Astrologers 16th century
Tycho Brahe, born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, more commonly called Tycho, was a prominent Danish astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist of the Renaissance.
As a young man he traveled extensively throughout Europe, studying in Wittenberg, Rostock, Basel, and Augsburg and acquiring mathematical and astronomical instruments. In 1572 Tycho unexpectedly even for himself discovered a new star in Cassiopeia, and the publication of this turned the young Dane into an astronomer of European reputation. For further astronomical research he established an observatory and gathered around him modern progressive scientists.
Besides practicing astronomy, Tycho was an artist, scientist, and craftsman, and everything he undertook or surrounded himself with had to be innovative and beautiful. He even founded a printing house to produce and bind his manuscripts in his own way, and he perfected sanitary ware for convenience. His development of astronomical instruments and his work in measuring and fixing the positions of the stars laid a solid foundation for future discoveries.
Tycho's observations - the most accurate possible before the invention of the telescope - included a comprehensive study of the solar system and the precise positions of more than 777 fixed stars. What Tycho accomplished using only his simple instruments and intellect remains a remarkable achievement of the Renaissance.
Bonetus de Latis or Jacob ben Emanuel Provenzale was a French physician and astrologer of Jewish origin.
Originally from Provence, France, he was a rabbi, and in Rome became physician to Pope Alexander VI and later Pope Leo X. Latis is known mainly as the inventor of the ring-shaped sundial, an astronomical circular dial that could be used to measure solar and stellar altitudes and determine the time with great accuracy both day and night. These clocks were portable and easy to use for navigation. Latis also wrote a treatise known among scholars about the astrolabe ring (1492-1493).
Johann Dryander, born Johann Eichmann, was a German medical anatomist, mathematician and astrologer.
He studied anatomy and medicine at the University of Paris and the University of Erfurt, and in 1535 became professor of medicine at the University of Marburg. A year later, Dryander performed two public autopsies, making the first illustrated description of the dissection of the human brain. Dryander titled his book Anatomiae, hoc est, corporis humani dissectionis pars prior ("Anatomy, that is, the dissection of the human body, part one," suggesting a sequel, which, however, did not follow.
His work made a significant contribution to the development of modern anatomy. Toward the end of his life, Dryander also dabbled in astrology and mathematics.
Robert Fludd was a prominent English Paracelsian physician with both scientific and occult interests. He is remembered as an astrologer, mathematician, cosmologist, Qabalist and Rosicrucian.
Fludd is best known for his compilations in occult philosophy. He had a celebrated exchange of views with Johannes Kepler concerning the scientific and hermetic approaches to knowledge.
Georg Galgemair was a German mathematician and astrologer.
He was born into the family of the burgomaster of Donauwörth, was a pupil of Philip Apian, and then a master of mathematics at the University of Tübingen in 1585. After completing his studies, Galgemair began teaching at Lauingen in 1588.
His work on proportional circles led to the development of gnomonics. In the history of science, Galgemair is known for his works on mathematical instruments. As a calendar maker, he succeeded in 1606 in obtaining an imperial privilege for his calendars.
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician and astronomer who discovered that the Earth and planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits.
Kepler created the three fundamental laws of planetary motion. He also did seminal work in optics and geometry, calculated the most accurate astronomical tables, and made many inventions and discoveries in physics on which further scientific discoveries by advanced scientists were based.
Nostradamus (French: Michel de Nostredame) was a French physician-pharmacist, writer, poet, astrologer and alchemist.
Nostradamus was born into a family of baptized Jews and studied various sciences in Avignon. At that time the plague was rampant in Europe, and Nostradamus decided to become a healer, in 1526 he even invented an anti-plague medicine, and later received a degree of Doctor of Medicine. He began his medical practice around the 1530s in Agen. During the plague outbreaks in Aix and Lyon in 1546-1547, he gained fame for his innovative treatments. Nostradamus described his methods of dealing with epidemics in several medical works. In addition to medicine, he also practiced astrology.
Nostradamus gained worldwide fame thanks to his gift as a seer. He began making prophecies around 1547 and first published them in 1555 in a book called Centuries. The book was written in rhymed quatrains - catrines - with predictions of future events in European history. Some of his prophecies were close to the truth, and the fame of the visionary Nostradamus reached the court of Catherine de Medici, who ordered him to compile horoscopes of her children. In 1564 he was appointed physician to Charles IX, to whom he also made several predictions that came true.
Nostradamus's book of prophecies was a huge success, and it still arouses interest, but he wrote allegorically and many of the katrines cannot be interpreted unambiguously.
Paolo Ricci (Italian: Paolo Ricci, Latin: Paulus Ricius, German: Paul Ritz), also known as Ritz, Riccio, or Paulus Israelita, was a humanist convert from Judaism, a writer-theologian, Kabbalist, and physician.
After his baptism in 1505 he published his first work, Sol Federis, in which he affirmed his new faith and sought through Kabbalah to refute modern Judaism. In 1506 he moved to Pavia, Italy, where he became a lecturer in philosophy and medicine at the university and met Erasmus of Rotterdam. Ricci was also a learned astrologer, a professor of Hebrew, philosophy, theology, and Kabbalah, a profound connoisseur and translator of sacred texts into Latin and Hebrew, and the author of philosophical and theological works.
Paolo Ricci was a very prolific writer. His Latin translations, especially the translation of the Kabalistic work Shaare Orach, formed the basis of the Christian Kabbalah of the early 16th century.
Giuseppe Rosaccio was an Italian physician, astronomer, cosmographer and cartographer.
Rosaccio graduated from the University of Padua, studied philosophy, medicine and law, and worked as a physician and judge. He became famous for a series of works that popularized a number of scientific disciplines. Some of his books deal with astrological medicine, specific diseases and their remedies, and the distillation of medicines from plants.
Giuseppe Rosaccio wrote about forty works on various topics of interest to him, but the main one was geography. He wrote an essay on the Muslim religion and treatises on geography, cosmography, astronomy, and astrology, which became very popular and were repeatedly reprinted.
Rosaccio created many atlases and small-format geographical works. Among his works is Ptolemy's Geography, which contains many indexes and is written in Italian (1599). He also authored a large map of the world (1597), and a large map of Italy and Tuscany (1609). His book Journey from Venice to Constantinople includes maps of the route with brief texts, that is, it is essentially an illustrated version of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.