The Life of Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Poland on 19th February 1473, the youngest of four children. His parents were Barbara Watzenrode and Nicolaus Copernicus.

In 1483 his father died, so he and his family moved in with, Lucas Watzenrode, his uncle. Lucas was a very successful cleric at the time and directed Copernicus's education. As the University of Cracow offered courses in mathematics, astrology and astronomy, Copernicus became interested in those subjects.

In 1495 Copernicus was elected as the canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Warmia, a position just under a bishop. This secured his financial situation for life and he assumed his position two years later. In 1496 he went to the University of Bologna to study canon law. While there he lived with Domenico Maria Novara the professor of astronomy and made his first observations of the stars.

Copernicus left Bologna in 1501, without getting his degree. The chapter approved another leave so he could study medicine at the University of Padua. He did not receive his medical degree, as it took three years to complete the course and Copernicus only had a two year leave of absence. He finally moved to his chapter in 1510 and stayed there for the rest of his life.

From the tower of the Cathedral he made observations, it was his observations that lead to him deducing that everything in the solar system revolved around the sun, heliocentric, and not around the earth, geocentric.