Endre Zsoldos
Konkoly Observatory, Variable Stars, Faculty Member
- History of Science, History of Astronomy, Variable Stars, Copernicus, Kolozsvár (Klausenburg), Friedrich Schwab, and 9 moreSN 1572, transit of Venus, Johann Christoph Sturm (1635-1703), Classification of Variable Stars, History of Astrology, History of Science and Technology, Book History, History of scientific instruments, and Medieval Astronomyedit
In the light of later tragic events, the age of King Matthias I seemed brighter, the deeds of his courtiers looked more significant in the eyes of subsequent generations. According to scholarship and popular literature, there were several... more
In the light of later tragic events, the age of King Matthias I seemed brighter, the deeds of his courtiers looked more significant in the eyes of subsequent generations. According to scholarship and popular literature, there were several working astronomical observatories in the country at that time, and humanists in the court of Matthias have been presented as pre-Copernican thinkers. In this paper, I will attempt to show the error of such beliefs and to find their sources. Contemporary travellers did not mention any observatories in the Castle of Buda. According to the 1591 description by Václav Vratistlav, however, two painted astronomers were visible on the wall of the library; these were later changed into observatories (Sternwarten) in the German translation. The Hungarian public became acquainted with the writing of the Czech traveller through this German translation, so they read about observatories rather than astronomers. This is supported by the fact that the Hungarian sources written before the German translation did not mention any astronomical institutions.
The possible cause of the supposed pre-Copernicanism of the humanists in the court of Matthias is possibly the very important role of the Sun in the writings of some of them. The Sun, however, was not the centre of the Universe but the centre of the planets, i.e. the fourth among the seven.
The cause of all these misunderstandings and errors was the idealization of the age of Matthias, the yearning for a glorious past, and the sloppy use of such concepts as an astronomical observatory.
The possible cause of the supposed pre-Copernicanism of the humanists in the court of Matthias is possibly the very important role of the Sun in the writings of some of them. The Sun, however, was not the centre of the Universe but the centre of the planets, i.e. the fourth among the seven.
The cause of all these misunderstandings and errors was the idealization of the age of Matthias, the yearning for a glorious past, and the sloppy use of such concepts as an astronomical observatory.
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There are several poems in 18th century Hungarian literature with substantial astronomical content, both in Latin and in Hungarian. One of the most interesting of the Hungarian language verses is the one written by Verseghy Ferenc... more
There are several poems in 18th century Hungarian literature with substantial astronomical content, both in Latin and in Hungarian. One of the most interesting of the Hungarian language verses is the one written by Verseghy Ferenc entitled On the Creation. It is a description of the starry world: one can read first about the magnificence of the Sun, then the construction of the Solar System, the distribution of the stars, and finally a philosophical discussion on the essence of force. Following Newton, Verseghy rejected the existence of any kind of ether. Finally, he highlighted the topic of the next canto. However, neither that second canto, nor any of the rest of the promised six was ever written. The source of the poem is Horus, the controversial work of Christian Ernst Wünsch, professor of mathematics and physics at the university of Frankfurt (Oder). Though in the Hungarian scholarly literature this connection is denied following the earlier work of Császár Elemér, the similarities between the poem and Horus are too great to explain by coincidence. Moreover, in a recently published manuscript Verseghy himself admitted using Horus. Though the poet had troubles with the censor's office, his choice of Horus for astronomical information is defendable. Its astronomical content is correct, and it even contains an unusual theory for the origin of the planets, which we find later in The Botanic Garden of Erasmus Darwin.
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Pálóczi HorvátH Ádám (1760-1820) showed a fear of the year 1788 in some of his poems. It is usually explained in the literature as arising from a supposed Newtonian world view: the world will inevitably collapse because of the effect of... more
Pálóczi HorvátH Ádám (1760-1820) showed a fear of the year 1788 in some of his poems. It is usually explained in the literature as arising from a supposed Newtonian world view: the world will inevitably collapse because of the effect of gravity. The author shows that this "Newtonian world view" is erroneous in this form. Newton supposed that divine providence will always intervene when "this System wants a Reformation". The source of Horváth's fears was probably a prophecy connected to the name of Regiomontanus, which originally predicted some kind of catastrophe for the year 1588, but which had been updated (possibly in Hungary) to the year 1788. It seems reasonable to think that Horváth might have been afraid of a prophecy, since his works show a diversity of views: from modern scientific to occasionally superstitious. It is well documented in his work Rudolphias (1817), where we can find mention of the Laplace nebular hypothesis together with a most obscure alchemical discussion of the number of possible planets and metals. The use of astronomy in poetry is not restricted to Horváth alone; the science of the stars occurs in the works of, among others, Georgius Aloysius SzerdaHely (in Latin) and verSegHy Ferenc (in Hungarian).
