Astronomic table of Copernicus
in Olsztyn castle
The great Polish scientist, Nicolaus Copernicus, remains to this day one of the greatest figures in the world of science. He went down in history first and foremost as the creator of the theory of the heliocentric structure of the Solar System, which was groundbreaking for the science and world view of the time. But the man who ‘stopped the sun, moved the earth’ was not only an astronomer, but also an economist, lawyer, translator, doctor, mathematician and cartographer.In the Copernicus Year, the film ‘The History of Nicolaus Copernicus’ astronomical table’ was awarded first prize in the Documentary and Reportage/History and Heritage category at the 18th FilmAT Festival – the International Festival of Tourfilms, Television Documentaries and Corporate Films, where I had the honour of being chairman of the international jury.
The FilmAt festival was established 18 years ago as a place where films promoting tourism are judged. Over time, it has turned out that the profile of the festival is definitely wider and there are not only tourism films, but also documentaries, educational and scientific films about places, countries, regions, cities.
Films promoting tourism are most often presentations of views from places worth visiting. Architecture, monuments, nature, folklore, regional cuisine, beaches and water attractions are the most common subjects of such films. Plus drone footage, quick editing and electronic music. There are many such films at the FilmAt festival. One could say that this is already a bit of a festival cliché. Fortunately, there are films that can show in an original way why it is worth visiting this particular city or country, or films that also have didactic or scientific value.
At the last FilmAt festival, a short but very well-produced and extremely interesting documentary was presented about Nicolaus Copernicus’ astronomical table. This is the only research instrument made by the scientist’s hand in the world that has survived to the present day, and you can see it right here in Olsztyn. The film was commissioned by the Office of Promotion and Tourism of the Olsztyn City Hall. It was initiated and directed by Krzysztof Otoliński, while Marta Gołąb-Kocięcka wrote the script and organised the production. The historical consultant and narrator of the film was Dr Jacek Szubiakowski, an enthusiast of the subject. A researcher and internationally recognised expert on the Copernicus table, he is the former director of the Olsztyn Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory. The jury highly rated the film, awarding it the ‘Tourist’ statuette in the Documentary and Reportage – History and Cultural Heritage category.
Photo: Rafał Bil
Photo: Jakub Obarek
In the year 2023, it was the 550th anniversary of Nicolaus Copernicus’ birth and the 480th anniversary of his death. The Sejm of the Republic of Poland declared this year the Year of Copernicus. It was as part of the anniversary celebrations that a film was made in Olsztyn about the plaque located in the cloisters of the Warmia Chapter Castle, now the Museum of Warmia and Masuria in Olsztyn.
Nicolaus Copernicus lived in Warmia for over 40 years, most of his 70-year life. At the time, the land was an ecclesiastical principality comprising the Warmia Chapter as part of the so-called Royal Prussia within the Crown of the Polish Kingdom.
Thanks to the patronage of his uncle, Lucas Watzenrode, Bishop of Warmia, Copernicus studied the liberal arts at the Academy of Cracow, which included mathematics, cosmology and astronomy, also the construction and use of astronomical tables and the use of astronomical instruments. Then, already as a Warmian canon, he was sent by his uncle to study canon law in Bologna, Italy, and then medicine in Padua. In 1503 he obtained his doctorate in canon law at the University of Ferrara. On his return to Poland, he became secretary and a medical officer to Bishop Lucas Watzenrode in Lidzbark Warmiński. In 1510, as a canon (without being ordained), he moved to Frombork, where he served as a chancellor at the cathedral. In the observatory he set up in one of the city’s towers, he conducted astronomical observations, thanks to which he acquired arguments challenging the then prevailing geocentric theory. Copernicus set out his heliocentric views in a work entitled ‘Commentariolus’, or ‘Commentary’, written for a circle of close friends and associates and which was circulated in copies around Europe. In it, he points out the inaccuracies and defects of the hitherto prevailing geocentric theory and puts forward his own theses concerning the movement of the celestial bodies. He considers the Sun to be the centre of the Cosmos and the Earth to be one of many celestial bodies orbiting around it. Copernicus proposes that any movements observed in the sky can be explained by the movement of the Earth, rather than the entire firmament. However, this theory required careful elaboration and evidence, and on this Copernicus worked almost to the end of his life.
Photo: Grzegorz Januszewicz
He appeared in Olsztyn on 8 November 1516 as the administrator of the property of the Warmia Chapter. He lived in the Olsztyn castle from 1516 to 1519 and from 1520 to 1521, from where he managed the estates in the Olsztyn and Pieniężno. He was in charge of the peasants and burghers and all the officials in the area. He exercised superior jurisdiction over them. He dealt with economic and social e.g. settlement of villages depopulated by war. Evidence of these activities can be found in Copernicus’ manuscript entitled. ‘Lokacje łanów opuszczonych’ (‘Locations of abandoned fields’), in which there were records of visits to the villages.
