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

Often you can meet the statement that the Polish astronomer Nikolai Copernicus was the first to spread bread with oil, thus inventing a sandwich. We decided to check if this is so.

The story of Copernicus and sandwiches is found both in the media and in blogs. From this curious fact, for example, the column of the observer Natalia Gevorkyan in "Newspaper.ru"And the culinary heading on the website of the TV channel"World". Photo with a sandwich Singer Katya Adushkina, accompanied by a statement about the invention of Copernicus, gained 676,000 views on VKontakte. The story about Copernicus is stated in "Culinary dictionary»2001 by Leonid Zdanovich. Most often, the story of a sandwich can be seen in culinary blogs: for example, on the site "Cooking.ru"Or on goodcook.ru.

The source of history about Copernicus in Russian was the publication in April 1999 in the journal "Science and life". It is usually reprinted with minor changes. Here is her short retelling. In the spring of 1520, Nikolai Copernicus held an administrative post in the Warmian diocese (region in the northeast of Poland). In 1519, the Teutonic Order invaded these lands, and Copernicus also became the military commandant of the Allanstein Castle (aka Olshtyn in the Polish tradition). In the spring of 1520, the siege of the castle began, and a few months later an epidemic erupted in Allenstein's walls. Copernicus, trying to establish the causes of the disease, first divided the defenders of the castle into groups depending on the diet. Then he found out that those who do not eat bread are not sick.

As explained in the publication, “walking along the long corridors, climbing the narrow screw stairs to the fortress towers, the castle defenders often dropped their ration of bread on the floor. Raising a piece, he was shook or blew and ate. ” Copernicus found that all the troubles from dirt falling on bread. Then he allegedly decided that the edges of bread should be smeared with something edible and light, which the dirt will be clearly visible. The best choice Copernicus considered the oil: if the bread falls, the dirt can always be scraped. So the infection ceased, and the Teutons allegedly failed to capture the castle.

At the beginning of this article, “Science and Life” referred to the appropriate scientific work - “Publishing of Medicine Hand Hand and A. Kunin” in the “Journal of the American Medical Association”. Such publication And the truth exists, it dates from December 28, 1970. The reputation of scientists is not in doubt: Arthur Kunin is the author sets serious medical research, his colleague Samuel Hand - Famous historian, professor at the university in Vermont. However, when studying the scientific heritage of the two authors, it is alarming that not one of them was engaged in the history of medicine or Copernicus before or after 1970.

In the original article there are details that could be allowed to establish sources of history. In particular, Kunin and Hand bring Two more names. This is the head of the pharmacist Guild Adolf Buttenadt and a certain Gerhard Glicksenig, who witnessed the medical discovery of Copernicus in Allenstein Castle. Their authenticity is in doubt. In biographical works dedicated to Copernicus, there is neither one nor the other. The authors also did not indicate where they got these evidence. Buttenadt allegedly tried to spread the experience of Copernicus to prevent epidemics, but to no avail. The final conclusion in the article is as follows: the process of spreading bread by oil named pharmacist was called buttenadting, from which the English buttering (from Butter, “oil”) came later.

The last phrase immediately suggests the comic nature of the publication. However, there are actual mistakes in it. In the spring of 1520, Copernicus was not within Allenstein's walls, at that time he He was in Frauenburg. He returned to the castle by the end of the year, the siege began in the spring of 1521 and was short -lived: in April, the parties concluded a truce. Of 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 of Copernicus and a sandwich was not quoted in the scientific literature in the future - neither in medical nor in historical. In 1996, she appeared in the book of Richard Mould "Medical jokes" - here, without any assessment, the article of Kunin and the good is retold. Finally, in 2011, a protracted riddle decided to put an end to the professor, corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences Yaroslav Vlodarchik, historian of astronomy and one of the main specialists in the world in Copernicus. On the pages of Gazeta Wyborcza, he published article Under the name "Copernicus - a famous Polish gastronon?" Vlodarchik wrote with confidence that the 1970 article was a draw, no Buttenadt and Glicksenig, most likely, did not exist, as well as stories with a sandwich.

Even if we assume that Copernicus smeared bread with oil, it cannot be called the discoverer of this basic dish. The educational blog The Straight Dope, Disassembled The story with a sandwich, drew attention to the fact that, judging by the Oxford dictionary, the word buttering (“oil spread”) is much earlier. And in fact, in the English book of 1496 "A treatise on fishing with a hook»It tells how best to serve fish: in particular, the author uses the word butteered (butteered,“ smeared with oil ”) in combination with the word loof (loaf,“ loaf of bread ”).

Thus, the version of the origin of the word Buttered from the name Buttenadt is finally refuted, even without an excursion into etymology. Why two reputable scientists went to this draw, you can only guess. Yaroslav Vlodarchik with respect responds About Kunin, emphasizing that he was interested in astronomy and attended the lecture of a famous specialist in the history of science in New York Edward Rosen. In turn, the goodbye colleagues They remembered As a fun and fascinated person, a favorite of students and the pride of a scientific community. Therefore, the article of 1970 should be perceived only as a high -quality draw, dedicated to Christmas. And the story with the invention of Copernicus of the sandwich is a duck.

Image on the cover: Jan Mateiko, “Copernicus. Conversation with God. " Wikimedia Commons

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that Mendeleev invented vodka?
2. Is it true that champagne was invented by the French monk House Perignon?