As I recall from european history, he did technically die from drinking too much, but because his bladder burst during the meal as he wasn’t allowed to excuse himself to use the facilities.
Hi. it took some looking, but I was able to locate the link to Cecil’s column Generally it’s helpful if you include a link to the column you’re commenting on. This can be done simply by posting the url code itself and leaving a blank space before and aft.
Other than that, I’m not much of a help on your question. Sorry.
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment.
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Cecil’s column can be found on-line at the link provided by our friend wring.
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Some other discussions on the subject:
Tycho Brahe’s untimely, but hilarious, death
[Edited by Arnold Winkelried on 08-27-2001 at 03:33 PM]
That does not appear to be accurate, according to what I have read. That story did not first appear until many years after his death (sorta like the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock and Betsy Ross’s flag).
What seems to be a more realistic situation, given what was documented at the time, is that Brahe had been suffering from a urinary tract infection, and simply was unable “to go.”
FWIW, I visited Brahe’s tomb in Tyn Cathedral in Prague’s Old Town Square, and the lore there is that he really had to go (possible due to an UTI) and wasn’t allowed to due to custom.
I can imagine that this applies to the detail about his bladder “bursting”, but Kepler’s immediately contemporary account is apparently:
“On 13 October, Tycho Brahe, in the company of Master Minkowitz, has dinner at the illustrious Rosenberg’s table, and held back his water beyond the demands of courtesy. When he drank more, he felt the tension in his bladder increase, but he put politeness before his health. When he got home, he was scarely able to urinate …
After five sleepless nights, he could still only pass his water with the greatest pain, and even so the passage was impeded. The insomnia continued, with internal fever gradually leading to delirium; and the food he ate, and from which he could not be kept, exacerbated the evil. On 24 October, his delirium ceased for several hours; nature conquered and he expired peacefully among the consolations, prayers, and tears of his people.”
This is as quoted by Koestler in The Sleepwalkers (Hutchinson, 1959), who’s in turn quoting from Dreyer’s 1890 biography of Brahe. He I presume consulted the original Diary of Observations, or is using a source that did (the Collected Works ?). Technically a third-hand cite (at best), but evidence that the “courtesy” aspect verifiably derives directly from Kepler.
Incidentally, Arnold’s link doesn’t seem to work.
Does too! 
According to the previous post Kepler wrote
" he put politeness before his health. When he got home, he was scarely able to urinate … "
BUT may be Kepler did not understand Brahe’s symptoms.
Brahe was 56 (advanced age for that time) and likely his problem was not the politeness and intent to wait, but BHP.
<a http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/PatientResAllCateg/Enlarged%20Prostate%20(BPH)?OpenDocument> BHP </a>
- is common in older men and obstructs the urethra.
" …Sometimes a man may not know he has any obstruction until he suddenly finds himself unable to urinate at all…
When partial obstruction is present, urinary retention also can be brought on by alcohol, cold temperatures, or a long period of immobility." (quoted from http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/urolog/pubs/prostate/index.htm#common)
Elementary?
Certainly. And it’s an interesting diagnosis that more directly conforms to the original source.
This is also an excuse for mentioning that Kepler’s account is also discussed (in a different translation) here.