Medieval History
In 2010, Tycho Brahe was exhumed from his grave in Prague, an event which received extensive international media coverage. Since then, a Danish-Czech team of researchers has been working to elucidate the cause of Tycho Brahe?s death. The results of this intensive work now make it possible to rule out mercury poisoning as a cause of death.
For over four hundred years, Tycho Brahe?s untimely death has been a mystery. He died on 24 October 1601 only eleven days after the onset of a sudden illness. Over the centuries, a variety of myths and theories about his death have arisen.
One of the most persistent theories has been that he died of mercury poisoning, either because he voluntarily ingested large quantities of mercury for medicinal purposes, or because mercury was used to poison him. Rumours of death by poisoning arose shortly after Tycho Brahe?s death.
Brahe?s famous assistant Johannes Kepler has been identified as a possible murder suspect, and other candidates have been singled out for suspicion throughout the years, according to Dr Jens Vellev, an archaeologist at Aarhus University in Denmark who is heading the research project.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
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Medieval History
Tycho Brahe was not killed by mercury poisoning, tests reveal
In 2010, Tycho Brahe was exhumed from his grave in Prague, an event which received extensive international media coverage. Since then, a Danish-Czech team of researchers has been working to elucidate the cause of Tycho Brahe?s death. The results of this intensive work now make it possible to rule out mercury poisoning as a cause of death.
For over four hundred years, Tycho Brahe?s untimely death has been a mystery. He died on 24 October 1601 only eleven days after the onset of a sudden illness. Over the centuries, a variety of myths and theories about his death have arisen.
One of the most persistent theories has been that he died of mercury poisoning, either because he voluntarily ingested large quantities of mercury for medicinal purposes, or because mercury was used to poison him. Rumours of death by poisoning arose shortly after Tycho Brahe?s death.
Brahe?s famous assistant Johannes Kepler has been identified as a possible murder suspect, and other candidates have been singled out for suspicion throughout the years, according to Dr Jens Vellev, an archaeologist at Aarhus University in Denmark who is heading the research project.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
- Hunting For A Mass Killer In Medieval Graveyards
Beneath the Royal Mint Court, diagonally across the street from the Tower of London, lie 1,800 mute witnesses to the foresight of the city fathers in the year 1348. Recognizing that the Black Death then scourging Europe would inevitably reach London,...
- Researchers Discover Original Bacteria Of The Black Death
The bacteria responsible for causing the 1348 Black Death, identified as one of the most cataclysmic events in human history, has been identified by researchers from Canada and Germany. Using a novel method of DNA enrichment coupled with high-throughput...
- Rare Collection Of Medieval Coins Is To Be Auctioned Off
A hoard of medieval coins is due to go under the hammer at Lichfield Auction Centre next month. The "extremely fine collection" of gold and silver coins was discovered on one of Richard Winterton Auctioneers' valuation days last week. "It is the best...
- I Am A Viking! Dna Test Reveals Shock Result For Leicestershire Villager
Little did village heritage warden Wayne Coleman realise what a simple DNA test would reveal about his family. He had just wanted to help build up a picture of the history of his home village of Kibworth Beauchamp. For hundreds of years the Coleman family...
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Expert unveils 'pre-history' of emoticons Scientists measure mercury level in human bones from medieval times The sleepy port of Dunwich is about to yield its secrets Contest saved by the Silver Bell New Research Refutes Myth Of Pure Scandinavian...