A fun chain of coincidences

[JamesF]

Perhaps this might particularly appeal to @ollypenrice given his past profession though possibly he already knows.  I have to confess my complete ignorance...

My wife has been binge-watching some of the "Who do you think you are?" series recently and as we have no children at home tonight she insisted that we watch one programme whilst eating dinner (last of the great romantics, she is ).  In this case the subject of the programme was Judi Dench.  Whilst she may perhaps be best known by some for her film work, she and her husband apparently nicknamed Shakespeare as "the man who pays the rent".

She claimed at the start of the programme that she knew absolutely nothing of her Irish mother's family history, so obviously they were going to do some digging there.  It turned out that a nine times great grandfather on her mother's side, a member of the Danish aristocracy, had a sister Beata who married a chap called Otto Brahe.  In time they had a son called Tycho.  Yes, that Tycho.  Beata was apparently a senior member of the Danish court and spent some years serving the Queen at the castle in Helsingør, or in its Anglicised form, Elsinore, where Hamlet is set (also the first major play in which Judi Dench starred).

Apparently there's an engraving of Tycho Brahe from the mid-1800s showing the coats of arms of his relatives which include the families Guldesteren and Rosenkrans.  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern also appear in Hamlet.  The engraving also bears Brahe's motto, "Non haberi sed esse".  I'm not sure I follow the translation used in the programme, but they claimed it means "Not what appears (to be), but what is" and that a very similar line is also used in Hamlet.  I don't know the play well enough to comment on that one, but it strikes me as a particularly appropriate motto for Brahe.

Who knows whether Shakespeare knew of Brahe or his work, but it's a nice idea that he might have provided some little inspiration for the play.

James

[johninderby]

Yes I saw that episode. Quite a good one overall as it was about someone very talented who has actually accomplished things. 

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by johninderby

[mikeDnight]

Thanks for that James, it was fascinating. I missed the program but I'll keep my eye out for a repeat of it. ☺

[johninderby]

It’s on iPlayer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0010st7