Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 A Noble Humanist
- 2 The New Star
- 3 Becoming a Professional
- 4 The First Years on Hven: 1576–1579
- 5 Urania's Castle
- 6 The Flowering of Uraniborg
- 7 First Renovations: The Solar Theory
- 8 The Tychonic System of the World
- 9 High Tide: 1586–1591
- 10 The Theory of the Motion of the Moon
- 11 The Last Years at Uraniborg
- 12 Exile
- 13 A Home Away from Home?
- Epilogue
- Appendix 1 Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Sources
- Appendix 2 Glossary of Technical Terms
- Appendix 3 The Tychonic Lunar Theory
- Appendix 4 Figures for Footnotes
- Appendix 5 Tycho's Dwellings in Exile
- Appendix 6 Letters, 1599–1601
- Author Index
- Subject Index
13 - A Home Away from Home?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 A Noble Humanist
- 2 The New Star
- 3 Becoming a Professional
- 4 The First Years on Hven: 1576–1579
- 5 Urania's Castle
- 6 The Flowering of Uraniborg
- 7 First Renovations: The Solar Theory
- 8 The Tychonic System of the World
- 9 High Tide: 1586–1591
- 10 The Theory of the Motion of the Moon
- 11 The Last Years at Uraniborg
- 12 Exile
- 13 A Home Away from Home?
- Epilogue
- Appendix 1 Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Sources
- Appendix 2 Glossary of Technical Terms
- Appendix 3 The Tychonic Lunar Theory
- Appendix 4 Figures for Footnotes
- Appendix 5 Tycho's Dwellings in Exile
- Appendix 6 Letters, 1599–1601
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
Although Benatky had been Tycho's choice among three manor houses, it was far from being the new Uraniborg that Rudolph had agreed to provide for Tycho. Its best feature was its location. It was the farthest of the three from Prague; it was situated on high ground, offering (as Tycho wrote Longomontanus) a clear view of the horizon in all directions; and it was splendid and commodious. Compared with Uraniborg – to say nothing of the temporary quarters in which Tycho had been living during the year since his departure from Wandesbeck – all three of the places probably looked commodious. But although Benatky had room for people, it had no obvious place to set up instruments or perform chemical distillations.
Taking Rudolph's promises literally, Tycho began to make repairs, modify rooms, and even plan a completely new wooden building – whether as an alchemical laboratory or some kind of analogue to Stjerneborg is not clear. Within a few weeks the administrator of the estate, Caspar von Mühlstein, complained to Barwitz about the cost of Tycho's projects. By late November, when the original estimates had doubled and Tycho had shown Mühlstein a letter from Barwitz stating that Rudolph had granted Tycho a salary that far exceeded the proceeds of the estate, Mühlstein had had enough. He wrote a letter to the chamber of deputies outlining the problem and formally refusing to authorize further expenditures without an official order – and the money to pay for it – from the treasury.
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- Information
- The Lord of UraniborgA Biography of Tycho Brahe, pp. 416 - 470Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991