人妻少妇专区 experts offer historical insights into medieval society鈥檚 fascination with astronomical and astrological phenomena.
In medieval and Renaissance society and culture, celestial events were not mere spectacles in the sky. Rather, they were omens, predictors of the future, and windows into the workings of the universe. 人妻少妇专区 historian and librarian Anna Siebach-Larsen, director of the , shed light on how the people of the (falsely labeled) 鈥淒ark Ages鈥� actually understood, interpreted, and experienced eclipses, planetary conjunctions, and other astronomical phenomena.
Eclipses were well understood in medieval Europe鈥攁t least mathematically.
Forget the idea of flat earthers and the notion that medieval people 鈥渨ere generally stupid, ignorant, and superstitious,鈥� says Smoller, a professor of history at Rochester and a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America. Ancient and medieval astronomers 鈥渒new quite well how to predict when conjunctions and eclipses were going to happen,鈥� she says.
They understood that if the moon was either new or full, and when its path crossed the ecliptic鈥攖he sun鈥檚 path鈥攜ou had an eclipse (a solar eclipse with the new moon and a lunar eclipse with the full moon). During an eclipse, the sun and moon are either in opposition (180 degrees opposite each other) or in conjunction in the exact same degree. But their paths have to be on the exact same plane and need to have crossed, explains Smoller. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 mathematically pretty sophisticated to conceive,鈥� she says.
That said, medieval Europe still held a strictly Earth-centric view that considered the sun and the moon to be planets that orbit Earth鈥攁long with the five then-known planets Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This geocentric model was not just specific to the Middle Ages鈥攊ndeed, it was the predominant model in several classical civilizations, including ancient Greece and Rome.
In 1543, the publication of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) by Renaissance astronomer and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus would kick off the Copernican Revolution. His work ultimately led to the long-held Earth-centric model鈥檚 being replaced with a heliocentric one that has the sun at the center of our solar system.
Celestial events like eclipses were used to predict the future, including the weather.
Medieval Europeans saw alignments of planets, like conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn, as signs of things to come鈥攆rom famines, earthquakes, and floods, to the birth of Christ, and even the collapse of empires. They believed that eclipses, especially solar eclipses, could amplify and strengthen the effects of these planetary conjunctions.
The University鈥檚 (RBSCP) is home to an early printed book from 1485 by Firmin de Beauval titled (On Predicting Changes in the Weather), published by Erhard Ratdolt, who specialized in printing works of geometry, astrology, and astronomy.
A compilation of ancient medieval sources, the treatise deals with the influence of planets on meteorological phenomena and weather forecasting. But it also covers solstices and equinoxes, planetary conjunctions, and eclipses鈥攁nd their reported ability to prognosticate the future.
Reading the original imprint (or incunable) in Latin, Smoller notes that eclipses were considered to boost the effects of planetary conjunctions. According to the text, when a solar eclipse is combined with the planetary conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the head of Aries, 鈥渢he effects will last 12,000 years.鈥� That staggering number is not a typo. Smoller points to faded marks in the right margins that an early reader, likewise astonished at the described super-booster effect, made in the same passage.
Smoller pushes back against the conventional notion of the superstitious Middle Ages. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 superstitious on their part to believe that things that happen in the heavens have an effect on Earth,鈥� she says, pointing to the example of tidal changes that are synched with the moon cycle. 鈥淭hat is the nature of medieval, ancient, and a lot of early modern natural philosophy, including beliefs held by Galileo and Kepler.鈥�
Medieval theologians pondered the meaning of the 鈥渕iraculous eclipse鈥� that apparently occurred during Jesus鈥檚 Crucifixion.
The study of eclipses was, unsurprisingly, essential for specialized astronomers. But it also formed part of a general university education during the Middle Ages, including for theologians.
Take the example of William of Auvergne, the bishop of Paris from 1228 to 1249 and a prominent theology professor at the University of Paris. William is one of many writers to discuss the purported 鈥渕iraculous eclipse鈥� that occurred at the time of Jesus鈥檚 Crucifixion. With the 600-folio De universo, which translates to On the Universe, William provides 鈥渁n extraordinary look at the culture of scientific thought and the ways in which it was transmitted,鈥� explained Siebach-Larsen . The manuscript boasts an unusual illumination that is broken into the four elements: earth (complete with mountains and trees), water (with fish), air (with flies), and fire. (Want to take a deeper dive into the De universo manuscript? Take a .)
An early witness to the idea of 鈥渘atural magic鈥� among medieval thinkers, William covers the topic of eclipses in De universo. He counts among the many Christian writers, beginning with the earliest Church fathers, to insist that the eclipse at the time of the Crucifixion had to have been miraculous, as it was not naturally possible, says Smoller. Why? Timing is everything: The Crucifixion reportedly took place during Passover, which begins on the first or second full moon after the spring equinox. But you聽need a new moon鈥攏ot a full moon鈥攆or a solar eclipse to occur.
Doctors in the Middle Ages needed to know about eclipses, too.
The Robbins Library and RBSCP collections boasts a beautiful 鈥渂at book almanac鈥� that is based on the Kalendarium of John Somer from the 1390s. Small and dainty, the parchment almanac was designed to be folded and carried around. As tools for astronomy, prayer, and astrology, such almanacs played a role in a patient鈥檚 prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment鈥攖he medieval equivalent of a WebMD smartphone app.
鈥淲hile we see that kind of information in book format frequently, it鈥檚 very rare to have this kind of manuscript that was made to attach to someone鈥檚 belt so that they could look at it and unfold it while consulting with someone,鈥� says Siebach-Larsen. In fact, there are 31 known almanacs of this type from England in existence, with only four of them鈥攐ne being the University鈥檚鈥攄ating as early as the 14th century. According to Siebach-Larsen, the Rochester manuscript might be one of the earliest English manuscripts of these texts and of this type.
Smoller adds that the almanac was designed to let physicians look up the most auspicious time to mix medicines and undertake medical interventions. And while the manuscript contains information about solar eclipses鈥攁long with striking illustrations鈥攊t鈥檚 not clear if that particular celestial phenomenon was considered a good or bad omen in the medieval healing arts and sciences.
Lunar and solar eclipses were noteworthy in the Middle Ages. But some planetary alignments were the really big thing.
In a hierarchy of astronomical importance, what comes first鈥攍unar eclipses, solar eclipses, or planetary alignments or conjunctions?
For medieval people, even though eclipses are much more visible, other planetary conjunctions were much more meaningful. That鈥檚 because for medieval astrologers and astronomers, the sun and the moon are fundamentally two of the seven planets. And according to Smoller, it鈥檚 the 鈥渟lower, outer鈥� planets鈥擲aturn, Jupiter, and Mars鈥攖hat were considered more significant.
鈥淭he really important ones are those special conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter that occur roughly every 240 and 960 years, definitely not those of the every-20-year variety,鈥� she says.
While the next Saturn and Jupiter conjunction will take place in 2040, to medieval astronomers that one wouldn鈥檛 have been very important. Instead, the next particularly significant planetary conjunction鈥攆rom a medieval perspective鈥攚ouldn鈥檛 be until the 22nd century.
Either way, if history is any indication, it stands to reason that future denizens of Earth will continue humanity鈥檚 enduring fascination with cosmic happenings.
