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Lynn Thorndike's History of Magic and Experimental Science
... Зокрема, подібне тлумачення було типовим для софістики та стоїцизму, в яких боги розглядаються як алегорії людських пристрастей. Міфи ж про богів символізують просто сили природи, які призначені для сприйняття свідомістю неосвіченого простолюддя [25, с. [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. ...
... Como consecuencia de este hecho científico (la precesión de los equinoccios), la astrología se divide en dos escuelas cuya diferencia fundamental estriba en la estructura que dan al Zodíaco (Thorndike, 1983). En consecuencia los astrólogos se han repartido entre dos tendencias: a) Astrología trópica: es seguida por la mayoría salvo en los países anglosajones en que se reparten de forma equitativa entre ambas tendencias. ...
This thesis consist of two distinct parts. In the first one, from the anthropology of beliefs perspective, a compilation and analysis of magical beliefs in general is done, specially focusing on the history, tradition and fundamentals of belief in astrology. As a result of this work and contributions made by interviewees and discussion groups, hypotheses and research questions that were served to guide the study were raised. The second part focuses on the methodology, analysis of both quantitative and qualitative results and discussion of them.
The aim of this research has been to provide information that allows us to understand and analyze the magical and astrological beliefs of young Spaniards. In addition, to study the influence of sociodemographic variables on those beliefs.
Hypotheses and research questions. The assumptions raised refer to the negative influence of the scientific background and religion on magical beliefs. We also considered the negative relationship between a person's confidence on himself and magical beliefs. Finally, we refer to the assumptions relating to the influence of sociodemographic variables on those beliefs. Regarding the research questions, we question whether it influences science education, religiosity and degree of confidence of a person believing in astrology. Also, if there is an influence of the branch of knowledge of the degrees of young university students and the ratings of their magical and astrological beliefs. Finally we consider three questions: the first refers to the belief in horoscopes and superstition. The second relates the belief in astrology with spirituality and sense of transcendence. Finally, the third question refers to how is valued the belief in horoscopes in relation to the rest of magical beliefs.
Methodology. The main methodological contributions of this study are two. The first is to have created a scale to measure the astrological belief (ECA), which has had two dimensions. One has allowed to measure the belief in horoscopes, and the other the belief in astrology. The second contribution has been to develop a quantitative and qualitative research. A personal survey with a cross-sectional design 800 young people aged between 20 and 24 years was used for the quantitative phase. 400 of the interviewees were studying third and fourth year in different degrees and universities. Subsequently, the qualitative phase was developed through focus groups, where the results of the quantitative study were discussed and implemented. Therefore, the most common limitations of previous studies were overcome: where there was not a scale to measure the astrological belief and where research on magical beliefs was done only by qualitative or quantitative methods, but not by using both simultaneously.
Results. Overall, the conclusions of the hypotheses and research questions of this study are, in some way, consistent with previous studies that have shown that education has a great importance in magical beliefs of the people, not the gender and religion. In addition, the results of the study show that for young people, especially the university students, the belief in horoscopes is very underrated, as they consider it as if it was a superstition. However, the belief in astrology is better valued, as it is considered to be a knowledge that has history and foundation.
... 192-93). 34 (Thorndike 1923). 35 (Albertus 1968a, pars I, p. vi). ...
All too commonly scholars take a piecemeal approach toward the work of medieval intellectuals such as Albert the Great (d. 1280), with a view to understanding singly his contributions to the history of science, various philosophical approaches, or theology, as if his mind was somehow compartmentalized. Furthermore, in spite of great advances in studying the history of occult subjects, modern writers sometimes still lapse into writing about medieval astrology as a superstition. This study suggests that we should consider medieval intellectual thought holistically, as a product of a different rationality than that which is dominant today. In order to illustrate this approach, I examine astrological belief within Albert’s thought as rational and consider some of the theological reasons why Albert was fascinated with this topic.
... In this regard, the translation activity of that time was not left out of the attention of researchers. The works of F.Carmody [3], C.Haskins [9], L.Thorndike [20] and E.Grant [7] are considered major studies in this field. ...