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Books without an author may give rise to several problems in bibliography. I describe three such cases, where Hungarian scholarship supposed Hungarian authors. These authors are Ferenc Weiss, Elek Horányi and Kristóf Akai. In the cases of... more
Books without an author may give rise to several problems in bibliography. I describe three such cases, where Hungarian scholarship supposed Hungarian authors. These authors are Ferenc Weiss, Elek Horányi and Kristóf Akai. In the cases of Weiss and Akai we can clearly tell the real authors, while we can only say that the theses attributed to Horányi were quite likely not written by him, but probably by an Italian piarist professor.
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The German astronomer, Johannes Tolhopff (c. 1445–1503) spent the years 1480–1481 in Hungary as king Matthias I’s royal astronomer. During that time he presented a beautifully illustrated astronomical manuscript, entitled Stellarium, to... more
The German astronomer, Johannes Tolhopff (c. 1445–1503) spent the years 1480–1481 in Hungary as king Matthias I’s royal astronomer. During that time he presented a beautifully illustrated astronomical manuscript, entitled Stellarium, to the king. It was part of the Corvinian Library, and today it is kept in the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel. As Tolhopff mentioned in the Introduction, the manuscript is a user’s manual to an astronomical instrument called ’stellarium’, possibly a kind of equatorium. In the text Tolhopff depicts, in brief, its use and importance. Unfortunately, we have no information about the existence of this instrument, whether it had been built or not. Tolhopff presented a similar manuscript to Pope Sixtus IV about the year 1476 (Vatican Latin Ms. 3103). Though the topic of the two works is the same, they differ significantly from each other. The Vatican ms. has more text, the Wolfenbüttel ms. has more illustrations. We present here the Introduction to the Wolfenbüttel codex, which, according to our knowledge, has no modern edition, since the text published by Jenő (Eugene) Ábel is only a partial one. The Vatican introduction will be discussed in a separate paper.
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In 1553 Kaspar Brusch published a prophecy attributed to Johannes Regiomontanus. The authorship is suspicious, one can see Melanchthon or Johannes Stöffler mentioned as authors among others. The prophecy predicted horrible events for the... more
In 1553 Kaspar Brusch published a prophecy attributed to Johannes Regiomontanus. The authorship is suspicious, one can see Melanchthon or Johannes Stöffler mentioned as authors among others. The prophecy predicted horrible events for the year 1588. It spread throughout Europe, there are translations into English, French, Swedish etc. After 1588 its popularity declined until 1785, when it reappeared, but the year in question was then updated to 1788. This update, quite surprisingly, is connected to Hungary, namely to a place called „Liska”, probably present day Olaszliszka. I found two manuscripts with the prophecy giving a Hungarian
translation and some explanatory notes. Also, there is a news article in the Hungarian journal Magyar Hírmondó (Hungarian Herald) which published the prophecy in 1784, where – so far – the first known mention of the year 1788 occured. (the German and French papers did so only in 1785). This makes it possible that the update was in fact made in Hungary, in the north-eastern part of the country where the above-mentioned manuscripts come from. The prophecy was known to the poet Ádám Pálóczi Horváth, who wrote about the terrible year 1788 in some of his poems dating around 1788.
translation and some explanatory notes. Also, there is a news article in the Hungarian journal Magyar Hírmondó (Hungarian Herald) which published the prophecy in 1784, where – so far – the first known mention of the year 1788 occured. (the German and French papers did so only in 1785). This makes it possible that the update was in fact made in Hungary, in the north-eastern part of the country where the above-mentioned manuscripts come from. The prophecy was known to the poet Ádám Pálóczi Horváth, who wrote about the terrible year 1788 in some of his poems dating around 1788.
