Tycho Brahe as some had believed in his time. Tycho was born as heir to several of Denmark's most influential noble families and in addition to his immediate ancestry with the Brahe and the Bille families, he also counted the Rud, Trolle, Ulfstand, and Rosenkrantz families among his ancestors. Both of his grandfathers and all of his great grandfathers had served as members of the Danish king's Privy Council. His paternal grandfather and namesake Thyge Brahe was the lord of Tosterup Castle in Scania and died in battle during the 1523 Siege of Malmö during the Lutheran Reformation Wars. His maternal grandfather
Otte Brahe noble houses in several Danish cities including Copenhagen. They built a brick castle at Knudstrup completed in 1550. Their first child was a daughter, Lizbeth. This was followed by twin boys on 14 December 1546. However, one of the twins died before being baptized and named. The other was named Tyge (after Brahe's father). It is for their son Tyge that Brahe is best known as he became a famous astronomer and took on the name Tycho Brahe as a teenager. Strangely, their son Tyge was kidnapped by Brahe's older brother, Jørgen, in 1548. Tycho later wrote: "without the knowledge