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Jean Tarde

Jean Tarde was a 15th century Renaissance man with reaches across various disciplines including: astronomy, archeology, mathematics, cartography, philosophy, and history. Born in either 1561 or 1562 (his exact birth date is unknown) in a small commune in La Roque-Gageac along the southwest of France, Jean Tarde is noted as being one of the great Perigordian figures (Tronel, 2016). Tarde belonged to the family of Sarlat which was separated into two divisions; the sieurs du Pont, and the sieurs de Lisle. Tarde claimed the first of the two branches (Tronel, 2016). While not much is known about the parents of Jean Tarde, directly, we do know he came from a well-off lineage whose following members all obtained high ranking positions in society (Westfall, 1995). Tarde received a doctorate in law from the University of Cahors in the south of France. He continued his education at the Sorbonne in Paris (Heller, 2002).

Cartography

In 1594, the bishop of Sarlat requested that Jean Tarde create a map of the diocese that displayed the effects of the Wars of Religion on the area (Lewis, 2006). In 1606, Tarde took on the challenge of completing a topographical survey of the diocese of Cahors which he used to comprise a map and geographical description of the area (Tronel, 2016). Tarde skillfully used a small quadrant equipped with a compass needle that was attached to a sundial to conduct this ground-breaking survey (Heller, 2002). In 1619, Jean Tarde began working on a different map, only this time it was of the city of Sarlat. This map was not completed until 1621, but the map displayed a much-improved technique and product which he fine-tuned during a prior trip to Rome with his bishop Louis de Salignac (Tronel, 2016). Later in 1621, Jean Tarde wrote a book titled The Uses of the Quadrant with Aymantled Esu divided into two books where he explained the services that can be made by the compass as a solar watch, as a tool of the geographer or engineer (Tronel, 2016).

Sunspots

Around 1620 Jean Tarde made a trip to Italy with a major influencer of his, Galileo Galilei. During this trip Tarde recorded their conversations in what was later published under the title Les astres de Bourdon (Heller, 2002). In this writing, Jean Tarde talks about one of his pivotal points in that sunspots were actually planetary bodies that orbited the Sun (Heller, 2002). Tarde named these orbiting bodies the Bourbon Stars in hopes of flattering the royal dynasty, at the time, and gaining a pension (Baumgartner, 1987). He dedicated the work to Louis XIII in hopes of flattering him in a much similar manner as Galileo did when he named the moons of Jupiter for the Duke of Tuscany (Baumgartner, 1987). Tarde’s claim of sunspots was met with serious opposition. Among the opposing theories were questions attacking the validity of the dark spots on the Sun as being a reliable sense perception. There were also many heated debates over who originally discovered the spots. The third dispute arose over the nature of the spots if the telescopic data were to be accepted as real (Baumgartner, 1987). The third question is of extreme importance because placing the spots on the Sun would violate one of the fundamental principles of ancient cosmology. That being, the Sun was a perfectly unblemished sphere (Baumgartner, 1987). Jean Tarde’s exquisite activities as a cartographer play a major part in his role as an astronomer. His extensive cartography skills showed that he was a capable geometer, skilled in drawing and draughting, and interested in new devices to aid visual perception (Baumgartner, 1987). Jean Tarde was an avid supporter of the validity of telescopic data, and like Galileo, he rejected the hypothesis that the sunspots were simply illusions or that they were located in the Earth’s atmosphere. In an attempt to explain what exactly these spots were, Jean Tarde took detailed records of their characteristics and upon evaluating his evidence he concluded the sunspots were actually small planets that circled the Sun within Mercury’s orbit (Baumgartner, 1987).

Religion

Jean Tarde was an ordained priest of the Catholic church. As a priest, Tarde was assigned to the parish of Carves, near Belves. Tarde was first parish priest of Saint-Cernin-de-I’Herm, canon of the collegiate church Monpazier and designated vicar general. In 1592, he developed a book called Nomina Christi substantiva. The booklet revolved around the many different names of Christ, and lists 57 of them as links between God and man (Tronel, 2016). He later became canon theologian of the cathedral church of Sarlat. Henry IV appointed Jean Tarde his Almoner, which designated Tarde a hefty compensation (Westfall, 1995). In 1599, Jean Tarde was appointed Ordinary Chaplain to Henry IV and this acknowledgement gave him the opportunity to introduce modern astronomy to the courts. In 1616, Tarde became the theological chamoine of the cathedral of Sarlat. In 1629, he was given the title of “adviser of the king in the election of Sarlat. This was a hereditary position that Jean Tarde kept until the Revolution in 1792 (Tronel, 2016).

References

Baumgartner, Fredrick J. "Sunspots or Sun's Planets: Jean Tarde and the Sunspot Controversy of the Early Seventeenth Century." Sage Journals, 1 Feb. 1987.

Heller, Henry. "Labour, Science and Technology in France, 1500-1620." Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Lewis, John Michael. "Galileo in France: French Reactions to the Theories and Trial of Galileo." Peter Lang, 2006.

Tronel, J.F. "Jean Tarde, Un Savant Humaniste De Renom.” Esprit De Pays Dordogne-Périgord, 13 Sept. 2017.

Westfall, Richard S. “The Galileo Project.” The Galileo Project | Biography | Pendulum, 1995.