Niklas Koppernigk Sr.

Niklas Koppernigk (the elder) (* before 1454, † around 1483 ) was a merchant and Schöppe in the then Hanseatic city of Thorn (Toruń). His youngest son, who had the same name, chose the Latinized spelling Nicolaus Copernicus as canon and astronomer .

It is believed that his ancestors came from Koprnik, later Köppernig, today Koperniki in Upper Silesia . The merchant family was widely ramified, and before Niklas moved to Thorn, there were Thorner citizens of that name. Born around 1420 (exact year and place of birth are not known), he appears in documents to live in Krakow , a Hanseatic city that was also administered in German at the time . There he was such an important citizen that he acted as an intermediary when in 1454 a delegation from the Prussian Federation paid 1000 gold florins to Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki from Kraków . He earned his living as a wholesaler, including copper, and was already active there in trade long before he moved to Prussia. In Thorn he inherited, bought and sold houses and often appeared as a representative in court cases, as many documents from the city of Thorn attest. From a document in the city of Krakow it emerges that "niclos koppirnik has vowed to set up in the awsczurichten vor hgtir bang czu thorn from the same kingdom korssner eyn quittan ... so sal her martin Belze deprived of niclas Koppernicks because of sulche XVIII gold ...".

Four years later, in 1458, he is mentioned in Danzig files as an authorized citizen of the Hanseatic city of Thorn . The exact date of Niklas Koppernigk's marriage to Barbara Watzenrode (or Watzelrode), daughter of an old resident patrician family , is not exactly known. From a document about the inheritance dispute after his death it can be seen that the marriage had already been concluded in the spring of 1464. In 1464 Koppernigk inherited from his father-in-law, along with other properties, the vineyard at the monastery, which had been bought by Albert Watzenrode in 1425 and brought considerable income.

In 1465 the merchant Koppernigk was elected to the Schöppenstuhl in the old town of Thorner. Leopold Prowe , biographer of the astronomer Copernicus, pointed out that this choice was only possible as soon after his arrival because he had married into the local patrician family Watzenrode.

The couple Koppernigk had four children Andreas, Barbara, Katharina and in 1473 Niklas (junior). Niklas Koppernigk was with his family in the third order of St. Dominic added. Andreas also became canon in Frauenburg, he always signed Andreas Coppernigk , but used AK as a seal

From 1483 Niklas Koppernigk is no longer mentioned in the Schöppen books. From this one deduces the year of death.

Individual evidence

↑ This form of name is given in numerous sources. Examples: hits in the Google book search
↑ German was certainly in common use in its two main dialects, Low and Upper German. The latter was not only used by entrepreneurs. It is assumed that in the years 1480-1489 in Kraków 36% of the population with municipal rights belonged to the German-speaking group, in the years 1490-1499 it was 34%, 1500/01 24% and in the years 1513-1602 22% ( overall in the years 1507–1611 an average of 23%). According to an approximate calculation, the German population in Krakow in the 14th century was about 3,500 people (the Polish numbered about 5,000 people) and thus made up about 35% of the total population. The analysis of first names, which appear in the books of the city council at the beginning of the 16th century, leads to similar results. ... One used either the Latin (41% entries) or the German language (59% entries). … In 1532 King Sigismund I decided that the councilors of the city of Krakow had to speak both languages - Polish and German - Henryk Samsonowicz : Social plurality and interaction in Krakow ( p. 121–122 ) in: Marina Dmitrieva, Karen Lambrecht (Ed.): Krakow, Prague and Vienna: Functions of Metropolises in the Early Modern State , Franz Steiner Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-515-07792-8 , ISBN 978-3-51507-792-7 .
^ Balthasar-Behem-Codex , the code of the Krakow citizens
^ Leopold Prowe: Coppernicus , Vol. 2, p. 466.
^ Copernicus biography by Leopold Prowe, Volume 1, p. 344: "Niclas Kopernig mitburger von Thorun in full enough power before cherished things czu Dantzke gemechtiget."
^ Franz Hipler : Spicilegium copernicanum. Festschrift of the historical association for Warmia for the four hundredth . Peter, Braunsberg 1873, p. 298; Ludwig Birkenmajer: Nicolaus Copernicus and the German order of knights . Society of Book Friends, Cracow 1937, pp. 20, 22; Leopold Prowe : Nicolaus Coppernicus . Second volume: certificates . Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1884, pp. 467–468; Ignatius Polkowski: Zywot Mikolaja Kopernika , Gniezno 1873, p. 95.

personal data
SURNAME	Koppernigk, Niklas sen.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Niklas Koppernigk (the elder)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Father of Nicolaus Copernicus
DATE OF BIRTH	before 1454
PLACE OF BIRTH	Krakow
DATE OF DEATH	around 1483

[1] This form of name is given in numerous sources. Examples: hits in the Google book search

[2] German was certainly in common use in its two main dialects, Low and Upper German. The latter was not only used by entrepreneurs. It is assumed that in the years 1480-1489 in Kraków 36% of the population with municipal rights belonged to the German-speaking group, in the years 1490-1499 it was 34%, 1500/01 24% and in the years 1513-1602 22% ( overall in the years 1507–1611 an average of 23%). According to an approximate calculation, the German population in Krakow in the 14th century was about 3,500 people (the Polish numbered about 5,000 people) and thus made up about 35% of the total population. The analysis of first names, which appear in the books of the city council at the beginning of the 16th century, leads to similar results. ... One used either the Latin (41% entries) or the German language (59% entries). … In 1532 King Sigismund I decided that the councilors of the city of Krakow had to speak both languages - Polish and German - Henryk Samsonowicz : Social plurality and interaction in Krakow ( p. 121–122 ) in: Marina Dmitrieva, Karen Lambrecht (Ed.): Krakow, Prague and Vienna: Functions of Metropolises in the Early Modern State , Franz Steiner Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-515-07792-8 , ISBN 978-3-51507-792-7 .

[3] Balthasar-Behem-Codex , the code of the Krakow citizens

[4] Leopold Prowe: Coppernicus , Vol. 2, p. 466.

[5] Copernicus biography by Leopold Prowe, Volume 1, p. 344: "Niclas Kopernig mitburger von Thorun in full enough power before cherished things czu Dantzke gemechtiget."

[6] Franz Hipler : Spicilegium copernicanum. Festschrift of the historical association for Warmia for the four hundredth . Peter, Braunsberg 1873, p. 298; Ludwig Birkenmajer: Nicolaus Copernicus and the German order of knights . Society of Book Friends, Cracow 1937, pp. 20, 22; Leopold Prowe : Nicolaus Coppernicus . Second volume: certificates . Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1884, pp. 467–468; Ignatius Polkowski: Zywot Mikolaja Kopernika , Gniezno 1873, p. 95.