Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
Danish Astronomer

[ The above is a copyrighted picture reproduced here by permission:  © 2006 Jochen Wilke. ]

Sable,  a pale Argent.
Crest:   A peacock feather between two horns Sable a fess Argent,
each bearing four peacock feathers [fesswise].

In this famous portrait, Tycho Brahe is surrounded by the arms of his ancestors,
among whom some have noticed the names of   Rosenkrans  and  Gyldenstern,
two characters (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern) in the Tragedy of Hamlet, prince
of Denmark,  which  Shakespeare  wrote around 1601   (the year Brahe died).

	Rosenkrantz
	Gyldenstierne

The relevant ancestors of Tycho Brahe  (ahnentafels #22 and #23) can be identified as  Erik Rosenkrantz (1427-1503)  and  Sophie Gyldenstierne (+1477),  parents of  Kirstine Rosenkrantz  (+1509),  the maternal grandmother of Tycho's mother, Beate Bille (1526-1605).

It seems most likely that the two famous Shakespearean characters were modeled after an inseparable pair of vocal students from the University of Wittenberg (founded 1502),  Knud Gyldenstierne  and  Frederick Rosenkrantz, who visited England and Scotland in 1592, as part of the Danish legation.  Both, like Brahe, were from the close-knit Danish nobility. Not too surprisingly, the three men were relatives.  Frederick Rosenkrantz is presented as a third cousin of Tycho Brahe's.  He returned to London in 1600  (after visiting Tycho in Prague and traveling with Kepler)  just as  Hamlet  was being written...  This piece of trivia keeps popping up on the Internet and elsewhere, with various  elements  of the above "explanation" and/or other speculations:

• 1996:  Klaus Ole Kristiansen.
• 1997:  Peter D. Usher  (press release).  1999 follow-up.
• 2001:  David P. Stern  (quoting Ferguson about the 1592 historical pair).
• 2003:  New Shakespeare Fellowship.  Bassanio (quoting Jim Swank).
• Etc.

Weirdly, the page you're now reading appeared almost simultaneously (October 1, 2006) in  3  independent  new links about the issue.  Within 3 days, we had acknowledged all of those, here.  A funny  thermal equilibrium  about reciprocal credits was even quickly reached with the thread started by Baez  (without  private contacts). 

• 2006:  Zeborah Fitchett, Tim Silverman, Brian M. Scott (quoting this page).
• 2006:  John Baez (picture link, quote of Eric Altschuler), Tim Silverman.
• 2006:  Banubula (a former study partner of Eric Altschuler at Harvard).

The above portrait was engraved in copper in Amsterdam in 1586, and was used extensively by Tycho Brahe in his own publicity...  In 1590, Tycho sent 4 copies of it  (along with 2 copies of his 1588 book) to a prominent member of Merton College, namely:  Thomas Savile (d. 1593) brother of the warden of the College, Sir Henry Savile (1549-1622).

Tycho Brahe was apparently craving for English epigrams  and he suggested that some  excellent  English poets might compose them to praise him and his work...  Tycho asked Savile to be remembered to the mathematician John Dee (1527-1609)  and also to Dee's pupil  Thomas Digges (1546-1595).

Back in 1938, the renowned Shakespeare researcher  Leslie Hotson  argued that Shakespeare obtained much of his knowledge of Science from Thomas Digges and might have learned of Tycho Brahe (and the above portrait) through Digges.

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