Johannes Andrä von Königgrätz

Johannes Andrä von Königgrätz or (Johann Andreae) Schindel (also Ioannes Andreae de Praga, Johannes von Prag and Johannes Sindel ), Czech Jan Ondřejův Šindel or Jan z Prahy (* around 1375 in Hradec Králové , German Königgrätz; † 1456 in Prague , according to other sources 1443 or 1449), was a Czech mathematician , astronomer and doctor .

Life

In the winter semester of 1395, Schindel began studying Artes at the University of Prague , which he completed in 1399 with the examination to become a master of the arts ( Magister artium ). He then studied medicine, probably also in Prague. In 1406 he was rector of the parish school of St. Niklas in Prague, after which he taught mathematics and astronomy in Vienna. In 1409 Schindel returned to the University of Prague as a professor and became King Wenceslas IV's personal physician. In the following year he became rector of the university. As a professor he taught medicine and astronomy in Prague. In the meantime he also received some ecclesiastical dignities, including becoming canon of St. Vitus Cathedral and dean of the chapter on Vyšehrad . However , he was not interested in the moving times of the Hussites . He wrote some of his works in Olomouc before returning to Prague.

Works

The humanist and later Pope Pius II counted Schindel to the great scholars of his time. He attracted a lot of attention with his lectures on the Almagest of Ptolemy . He wrote a few treatises in the field of astronomy and medicine, but these have not been preserved. The star tables he wrote were still used by Tycho Brahe towards the end of the 16th century. Schindel was also a legal scholar in both secular and canon law. Martin Lupáč and Daniel Adam z Veleslavína used his lost writings as the basis for their work.

One work in which he was significantly involved is still in operation today: it is the astronomical clock (orloj) on Prague's Old Town Square . Schindel carried out the calculations necessary for construction in 1410 and designed the appearance of the clock.

See also : List of Rectors of Charles University .

literature

• Quido Vetter: Dějiny matematických věd v českých zemích od založení university v r. 1348 až do r. 1620. In: Sborník pro dejiny prírodnich ved a techniky. ZDB -ID 439692-3 , Vol. 4, 1958, pp. 80-95, especially p. 82 f.
• Luboš Nový: Dějiny exactních věd v českých zemích do konce 19. století . Nakladatelství Československé Akademie věd, Prague 1961.
• Alena Šolcová: Mistr Jan Šindel - pravděpodobný tvůrce matematického modelu pražského orloje. In: Pokroky matematiky, fyziky a astronomie. Vol. 54 (2009), No. 4, 307-317 (on- line ).
• Bernhard Schnell : Sindel (Syndel, Schindel), Johannes. In: Author's Lexicon . 2nd ed., Col. 1276 f.
• Wolfgang Wegner: Sindel, Johannes. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1337.