Astron. Nachr./AN 325, Suppl. Issue 1, 65–75 (2004) / DOI 10.1002/asna.200485068 Colloquium: History of Astronomy H Astronomy in and around Prague Contributed Talks: H 01 . . . 14 Chairpeople: GUDRUN WOLFSCHMIDT, Hamburg P ETER B ROSCHE, Hoher List MARTIN Š OLC, Prague Related poster: P 69 Astronomy in medieval Prague H 01 ALENA HADRAVOVÁ 1 and PETR HADRAVA 2 1 Research Center for the History of Sciences and Humanities, Legerova 61, 120 00 Prague, Czech Republic 2 Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences, 251 65 Ondˇ rejov, Czech Republic had@sunstel.asu.cas.cz Astronomy ranked among the septem artes liberales which achieved high level at the University of Prague already soon after its foundation by the Emperor Charles IV in 1348. Astronomy was taught at the artistic faculty and was thus an obligatory introduction to later study either at faculty of medicine, laws or theology. There were studied treatises by ancient authors – Ptolemy, Euclid, Aristotle, Boëthius, Macrobius; Arabic authors and commentators – Alkabicius, Albategnius, Alfraganus, Hally, Masha’allah, Thabit ibn Qurra, as well as Christian authors and translators – Gerard of Cremona, Iohannes Campanus of Novara, Iohannes de Sacrobosco, Iohannes de Lineriis and others. The treatises were devoted to different aspects of astrology, mathematics and geometry, theoretical astronomy but also to the construction and use of astronomical instruments. Especially the understanding of quadrant and astrolabe belonged to general education and these instruments were also widely used in practice. Emperor Charles IV used a subtle cosmological symbolics to point out the uniqueness of the royal majesty, as it can be seen in his architecture (e.g. on the Old Town Tower of Charles’ Bridge). He also highly esteemed scholars like Master Claretus de Solentia (Bartholomaeus of Chlumec, c. 1320–1370), who composed a didactic work Astronomicus in the form of leonine hexameter on Charles’ order in about 1350. The Czech King Wenceslas IV inherited from his father Charles IV a deep interest in sciences, especially in the astronomy: his collection of astronomical manuscripts is well known (cf. so called ‘astronomical codices of Wenceslas IV’, preserved in Viennese Österreichisches National Bibliothek and in National Library in Munich). In one of them can be seen also the first known portrait of some otherwise poorly known Czech court astronomer, called Tˇ eˇ ríško in Old Czech language; probably he was astronomer of the King Wenceslas IV. At the beginning of the 15th century, Masters Cristannus of Prachatice and Johannes Andreae called Šindel were very influential astronomers in Prague University (their impact on Johannes von Gmunden, the predecessor of Viennese astronomical school, is known now). Cristannus’ Construction and Use of the astrolabe was published (Kˇ rištan z Prachatic, Stavba a Užití astrolábu. – Cristannus de Prachaticz, Composition and Use of the Astrolabe. Edd. A. Hadravová and P. Hadrava. Praha, Filosofia 2001. – With English summary). It is prooved, that just these Cristannus’ texts written in 1407 on the basis of Pseudo-Masha’allah’s treatises were published as the first famous incunabulum on astrolabe in Perugia 1478. It was scarcely a mere chance that only three years later, in 1410 (as it was established by Zdenˇ ek Horský), another fellow of the Charles University, Master Iohannes Šindel together with the clockmaker Nicolaus of Kadaˇ n finished the famous Astronomical Clock of Prague, which is in fact a clock-driven astrolabe. Iohannes Šindel worked not only in Prague, but also in Germany, in Nuremberg, and especially in Vienna and Klosterneuburg near Vienna, c 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim