Editing Albert Brudzewski

{{Short description|Polish academic and diplomat (c. 1445 - c. 1497)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image             = Albert Brudzewski.jpg
| image_size        = 150px
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{c.|{{birth year|1445}}}}
| birth_place       = Brudzew/Brudzewo,{{efn|name=Brudzew}} [[Kingdom of Poland]]
| death_date        = c. {{death year and age|1497|1445}}
| death_place       = [[Vilnius]], [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]
| field             = [[Astronomy]]<br>[[Mathematics]]<br>[[philosophy]]
| work_institutions = [[Jagiellonian University|Kraków Academy]]
| alma_mater        = [[Jagiellonian University|Kraków Academy]]
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| notable_students  = [[Nicolaus Copernicus]],<br />[[Bernard Wapowski]],<br />[[Conrad Celtes]]
| known_for         = 
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| prizes            = 
| footnotes         = 
| signature         = 
}}
'''Albert Brudzewski''',{{efn|Listed as "Brudzewski, Wojciech, [or] Wojciech z Brudzewa," in ''Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN'', vol. 1, p. 353. Google Search, 29 November 2008, lists him as "Albert Brudzewski" (8,170), "Wojciech Brudzewski" (626), "Albert Blar" (611).}} also known as '''Albert Blar''' ('''of Brudzewo'''),<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Segel |first=Harold B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VoFks1eW75oC&dq=albert+blar+Brudzewo&pg=PA86 |title=Renaissance Culture in Poland: The Rise of Humanism, 1470-1543 |date=1989 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-2286-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Glomski |first=Jacqueline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vK6ZAw76-2AC&dq=celtis+blar&pg=PA27 |title=Patronage and Humanist Literature in the Age of the Jagiellons: Court and Career in the Writings of Rudolf Agricola Junior, Valentin Eck, and Leonard Cox |last2=Glomski |first2=Senior Research Fellow Jacqueline |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-9300-4 |language=en}}</ref> '''Adalbertus''',<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rosińska |first=Grażyna |date=1974 |title=Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī and Ibn al-Shāṭir in Cracow? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/229373 |journal=Isis |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=239–243 |issn=0021-1753}}</ref>'''Albert of Brudzewo''' or '''Albert of Brudzew''' ({{langx|pl|Wojciech Brudzewski}}: {{langx|la|Albertus de Brudzewo}}; c.1445&ndash;c.1497) was a Polish [[astronomer]], [[philosopher]] and [[diplomat]]. A major accomplishment of Albert's was his modernization of the teaching of astronomy by introducing the most up-to-date texts. He was an influential teacher to [[Nicolaus Copernicus]], who initiated the [[Copernican Revolution]].

Later in his life he was secretary and diplomat of [[Alexander Jagiellon]], Grand Duke of Lithuania.

==Life==
Albert ({{langx|pl|Wojciech}}), who would sign himself "''de Brudzewo''" ("of Brudzewo"), was born about 1445 in the city of Brudzew/Brudzewo,{{Efn|name=Brudzew|It uncertain in which "Brudzewo"/"Brudzew" he was born: probably the town in present-day [[Brudzew, Kalisz County]], see also [[Brudzew (disambiguation)]] and [[Brudzewo (disambiguation)]]}} in the [[Kingdom of Poland]].

