Intrigue in medieval Prague

Prague is a city obsessed with time and more specifically with instruments by which to measure the its passage. This passion dates back to the days of Rudolf II who inherited his interest from his father Maximillian II. Rudolf even tried his hand at watchmaking but proved a mediocre amateur at best.

Rudolf's interest tied in naturally with his passion for alchemy as astrology was a big part of the mix. Astrology was then defined as the observation of celestial bodies' effects on the Earth and its inhabitants. (Back then astrology and astronomy were pretty well inseparable.) Of course, a planet's comparative location was critical to an accurate representation of a person's moods and that planet's location was measured over time. Hence the importance of the astrological clock in the Old Town during the reign of King Charles.

The astrological clock's significance cannot fully be realized until one understands that it was designed according to the Roman Catholic Church's view that the planets travelled in circles as a sign of harmony of the cosmos and God's divine order. Copernicus' assertion that the Earth revolved around the sun brought cries of heresy from all corners of Catholicism. Astrologers (read budding scientists) were brought up on charges of blasphemy, heresy and witchcraft before the Roman Inquisition in the latter half of the 16th C and were burned at the stake if they failed to recant.

Phewwww, not only is geography destiny, but so is timing. Glad I live in these modern times...But I digress.

There has been some argument that the German astronomer Johannes Kepler may have stolen the priceless observation journals of his Danish mentor Tycho Brahe (immortalized here on the detail of a building in the Old Town) - Prague's most celebrated astronomer and adopted son - and poisoned him to buy his silence. Whatever Kepler did - or didn't do - Brahe and Kepler's heretical and ground-breaking theory that the Earth moved around the sun in an elliptical orbit laid the foundations for Newton's law of gravity 80 years later. Heady stuff...