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It is less known that the poet Mihály Fazekas was interested in astronomy and even published a calendar of his own. The Debreczeni Magyar Kalendáriom (“Hungarian Calendar of Debrecen”) was a successful venture, surviving its founder by... more
It is less known that the poet Mihály Fazekas was interested in astronomy and even published a calendar of his own. The Debreczeni Magyar Kalendáriom (“Hungarian Calendar of Debrecen”) was a successful venture, surviving its founder by decades. Instead of the usual prognostications one finds in such calendars, Fazekas published popular astronomical articles of varying length. In these he described the properties of the members of the Solar System, gave their distance from the Earth, their periods, sizes etc. His point of view was definitely modern. Despite some errors originating probably from oversimplification, the calendar provided his readers with current information on the planets. His unpublished manuscripts confirm that he
was well versed in mathematical calculations.
was well versed in mathematical calculations.
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In his sermon on the occasion of the comet of 1680 Jacob Schnitzler, the minister of the Transylvanian town Nagyszeben, reminded his audience of the necessity of proper behaviour. In addition, part of his sermon was basically an... more
In his sermon on the occasion of the comet of 1680 Jacob Schnitzler, the minister of the Transylvanian town Nagyszeben, reminded his audience of the necessity of proper behaviour. In addition, part of his sermon was basically an introductory talk on the nature and properties of comets. As he remarked, this was not the first case that astronomical topics were mentioned, nor was he the only one doing so. Indeed, looking through several printed compilations of sermons one can find such topics in abundance. Here I discuss three themes that occurred frequently: the properties of the planets, the star of Betlehem and (fixed) stars and constellations in general. The published sermons of such preachers as Johannes de Verdena or Pelbartus de Themeswar contain a number of such examples. One can find even extreme cases, such as the 18th-century preacher György Verestói, who described the structure of the Solar System in detail in a funeral oration. These sermons show that one could acquire rudimentary astronomical knowledge by listening to preaching even without attending any university.
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After the discovery of the new star of 1572, we find similar phenomena enumerated in the contemporary literature. The earliest of such lists, like that of Riccioli, looked like the cometary historiae of the time. They listed various kinds... more
After the discovery of the new star of 1572, we find similar phenomena enumerated in the contemporary literature. The earliest of such lists, like that of Riccioli, looked like the cometary historiae of the time. They listed various kinds of objects, which could be put into three classes: mythological, astronomical, and astrological. These compilations were usually gathered from a perusal of the literature, either astronomical or historical. They also provided shorter or longer description of these stars, sometimes together with their effects on earthly affairs. Changes began to appear in the 17th century, when a few astronomers started to observe the stars, and when Bullialdus detected the first periodic one among them. The latter allowed for the first time the prediction of a celestial phenomenon different from the movement of the planets. The second half of the century saw numerous claims of discovery, among them such a famous variable as Algol. The demythologization of the study of variable stars continued until the work of Edward Pigott, whose work laid the foundations of modern variable star astronomy.
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Codex Ms. I. 186 in the Cathedral Library of Esztergom contains the work of a certain Soloneus entitled De temporum annotatione et principiis astronomiae containing a compotus with a calendar and tables of planetary motion. The author is... more
Codex Ms. I. 186 in the Cathedral Library of Esztergom contains the work of a certain Soloneus entitled De temporum annotatione et principiis astronomiae containing a compotus with a calendar and tables of planetary motion. The author is unknown, but it seems that he and the Esztergom codex itself are of German origin. The first book gives calendrical, the second astronomical and astrological information. Soloneus presumably wrote his work at the end of the 14th or at the beginning of the 15th century, which was updated about 50 years later. The codices known so far to contain this work are, however, all later products, since they include an interval table starting with the name of the similarly unknown Iohannes Bedellus. This table describes event occurring in Hungary in 1456–1457. The Esztergom manuscript was made probably even later, around 1500. The tables of planetary motions which are unique to our codex were likely copied at the same time with Soloneus’ work. Since these refer to the meridian of Erfurt, we can assume that the Esztergom tables were also made near Erfurt or at a town with the same longitude.
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In his work on the new star of 1572, Cyprianus Leovitius mentioned two other stars that supposedly appeared in about the same part of the sky in 945 and 1264 A.D., respectively. Though he did not connect them to the new star of 1572, the... more
In his work on the new star of 1572, Cyprianus Leovitius mentioned two other stars that supposedly appeared in about the same part of the sky in 945 and 1264 A.D., respectively. Though he did not connect them to the new star of 1572, the link was made by others later. The Spanish philosopher Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz presented a complete theory of the new star, based on a hypothetical periodic motion of the object. He even predicted the next possible return to happen in 1886. Edward Pigott's work made the connection between these stars acceptable, and in late 19th century some astronomers were even looking for its reappearance. It was, however, not the only such "periodic new star". The German-born Parisian astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt suggested another one: he connected the supposed new stars of A.D. 393, 1203 and 1609.