He matriculated at the Kraków Academy (now [[Jagiellonian University]]), where he earned his bachelor degree in 1470 and a master in 1474.<ref name=":7">{{citation |last=Hamel |first=Jürgen |title=Brudzewski, Albertus de |date=2007 |work=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |pages=177–178 |editor-last=Hockey |editor-first=Thomas |url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_212 |access-date=2025-03-24 |place=New York, NY |publisher=Springer |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_212 |isbn=978-0-387-30400-7 |editor2-last=Trimble |editor2-first=Virginia |editor3-last=Williams |editor3-first=Thomas R. |editor4-last=Bracher |editor4-first=Katherine}}</ref> Brudzewski was a student of [[Michał Falkener]] in physical sciences and of [[John of Głogów]] in mathematics.<ref name=":8">{{cite book |last=Lach-Szyrma |first=Krystyn |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Letters_Literary_and_Political_on_Poland/c2cUAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=wroclaw+albert+brudzewski&pg=PA376&printsec=frontcover |title=Letters, Literary and Political, on Poland: Comprising Observations on Russia and Other Sclavonian Nations and Tribes |date=1823 |publisher=G. Ramsay |language=en}}</ref> Brudzewski may have also been a disciple of German astronomer [[Regiomontanus]] at the [[University of Vienna]].<ref name=":4">{{cite book |last=Freely |first=John |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Celestial_Revolutionary/uJ-LDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=books+by+albert+brudzewski&pg=PT76&printsec=frontcover |title=Celestial Revolutionary: Copernicus, the Man and His Universe |date=2014-05-20 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-85773-490-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite book |last=Wasiutyński |first=Jeremi |url= |title=The Solar Mystery: An Inquiry Into the Temporal and the Eternal Background of the Rise of Modern Civilization |date=2003 |publisher=Solum Forlag |isbn=978-82-560-1407-1 |language=en}}</ref> Brudzewski was well versed in [[Georg von Peuerbach]]'s ''Theoricae novae planetarum'' and Regiomontanus' ''Tabulae directionum'' and ''Ephemerides''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" />

He drew up tables for calculating the positions of [[heavenly body|heavenly bodies]]. In 1482 he wrote a ''Commentariolum super Theoricas novas'' — a commentary on Peuerbach's text, which was published in [[Milan]] in 1495.<ref name=":5">{{cite book |last=Dreyer |first=J. L. E. |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/A_History_of_Astronomy_from_Thales_to_Ke/mI0TxowaDVsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ellipse+albert+Brudzewo&pg=PA306&printsec=frontcover |title=A History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepler |date=1953-01-01 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-60079-6 |language=en |quote=First (about 1460) in Purbach’s ''Theoricce nova Planetarum'' (ed. of Basle, 1573, p. 82) : “''Ex dictis apparet manifeste, centrum epicycli Mercurij, propter motus supradictos non (ut in alijs planetis fit) circumferentiam deferentis circularem, sed potius figuras, habentis similitudinem cum plana ovali, peripheriam describere''.” Next by Albert of Brudzew in 1482 in his ''Commentariolum super theoricas novas'', printed at Milan in 1495 (ed. Cracow, 1900, p. 124), where it is remarked that the centre of the lunar epicycle describes a similar figure. This is also stated by E. Reinhold in his commentary to Purbach, 1542, fol. P 7 verso (ed. of Paris, 1558, fol. 78); by Vurstisius in his'' Questiones nova in theoricas'', &e., Basle, 1573, p. 233 ; and in Riccioli’s ''Almagestum novum'', T. i. p. 564. The last three writers (who give a figure) also take the equable angular motion round the centre of the equant into account, which centre lies on the point of the circumference of the small circle nearest the earth. The curve described by the centre of the epicycle thus becomes egg-shaped, and not like an ellipse.}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> Peuerbach noted that Mercury does not describes a perfect circle but an [[oval]]-shaped orbit. Brudzewski in his 1482 commentary remarks that the [[Moon]] follows a similar orbit, as it always shows its same side to the [[Earth]].<ref name=":5" /> As previously done by [[Sandivogius of Czechel]], Brudzewski added a secondary [[Deferent and epicycle|epicycle]] to explain the motion of the Moon.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Goddu |first=André |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Copernicus_and_the_Aristotelian_Traditio/iEjk13-1xSYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=orbit+of+moon+copernicus+albert+epicycles&pg=PA144&printsec=frontcover |title=Copernicus and the Aristotelian Tradition: Education, Reading, and Philosophy in Copernicus's Path to Heliocentrism |date=2010-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-18107-6 |language=en}}</ref>

Brudzewski also considered that the motion of the planets was influenced by the Sun as their source of power.<ref>{{cite book |last=Westman |first=Robert |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/The_Copernican_Question/F5_NDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=The+Copernican+Question+albert&pg=PA61&printsec=frontcover |title=The Copernican Question: Prognostication, Skepticism, and Celestial Order |date=2020-04-21 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-35569-9 |language=en}}</ref>

