Court astronomer

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Until a few centuries ago there were court astronomers at almost all royal and imperial courts, but also at the courts of other princes and many higher nobility.

As a rule, they acted as advisors and teachers , often also as astrologers - which in pre-Christian times was almost always linked to astronomy . With scientifically interested rulers, a court astronomer - who was also sometimes a court mathematician - often had a politically or culturally very demanding task.

In ancient China and Babylonia , astronomy was very important from an early age. In addition, there was the Chaldean class in Mesopotamia and Persia , who represented a mixture of astronomer, meteorologist or astrologer, and in some cases were also priests . It is widely believed that the biblical account of the Star of Bethlehem is based on such people.

In China , on the other hand, astronomy was hardly linked to religion. The court astronomers had to calculate the calendar and watch the sky for conspicuous phenomena. For important actions of the emperor they had to think about the “right moment” - what the Greeks called “ kairos ” in the sense of emotional intelligence .

In later times - especially in the Age of Discovery from around 1350 - many court astronomers dealt with navigation (by no means only with their astronomical part), with the precalculation of planetary orbits or with the creation of world maps . The creation of many pairs of earth and celestial globes is also due to the work of many court mathematicians or astronomers, because the connection between astronomical and geographical data and calculations on globes with the same radius was particularly safe, quick and economical - not to mention the demands of the Aesthetics or art.

In some areas, the position of former court astronomers can be compared with that of today's government advisors or the chairmen of government-related commissions. In modern times , they were often university lecturers and / or members of the respective academy . In England , the respective director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory was also court astronomer with the title Astronomer Royal .

In some early advanced civilizations there was the status of priest astronomers, which in some respects corresponded to that of court astronomers.

Well-known court astronomers

In the Orient and in China

In Europe

England: Astronomer Royal Scotland: Astronomer Royal for Scotland

Individuals (chronologically):