CHAPTER IV 



THE PUBLICATION OF THE TRUE PLANETARY SYS- 

 TEM BY COPERNICUS IT ESCAPES FOR FIFTY 

 YEARS THE NOTICE OF THE CHURCH. 



Sta Sol. Ne moveare. Sapere auso. 



***-*** 

 La Pologne enfanta 1'homme. 

 Qui arreta le soleil et fit mouvoir la terre.* 



NICHOLAS COPERNICUS was born Feb. 19, 1473, 

 at Thorn, in Prussian Poland. Died May 24, 1543. 

 His father, who died young, bore the same Christian 

 name. His mother was Barbara Watzelrod, sister 

 of the Bishop of Warnic, or Emerland, in Poland, 

 who educated him. At the age of 18 he was sent to 

 the University of Cracow, where he studied Latin, 

 Greek, and particularly Mathematics. Two years 

 later he returned to Thorn with the intention of tak- 

 ing orders, but in 1495 he repaired to Padua, where, 

 in its University and in that of Bologna, he achieved 

 so great a reputation that he was called to Rome, 



* From the monument to him in the church at Cracow. Trans- 

 lated from the Polish. Larousse. 



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