Kepler's Complete Works, Vol. I (Opera Omnia)

In the year 1579, on the evening of February 25th, the sun was eclipsed in the 17th degree of Pisces, as recorded by Master Michael Maestlin Maestlin was Kepler's mathematics and astronomy professor at Tübingen and a pioneer in adopting the Copernican system, measuring $8 \frac{5}{6}$ digits digits: a traditional measure for eclipses where the solar or lunar disk is divided into 12 units in magnitude. My own calculation places the time exactly at sunset—specifically at 5:36 PM near Heilbronn in Württemberg, under a meridian longitude that is 3 degrees further west than the one at Uraniborg The famous observatory of Tycho Brahe on the island of Hven. I find the magnitude there to have been $8 \frac{3}{4}$ digits toward the south. Under the Portuguese meridian at Coimbra, which is only one degree further south, I find the sun to have been totally eclipsed at 4:34 PM. Thus, the moon's shadow passed over America and ended right at our location on the Earth.

Consequences of the Solar Eclipse of the Year 1579.

After King Sebastian of Portugal, along with the flower of the Portuguese nobility, was slain in Africa in 1578 Referring to the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in Morocco, and the kingdom fell solely to Henry Cardinal Henry, the great-uncle of Sebastian, the latter also died on January 31st in the year 1580. Following this, the King of Spain Philip II, who was born of a Portuguese mother, seized the Kingdom of Portugal and drove out Sebastian's illegitimate cousin, Anthony. He also took heavy vengeance upon those high nobles original: "grandes" who opposed him in defense of the kingdom's liberties.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands completely defected from their King and from the House of Austria. They elected a prince from the royal House of Valois Francis, Duke of Anjou to be their sovereign, though this arrangement did not last long.

In the East, the Persians slew a great number of Turks and Tatars. In Moscow, the Poles captured the fortress of Polotsk original: "Polotiam".

There was also much strife regarding the signing of the book called the Formula of Concord original: "Formula Concordiae," a definitive Lutheran doctrinal document intended to resolve theological disputes.

In the year 1590, on July $\frac{11}{21}$, there was a fairly large solar eclipse in the 8th degree of Leo. Its midpoint in Tübingen occurred at 7:36 PM, and it was 8 digits or "inches" in magnitude, measured from the bottom up. My calculation gives the time as 7:43 PM, or, according to the physical equation of time a correction for the irregularity of the Earth's motion, 7:32 PM. The magnitude was $8 \frac{1}{3}$ digits.

This eclipse was much larger in Africa and the East, where the sun was also closer to noon; for the moon's shadow touched the Earth in the Atlantic Ocean, and from there took its path through the Mediterranean Sea across Egypt, Syria, and Persia into the Chinese province.

Consequences of the Eclipse of the Year 1590.

A hot summer followed. In September, a terrifying earthquake occurred. Simultaneously, the peace between the Roman and Turkish Emperors collapsed Referring to the Holy Roman Emperor and the Ottoman Sultan, leading to a long-lasting war in which Hungary was devastated and several hundred thousand souls from Europe and Asia were sacrificed. Meanwhile, the wars in France and the Netherlands continued with great force. The King of Navarre The future Henry IV of France besieged Paris, which resulted in a terrible famine within the city. The Duke of Parma Alessandro Farnese, the Spanish commander in the Netherlands, marched into France to relieve Paris. In his absence, Count Maurice Maurice of Nassau recaptured many prominent cities and places in the Netherlands. During this time, the Duke of Parma, along with three...