Christianized (All Terms)

The culture of Christianization of the sky was an early modern attempt to unite German thinkers across the boundaries of a multitude of Christian confessions.

Name Lists

Solar System Names

Traditional Terms	English	commentary
	Sun
	Moon
	Mercury
	Venus
	Mars
	Jupiter
	Saturn

Here is an overview on all Christianized constellation names

native letters	IAU	Christianised term	Author	Our notes
1	Ursa Minor	Archangel Michael	Julius Schiller
2	Ursa Major	Ship of Saint Peter	Julius Schiller
3	Draco	Innocent Children	Julius Schiller
4	Cepheus	Saint Stephanus	Julius Schiller
5	Bootes	Pope Sylvester I	Julius Schiller
6	Coma Berenices	The flagellum of Christ	Julius Schiller
7	Corona Borealis	The crown of thorns	Julius Schiller
8	Hercules	The three Wise Men	Julius Schiller
9	Lyra	The Christmas crib	Julius Schiller
10	Cygnus	Saint Helena	Julius Schiller
11	Cassiopeia	Mary Magdalene	Julius Schiller
12	Perseus	Saint Paul	Julius Schiller
13	Auriga	Saint Jerome	Julius Schiller
14	Ophiuchus	Saint Benedict	Julius Schiller
15	Serpens	The burning bush	Julius Schiller
16	Aquila	Saint Catherine	Julius Schiller
17	Sagitta	The Holy Lance	Julius Schiller
18	Delphinus	Watercup of the wedding at Cana	Julius Schiller
19	Equuleus	Rosa mystica	Julius Schiller
20	Pegasus	Archangel Gabriel	Julius Schiller
21	Andromeda	The Holy Grave	Julius Schiller
22	Triangulum	The Tiara Petri	Julius Schiller
23	Cetus	Saint Anna and Saint Joachim	Julius Schiller
24	Orion	Saint Joseph	Julius Schiller
25	Aries	Simon Petrus	Julius Schiller
26	Taurus	Andrew the Apostle	Julius Schiller
27	Gemini	James the Apostle	Julius Schiller
28	Cancer	John the Apostle	Julius Schiller
29	Leo	Thomas the Apostle	Julius Schiller
30	Virgo	James, son of Alphaus	Julius Schiller
31	Libra	Philip	Julius Schiller
32	Scorpio	Bartholomew	Julius Schiller
33	Sagittarius	Matthew	Julius Schiller
34	Capricorn	Simon the Zealot	Julius Schiller
35	Aquarius	Judas Thaddaeus	Julius Schiller
36	Pisces	Matthias	Julius Schiller
37	Eridanus	The Red Sea	Julius Schiller
38	Lepus	Gideon	Julius Schiller
39	Columba	The dove of Noah	Julius Schiller
40	Canis Major	King David	Julius Schiller
41	Canis Minor	The Lamb of God	Julius Schiller
42	Argo	Noah's Ark	Julius Schiller
43	Hydra	The River Jordan	Julius Schiller
44	Crater and Corvus	The Ark of the Covenant	Julius Schiller
45	Centaurus	Abraham and Isaac	Julius Schiller
46	Lupus	Jacob	Julius Schiller
47	Ara	Showbread table	Julius Schiller
48	Corona Australis	The crown of Salomo	Julius Schiller
49	Piscis Austrinus		Julius Schiller
50	Grus and Phoenix	Highpriest Aaron	Julius Schiller
51	Pavo and Indus	Job	Julius Schiller
52	Musca	Eve	Julius Schiller
53	Triangulum Australe	The tau cross	Julius Schiller
54	Piscis Volans and Dorado	Abel	Julius Schiller
55	Tucan and Hydrus	Archangel Raphael	Julius Schiller

Authors

Julius Schiller († 1627 in Augsburg) was a German astronomer and Augustinian monk, as well as a contemporary of Johann Bayer, who also lived in Augsburg.

With Bayer’s assistance, Schiller published the star atlas Coelum Stellatum Christianum in 1627, the year of his death. The work was an attempt to create a "Christian" star catalogue, in which the common constellations were renamed and depicted with figures from Christian tradition. In general, figures and symbols from the New Testament appear north of the ecliptic, and those from the Old Testament to the south, while the zodiac constellations of the twelve signs were replaced with the twelve apostles.

The star catalogue is considered a curiosity and, unlike Bayer’s Uranometria, never achieved great significance. Unlike Bayer, Schiller depicted the starry sky reversed, that is, from God’s perspective of the firmament looking down toward the Earth. This representation followed the tradition of celestial globes, whereas for individual celestial sections in historical maps and atlases the "correct" orientation was more common. Schiller’s constellations were taken up in only one later work: the artistic atlas Harmonia Macrocosmica by Andreas Cellarius in 1661. The lunar crater Schiller is named after him.