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Michael Maestlin Rough Draft

Family Life

Maestlin was born in 1550 in Göppingen, a small town in Southern Germany, about 50 kilometers east of Tübingen. The son of Jakob Maestlin and Dorothea Simon, Michael Maestlin was born into a Protestant family (Jarrell 10). Maestlin had an older sister named Elisabeth and a younger brother named Matthäus. The original family name of the Maestlin was Leckher or Legecker and they lived in the village of Boll, just a few kilometers south of Göppingen (Decker 103). In his autobiography, Maestlin recounts how the family name of Legecker became Mästlin (Decker 103). He claims that one of his ancestors was given this as a nickname when an old blind woman touched him and exclaimed “Wie bist du doch so mast und feist! Du bist ein rechter Mästlin!” This roughly translates to “How are you so large and plump? You rightly are a fatso! (103-4).

Maestlin married Margarete Grüniger on April 9, 1577 (Jarrell 31). There is little information on his children from this marriage. However, it is known that he had at least three sons, Ludwig, Michael and Johann Georg, and at least three daughters, Margareta, Dorothea Ursula and Anna Maria. In 1588, Margarete died at the age of 37, potentially due to complications from child birth (Jarrell 33). This untimely death left several children under Maestlin’s care and could have influenced his decision to remarry the following year. In 1589, Maestlin married Margarete Burkhardt. Maestlin and Burkhardt had eight children together. In a 1589 letter to Johannes Kepler, Maestlin recounts how the death of his month-old son, August, deeply troubled him (Jarrell 35).

Education

In 1565, when Michael was around 15 years old, he was sent to the nearby Klosterschule in Königbronn (Jarell 13). In 1567, Michael was transferred to a similar school in Herrenalb (Steiff 50). Upon finishing his education at Herrenalb, Maestlin enrolled in university. On December 3, 1568, Maestlin matriculated into the University of Tübingen (Jarell 14; Die Matrikeln 487). He obtained his Baccalaureate in 1569 and his Master’s degree in 1571 (Jarrell 19).

{Still looking for a source about Maestlin and his mentor Philipp Apian to include more information under education}

In 1584, Maestlin was named Professor of Mathematics at Tübingen. He was elected Dean of the Arts Faculty for the following terms: 1588-89, 1594-95, 1600-01, 1607-09, 1610-11, 1615, 1623, and 1629 (Jarrell 36). Maestlin taught trigonometry and astronomy. It was very likely that he used his book Epitome Astronomiae in his lectures.

In 1576, he was sent to be a deacon at the Lutheran Church in Backnang, a town about 30 kilometers Northwest of Göppingen. While in Backnang, Maestlin observed the comet of 1577. During his observations of the comet, Maestlin was unable to find any perceptible parallax. As a result, he concluded that the comet was not a sublunar body, but rather a supralunar body (Jarrell 109). Maestlin’s treatise on the comet was dedicated to Duke Ludwig of Württemberg. Maestlin served as the Duke’s chief scientific advisor from 1577-1580 (Jarell 26). It was in this 1579 discussion that Maestlin announced his aIn 1580, Maestlin published a dissertation on the fundamental principles of astronomy and the first edition of his book Epitome Astronomiae (Epitome of Astronomy) (Jarrell 29).

Sources:

Decker, Martin. “Die Ahnen des Astronom Mästlin,” Blatter für Württembergische Familienkunde, Ed. 8 (1939) pp 102-4

JARRELL, R. A. (1972). The Life And Scientific Work Of The Tuebingen Astronomer Michael Maestlin, 1550-1631 (Order No. NK12216). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (302689734). Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/docview/302689734?accountid=12964

Steiff, Karl. "Der Tuebingen Professor der Mathematik und Astronomie Michael Maestlin," Literarische Beilage des Staats-Anzeiger fuer Wuerttemberg (30 April 1892), 49-64.

Die Matrikeln der Universitat Tübingen 1477-1817. Published 1906 pp. 487