In article on the basis of careful analysis of the scientific literature devoted to history of the translations in Spain in XII–XIII centuries, the place of the Toledo school in the formation of the Renaissance process in Europe is revealed. In addition, the historical significance of this school in the translation and study of the works of scholars of the medieval Muslim East is assessed. As a result of the analysis of political, social and cultural processes that took place in the VIIΙ-ΧΙΙ centuries on the Iberian Peninsula, the historical factors that influenced the formation of the Toledo school are established, and it is also proved that the period of mutual synthesis of East and West cultures was the main historical factor in the formation of the school. The scientific and methodological foundations of views on the stages of the Toledo school’s activity, the staff, tasks, as well as translators and scientists who worked at the school are revealed. based on this, it is proved that the Toledo school is the logical beginning of the Renaissance of the West. KEYWORDS: Toledo school, Renaissance, Spain, Europe, Muslim East, Middle Ages, Arab, Castilian, Latin, translations, translators.
... 31 Athenaeus XII 519 e. 32 Witty (2016). 33 Thorndike (1923). ...
Very early experiments described in ancient literature usually have no detailed explanation of the methods used let alone the explicit Control expected by modern scientists for comparison with Treatments. Athenaeus describes a rarely recorded exception in The Deipnosophistae which has been briefly noted in scientific literature but not sufficiently contextualized. The experiment described has one treatment, a control and Athenaeus cites the desirability of replication, making this passage read like a modern text rather than an ancient one. Because technical processes were invented in ancient times I assume that experiments were also practiced, even though they are not described in ancient literature. This passage in Athenaeus exemplifies, by rare contrast, the general lack of description for ancient scientific methods. This lack may be because the ancient practitioners of technical processes did not have the reason modern scientists use for disclosure of all methods and results. Moderns achieve monetization that is protected by Intellectual Property Law or by acquisition of authority followed by salaried teaching in the academy. Ancient experimenters protected their discoveries by secrecy and maintained monopolies by concealment, an inconvenience for modern scholars. The form of ancient literature is important for this subject: it is not like modern scientific literature. When the ancients mention scientific subjects in writing it is in the form of literary discourse and debate where the aim is cerebral. There is no description of technical details where the aim is to allow replication of the experiment. Comfortable logic not experiment is described and intellectual improvement was usually the aim of ancient literature, rather than practical outcomes. The only reason we have knowledge of ancient practitioners of something similar to modern scientific methods from literature is that their kind of technical antics were briefly mentioned by ancient authors, because of their surprising and amusing nature.
... We are led to believe that Andalò was called to the court of King Robert in the final stage of his life as a physician and astronomy professor. Boccaccio who lived in Naples from 1327 to 1341 praises Andalò di Negro for the lessons he had taught some time before 1334 (Libri 1838: 200-202;Mojon 1846: 110-115;Poggendorff 1863: 265;De Simoni 1874: 313-339;Boncompagni 1874: 339-370;Favaro 1876: 5-22;Narducci 1892: 21;Duhem 1916: 266-278;Thorndike 1928: 52-56;1934: 190-204, 1949Cappellini 1936: 58;Glorieux 1971: 89-91;Muccillo, 1991: 126-131). ...
In this article, we publish the critical edition of Andalò di Negro’s De compositione astrolabii, with English translation and commentary. The mathematician and astronomer Andalò di Negro (Genoa ca. 1260–Naples 1334) presumably redacted this treatise on the astrolabe in the 1330s, while residing at the court of King Robert of Naples. The present edition has three purposes: first, to make available a text missing from the previous compilations of works by Andalò di Negro (ed. Bonus Opus preclarissimum astrolabij compositum a domino Andalo de nigro genuensi foeliciter incipit…Explicit tractatus astrolabij excellentissimi mathematici Andalonis genuensis, emendatus per celeberrimum et doctissimum astronomum magistrum Petrum Bonum Avogarium in foelici gymnasio ferrariensi. [Ferrara]: magister Johannes Picardus, 1475; Bertolotto II Trattato sull’Astrolabio di Andalò di Negro, riprodotto dall’edizione ferrarese del 1475, con prefazione del socio G. Bertolotto. Atti della società ligure di storia patria 25, 51–141, 1892; Fornaciari and Faracovi Trattato sull’astrolabio di Andalò di Negro, a cura di P.E. Fornaciari e O.P. Faracovi. Pubblicazione del Comune di Livorno in occasione della “Primavera della Scienza a Livorno” (febbraio-maggio 2005). Ospedaletto: Pacini editore, 2005); second, to revise a privately circulated edition of the text (Cesari L’astrolabio di Andalò di Negro, Parte I, edizione critica. Milano: s.n., 1984a; Practica Astrolabii di Andalò di Negro, Parte I. Edizione critica. Bergamo: Istituto Universitario di Bergamo, 1984b); and third, to help disseminating one of the rare Latin texts presenting the principles of the stereographic projection which underlie the construction of the astrolabe.
