Cyprián Karásek Lvovický (of Lvovice) (

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

: ''Cyprián Karásek Lvovický ze Lvovic'',

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Cyprian von Leowitz'',

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Cyprianus Leovitius'') (born July 1514/1524,

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; ) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 94,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech R ...

– died 1574,

Lauingen Lauingen (Swabian German, Swabian: ''Lauinga'') is a Town#Germany, town in the Dillingen (district), district of Dillingen in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the left bank of the Danube, 5 km west of Dillingen, Bavaria, Dillingen, and 37& ...

) was a

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and

astrologer Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

Career

Most of the information about Lvovický's life comes from his memoirs.Lvovický, C. K.
''Opus insigne''
( Wittebergae: Excudebat Matthaeus Welack, 1586). Cyprian Karásek was born in 1514 (some sources claim 1524) into the family of a long-time town councillor and later mayor of

named Jan Karásek (Lvovický after ennoblement). He received his elementary education in the Hradec Králové town school and then moved on to study abroad. In 1540, Lvovický studied in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

(Breslau), in 1542 in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and later astronomy and mathematics in

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

. In 1547, he moved to

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, then to

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

, to the court of Fuggers. After 1556 Otto Henry,

Count Palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an or ...

Palatinate-Neuburg Palatinate-Neuburg () was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505 by a branch of the House of Wittelsbach. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km2, with a population of some 100,000. History The Du ...

(later

Elector Palatine This article lists counts palatine of Lotharingia, counts palatine of the Rhine, and electors of the Palatinate (), the titles of three counts palatine who ruled some part of the Rhine region in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire b ...

), named Lvovický professor of astronomy and mathematics at the Latin "particular school" in

. Lvovický later became the director of that school, working there until 1566. From 1565 through 1568, he visited Bohemia several times and planned to return to Hradec Králové, but he died before that plan was realized. Lvovický published several astronomical works in Latin. Being both an astronomer and an astrologer, he tried to base

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

on solid mathematical and astronomical ground. His first published work was ''"Tabulae eclipsum"'', predicting (within a few minutes) the start and the duration of

lunar eclipse A lunar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, ...

s until 1605, including towns where it would be observable. These tables were based on the work of

Erasmus Reinhold Erasmus Reinhold (22 October 1511 – 19 February 1553) was a German astronomer and mathematician, considered to be the most influential astronomical pedagogue of his generation. He was born and died in Saalfeld, Saxony. He was educated, un ...

. In 1564, by order of Maximilian II, he published detailed

ephemeris In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (; ; , ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects and artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly velocity) over tim ...

tables for the sun, moon and other celestial bodies covering the years 1564 - 1574 in 10-day intervals and titled ''"De coniunctionibus magnis insignoribus superiorum planetarum, solis defectibus, et de cometis effectum historica expositione"''. In this book, recorded astronomical phenomena were linked with historical events (e.g. death of

John of Luxembourg John of Bohemia, also called the Blind or of Luxembourg (; ; ; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He is well known for having died while fightin ...

with a comet appearing in 1347). The work ''"Tabulae Peuerbachii Alphonsiane"'' from 1556 earned the respect of

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, ; 14 December 154624 October 1601), generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations. He ...

; they met in 1569 and corresponded thereafter.

Personal life

Lvovický married Diana Clelius (died 24 November 1581, aged 47), widow of Heinrich Elephantius, a former councilor to Elector Otto-Henry. After his death, she married for a third time, to

Peter Agricola Peter Agricola (June 29, 1525 – July 5 or 7, 1585) was a German Renaissance humanist, educator, classical scholar and theologian, diplomat and statesman, disciple of Martin Luther, friend and collaborator of Philipp Melanchthon. Successively ...

, in 1575 at Lauingen.

Literature

*František Jáchym: ''Cyprián Lvovický ze Lvovic - matematik, astronom, astrolog''
Matematika-fyzika-informatika
14 2004/2005 (in Czech). Other publications by Jáchym may cover Lvovický as well.
Lvovický's life in Lauingen
Hradec Králové astronomical journal
Povětroň
', 2004, No 1, p. 16. (in Czech)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lvovicky, Cyprian Karasek 16th-century births 1574 deaths Scholars from Bohemia Astronomers 16th-century mathematicians from the Holy Roman Empire Scientists from Hradec Králové