Curated playlist
16th-century writers in Latin
- Nicolaus CopernicusThe first attacks on Copernicus came from Protestants, not the Catholic Church.
- James VI and IJames VI and I was already a king at thirteen months old. His mother was forced out and his father was murdered.
- Johannes KeplerJohannes Kepler refused to accept a Mars orbit that was off by eight arcminutes. An ellipse finally fit.
- Martin LutherMartin Luther married a nun who had been smuggled out of her convent in herring barrels.
- Thomas MoreThomas More taught his daughters Greek when almost no one did. He also approved burning heretics.
- John FoxeJohn Foxe wrote a bestseller in 1563 and stayed as poor as ever. Publishing paid authors no royalties then.
- Francis BaconFrancis Bacon may have died after stuffing a hen with snow. He wanted to test if cold could preserve meat like salt.
- Carolus ClusiusCarolus Clusius saw tulips suddenly grow flame patterns and called it "breaking."
- ErasmusErasmus, born to a priest and orphaned by plague, became the most read author of his age.
- William CamdenIn 2023, imaging revealed passages William Camden had covered up in his history of Elizabeth.
- Olaus MagnusA 1539 map full of sea monsters turned out to show real ocean currents. Its maker was the exiled priest Olaus Magnus.
- Andreas VesaliusAndreas Vesalius, at 28, published a book showing that Galen had mostly described animal insides.
- Conrad CeltesHistorian Richard Unger calls Conrad Celtes a large-scale book thief. Celtes called it protecting German heritage.
- Joachim du BellayA lead coffin found under Notre-Dame may hold poet Joachim du Bellay. Bone tests point to western France, not his home.
- Tycho BraheTycho Brahe lost the bridge of his nose in a sword duel over who was the better mathematician.
- Jan KochanowskiA skull kept in a Warsaw museum as poet Jan Kochanowski's was not his.
- Juan Luis VivesJuan Luis Vives wrote the first Western tract arguing that the state must help the urban poor.