Pytanie „Czy Kopernik był astrologiem?” jest na pierwszy rzut oka bardzo jasne, choć w rzeczywistości jest dość dwuznaczne. Należy je raczej traktować jako obszerny temat obejmujący wiele bardziej szczegółowych pytań, takich jak: „Czy posiadał gruntowne wykształcenie w zakresie astrologii?”, „Czy wierzył w astrologię?” lub „Czy dojrzały Kopernik zajmował się astrologią?”. Niestety wśród historyków jak dotąd nie udało się osiągnąć konsensusu co do żadnej odpowiedzi. W związku z tym temat ten był i nadal jest polem najzacieklejszych debat w kopernikologii, a nawet w całej historii nauki. Starannie dokonane rozróżnienia i późniejsza analiza powszechnych argumentów za i przeciw umożliwiły w tym artykule rozstrzygnięcie różnych perspektyw. Żaden z argumentów nie okazał się decydujący. Ogólnie rzecz biorąc, chociaż rozumowania „za” zwykle opierają się na niepewnej lub nawet błędnej logice indukcyjnej, ich przeciwne odpowiedniki często cierpią z powodu wnioskowania ex silentio lub nawet błędu ad ignorantiam. Zamiast tego wprowadzono dwa nowe, subtelne argumenty. Można je uznać za rzeczywiście nowy materiał dowodowy, pozwalający na rozwianie niektórych utrzymujących się wątpliwości. Najpierw zbadano horoskopy urodzeniowe Kopernika, sporządzone w połowie XVI wieku. Naturalnie spodziewano się, że zbyt dokładna godzina narodzin Kopernika, czyli 16:48, będzie wynikiem wstępnej korekty astrologicznej. Jednak najwyraźniej nie zostało to naprawione przez najpopularniejsze wówczas algorytmy. Odkrycia sugerują raczej liczbowe niż astrologiczne skłonności Kopernika. Co więcej, wnikliwa analiza adnotacji Kopernika w Tablicach Alfonsyńskich ujawniła związek pomiędzy poprawionymi przez niego błędami drukarskimi a starożytnymi obserwacjami, które zamieścił w De Revolutionibus. W związku z tym z dużym prawdopodobieństwem można wykluczyć szerokie astrologiczne wykorzystanie przez niego tablic. Kopernik ponadto prawdopodobnie nigdy też nie korzystał regularnie z Tablic Regiomontana. Konkluzja integruje wszystkie dostępne argumenty dotyczące związku Kopernika z astrologią.
Albertus Magnus was one of the most significant medieval scholastic theologians. He was also very interested in astrology and its place within his Christian worldview. In the centuries after his death, a fascination with the esoteric elements of his thought grew to the point where he is often remembered not only for his interest in astrology, but also rather falsely as a wizard. Thus, Albert’s reputation has proven to be of keen interest and use to modern people with an interest in, or a business built upon, esoteric beliefs. Thus, we find modern astrologers such as Christopher Warnock directly quoting from Albert’s works. Perhaps more surprisingly, Albert, as both a saint and a supporter of astrology, has proven useful for modern conservative Catholics who support the use of predictive astrology.
The genre of the plague treatise, still little studied, testifies to the cultural transformations that swept western Eurasia after the Black Death apocalypse of the mid-fourteenth century, with recurrent outbreaks for centuries thereafter. Ottoman contributions to this genre are exemplary: they allow us to track the emergence of an imperial-scientific early modernity. This article presents the most comprehensive and innovative Islamicate plague treatise extant, Taşköprīzāde Aḥmed’s (d. 1561) Treatise on Healing Epidemic Diseases. Therein the celebrated Ottoman polymath makes a strong case, advanced by arguments both religious and rational, for occult science as the most empirical method for preventing and curing the plague. To this end, he devotes the theoretical first half of the treatise to a critique of fatalist scholars and sufis, who prefer tawakkul to tasabbub, or blind faith to “scientific method”; the practical second half is devoted to what he considers to be the most medically effective scientific discipline of his era, lettrism (ʿilm al-ḥurūf)—a Neopythagorean science encapsulating the new “cosmological imaginary” of Western early modernity generally, wherein the world was seen by many thinkers and doers as a mathematical and hence magically tractable text. Our distaste for occult science notwithstanding, Taşköprīzāde must here be named another early modern empiricist.