In seiner Arbeit über den neuen Stern von 1572 erwähnt Cyprianus Leovitius zwei weitere Sterne, die angeblich im gleichen Bereich des Himmels in den Jahren 945 und 1264 erschie-nen seien. Zwar brachte er selbst diese nicht mit dem neuen Stern von 1572 in Verbindung, das übernahmen andere aber später. Der spanische Philosoph Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz präsentierte eine vollständige Theorie des neuen Sterns auf der Grundlage einer hypothe-tischen periodischen Bewegung des Objekts. Er sagte voraus, die nächste mögliche Rück-kehr würde im Jahre 1886 geschehen. Edward Pigotts Arbeit machte die Verbindung zwischen diesen Sternen plausibel, und im späten 19. Jahrhundert waren einige Astronomen tatsächlich auf der Suche nach einem Wiedererscheinen. Es war jedoch nicht der einzige "periodische neue Stern". Der in Deutschland geborene Pariser Astronom Hermann Gold-schmidt schlug eine andere Deutung vor: Er stellte eine Beziehung zwischen den neuen Sternen der Jahre 393, 1203 und 1609 her.
In seiner Arbeit über den neuen Stern von 1572 erwähnt Cyprianus Leovitius zwei weitere Sterne, die angeblich im gleichen Bereich des Himmels in den Jahren 945 und 1264 erschie-nen seien. Zwar brachte er selbst diese nicht mit dem neuen Stern von 1572 in Verbindung, das übernahmen andere aber später. Der spanische Philosoph Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz präsentierte eine vollständige Theorie des neuen Sterns auf der Grundlage einer hypothe-tischen periodischen Bewegung des Objekts. Er sagte voraus, die nächste mögliche Rück-kehr würde im Jahre 1886 geschehen. Edward Pigotts Arbeit machte die Verbindung zwischen diesen Sternen plausibel, und im späten 19. Jahrhundert waren einige Astronomen tatsächlich auf der Suche nach einem Wiedererscheinen. Es war jedoch nicht der einzige "periodische neue Stern". Der in Deutschland geborene Pariser Astronom Hermann Gold-schmidt schlug eine andere Deutung vor: Er stellte eine Beziehung zwischen den neuen Sternen der Jahre 393, 1203 und 1609 her.
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Libellus Auguriorum: astrological tables The manuscript Oct. Lat. 761 in the National Széchényi Library is a collection of prognostications. These are based on the occurence of 42 ’unexpected events’ – such as sonittus parietum or... more
Libellus Auguriorum: astrological tables
The manuscript Oct. Lat. 761 in the National Széchényi Library is a collection of prognostications. These are based on the occurence of 42 ’unexpected events’ – such as sonittus parietum or tinnitus aurium, and the Moon’s position in the zodiac. For any event and zodiacal sign belonged a prediction, for example the death of an important person, or the birth of a baby. This kind of prognostication goes back to at least the 12th century, to a Tabula prenostica Salomonis. The immediate source of the manuscript, however, is the book of the German alchemist Heinrich Khunrath, printed in Prague in 1592: Zebelis regis et sapientis arabum vetustissimi, de interpraetatione quorundam accidentium… Khunrath was known in Hungary during the 17–18th centuries. There is another manuscript in the National Széchényi Library (Oct. Lat. 983) which also follows Khunrath’s book, but it differs in small details. We can find Khunrath’s works in contemporary book-lists, too, and there is one instance, when someone was accused of having false ideas because of reading Khunrath. One can find other tabular prognostications in Hungary. One such is printed in certain calendars (cisio), their origin is in Regiomontanus’ popular calendar (Temporal). Similar, though made apparently with more care, tabular prognostication is found in the calendars of the Jesuit University of Nagyszombat. They give the date for taking medicines or for making scarificatio or sectio venae, in the tradition of medical astrology.
