Page:Tycho brahe.djvu/250

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226
TYCHO BRAHE.

At the same time (11th January) Tycho wrote to the Rector of the University, and requested a statement from him and the professors to prevent Gellius from throwing all the blame on him and his daughter. This led to an agreement being drawn up five days later between the parties, which was signed and sealed by the rector and four professors,[1] and Tycho now seemed content. But the affair had of course been talked about, and Gellius continued his attempts to place himself in the best possible light. Tycho in the end got tired of this, and in February 1596 he again requested the University to investigate the whole affair, and let all documents laid before the academic senate by himself or his adversary be registered by the notary.[2] About the same time he drew up a list of all the accusations of Gellius,[3] and invited him to prove them before the professors. Gellius made several attempts to prevent further proceedings, but failed to do so, and formal conferences before the academic senate were commenced on the 25th February. They were continued off and on till the month of July, when everybody was probably so thoroughly sick of the wearisome twaddle, which could not lead to anything, that the matter was allowed to drop. The details of the proceedings[4] give scarcely any information about the origin of the quarrel, but it can hardly be doubted that Gellius would not have dared to trifle with Tycho and his daughter if he had not seen how unpopular his former master had become;

  1. Alluded to in Danske Magazin, ii. p. 292 (Weistritz, ii. p. 250), as a "contract;" it does not seem to be in existence now.
  2. On the 5th February 1596, Tycho had procured a royal order to the Chapter of Lund to judge the matter, as Gellius had obtained a medical appointment in Scania, and therefore in matrimonial matters was under the jurisdiction of the said Chapter; but it is not known what action the Chapter took.
  3. Printed in Danske Magazin, ii. p. 286 (Weistritz, ii. p. 239). The charges of Gellius relate to the demands that he should stay at Hveen, keep his wife in fine clothes, &c.
  4. Danske Magazin, ii. pp. 291–307 (Weistritz, ii. pp. 248–281).