In a wide arc from the Paleolithic to the present day, this book explores the
changing structure of human experience and its impact on the dynamics of
cultures, civilizations, and political ideas.
The main thesis is a paradigm shift: the structure of human experience
is not a universal constant but changes over time. Looking at the entire
range of human history, there are a total of nine transformations, beginning
with conscious perception and imagination in the Paleolithic and ending,
for the time being, in modern times with the discovery of the unconscious.
In between, this book explores six more transformations that took place in
different regions and at different times, which include a sense of order, selfrefection, the eye of reason, spiritual experience, as well as the experience of creativity and of consciousness.
As such, The History of Experience presents both a cross-cultural and comparative theory of experience and culturaldynamics, and an exploration of rich materials from East and West.
This book is of great use to upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars interested in the relationship between history, human experience, culture, and political order.
In a wide arc from the Paleolithic to the present day, this "History of Experience" explores the changing structure of human experience and its impact on the dynamics of cultures, civilizations, and political ideas.
The main thesis is a paradigm shift: the structure of human experienceis not a universal constant but changes over time. Looking at the entirerange of human history, there are a total of nine transformations, beginning with conscious perception and imagination in the Paleolithic and ending, for the time being, in modern times with the discovery of the unconscious. In between, this book explores six more transformations that took place indifferent regions and at different times, which include a sense of order, self-refection, the eye of reason, spiritual experience, as well as the experience ofcreativity and of consciousness.
"The History of Experience" presents both a general theory of experience and cultural dynamics, and an intercultural exploration of rich materials from East and West.
تُعد حركة الترجمة من العربية إلى اللاتينية في القرن الثاني عشر مرحلة انتقالية عبرت من خلالها المعارف من الشرق إلى الغرب اللاتيني، وفي تلك الفترة وفد الكثير من الغربيين إلى الشرق رغبة منهم في النهل من معين الحضارة الإسلامية. تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى إلقاء الضوء على المترجم اللاتيني أديلارد الباثي الذي دفعه حبه للمعرفة للتعلم في الشرق والتتلمذ على أيدي العرب والمسلمين. ومن جملة ما سنتطرق إليه في هذه الدراسة أوضاع التعليم في القرن الثاني عشر والعلوم التي كانت سائدة، إضافة إلى سرد بعض أعمال أديلارد قبل ذهابه إلى الشرق، والأعمال التي ترجمها وتلك التي ألفها نتيجة اطلاعه على علوم العرب والمسلمين. وقد استند البحث إلى مصادر عربية وأجنبية، منها مؤلفات وترجمات أديلارد عطفا على غيرها من المراجع المتنوعة. وبعد البحث والتقصي توصل البحث إلى عدة نتائج منها أن حركة الترجمة الفردية التي أخذت في تزايد في القرن الثاني عشر أدت إلى ثورة في الترجمة عن العربية أسفرت عن انتقال الثقل الحضاري إلى أوروبا.
É com grande satisfação que damos sequência, neste segundo volume, ao projeto Medioevo, iniciado no final de 2020, como forma de expandir os horizontes acadêmicos do LETAMIS e promover a aproximação e o diálogo entre os vários seguimentos da comunidade medievalista. Nosso projeto surgiu de forma despretensiosa e, assim, permanece, abrindo-se à colaboração externa para divulgar de pesquisas e pesquisadores através dessa modesta publicação.
