# Tycho Brahe's untimely, but hilarious, death **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 16, 2001, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205 "2001-04-16T22:26:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tennessee\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Tennessee\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tennessee_Ben)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/1 "2001-04-16T22:26:10Z")
In the Straight Dope Classic article of July 17, 1998 that’s currently on the front page, Cecil educates us that: > [@](#): > > Having relocated to Prague, [Brahe] died after drinking heavily at dinner, obviously a pretty common fate in those days. In his novel _Immortality_, Milan Kundera relates that Tycho Brahe did in fact die at the dinner of some local luminary. What Kundera adds, however, is that Brahe died when his bladder burst. Apparently, he thought it shameful to leave the table to relieve oneself. I thought that was worth sharing. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/2 "2001-04-17T12:14:52Z")
The link to the column being discussed: [Tycho Brahe](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a980717a.html) ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/3 "2001-04-17T12:40:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tennessee Ben \* > \*\* > In his novel _Immortality_, Milan Kundera relates that Tycho Brahe did in fact die at the dinner of some local luminary. What Kundera adds, however, is that Brahe died when his bladder burst. Apparently, he thought it shameful to leave the table to relieve oneself. > \*\* IIRC the local luminary was the king and the reason poor Brahe didn’t get up to go to the loo was not that he thought it shameful. He just couldn’t. There was **NO** way anyone could leave the table before the king had downed tools. You just didn’t do that (so much for a good upbringing). BTW He didn’t die there and then, but some time later from the peritonitis that the burst bladder caused . ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/4 "2001-04-17T15:05:51Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment. Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site. To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space **before** and **after** the text of the URL). Cecil’s column can be found on-line at the link provided by my fellow moderator **C K Dexter Haven**. * * * moderator, «[**Comments on Cecil’s Columns**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)» ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/5 "2001-04-17T23:12:45Z")
“Burst Bladder”: #27 on the list of “Things That Make Me Wanna Cross My Legs When I Hear About Them.” (The list includes “Circumcision”, “Kidney Stones” and “Castration”.) Carl Sagan repeated the story of Brahe’s untimely demise in his series _Cosmos_. ---
**Author:** ![Tennessee\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Tennessee\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tennessee_Ben)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/6 "2001-04-18T00:56:54Z")
Thanks for the welcome, the link, and the gentle reminder. Don’t know why it slipped my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2001, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/7 "2001-04-18T23:38:44Z")
Well, I read the article on Tycho Brahe at [Encylcopedia Britannica](http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=16373&tocid=794) and a couple of online biographies. (aside: EB claims that, in fact, Tycho did marry the mother of his children (Kirstine) in 1753, so there is some difference of opinion on the subject. Ironic that he died from a bladder infection, since (again according to EB) he invented some kind of pressure system to help prevent unsanitary conditions in bathrooms. I’m not sure if what he invented was a sink or a flush toilet. BTW, [one of the online biographies](http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/People/tycho_brahe.html) had a [picture of his “silver nose”](http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Images/Port/brahe2.gif) end of aside) Floater, from what I read of Tycho Brahe, he seems like an unconventional man, and not prone to exaggerated respect for authority. I’m not so sure that he would make such an effort (a bursting bladder? ouch!) to avoid seeming rude by leaving the table before the King had finished eating. And Tennessee Ben, is it possible for someone to make their bladder burst by attempting to hold it in? I would think that your body would force the release of the urine before that happened. ---
**Author:** ![Tennessee\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Tennessee\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tennessee_Ben)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/8 "2001-04-19T02:46:34Z")
> [@](#): > > And Tennessee Ben, is it possible for someone to make their bladder burst by attempting to hold it in? I would think that your body would force the release of the urine before that happened. I would think the same thing. That’ll teach me to get my physiology from a novelist. Oh well. It’s one of those stories that, whether it’s true or not, seems like it ought to be. No matter how he died, Brahe was an odd duck. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2001, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/9 "2001-04-19T09:25:23Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried \* > \*\* > EB claims that, in fact, Tycho did marry the mother of his children (Kirstine) in 1753, so there is some difference of opinion on the subject._\* Wow. As he died in 1601, does that make her a necrophiliac? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/10 "2001-04-19T14:10:51Z")
Uhh, according to EB, Tycho Brahe got married in **1573** , not 1753. :o ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2001, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/11 "2001-04-19T15:02:06Z")
There’s a fantastic dream sequence about Brahe’s bladder in _The Saskiad_ by Brian Hall. The book is about a girl who grows up on an old commune in upstate New York, surrounded by books. Tycho Brahe, Odysseus, and Marco Polo are her imaginary friends. Sorry about the hijack, but it’s a really fantastic book, and that scene in particular left an indelible impression on me. ---
**Author:** ![Sparteye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Sparteye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparteye)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/12 "2001-04-19T15:42:22Z")
OUCH. Reading about burst bladders makes me cringe. But, > [@](#): > > is it possible for someone to make their bladder burst by attempting to hold it in? I would think that your body would force the release of the urine before that happened. My former music teacher actually did this: she held it so long her bladder burst. According to her, she was really, really, really busy and kept putting off the task, until BLAMMO! That took waaay more physical control than I have. Just call me puddles. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2001, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tycho-brahes-untimely-but-hilarious-death/62205/13 "2001-04-19T18:13:05Z")
Well, [WebMD](http://my.webmd.com/content/asset/miller_keane_4700) says the following: > [@](#): > > Voiding occurs when the sphincters (circular muscles) at the juncture of the bladder and urethra are relaxed and the muscular walls of the bladder contract, forcing the urine out. In the adult the sphincters can prevent urination even when the bladder is uncomfortably full… However, in these other WebMD articles: _[Traumatic injury of the bladder and urethra](http://my.webmd.com/content/asset/adam_disease_bladder_injury)_ and _[Urinary Hesitancy](http://my.webmd.com/content/asset/adam_symptoms_urinary_hesitancy)_ I don’t see any mention that voluntarily “holding it in” can cause injury to the bladder. With a Google search I found information on avoidant paruresis, a link to [http://www.shybladder.org](http://www.shybladder.org), some sites that mention the Tycho Brahe story of him dying because he didn’t want to leave the table, but no recent confirmed case of someone voluntarily causing their bladder to burst (except of course Sparteye’s former music teacher). It must be very rare.