In Olsztyn Kopernik wrote on the order of the bishop Fabian Luzjanski dissertation on the reform of money; it consisted of two parts. In the first of these, he dealt with the theory of money and developed, among other things, the rule that inferior money drives better money out of circulation. The first in the formulation of this rule wrongly later attributed to the Englishman T. Gresham. In the second part of the Copernicus took on the problems of the fall of the value of the coins of the Royal Prussia. Dissertation this two years later developed in the treatise ‘Principles of the coin minting’.
Photo: Jakub Obarek
Copernicus’ responsibilities also included taking care of defences in the castles and fortresses he managed. In 1520, he prepared the castle and the town of Olsztyn for defence against an expected attack from the Teutonic Knights. Thanks to this, the storming of the city walls by the Teutonic Knights was repulsed in January 1521.
Being an administrator did not interfere with Copernicus’ scientific work. He continued writing his most important work, which he had begun while still in Frombork – ‘On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres’. He continued to conduct astronomical observations at the Olsztyn Castle.
Photo: Wojciech Krom
On a wall in the cloister, he drew a table serving for solar observations. Because of the location of the drawing on the wall, Copernicus used an innovative method of controlling the sunlight. He installed a mirror on the sill of the then-open arcade, which reflected the sunlight and directed it onto the board. The position of the ‘glint’ corresponded unambiguously to the position of the sun on a specific day and time of observation. It is not entirely clear what the purpose of the observations made with the board was. It was probably to determine the exact equinoxes and thus the length of the tropical year, which is the basis of the calendar. All indications are that this was related to the then ongoing work on calendar reform initiated by the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-1517) under Pope Julius II and led by Paul of Middelburg. This astronomer offered Copernicus the opportunity to collaborate in developing changes to the Julian calendar then in force. The reform was necessary because the annual 11-minute slippage of the Julian calendar relative to the true length of the tropical year was already resulting in a ten-day discrepancy with the liturgical calendar. Copernicus was still working on reforming the calendar in Frombork, and in 1513, at the request of the Council, sent his proposed changes to Rome. Unfortunately, at the end of the Council, it was decided to stop the work and the new calendar was not introduced until 1582, after Copernicus’ death, under Pope Gregory XIII.
in the Museum of Warmia and Masuria in Olsztyn.
Screenshot from the movie.
In the film, researcher and expert Dr Jacek Szubiakowski talks about the plaque beautifully. Fragments of the work, lines, Roman numerals and letters have been preserved to this day. On the wall are parabolic lines drawn in red. Between them is a straight blue line, which, according to some scientists, corresponds to the vernal equinox, when the sun enters the sign of Aries. Above it are the letters TIC, which, according to Dr Szubiakowski, may be an abbreviation of the Latin words Tropical Initium Calendarium, meaning the beginning of the solar year. The black lines are the remains of lines marking the hours of solar time. At one of them the Roman numeral XI is preserved, then there are two lines without any preserved inscription, and then a line marked with the Roman numeral II.
Screenshot from the movie
Screenshot from the movie.
Unfortunately, Copernicus wrote nothing about the table from the Olsztyn castle in his main work when he described the astronomical instruments he used for research and observation. For this reason, scholars will continue to argue for a long time about what the table was used for, especially as only fragments of it have survived in the course of history.
Undoubtedly, the astronomical table made by Nicolaus Copernicus with his own hands is a great tourist attraction of Olsztyn. So is the Castle where our great compatriot worked. In the Museum, which is located in the Castle, you can see the chamber where the great scientist lived and an exhibition dedicated to him. In front of the Castle there is a statue of Copernicus.
Photo by Wojciech Krom
Of course, it is also worth seeing the other exhibitions in the Museum, which collects memorabilia from the region’s past, archaeological collections, collections of ancient and contemporary art, artistic crafts, writing and folk culture. Among the extremely interesting collections are those of Gothic sculpture, religious painting of Warmia, Dutch portraiture, pewter and folk art, and contemporary graphics.
Warmia is rich in wonderful places worth visiting. It is not only nature, lakes and forests, but also towns and cities with beautiful old architecture, castles and churches. It is worth coming there for sailing or sunbathing on the lakes, but also to get to know the region better and to admire the monuments in Lidzbark, Frombork, Reszel and, of course, Olsztyn. To this must also be added the Masuria region bordering Warmia and such beautiful places as Święta Lipka or Nidzica.
Photo by Grzegorz Januszewicz
Photo by Grzegorz Januszewicz
Zbigniew Żmudzki
translation: Wojciech Jaworek