Vivemos tempos caóticos, tanto nacional quanto internacionalmente. Nossa pretensa modernidade tem-se mostrado terreno fértil para a disseminação do ódio, do preconceito e da intolerância – males contra os quais foram promovidas intensas lutas nas últimas décadas. Nós, do LETAMIS, antes mesmo de nos instituir oficialmente enquanto laboratório de pesquisa, sempre pautamos nossos estudos em um olhar aberto sobre a Idade Média, suas rupturas e continuidades. Sempre buscamos a reflexão das mazelas sociais, políticas e religiosas, dos mandos e desmandos, da diferenciação do eu e do outro, no intuito de promover o debate sobre os estigmas e as representações que as sociedades do passado impuseram sobre grupos e indivíduos. Sem pretensões anacrônicas, consideramos que pensar o presente é ponderar sobre o passado. Somos chamados, pois, a evidenciar nossa própria presença na História
La traducción facilita la transmisión de conocimientos entre culturas. La transferencia fundamental de la terminología anatómica de las culturas de la Antigua Grecia y la Edad de Oro del islam a la Cristiandad latina medieval tuvo lugar en la llamada Escuela de Traductores de Toledo durante los siglos XII y XIII. Las traducciones realizadas en Toledo circularon ampliamente por Europa. Fueron la base del pensamiento científico que nació en los claustros de las primeras universidades. En Toledo, Gerard de Cremona tradujo el Canon de Medicina de Avicena, la obra clave de la medicina de la Edad de Oro del islam. Alberto Magno, Mondino de Luzzi y Guy de Chauliac, los principales autores de las palabras anatómicas latinas en la Edad Media, basaron sus libros sobre las traducciones de Gerard. Los términos anatómicos del Canon conservan auctoritas hasta el Renacimiento. Así, términos acuñados por Gerard como diafragma, órbita, pupila o sagital siguen siendo relevantes en la terminología anatómica oficial actual. El objetivo del presente artículo es llamar la atención sobre la importante influencia que tuvo la Escuela de Traductores de Toledo en la terminología anatómica. Para ello, revisaremos aquí los orígenes onomásticos de una serie de términos anatómicos aún vigentes. "El conocimiento histórico debe ser el preámbulo y el fundamento del conocimiento sistemático que comienza con el de los nombres dados durante el paso del tiempo al mismo objeto de conocimiento" (Barcia Goyanes, 1978).
By the time of his death in 1280 Albert the Great was respected not only as a theologian and philosopher, but also as one of the greatest authorities on astrology in the West. Such expertise rarely gains plaudits today, but in late medieval Europe knowledge of esoteric pursuits was held in high regard. This is why Dominicans not only did nothing to challenge the growth of the “Albert Legend,” that Albert had mastered all magical and esoteric topics, but also promoted this myth. By promoting this legend, they bolstered and legitimized the reputation of the Order of Preachers.
A methodology of historical or higher criticism and of stylometry/stylochronometry known from Biblical and literary studies is applied to the examination of Nicolaus Copernicus’s writings. In particular, his early work Commentariolus is compared at the level of the Latin language with his later ones (Meditata, Letter against Werner and De revolutionibus) as well as the texts of some other authors. A number of striking stylistic dissimilarities between these works have been identified and interpreted in the light of stylometry/stylochronometry, historical criticism and the history of Copernican research. The conducted research allowed to draw some plausible conclusions about the Sitz im Leben (historical context), the dating of Commentariolus and related matters.
The Introductory article offers a general overview of the highly complicated topic of religious and mythological consciousness discussed in sub-species narrative critique and literary theory. It also provides a detailed context for the wide array of religious matters discussed in this special volume of Religions. Each of the nineteen papers is positioned within its own particular thematic discourse.
Em 2016, a palavra pós-verdade foi eleita pelo Dicionário de Oxford como a expressão do ano. Por pós-verdade entende-se um conjunto de práticas que buscam manipular o comportamento individual e coletivo, baseado nos sentimentos e crenças pessoais em oposição aos fatos objetivos. Entre essas práticas se destaca o negacionismo da ciência e da própria história. Como uma resposta a essa tendência, muitas vezes textos científicos buscam uma reconstrução racional da história da ciência de seus atores. Nestas reconstruções, as interfaces entre a filosofia natural e a ciência moderna com as chamadas não ciências, como a astrologia, magia e alquimia, são minimizadas ou completamente ignoradas. Do ponto de vista historiográfico, uma reconstrução racional é tão falaciosa quanto os discursos de pósverdade. Esse fato, levou o historiador Butterfield a declarar que não é raro que pareça que Clio (a musa da história) favoreça aos discursos anacrônicos. Nesse ensaio sugerimos que a reconstrução sincrônica e diacrônica da história da ciência fornece os filtros adequados que corrigem a paralaxe e colocam Clio em seu devido lugar. Para isso mostramos como as práticas alquímicas de Newton beneficiaram a construção de seus Principia e que uma discussão contextualizada e problematizada desse episódio não favorece ao discursão não científico e negacionista, mas pelo contrário, permite identificar as intenções enviesadas e ideológicas que não visam favorecer o conhecimento ou debate, mas doutrinar o indivíduo a adotar uma postura particular.