The manuscript Oct. Lat. 761 in the National Széchényi Library is a collection of prognostications. These are based on the occurence of 42 ’unexpected events’ – such as sonittus parietum or tinnitus aurium, and the Moon’s position in the zodiac. For any event and zodiacal sign belonged a prediction, for example the death of an important person, or the birth of a baby. This kind of prognostication goes back to at least the 12th century, to a Tabula prenostica Salomonis. The immediate source of the manuscript, however, is the book of the German alchemist Heinrich Khunrath, printed in Prague in 1592: Zebelis regis et sapientis arabum vetustissimi, de interpraetatione quorundam accidentium… Khunrath was known in Hungary during the 17–18th centuries. There is another manuscript in the National Széchényi Library (Oct. Lat. 983) which also follows Khunrath’s book, but it differs in small details. We can find Khunrath’s works in contemporary book-lists, too, and there is one instance, when someone was accused of having false ideas because of reading Khunrath. One can find other tabular prognostications in Hungary. One such is printed in certain calendars (cisio), their origin is in Regiomontanus’ popular calendar (Temporal). Similar, though made apparently with more care, tabular prognostication is found in the calendars of the Jesuit University of Nagyszombat. They give the date for taking medicines or for making scarificatio or sectio venae, in the tradition of medical astrology.
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The Stellarium is a little known piece of the Corvinian Library of King Matthias of Hungary. The author of this work, Johannes Tolhopff (1429–1503), a professor at Leipzig and Ingolstadt, came to Hungary at the invitation of the King... more
The Stellarium is a little known piece of the Corvinian Library of King Matthias of Hungary. The author of this work, Johannes Tolhopff (1429–1503), a professor at Leipzig and Ingolstadt, came to Hungary at the invitation of the King around 1480 and dedicated his work to Matthias. It can be found now in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel (Cod. Guelf. 84.1 Aug. 40). The codex (an unedited manuscriptum unicum), produced in Buda, is a user’s manual of an instrument called the stellarium, a kind of equatorium, used for determining the position of the planets. Tolhopff gave several tables of mean motions for use with the stellarium. As comparison with Cod. Lat. 62. of the National Széchényi Library clearly proves, these tables follow the Parisian Alfonsine tables. The codex, however, is not suitable for determining planetary positions without the instrument.
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Very little is known about the state of astronomical knowledge in medieval Hungary. This lack may be remedied by the study of texts written for other purposes, for example sermons. So continuing the work started with Sermones Compilati, I... more
Very little is known about the state of astronomical knowledge in medieval Hungary. This lack may be remedied by the study of texts written for other purposes, for example sermons. So continuing the work started with Sermones Compilati, I now studied the writings of the franciscan friar Pelbartus of Temesvár. Pelbartus, who lived and worked in the second half of the 15th century, the time of King Matthias mostly, was a student of the University of Cracow. Here he studied contemporary astronomy and astrology, too, and seems to have been well versed in both subjects. It is confirmed by a perusal of his works: we can find astronomical allusions in his sermons, and his theological encyclopedia (Rosarium) contains astronomical sections, like ’Celum’ (Heavens) or ’Zodiacus’ (Zodiac). He followed the general medieval worlview: the Earth is at the centre of the world, and there are several concentric orbs around it, one to each element and, starting with the Moon, one for each planet. The supralunary world is made of the fifth element, which differs from the four sublunary ones (earth, water, air and fire). Pelbartus described the movements of the planets, gave their periods and distances – in the latter case he chose to use the harmonic values of Pliny instead of the generally accepted ones of Al-Farghani. He listed several constellations and mentioned also the great circles on the sky (tropics, equator etc.). He considered the Milky Way as an assemblage of little stars, a view ascribed to philosophers generally. The older literature on Pelbartus considered him unanimously as a ’persecutor of astrology’. His books do not confirm this view. While he naturally considered judicial astrology as forbidden for a true Catholic, he accepted natural astrology. In Rosarium we find several examples of his use of e.g. medicinal astrology, like his discussion of the dog days (’dies caniculares’). Pelbartus mentioned a lot of authorities in his texts. Comparison of the originals and several later compilations revealed however, that he probably used only a few encyclopedic works, like Vincent of Beauvais’ Speculum naturale. It was possile to show in a few cases that Pelbartus took over Vincent’s misreadings, proving that it was his direct source. Since Pelbartus was frequently translated into Hungarian, his knowledge of astronomy found its way into codices in the vernacular. He seems to fit well into the age of King Matthias with his knowledge of astronomy and astrology.
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Science History, Connectivity and Co-operation
The 250th anniversary of the Venus transit 1769
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest
26 September 2019
The 250th anniversary of the Venus transit 1769
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest
26 September 2019
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Introductory talk at the opening of the exhibition "Stars and constellations. Science in the Court of King Matthias"