Pedro Chacón
Encyclopedia
- For the 19th century Spanish soldier, see Pedro Chacón y ChacónPedro Chacón y ChacónPedro Chacón y Chacón was a Spanish general, most notable for participation in the First Carlist War, in which he was one of the generals fighting to defend the legitimacy of Isabella II of Spain against the Carlists in the Murcia area, where he was commander in chief....
.
Pedro Chacón (Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, 1526 – Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, 1581) was a Spanish mathematician and theologian.
Life
He worked as professor of Greek at the University of SalamancaUniversity of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid. It was founded in 1134 and given the Royal charter of foundation by King Alfonso IX in 1218. It is the oldest founded university in Spain and the third oldest European...
, whose history, consulting ancient documents in the library, he published in 1569. In Salamanca he was part of the School of Salamanca
School of Salamanca
The School of Salamanca is the renaissance of thought in diverse intellectual areas by Spanish and Portuguese theologians, rooted in the intellectual and pedagogical work of Francisco de Vitoria...
, a notable group of professors which also included Francisco de Salinas
Francisco de Salinas
Francisco de Salinas was a Spanish music theorist and organist, noted as among the first to describe meantone temperament in mathematically precise terms, and one of the first to describe, in effect, 19 equal temperament. In his De musica libri septem of 1577 he discusses 1/3-, 1/4- and 2/7-comma...
and Fray Luis de León.
By 1572 he had moved to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where he been summoned by pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
to do mathematical work towards reform of the Julian Calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
. Whilst in Rome he also studied classical sources.
Works
- Kalendarii Romani veteris Julii Cœsaris aetate marmori incisi explanatio.
- Tractatus de Ponderibus et Mensuris M. S.
- De Nummis libri III.
- Commentaria de Nummis tam Grœcorum et Latinorum quam Hispanorum et Italorum.
- In Decretum Gratiani correctiones.
- In S. Hieronymum, S. Hilarium, et S. Ambrosium Nota quœdam.
- De Triclinio sive de Modo convivandi apud prisco Romanos… accedit Fulvi Ursini Appendix, & Hier. Mercurialis, De accubitus in cena antiquorum origine dissertatio. Amsterdam : Andreas Frisius, 1664. Amsterdam, Henry Wetstein, 1689. – his most famous work, looking at the eating habits of the ancient Romans, along with their food, drink, wine, guests, etiquette, table dressing and background music for eating.
- CHACÓN, Pedro. Historia de la Universidad de Salamanca hecha por el Maestro Pedro Chacón. Transcription and commentary by Ana María Carabias Torres, Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 1990.