The 'Roman de Perceforest' contains fascinating and original portrayals of magical artifice, which have intrigued scholars of Old French for many decades. It is also a peculiarly overt project of 'artificial' history, filling in a lacuna of Arthurian genealogy: King Perceforest's dynasty in pagan Britain. Under the umbrella of 'artifice', this thesis seeks to understand and explore the author's sense of his own artifice - that of writing a fictional history - through the text's portrayals of magical artifice, and artifice in other forms. Magic was a polemical topic in the late middle ages, and the matter of fiction appears similarly thought-provoking!
Despite claims of representing an ancient, unchanging wisdom, esoteric movements have often constructed their traditions and adapted to various historical contexts. In view of existing scholarship, we argue that “innovation” can be a useful heuristic tool for understanding the historical changes esoteric traditions undergo. In this chapter we reconceptualize innovation to be the continuous leveraging of past traditions in new contexts. In terms of ideas, we affirm that innovation is a mechanism of negotiation whereby an idea is either produced against, or adapted from, an older set of concepts in order to respond to a present context. We further consider the role of individual choice in innovation, and analyze how knowledge frameworks, such as esotericism, religion, or science, are interconnected to produce innovation.
Selección de artículos y estudios en reproducción pdf escogidos de las publicaciones del autor
Georg Henisch (1549-1618), native of today´s Slovak city Bardejov (in German Bartfeld) translated four pharmaceutical texts from Latin into German, three works by the French author Antoine Mizauld and one by Sextus Placitus, an author of the late Classical period. All of them were published in quick succession in the years 1574-1575 and they appeared until 1615 in several unchanged editions. All four works have a similar theme: unusual curative substances which could be easily procured from plants, metals and animals and they are addressed to the layman. From the point of view of genre, they are different, it is a matter of Kräuterbücher, herbal books, so called Hausväterliteratur (house father literature) and medicine, art and wonder books as well. In his translations, Henisch does not adhere strictly to the original texts, leaving out some smaller parts, translating freely and adapting his version to suit his wider German audience.
Magicians, necromancers and astrologers are assiduous characters in the European golden age theatre. This book deals with dramatic characters who act as physiognomists or palm readers in the fictional world and analyses the fictionalisation of physiognomic lore as a practice of divination in early modern Romance theatre from Pietro Aretino and Giordano Bruno to Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca and Thomas Corneille.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110695755/html
O presente artigo analisa os usos e funções dos manuscritos médico-astrológicos, especificadamente, os calendários astronômicos de Nicholas de Lynn (Astronomical Calendar, 1386) e de John Somer (Astronomical Calendar, 1380), ambos confeccionados entre os séculos XIV e XV na Inglaterra. O artigo destaca a complementaridade do texto e da imagem nos calendários médico-astrológicos, partindo da incidência da iconografia do homem zodiacal e do homem venoso que formam um grande corpus estritamente necessário para a leitura correta do cosmos nesses manuscritos. O artista tem um papel fundamental nesse processo, pois é ele quem resgata os elementos astrológicos sobreviventes e os converte em imagens. Por fim, o artigo destaca da transmissão dos saberes médico-astrológicos para a construção e compreensão de mundo cósmico na Idade Média Tardia e no início da Primeira Época Moderna.
Few discoveries in the history of medicine had a greater impact than William Harvey’s discovery of the circulation of blood, and few intellectual milieus of the early modern period had as decisive a part in the rise of ‘modern’ medicine and the shaping of the western scientific mentality in general than the philosophical and scientific movement of ‘Venetian Aristotelianism’, which grew up around the University of Padua, where Harvey himself had studied. In this chapter, I aim to explore some aspects of the intellectual movement of ‘Venetian Aristotelianism’ as well as the debate that ensued upon the discovery of the circulation of blood. My focus, however, is not on any of the major protagonists, but rather on a quite marginal figure in this debate, namely Hieronymus Franzosi.
