19th century, German and Polish nationalists have been arguing about who should be entitled to claim Copernicus’ fame. He fought against the Teutonic Order, because Thorn (today Toruń), Frauenburg (today Frombork) and Allenstein (today Olsztyn) in the diocese of Warmia (Ermland) belonged to the Polish part of Prussia. An assignment by nation does not make sense for people from the time of Copernicus. But how to spell the name correctly? Possibilities are: Nikolaus Kopernikus, Low German Niklas Koppernigk, Latinised Nicolaus Cop[p]ernicus, Polonised Mikołaj Kopernik.
Photo: Nol Aders, Creative Commons-Lizenz Namensgebung 3.0