Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543)
Regarded as one of the central figures of the so-called Scientific Revolution, Copernicus (1473-1543) postulated a
heliostatic theory in his De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (1543). He did, however, maintain that planetary
orbits were circular, and many believed that his system did not reflect the physical universe.
Born in Torun, Poland, in 1473, Copernicus first studied astronomy and astrology at the University of Cracow
(1491-94). Through his uncle, Lukas Watzenrode (1447-1512), who later became the bishop of Varmia (Ermland),
he was elected a canon of the cathedral chapter of Frombork (Frauenburg). As part of his requirement as a canon, he
matriculated in 1496 in the University of Bologna to study both canon and civil law. There, he lodged with and
worked as an assistant to Domenico Maria the Ferrarese of Novara (1454-1504), professor of mathematics and
astrology and also the official compiler of prognostications for the university.
After briefly returning to Frombork, Copernicus studied medicine at the University of Padua (1501-3) and then
moved on to the University of Ferrara where he obtained a doctorate in Canon Law (1503). He then returned to
Varmia, where he was based for the rest of his life. He acted as medical advisor and secretary to his uncle at
Heilsberg, and was later heavily involved with the administrative tasks in the diocese of Frombork.
In 1514, the Lateran Council sought Copernicus's opinion on calendar reform. Around the same time, he began to
circulate in manuscript the 'Commentariolus' (A Brief Description), in which he criticised the current Ptolemaic
system for not adhering to the principle of uniform circular motions and offered instead his own system in which the
earth and all the other planets rotate around the sun.
In the De Revolutionibus, Copernicus established the order of planets and proposed a heliostatic universe.
By the 1530s, Copernicus's reputation as a skilled mathematician had even reached the ears of the Pope. A professor
of mathematics at the University of Wittenberg, Georg Joachim Rheticus (1514-1574) who was on a tour of visiting
distinguished scholars, visited Copernicus in 1539. Copernicus shared his ideas with him, and Rheticus published
the Narratio Prima (First Report on the Books of Revolution) in 1540 at Gdansk, in which he reported Copernicus'
heliostatic theory in an astrological framework: the changing fortunes of the kingdom of the world, according to
Rheticus, depended on the changing eccentricity of the sun. Following the favourable reception of the Narratio
Prima, Rheticus persuaded Copernicus to publish a full account. This, of course, became the De Revolutionibus
Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), published in March 1543 at Nuremberg.
Copernicus died two months later.
Copernicus is often portrayed as a revolutionary figure who advocated a heliocentric system, overthrowing existing
systems and institutions. Yet, his monumental work, the De Revolutionibus, is far from a revolutionary manifesto
for modern astronomy. Copernicus is known to have carried out many observations (though he explicitly mentions
only about 27), and none seems to have been crucial for formulating his theory. The work follows closely the
structure of Ptolemy's Almagest, it is based on parameters and data from Ptolemy, and his dedication to the Pope is
written in a fashionable style. He does indeed provide a model of the universe in which the earth and all the other
planets orbit around the sun and the earth acquired a daily rotation, but the sun itself was not quite in the center of
that universe. He established the order of planets and devised a system which accounted for the movements of
planets without equants, but he was motivated by the desire to establish uniform circular motion, itself a classical
ideal. Copernicus certainly believed that this was the true system of the physical universe, but this conviction was
not shared widely by his contemporaries for various reasons.
Canon law is the body of laws and regulations made by or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government
of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic
Church, the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of churches.[1] The way that
such church law is legislated, interpreted and at times adjudicated varies widely among these three bodies of
churches. In all three traditions, a canon was initially a rule adopted by a council (From Greek kanon / κανών,
Hebrew kaneh / קנה, for rule, standard, or measure); these canons formed the foundation of canon law.
