Astrology In Medieval Manuscripts

"Astrology in Medieval Manuscripts describes the complexity of western medieval astrology and its place in society, as revealed by a wealth of illustrated manuscripts and historical background."--BOOK JACKET.

Magic in Medieval Manuscripts explores the place of magic in the medieval world and the contradictory responses it evoked, through an exploration of images and texts in British Library manuscripts.

"The 16th and early 17th centuries were the most fertile period of Turkish-Ottoman painting, with the reign of Murad III (1574-1595) being particularly prolific in beautiful works of art, such as this Mataliʻ al-saadet--Book of Felicity--by Muhammad ibn Amir Hassan al-Suʻudi. This work, which the sultan himself ordered to be translated from the original Arabic, features descriptions of the 12 signs of the zodiac accompanied by splendid miniatures, a series of paintings showing how human circumstances are influenced by the planets, astrological and astronomical tables, and a enigmatic treatise on fortune telling. All the paintings seem to be by the same workshop under the guidance of the famous master Ustad ʻOsman, undoubtedly the artist of the opening series of paintings dedicated to the signs of the zodiac. ʻOsman, active between ca. 1559 and 1596, directed the artists in the Seraglio workshop from 1570 onwards and created a style charaterized by accurate portraits and a magnificent treatment of illustration. Sultan Murad III held illuminated manuscripts in greater esteem than any other sultan; this treatise of felicity was especially commissioned by him for his daugther Fatima. Turkish binding in red leather with gold tooling"--Publisher's description.

This book offers an internalist view on the history of astrology by studying the case of S. Belle, an astrologer who lived in late fifteenth-century France. It addresses his methods of work, his process of learning, and his practice.

Critical edition of the earliest known astrological autobiography The present book reveals the riches of the earliest known astrological autobiography, authored by Henry Bate of Mechelen (1246–after 1310). Exploiting all resources of contemporary astrological science, Bate conducts in his Nativitas a profound self-analysis, revealing the peculiarities of his character and personality at a crucial moment of his life (1280). The result is an extraordinarily detailed and penetrating attempt to decode the fate of one’s own life and its idiosyncrasies. The Astrological Autobiography of a Medieval Philosopher offers the first critical edition of Bate’s Nativitas. An extensive introduction presents Bate’s life and work and sheds new light on the reception and use of Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Hebrew texts among scholars in Paris at the end of the 13th century. The book thus provides a major new resource for scholars working on medieval science, autobiography, and notions of personhood and individuality.

From antiquity to the Enlightenment, astrology, magic, and alchemy were considered important tools to unravel the mysteries of nature and human destiny. As a result of the West's exposure during the Middle Ages to the astrological beliefs of Arab philosophers and the mystical writings of late antiquity, these occult traditions became rich sources of inspiration for Western artists. In this latest volume in the popular Guide to Imagery series, the author presents a careful analysis of occult iconography in many of the great masterpieces of Western art, calling out key features in the illustrations for discussion and interpretation. Astrological symbols decorated medieval churches and illuminated manuscripts as well as fifteenth-century Italian town halls and palaces. The transformational zymology of magic and alchemy that enlivened the work of a wide range of Renaissance artists, including Bosch, Brueghel, D: urer, and Caravaggio, found renewed expression in the visionary works of nineteenth-century artists, such as Fuseli and Blake, as well as in the creative output of the twentieth century's Surrealists.

This important and overdue book examines illuminated manuscripts and other book arts of the Global Middle Ages. Illuminated manuscripts and illustrated or decorated books—like today’s museums—preserve a rich array of information about how premodern peoples conceived of and perceived the world, its many cultures, and everyone’s place in it. Often a Eurocentric field of study, manuscripts are prisms through which we can glimpse the interconnected global history of humanity. Toward a Global Middle Ages is the first publication to examine decorated books produced across the globe during the period traditionally known as medieval. Through essays and case studies, the volume’s multidisciplinary contributors expand the historiography, chronology, and geography of manuscript studies to embrace a diversity of objects, individuals, narratives, and materials from Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Americas—an approach that both engages with and contributes to the emerging field of scholarly inquiry known as the Global Middle Ages. Featuring more than 160 color illustrations, this wide-ranging and provocative collection is intended for all who are interested in engaging in a dialogue about how books and other textual objects contributed to world-making strategies from about 400 to 1600.

Explanations of a diverse range of physical phenomena raised astrology to a prominent place in the history of philosophy and science. This volume traces the development of astrology from the 5th through 15th centuries, with interpretations from a variety of literary sources that include medieval romances and the works of Chaucer.