Judicial astrology in theory and practice in later medieval Europe

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Abstract

Interrogations and elections were two branches of Arabic judicial astrology made available in Latin translation to readers in western Europe from the twelfth century. Through an analysis of the theory and practice of interrogations and elections, including the writing of the Jewish astrologer Sahl b. Bishr, this essay considers the extent to which judicial astrology was practiced in the medieval west. Consideration is given to historical examples of interrogations and elections mostly from late medieval English manuscripts. These include the work of John Dunstaple (ca. 1390–1453), the musician and astrologer who is known have served at the court of John, duke of Bedford. On the basis of the relatively small number of surviving historical horoscopes, it is argued that the practice of interrogations and elections lagged behind the theory.

Introduction

Many kinds of astrology were known and practiced in the middle ages. However, it is not until the Latin translation of the Arabic and Greek scientific corpus, a process which began in the late tenth century, that astrologers in the west had the technical means to practice Hellenic or scientific astrology, which incorporated the use of astronomical instruments and tables to observe and calculate the heavenly bodies with precision, the casting of horoscopes, and the consultation of scholarly textbooks to guide their interpretation. From this time, it is usually argued that scientific astrology flourished in western Europe, permeating natural philosophy, theology and the arts, and influencing politics and daily life.1 Nevertheless, the medieval evidence for widespread client-based practice of scientific astrology is relatively thin prior to the fifteenth century. This article provides a cautious interpretation of the two branches of judicial astrology which formed the core of personal, predictive astrology, namely interrogations and elections. It is argued that these more intimate forms of astrology were probably not widely practiced until almost the very end of the middle ages. Overall, this suggests that medieval readers were drawn to these parts of the Arabic astrological corpus as much for the sophisticated theory they provided of the relationship between the individual and the natural world than as a practical means for guiding individual actions and predicting the future. The essay is in two main sections. The first considers the theory of interrogations and elections as presented in works by the major authorities, especially Sahl b. Bishr (d. 822 or 850), known in Latin as Zael or Zahel. The second part considers historical examples with a view to finding out something about the social and cultural context of the practice of interrogations and elections in one social milieu—late medieval England.

Section snippets

Theory

According to most authorities, the science of astrology was divided into four or more branches, which included ‘nativities’, ‘revolutions and conjunctions’, ‘elections’ and ‘interrogations’.2 This body of knowledge emerged out of a professional astrological literature which was created to serve the courts of the Abassid Caliphate (758–1258) and their heirs and rivals in the Islamic world. Its golden age endured from the time of Māshā˒allāh (762–815) and Abū Ma˓shar

Practice

Tempting though it is to seize on astrological schemes and ransack them for the evidence they provide of the cultural context of astrologers and their supposed clients, there is a need to be extremely circumspect before we use horoscopes as historical evidence. This is because of all the medieval sciences, astrology was one of the most deeply conservative and respectful of past authority. To put it less positively, astrologers were strongly addicted to plagiarism and invented very little: for

Acknowledgements

This essay was first presented at the conference Astrology and the Body 1100–1800, University of Cambridge, 8–9 September 2006. I thank Lauren Kassell, Rob Ralley and the Department of History of Philosophy of Science for their support and organization, and Clare Hall, Cambridge for a Visiting Fellowship which made the research for this paper possible.

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