Mythology And Folklore,
Magic and the Occult (Anthropology Of Religion),
Literary History,
History of Folklore Theory and Method,
Theory of literature,
Magic, Witchcraft and Paganism in Literature,
Literature and Magic.
***
Dennis Ioffe, Andrey Toporkov, Aleksey Yudin. "Russian Literature", Elsevier Science, Volumes 93–94, 2017, Pages 2-47.
...Literature and magic: how did these two entities coexist with each other during various periods of human history? What is magic? How was it ritually perceived in Europe? Which theoretical and scholarly approaches might assist us in devising its historical scope and literary ambiance? The introductory essay helps positioning a number of major conceptual issues regarding magic and its role in cultural and literary studies with special attention paid to Russian literature, spells, the supernatural and folklore. The essay offers a detailed historical overview of the main hermeneutical trends regarding magic, proceeding to Russian literature with special attention to Russian Symbolism (Aleksandr Blok and Valerii Briusov) and Russian Avant-Garde (Velimir Khlebnikov and Aleksei Kruchenykh). The Introduction also positions the special volume’s papers within the broader context of magic and supernatural.
The dreams described and discussed in the medieval Icelandic sagas always seem to bear some profound connection to the events of waking life. Scholars have often considered how this aspect of the medieval narratives may reflect either native, pre-Christian beliefs common to the medieval Nordic world or foreign literary traditions imported to the area during the later Middle Ages. Interestingly, several such examinations focus on certain passages in the sagas wherein disputes arise over the perceived significance – or insignificance – of a given dream. However, a close exploration of several such passages – within their respective narrative contexts – seems to reveal more complex attitudes towards the perceived significance of dreams to waking life in the sagas than scholars have sometimes allowed for. Moreover, the discourse of dreams employed by medieval saga writers and used to communicate to their medieval audience may ultimately resist attempts to draw a definitive boundary between that which derives from native traditions, on the one hand, and foreign traditions, on the other.
This article analyzes two vernacular German books that offered learned guidance for how to use natural observation as a means of gaining knowledge of the weather. Published a combined seventy-seven times throughout the sixteenth century, the “Wetterbüchlein” (Weather booklet) and “Bauern Practica” (Peasants’ practica) were commercially successful and widely circulated. Printers marketed the books as being accessible to anyone and reinforced that claim in the paratextual features of the books. In text and image, these books promoted the idea that even common people could participate in the production of knowledge based on the proper observation of nature.
In the early 1990s, Western esotericism became an academic subject within the realm of history. Thanks to a plethora of research, our field has grown twofold via the emergence of a solid specialized journals; and of three large networks of specialists (the Association for the Study of Esotericism-ASE; the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism-ESSWE, and Centro de Estudios sobre el Esoterismo Occidental/UNASUR). Even though the history of western esotericism in Latin America has yet to be written, there are some methodological preventions to point out that every specialist in Esoterism should observe.
This thesis researches a neglected period in the history of Egyptology. The impetus was my own training in Egyptology in which no mention was ever made of any medieval Arab contribution. My upbringing as an Egyptian had made me aware of some of the sources which could fill the gap between the classical sources and the European Renaissance. The first chapter discusses the sources available to medieval Moslem/Arabs to learn about Ancient Egypt, and the various elements that contributed to the making of an Interpretatio Arabica of Ancient Egypt. As Egyptian monuments have always been perceived as hiding great treasures, the second chapter discusses treasure hunters, their manuals and state regulation, and the economics of the profession. I give examples of these manuals and their relevance to current archaeological work. Chapter three covers medieval Arab archaeological methods and descriptions of ancient sites and objects. Chapter four shows how interest in ancient Egyptian scripts continued and the attempts by some Medieval Moslem/Arab scholars to decipher hieroglyphs, having realised that it has an alphabet. I give examples of Egyptian scripts correctly deciphered. Chapter five discusses the Medieval Moslem/Arab concepts of Ancient Egyptian religion and how they interpreted the many intact temples. It covers the role of magic, the nature of royal cults, animal cults and holy sites. Chapter six discusses Egyptian Mummia, Mummification and Burial Practices of both humans and animals as well as the medicinal use of mummia in Arabic medicine. Chapter seven shows that Egypt was thought to be the land of science par excellence and gives examples of different scientific Mirabilia attributed to scientists of Pre-Islamic Egypt. Chapter eight discusses the Moslem/Arab concept of Egyptian Kingship and State Administration. It shows the survival of some ancient Egyptian institutions such as “Children of the Room” into the medieval period. I include a case study of Queen Cleopatra showing how the Arabic Romance of this queen differs significantly from its Western counterpart. Chapter nine gives the biographies of the main Arab writers whose works have formed the basis of my thesis. The last chapter contains my conclusions and recommendations for further work that I hope others may pursue.
