Scene 6
p. 47
Collegium Romanum -
Gregorian University, in full Pontifical Gregorian University, Latin Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, byname The Greg, Roman Catholic institution of higher learning in Rome. It was founded in 1551 as the Collegium Romanum (College of Rome) by St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Borgia and constituted as a university by Pope Julius III. It received its present name as the result of the efforts of Pope Gregory XIII, who considerably expanded the institution in 1567. The university’s rector is appointed by the pope, and the majority of its professors, who come from all over the world, are Jesuits. The Gregorian University functions primarily as an institution of higher learning for the Roman Catholic clergy, though others are not excluded. Among the university’s graduates are 19 canonized saints, 16 popes, and 24 persons who have been beatified. Faculties include theology, canon law, philosophy, church history, missiology, social sciences; institutes of psychology, spiritual theology, and higher religious sciences; and a school of Latin language and literature.
Rome -
Rome, Italian Roma, historic city and capital of Roma provincia (province), of Lazio regione (region), and of the country of Italy. Rome is located in the central portion of the Italian peninsula, on the Tiber River about 15 miles (24 km) inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The capital of an ancient republic and empire whose armies and polity defined the Western world in antiquity and left seemingly indelible imprints thereafter, the spiritual and physical seat of the Roman Catholic Church, and the site of major pinnacles of artistic and intellectual achievement, Rome is the Eternal City, remaining today a political capital, a religious centre, and a memorial to the creative imagination of the past.
Decline and fall of the papal empire
In the 17th and 18th centuries Rome’s noble families built fine palaces and patronized the arts while maneuvering to win high positions in the church hierarchy. The highest prize of all, the papal crown, brought wealth and status to the wearer’s family. But as corruption and bribery within these circles became a way of life, the influence of the papacy and of Rome declined throughout Europe and even throughout the Papal States.
O sancta simplicatas -
Latin for holy simplicity —often used ironically in reference to another's naïveté
p. 48
"In 1572 a new star appeared"; Tycho Brahe -
Tycho Brahe, (born December 14, 1546, Knudstrup, Scania, Denmark—died October 24, 1601, Prague), Danish astronomer whose work in developing astronomical instruments and in measuring and fixing the positions of stars paved the way for future discoveries. His observations—the most accurate possible before the invention of the telescope—included a comprehensive study of the solar system and accurate positions of more than 777 fixed stars.
Tycho’s Nova, also called B Cassiopeiae or SN 1572, one of the few recorded supernovas in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe first observed the “new star” on Nov. 11, 1572. Other European observers claimed to have noticed it as early as the preceding August, but Tycho’s precise measurements showed that it was not some relatively nearby phenomenon, such as a comet, but at the distance of the stars, and that therefore real changes could occur among them. The supernova remained visible to the unaided eye until March 1574.
To his earlier observations, particularly his proof that the nova of 1572 was a star, he added a comprehensive study of the solar system and his proof that the orbit of the comet of 1577 lay beyond the Moon. He proposed a modified Copernican system in which the planets revolved around the Sun, which in turn moved around the stationary Earth. What Tycho accomplished, using only his simple instruments and practical talents, remains an outstanding accomplishment of the Renaissance.
p. 49
principiis obsta -
Lat. Withstand beginnings; resist the first approaches or encroachments. “It is the duty of courts to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizen, and against any stealthy encroachments thereon. Their motto should be ‘Obsta prineipiis.’ ” Bradley, J.. Boyd v. U. S., 116 U. S. 035, 6 Sup. Ct. 535, 29 L. Ed. 746.
"Sun, stand thou still..." -
Bible; Joshua 10:12
Excerpted from Encyclopedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster Online, and Black's Law Dictionary
Collegium Romanum -
Gregorian University, in full Pontifical Gregorian University, Latin Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, byname The Greg, Roman Catholic institution of higher learning in Rome. It was founded in 1551 as the Collegium Romanum (College of Rome) by St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Borgia and constituted as a university by Pope Julius III. It received its present name as the result of the efforts of Pope Gregory XIII, who considerably expanded the institution in 1567. The university’s rector is appointed by the pope, and the majority of its professors, who come from all over the world, are Jesuits. The Gregorian University functions primarily as an institution of higher learning for the Roman Catholic clergy, though others are not excluded. Among the university’s graduates are 19 canonized saints, 16 popes, and 24 persons who have been beatified. Faculties include theology, canon law, philosophy, church history, missiology, social sciences; institutes of psychology, spiritual theology, and higher religious sciences; and a school of Latin language and literature.
Rome -
Rome, Italian Roma, historic city and capital of Roma provincia (province), of Lazio regione (region), and of the country of Italy. Rome is located in the central portion of the Italian peninsula, on the Tiber River about 15 miles (24 km) inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea. The capital of an ancient republic and empire whose armies and polity defined the Western world in antiquity and left seemingly indelible imprints thereafter, the spiritual and physical seat of the Roman Catholic Church, and the site of major pinnacles of artistic and intellectual achievement, Rome is the Eternal City, remaining today a political capital, a religious centre, and a memorial to the creative imagination of the past.
Decline and fall of the papal empire
In the 17th and 18th centuries Rome’s noble families built fine palaces and patronized the arts while maneuvering to win high positions in the church hierarchy. The highest prize of all, the papal crown, brought wealth and status to the wearer’s family. But as corruption and bribery within these circles became a way of life, the influence of the papacy and of Rome declined throughout Europe and even throughout the Papal States.
O sancta simplicatas -
Latin for holy simplicity —often used ironically in reference to another's naïveté
p. 48
"In 1572 a new star appeared"; Tycho Brahe -
Tycho Brahe, (born December 14, 1546, Knudstrup, Scania, Denmark—died October 24, 1601, Prague), Danish astronomer whose work in developing astronomical instruments and in measuring and fixing the positions of stars paved the way for future discoveries. His observations—the most accurate possible before the invention of the telescope—included a comprehensive study of the solar system and accurate positions of more than 777 fixed stars.
Tycho’s Nova, also called B Cassiopeiae or SN 1572, one of the few recorded supernovas in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe first observed the “new star” on Nov. 11, 1572. Other European observers claimed to have noticed it as early as the preceding August, but Tycho’s precise measurements showed that it was not some relatively nearby phenomenon, such as a comet, but at the distance of the stars, and that therefore real changes could occur among them. The supernova remained visible to the unaided eye until March 1574.
To his earlier observations, particularly his proof that the nova of 1572 was a star, he added a comprehensive study of the solar system and his proof that the orbit of the comet of 1577 lay beyond the Moon. He proposed a modified Copernican system in which the planets revolved around the Sun, which in turn moved around the stationary Earth. What Tycho accomplished, using only his simple instruments and practical talents, remains an outstanding accomplishment of the Renaissance.
p. 49
principiis obsta -
Lat. Withstand beginnings; resist the first approaches or encroachments. “It is the duty of courts to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizen, and against any stealthy encroachments thereon. Their motto should be ‘Obsta prineipiis.’ ” Bradley, J.. Boyd v. U. S., 116 U. S. 035, 6 Sup. Ct. 535, 29 L. Ed. 746.
"Sun, stand thou still..." -
Bible; Joshua 10:12
Excerpted from Encyclopedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster Online, and Black's Law Dictionary