Is it true that the butter sandwich is an invention of Copernicus?

You can often come across the statement that the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was the first to spread butter on bread, thus inventing the sandwich. We decided to check if this is true.

The story of Copernicus and the sandwich appears both in the media and on blogs. For example, the column of columnist Natalya Gevorkyan in “Gazeta.ru" and a culinary section on the website of the TV channel "World" Photo with a sandwich singer Katya Adushkina, accompanied by a statement about the invention of Copernicus, received 676,000 views on VKontakte. The story about Copernicus is told in “Culinary dictionary» 2001 by Leonid Zdanovich. Most often, the history of the sandwich can be seen in culinary blogs: for example, on the website “Cooking.ru» or on goodcook.ru.

The source of the story about Copernicus in Russian was the publication in April 1999 in the magazine “Science and life" It is usually reprinted with minor changes. Here is a short retelling of it. In the spring of 1520, Nicolaus Copernicus held an administrative post in the Diocese of Warmia (a region in northeastern Poland). In 1519, the Teutonic Order invaded these lands, and Copernicus also became the military commandant of Allenstein Castle (aka Olsztyn in the Polish tradition). In the spring of 1520, the siege of the castle began, and a few months later an epidemic broke out within the walls of Allenstein. Copernicus, trying to establish the causes of the disease, first divided the defenders of the castle into groups depending on their diet. Then he found out that those who do not eat bread do not get sick.

As the publication explains, “walking along long corridors, climbing narrow spiral staircases to the fortress towers, the defenders of the castle often dropped their ration of bread on the floor. Having picked up a piece, they shook it off or blew it on and ate it.” Copernicus established that all troubles come from dirt falling on bread. Then he allegedly decided that the edges of the bread should be spread with something edible and light, on which the dirt would be clearly visible. Copernicus considered oil to be the best choice: if the bread fell, the dirt could always be scraped off. So the infection stopped, and the Teutons allegedly failed to capture the castle.

At the beginning of this article, Science and Life referred to the relevant scientific work - “a publication by medical historians S. Hand and A. Kunin” in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Such publication and the truth exists, it dates back to December 28, 1970. The reputation of scientists is beyond doubt: Arthur Kunin is the author sets serious medical research, his colleague Samuel Hand - famous historian, professor at the University of Vermont. However, when studying the scientific heritage of the two authors, it is alarming that neither of them, either before or after 1970, studied the history of medicine or Copernicus.

The original article contains details that could help identify the origins of the story. In particular, Kunin and Hand lead two more names. These are the head of the pharmacists' guild, Adolf Buttenadt, and a certain Gerhard Gliksenig, who witnessed the medical discovery of Copernicus at Allenstein Castle. Their authenticity is questionable. In biographical works dedicated to Copernicus, there is neither one nor the other. The authors also did not indicate where they got this evidence from. Buttenadt allegedly tried to spread Copernicus's experiment to prevent epidemics, but was unsuccessful. The final conclusion in the article is this: the process of spreading bread with butter was called Buttenadting by the name of the pharmacist, from which the English buttering later came (from butter, “butter”).

The last phrase immediately suggests the comic nature of the publication. However, it also contains factual errors. In the spring of 1520, Copernicus was not within the walls of Allenstein, at which time he was in Frauenburg. He returned to the castle by the end of the year, but the siege began in the spring of 1521 and was short-lived: in April the parties concluded a truce. Among the plausible details, it is worth noting the medical experience of the great astronomer: in his youth he studied medicine for several years at the University of Padua.

The story about Copernicus and the sandwich was not subsequently cited in scientific literature - neither medical nor historical. In 1996, she appeared in Richard Mold's bookMedical jokes“—the article by Kunin and Hand is retold here without any evaluation. Finally, in 2011, a professor, corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, decided to put an end to the protracted mystery Jaroslaw Wlodarczyk, historian of astronomy and one of the world's leading authorities on Copernicus. On the pages of Gazeta Wyborcza he published article entitled “Copernicus – a famous Polish grocery store?” Wlodarczyk wrote with confidence that the 1970 article was a hoax; Buttenadt and Gliksenig most likely did not exist, as well as the sandwich story.

Even if we assume that Copernicus buttered bread, he cannot be called the discoverer of this basic dish. Educational blog The Straight Dope, parsed story with a sandwich, I noticed that, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the word buttering (“buttering”) occurs much earlier. Indeed, in an English book from 1496, “Treatise on fishing with a hook" tells how best to serve fish: in particular, the author uses the word butteryd (buttered, “smeared with butter”) in combination with the word loof (loaf, “loaf of bread”).

Thus, the version about the origin of the word buttered from the surname Buttenadt is finally refuted, even without an excursion into etymology. Why two reputable scientists took part in this prank is anyone's guess. Jaroslav Wlodarczyk with best regards responds about Kunin, emphasizing that he was interested in astronomy and attended lectures in New York by a famous specialist in the history of science Edward Rosen. In turn, Handa's colleagues remembered as a cheerful and enthusiastic person, a favorite of students and the pride of the scientific community. Therefore, the 1970 article should be perceived only as a high-quality joke dedicated to Christmas. And the story of Copernicus' invention of the sandwich is a canard.

Cover image: Jan Matejko, Copernicus. Conversation with God." Wikimedia Commons

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