Other works include ''Introductorium Astronomorum Cracoviensium;Tabula resoluta Astronomic pro supputandis motibus corporum cœlestium'' and ''De Constructone Astrolabii.<ref name=":8" />''

=== Teaching ===
Brudzewski is also remembered as a remarkable teacher. [[Filippo Buonaccorsi]] (Callimachus) wrote in a letter:<ref name=":7" />
{{Quote|text=Everything created by the keen perceptions of [[Euclid|Euclides]] and [[Ptolemy|Ptolemaeus]], [Brudzewski] made a part of his intellectual property. All that remained deeply hidden to lay eyes, he knew how to set before the eyes of his pupils}}
At the Kraków Academy he impressed students by his extraordinary knowledge of literature, and taught mathematics and astronomy.<ref name=":3">{{cite journal |last=Mizwa |first=Stephen P. |date=1943 |title=Nicholas Copernicus |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40669774?seq=3 |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |volume=55 |issue=323 |pages=65–72 |issn=0004-6280}}</ref> From 1489 to 1491, German poet and [[Renaissance humanist]], [[Conrad Celtes]] traveled to Poland to meet and learn astrology from Brudzewski.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> They became friends and exchanged letters even after Celtes departure.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

Brudzewski lectured on arithmetic, optics, Peuerbach astronomy and [[Mashallah ibn Athari]] works.<ref name=":7" /> In 1490, he earned a bachelor in theology,<ref name=":7" /> and from then onwards he lectured only on [[Aristotle]]'s philosophy and his work [[On the Heavens|''On the Heavens'']].<ref name=":5" /> These lectures were attended by [[Nicolaus Copernicus#Education|Nicolaus Copernicus]], who enrolled at the academy from 1491 to 1495.<ref name=":3" /> It is possible that Brudzewski also discussed other topics with Copernicus privately.<ref name=":7" /> Cartographer and friend of Copernicus [[Bernard Wapowski]] also studied under Brudzewski.<ref name=":3" />

=== Depart to Vilnius ===
In 1494, Brudzewski left Krakow.<ref name=":5" /> In [[Vilnius]], he engaged as secretary at the service of the Grand Duke of Lithuania [[Aleksander Jagiellon]], who will later become [[List of Polish monarchs|King of Poland]] after the death of Brudzewki.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> It was in Vilnius that Albert wrote his treatise, ''Conciliator'', the original of which has not yet been found.{{Cn|date=March 2025}}

Albert of Brudzewo died in Vilnius circa 1497.

== Views and contributions ==
[[File:Wojciech Brudzewski monument 01.jpg|thumb|Statute of Albert Brudzewski in [[Brudzew, Turek County]]{{Efn|name=Brudzew}}]]

=== On Averroes ===
Brudzewski was seen as influential and persuasive astronomer, a fictionalist, and an opponent of Middle Ages [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] scholar [[Averroes]] (Ibn Rushd''')'''. Averroes disagreed with the majority of the astronomer [[Ptolemy]]'s work. He believed that Ptolemy's devices and principles disobeyed the fundamental principles and basic consequences of [[Aristotelian physics]]. Averroes worked to replace the Ptolemaic astronomical system with a novel system that was similar to a system created by [[Eudoxus of Cnidus|Eudoxus]]. Albert Brudzewski disagreed and criticized Averroes immediately. The major dispute was the figuring out the number of celestial orbs or spheres that lay in the heavens. Averroes refused to believe that there was a ninth sphere in the heavens. He believed that the creation of all celestial beings had to arise from the stars, but the ninth sphere did not possess any stars, so this could not be true. Albert Brudzewski argued with this and said that the heavens possessed more than ten spheres. He believed that the Sun itself had three spheres and the planets had their own as well.<ref name=":0" />

