Campanus of Novara

Life & Legacy

Campanus of Novara (c. 1220 – 1296) was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and physician who is best known for his work on Euclid's Elements. In his writings he refers to himself as Campanus Nouariensis; contemporary documents refer to him as Magister Campanus; and the full style of his name is Magister Campanus Nouariensis. He is also referred to as Campano da Novara, Giovanni Campano or similar. Later authors (from the 16th century on) sometimes applied the forename Johannes Campanus or Iohannes Campanus.
His date of birth is uncertain but may have been as early as the first decade of the 13th century and the place of birth was probably Novara in Piedmont. He served as chaplain to Pope Urban IV, Pope Adrian V, Pope Nicholas IV, and Pope Boniface VIII. His contemporary Roger Bacon cited Campanus as one of the two "good" (but not "perfect") mathematicians indicating that Bacon considered Campanus as excellent or one of the greatest mathematicians of their time. A number of benefices were conferred upon him, and he was relatively wealthy at the time of his death. He died at Viterbo in 1296. The crater Campanus on the Moon is named after him.