Medievalists.net » Astrology http://www.medievalists.net Where the Middle Ages Begin Sun, 06 Dec 2015 23:06:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.9 Medical Prognosis in the Middle Ages: William the Englishman’s De urina non visa and its fortune http://www.medievalists.net/2014/10/05/medical-prognosis-middle-ages-william-englishmans-de-urina-non-visa-fortune/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/10/05/medical-prognosis-middle-ages-william-englishmans-de-urina-non-visa-fortune/#comments Sun, 05 Oct 2014 16:22:48 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=53066 He aimed to give to his colleagues and fellows the means to judge the state of the patient based not on the urine flask, but on the configuration of the sky at the time of consultation.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/10/05/medical-prognosis-middle-ages-william-englishmans-de-urina-non-visa-fortune/feed/ 0 From Sin to Science: Astrological Explanations for the Black Death, 1347-1350 http://www.medievalists.net/2014/08/16/sin-science-astrological-explanations-black-death-1347-1350/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/08/16/sin-science-astrological-explanations-black-death-1347-1350/#comments Sun, 17 Aug 2014 03:33:11 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=51904 Few survivors of the plague’s horrors could have remained indifferent to debates over its ultimate cause. The frequent evocation of astrology in these debates helped to increase the circulation of astrological ideas in the later fourteenth century, and contributed to the wider vogue they enjoyed during the early modern period

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/08/16/sin-science-astrological-explanations-black-death-1347-1350/feed/ 0 Apocalyptic Calculators of the Later Middle Ages http://www.medievalists.net/2014/05/01/apocalyptic-calculators-later-middle-ages/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/05/01/apocalyptic-calculators-later-middle-ages/#comments Fri, 02 May 2014 01:47:44 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=49350 The purpose of my talk today is to explore why and how astrology became an accepted tool for apocalyptic calculation in the later Middle Ages.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/05/01/apocalyptic-calculators-later-middle-ages/feed/ 0 Chaucer’s Solar Pageant: an Astrological Reading of the Canterbury Tales http://www.medievalists.net/2013/11/03/chaucers-solar-pageant-an-astrological-reading-of-the-canterbury-tales/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/11/03/chaucers-solar-pageant-an-astrological-reading-of-the-canterbury-tales/#comments Mon, 04 Nov 2013 02:24:28 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=44650 This thesis proposes a correlation between the twenty-four Canterbury Tales and an external ordered system, namely the twelve signs of the zodiac, from which one might infer Chaucer's intended ordering of the Tales.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/11/03/chaucers-solar-pageant-an-astrological-reading-of-the-canterbury-tales/feed/ 0 Medieval Astrology and The Buke of the Sevyne Sagis http://www.medievalists.net/2013/04/20/medieval-astrology-and-the-buke-of-the-sevyne-sagis/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/04/20/medieval-astrology-and-the-buke-of-the-sevyne-sagis/#comments Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:39:41 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=40650 It is useful to begin by comparing the way the sages are initially described to the Emperor in the Latin, Middle English, and Middle Scots texts. Although the Middle Scots text is not connected to the English ones, they serve as a useful backdrop to illustrate the singular nature of the Scottish version of the story.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/04/20/medieval-astrology-and-the-buke-of-the-sevyne-sagis/feed/ 0 “Vir sapiens dominabitur astris”. Astrological knowledge and practices in the Portuguese medieval court (King João I to King Afonso V) http://www.medievalists.net/2013/03/10/vir-sapiens-dominabitur-astris-astrological-knowledge-and-practices-in-the-portuguese-medieval-court-king-joao-i-to-king-afonso-v/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/03/10/vir-sapiens-dominabitur-astris-astrological-knowledge-and-practices-in-the-portuguese-medieval-court-king-joao-i-to-king-afonso-v/#comments Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:28:26 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=39731 Offers a brief explanation on the foundations of medieval astrology. Astrology reveals itself as a complex body of knowledge, with specific rules and methods. Its principles were based on the natural movement of the celestial bodies: the rising and setting of the Sun, the sequence of the seasons, the phases of the Moon.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/03/10/vir-sapiens-dominabitur-astris-astrological-knowledge-and-practices-in-the-portuguese-medieval-court-king-joao-i-to-king-afonso-v/feed/ 0 The teaching of astronomy in medieval universities, principally at Paris in the fourteenth century http://www.medievalists.net/2013/02/10/the-teaching-of-astronomy-in-medieval-universities-principally-at-paris-in-the-fourteenth-century/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/02/10/the-teaching-of-astronomy-in-medieval-universities-principally-at-paris-in-the-fourteenth-century/#comments Sun, 10 Feb 2013 19:18:02 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=39166 Obviously, however, learned men of antiquity and the Middle Ages showed the greatest interest in such genuinely astronomical activities as the observation of the skies, of the heavenly bodies and of their movements, positions, orbits, and anomalies.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/02/10/the-teaching-of-astronomy-in-medieval-universities-principally-at-paris-in-the-fourteenth-century/feed/ 0 The Eternity of the World and Renaissance Historical Thought http://www.medievalists.net/2013/01/27/the-eternity-of-the-world-and-renaissance-historical-thought/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/01/27/the-eternity-of-the-world-and-renaissance-historical-thought/#comments Sun, 27 Jan 2013 19:01:29 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=38953 Medieval and Renaissance controversies over the Aristotelian doctrine of “the eternity of the world” have hitherto been treated as disputes restricted to natural philosophers and theologians.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2013/01/27/the-eternity-of-the-world-and-renaissance-historical-thought/feed/ 0 Reading Health in the Stars: Politics and Medical Astrology in Renaissance Milan http://www.medievalists.net/2012/12/27/reading-health-in-the-stars-politics-and-medical-astrology-in-renaissance-milan/ http://www.medievalists.net/2012/12/27/reading-health-in-the-stars-politics-and-medical-astrology-in-renaissance-milan/#comments Thu, 27 Dec 2012 23:10:44 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=38341 Horary astrology was skillfully exploited in political circles and suggests that, far from being irrelevant to our understanding of Renaissance Italy, astrology played an important role in shaping its history.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2012/12/27/reading-health-in-the-stars-politics-and-medical-astrology-in-renaissance-milan/feed/ 0 Hebrew Astrology in Byzantine Southern Italy http://www.medievalists.net/2012/12/23/hebrew-astrology-in-byzantine-southern-italy/ http://www.medievalists.net/2012/12/23/hebrew-astrology-in-byzantine-southern-italy/#comments Mon, 24 Dec 2012 04:31:37 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=38264 It is a commonplace that our modern, tidy distinction between astronomy and astrology does not apply to the Middle Ages.

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