To make sense and clarify to his followers, Brudzewski said that the terms 'orb' or 'sphere' had three meanings of interpretation. The first meaning could be the whole entire heavens was designated into a single object which was the orb or sphere. This object was not separate from the whole heavens yet it could exist by itself. The second meaning he paralleled it to the sphere or orb from Peurbach's ''Theoricae novae planetarum'' although it was unconventional, it still existed in the heavens. The third meaning or clarification of orb was an orb that was aligned with the Earth. The third meaning was actually a collection of orbs that was crucial to the motion of a planet.<ref name=":0" />

Brudzewski further disputes Averroes by depending on the assumptions of Aristotle. He said that Aristotle demonstrated and verified five claims about the heavens that could disprove Averroes. The first claim was that the heavens was a simple being. The second claim was that because the heavens was a simple being, the motion of the being also had to be simple and uncomplicated. There could only be one motion and it had to follow the laws of nature. The third claim was that any motion that did not follow the laws of nature had to have an addition motion that did follow the laws of nature. The fourth claim was that a single sphere or orb could not be moved by several motions because it was a simple body. The fifth claim was that any superior or greater orb could have an impact on lesser orbs and spheres but the lesser orbs and spheres could not have any leverage on the superior's ones.<ref name=":0" />

To finally disprove Averroes, Brudzewski mentions the three recognizable motions of the sphere of fixed stars. The first motion was that the sphere possessed a daily rotation that occurred from the East to the West. The second motion was movement of the sphere in the opposition direction from West to East. The third motion was a cyclical motion that Brudzewski named [[trepidation]]. Brudzewski gave these three motions to the last three spheres respectively. With the assumptions of Aristotle as well as the motions of the sphere of the fixed stars, Brudzewski is able to prove that Averroes is wrong about the number of celestial spheres in the heavens.<ref name=":0" />

=== On the heavens and planetary motion ===
Albert Brudzewski was known as a fictionalist. He did not think that the motions of the heavens were understood by any human.<ref>{{cite book |last=Copernicus |first=Nicolaus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LH4tWpJzzCcC&q=Albert+Brudzewski&pg=PA3 |title=On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres |date=2010-08-27 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61592-082-2 |language=en}}</ref> [[Richard of Wallingford]], an astronomer in the 1300s, had an opposing view for the spheres of the planets. He claimed that no mortal knows whether eccentrics truly exist in the spheres of the planets, but spirits could give humans revelations about the true planetary motion of the heavens through mathematicians.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last=Barker |first=Peter |date=May 2013 |title=Albert of Brudzewo's Little Commentary on George Peurbach's 'Theoricae Novae Planetarum' |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002182861304400201 |journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=125–148 |doi=10.1177/002182861304400201 |bibcode=2013JHA....44..125B |s2cid=118730125 |issn=0021-8286}}</ref> This claim limits the astronomical knowledge of mortals and suggests that spirits do not have the same limitations. Brudzewski acknowledges the existence of these viewpoints but criticized their validity. To astronomers, spirits had an accurate knowledge of the number of celestial orbs. Although, he did not want to discredit the ability of mortals to make claims based on astronomical observations.Brudzewski made the claim for the fundamental principle of astrology that the heavens exert causal influences on the Earth.<ref name=":0" />

The paths of planets were thought to be moved by orbs instead of circles. This was a claim by Brudzeski about causal relationships between the planets and their motion. With this view, he disagreed with Averroes about the number of orbs, the concept of [[Deferent and epicycle|epicycles and eccentric circles]], and on theoretical orbs. Brudzewski was seen as a source for some of Copernicus's work on orbs, specifically with the [[Tusi couple]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Tusi couple ===
The Tusi couple was known as an epicycle arrangement that creates straight line motion of the planets, created by Copernicus.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Watson |first=A |date=1919 |title=Copernicus |journal=Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada |volume=13 |pages=264–282}}</ref> Some think that Brudzewski is the source for Copernicus's model of the Tusi couple. Albert does account for the moon and its double epicycles where he mentions a spot on the moon.<ref name=":0" /> The spot on the Moon is the problem of explaining the appearance of the face of the Moon when always viewing the Earth. These views were not aligned with the Tusi couple. Although, it is speculated that Copernicus could have encountered such a model, where the primary epicycle carries the center of a second epicycle. This is not the Tusi couple, but it could be slightly changed to match its model. The spot on the moon that is always viewed from the Earth would not appear if there was no epicyclical motion of the moon. The motion of the moon was termed as prosneusis motion which was part of the lunar theory. This motion means motion of inclination and turning, which corresponds to the single epicycle in Ptolemy's theory of the moon, and the two epicycles in Brudzewski's model.<ref name=":0" />

