Henricus Brucaeus

Heinrich Brucaeus, also Heinrich van den Brock (1530 to 1593), was a German physician, astronomer and mathematician, born in Aalst in Flanders, the son of the patron Gerhard van den Brock. He was educated at schools and universities in Ghent, Paris and Bologna, studied medicine and philosophy and became a doctor of both disciplines at the University of Paris. He then lectured at the University of Leuven and worked as a professor of mathematics at the University of Rome. In 1565 he became physician to Maria of Braganza, and in 1567 he joined the University of Rostock as professor of medicine and astronomy, though he was a Catholic, shortly before his death confessing to Lutheranism. He served as rector of the university in 1569, 1575, 1581 and 1587 and from 1571 was also physician to the Duke of Mecklenburg. Karl Krause called him a very clever physician and an enormously learned mathematician. He knew the work of Copernicus and respected him as a mathematician, and probably taught Tycho Brahe about heliocentrism during Tycho's stay at Rostock, though he rejected the system himself. His works include De motu primo libri tres, printed at Rostock in 1573.