In 1599, the Benatky
Palace was bought by Rudolf II who although being Catholic, had great
interest in things arcane and boasted a court of artisans, alchemists and
astronomers, some with overlapping abilities.
Tycho Brahe had just become persona non grata in Denmark
for horrendously abusing his rights as a noble. Christian IV apparently had
enough complaints of his tyrannical abuse while watching a tenth of all Danish
income support his lavish life on Hven. Given warning to reform and desist from
abusive behavior of his citizens,
Christian was not doubt justified in expelling the Tycho. Tycho had more than 11 villages
and their income accumulating in his pockets which he had gained through royal
charter of Frederich II. As a Royal Astronomer
he received the island, Hven where he
built Uraniborg and created his many astronomical instruments that were a
wonder to the awakening world. Dispossessed,
Tycho first went to Germany,
but found no patronage. To curry favor, he wrote letters and sought patronage
through the promise of publishing new discoveries and scientific expertise. Rudolf
II offered him the palace at Benatky which he could modify to satisfy his
needs. Tycho arrived with his family and part of his instruments. He had to leave the large ones behind him in
Hven.
Kepler had been expelled from his job in Graz.
Not that he was a brilliant mathematician, but because he would not submit to
the new order of Catholicism there. Moreover, he was in rebellion with the
Lutherans and Protestants because he ascribed to Copernician theory that the
earth orbited the sun. However, it took him most of his life to debunk the myth of a universe constructed on perfect solids and epicycles with perfect
orbs in circles to recognizing
elliptical orbits. He had no money and
had no ablity for complex calculations for which Tycho was notorious. He perceived Tycho to be the perfect solution
for his professional problems and apparently Tycho understood the dire straits
of Kepler to exploit them to suit his
own interests. He gave the invitation and Kepler arrived in Prague
to join Tycho in Benatky. Astronomically, they were both fiery temperaments about to collide.
Tycho rcognizing the weaknesses of Kepler, gave him the impossible task of
analyzing the orbit of Mars. Kepler admitted he had no knowledge of complex
mathematics and became dependent on
Tycho's superior analytical abilities and largesse.
Almost a year
afterwards in 1601, Tycho died suddenly, apparently of heavy metal
poisoning. Kepler free of his tyrant, became
the Royal Astronomer until the demise of Rudolf II which left him without much
political protection, despite patronage
of the Jesuits in Prague who were
in need of astronomical research for their far flung world missions. At the
time, Jesuits were actively teaching heliocentric theory in China.
Kepler stole Tycho's calculations which were finally published in 1627 in the
Rudophine Tables to become the foundation of astronomical calculations for the
next three centuries, including the 777 accurately catalogued stars of Tycho
Brahe. The problem was elliptical, not circular thinking. This caused Galileo's
error with the Inquisition. He refused to admit the previous work of Tycho and
Kepler, insisting on perfect circular orbits without any scientific proof and
then further antagonizing his interrogators by insulting them as stupid and
unlearned whereas his chief interrogator was a prominently acknowledged
astronomer.
Obviously in the
unruly times before the outbreak of Thirty Years War and the Batttle of
White Mountain, Prague was no
longer safe for the outspoken Kepler. He left.
Benatky, which like
all other Protestant havens became rigorously Catholicized after the Battle of
White Mountain in 1620. The palace was given as bounty to the general Jan van
Weerth who added the north wing to the castle. The palace was completed in
1702. Later it became the domain of the Catholic Hapsburg, ThunHohenstein—not
to be confused with a famous general Thun who led the Estates allied with
Sablat of the Protestant Union against Vienna
in 1619. During the years of 1844-1847, young Bedrich Smetana instructed the
children of ThunHohenstein the art of pianoforte. The piano still stands on the
second floor of the palace which is today a museum of local history.
For a town of about 6000 inhabitants, it has more history
than can be easily contained on a page and made
incredibly complex by religious wars and astronomical debates which
reach into the heavens.
To get to Benatky
Bus from Florenc, Stand 12 7am, 7:55am, 9:20 am, 12:15pm
pay on bus, approx 45 kc one-way
Return
catch bus at Ceska Sporitelna in Benatky 18:05,
20:40, 21:40 or walk to Lysa to catch the train. 18km train ticket: 66kc
Museum entrance: 20kc
Offering of postcards and mementos. Small medals range in
price from 80kc for the small basilisks and 300kc for a Tycho medallion.
Open Tuesday –Sunday 9:00 – 12:00 a 13:00 – 17:00
Zámek 49, 294 71 Benátky nad Jizerou Telefon - 326 316 682
