derived from the rents of the island by an annual payment of about £100. Tycho paid his first visit to the island in May, soon set to work building, and had already begun to make regular observations in his new house before the end of the year.
The buildings were as remarkable for their magnificence as for their scientific utility. Tycho never forgot that he was a Danish nobleman as well as an astronomer, and built in a manner suitable to his rank.[1] His chief building (fig. 51), called Uraniborg (the Castle of the Heavens), was in the middle of a large square enclosure, laid out as a garden, the corners of which pointed North, East, South, and West, and contained several observatories, a library and laboratory, in addition to living rooms. Subsequently, when the number of pupils and assistants who came to him had increased, he erected (1584) a second building, Stjerneborg (Star Castle), which was remarkable for having underground observatories. The convenience of being able to carry out all necessary work on his own premises induced him moreover to establish workshops, where nearly all his instruments were made, and afterwards also a printing press and paper mill. Both at Uraniborg and Stjerneborg not only the rooms, but even the instruments which were gradually constructed, were elaborately painted or otherwise ornamented.
102. The expenses of the establishment must have been enormous, particularly as Tycho lived in magnificent style and probably paid little attention to economy. His income was derived from various sources, and fluctuated from time to time, as the King did not merely make him a fixed annual payment, but added also temporary grants of lands or money. Amongst other benefactions he received in 1579 one of the canonries of the cathedral of Roskilde, the endowments of which had been practically secularised at the Reformation. Unfortunately most of his property was held on tenures which involved corresponding obligations, and as he combined the irritability of a genius with the haughtiness of a mediaeval nobleman, continual quarrels were the result. Very soon after his arrival at
- ↑ He even did not forget to provide one of the most necessary parts of a mediæval castle, a prison!