Brudzewski was aware of the possibility of linear motions from circular motions based on his model of Mercury's motion. This could be an alternative way that Copernicus generated his idea of linear motion for the Tusi couple. Although it seems that Copernicus used Albert's ideas, he highly relied on Islamic sources for the Tusi couple. Copernicus's parameters for the moon are exactly the same as those of [[Ibn al-Shatir]]. It is unclear where Copernicus truly got his ideas.<ref name=":0" />

=== On philosophy ===
Brudzewski was [[Nominalism|nominalist]], but defended [[humanism]].<ref name=":7" /> Along with Cracow Academy, Brudzewski sided with the advocates of [[philosophical realism]] in the defense of [[scholasticism]].<ref name=":7" />

==In popular culture==
A fictionalized version of Albert Brudzewski is the protagonist of the final part of the 2020 [[manga]] series ''[[Orb: On the Movements of the Earth]]'', which was adapted into an anime in 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dennison |first=Kara |date=February 25, 2025 |title=Orb: On the Movements of the Earth Anime Casts Shoya Ishige |url=https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2025/2/25/orb-on-the-movements-of-the-earth-anime-casts-shoya-ishige |work=Crunchy Roll News}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Further references ===
* "Brudzewski, Wojciech, [or] Wojciech z Brudzewa," ''Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN'' (PWN Universal Encyclopedia), [[Warsaw]], [[Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe]], 1973, vol. 1, p.&nbsp;353.
* M. Iłowiecki, ''Dzieje nauki polskiej'' (History of Polish Science), Warsaw, 1981.
* Zbigniew Lenartowicz, ''Kaliszanie w Warszawie'' (Kaliszians in Warsaw), no. 32/33, 2002.
* [[Józef Retinger]], ''Polacy w cywilizacjach świata'' (Poles in the World's Civilizations), Warsaw, 1937.
* Tadeusz Rójek, ''Sławni i nieznani'' (The Famous and the Unknown).
* [[Michela Malpangotto]], ''La critique de l'univers de Peurbach développée par Albert de Brudzewo a-t-elle influencé Copernic ? Un nouveau regard sur les réflexions astronomiques au XVe siècle'', Almagest, 41/1, 2013, pp.&nbsp;1–47.
* [[Michela Malpangotto]], ''The original motivation for Copernicus' research: Albert of Brudzewo's Commentariolum super Theoricas novas Georgii Purbachii'', Archive for History of Exact Sciences, 70/4, 2016, pp.&nbsp;361–411.
* [[Michela Malpangotto]], ''Theoricae novae planetarum Georgii Peurbachii dans l'histoire de l'astronomie — Sources — Édition critique avec traduction française — Commentaire technique — Diffusion du XVe au XVIIe siècle'', Paris, CNRS Éditions, 2020.

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/research/collections/polish/index.shtml Adler Planetarium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928142525/http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/research/collections/polish/index.shtml |date=2007-09-28 }}
*(https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222403/http://www.info.kalisz.pl/Biograf/Wojciechzb.htm) Biographical note on Wojciech of Brudzewo

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brudzewski, Albert}}
[[Category:1440s births]]
[[Category:1497 deaths]]
[[Category:Jagiellonian University alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Jagiellonian University]]
[[Category:15th-century Polish astronomers]]
[[Category:Medieval Polish mathematicians]]
[[Category:Diplomats of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:Polish Renaissance humanists]]
[[Category:Polish Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Scholars of ancient Greek philosophy]]
[[Category:15th-century writers in Latin]]
[[Category:15th-century Polish philosophers]]