The paper aims at understanding Melanchthon's often neglected astrology in its original function, viz. in providing a link between astronomy and physics in a uniform creation, governed by strong causality that ultimately originates in God. In this regard , Melanchthon's semiotic astrology is modelled after the Hippocratic doctrine of symptoms and their interpretation in terms of cause and effect. Consequently, the heavenly bodies and phenomena have no intrinsic powers whatsoever; they are nothing but signs the signification of which cannot be determined empirically, but must be interpreted in the light of the Scripture.
Der Beitrag rekonstruiert Melanchthons in der Forschung meist vernachlässigte Astro-logie in ihrer ursprünglichen Funktion: als Bindeglied zwischen Astronomie und Na-turlehre in einer einheitlichen, von strenger Kausalität bestimmten Schöpfung, wobei alle Kausalketten ihren Ausgang aus Gott nehmen. Melanchthons astrologische Semiotik folgt darin dem Modell der hippokratischen Lehre von den Krankheitsan-zeichen und deren Deutung in Ursache-Wirkungs-Zusammenhängen. Gestirnen und Himmelserscheinungen kommt insofern keine eigene Wirkung zu; sie sind lediglich Zei-chen, deren Bestimmung sich nicht empirisch, sondern allein aus der Schrift ergibt.
RESUMEN El Tratado de Astrología atribuido a Enrique de Villena ha sido estudiado desde la historia de la ciencia y la filología, siendo caracterizado como representativo de un período de decadencia de la astronomía castellana. Desde un enfoque histórico-cultural proponemos situar dicha obra en el contexto de las prácticas, representaciones, discursos y objetos ligados al esoterismo occidental que pueden encontrarse en ese período entre cristianos, judíos y musulmanes. Bajo ese marco, la producción de Villena puede comprenderse como una táctica discursiva orientada a evitar las polémicas antimágicas en la corte de Juan II de Castilla. ABSTRACT The Tratado de Astrología attributted to Enrique de Villena has been characterized by historians of science and philologists as representative of a period in which castilian astronomy declines. From a cultural approach, we propose to place this work in the context of practices, representations, discourses and objects linked to western esotericism that can be found in this period between christians, jews and muslims. Under this framework, Villena's production can be understood as a discursive tactic aimed at avoiding antimagic polemics in the court of John II of Castile. KEY WORDS: esotericism, Enrique de Villena, astrology, Spain, minority religions.. .
Essay on Sleight of Hand Tricks as part of the Making and Knowing Project (see: https://edition640.makingandknowing.org/#/essays/ann_043_sp_16)
Abstract:
A set of recipes on fols. 33r–43v in Ms. Fr. 640 is dedicated to
sleight of hand. These tricks are part of a larger canon of
“secrets” performed at public places, such as markets and
taverns, and transmitted over several centuries and across the
globe. Traditionally, conjuring tricks were judged to be
deceptive and therefore illicit. Prominent sixteenth-century
scholars like Reginald Scot and Agrippa von Nettesheim were
determined to debunk such performances as fraudulent.
Meanwhile, these feats of practical magic also conveyed early
forms of specialist knowledge in mathematics (riddles),
physics and astronomy (optical effects), chemistry
(transmutation), and theatrical display (mechanical props).
This essay examines the social life of sleight of hand in its
widespread cultural transmission. This study also discovers
striking similarities between entries in Ms. Fr. 640 and Jean
Prevost’s Clever and Pleasant Inventions (Lyon, 1584),
especially on fols. 33r, 33v, 34v, 35r, and 35v.
Essay on Sleight of Hands Tricks, as part of the Making and Knowing Project.
See: https://edition640.makingandknowing.org/#/essays/ann_043_sp_16
Abstract:
A set of recipes on fols. 33r–43v in Ms. Fr. 640 is dedicated to sleight of hand. These tricks are part of a larger canon of “secrets” performed at public places, such as markets and taverns, and transmitted over several centuries and across the globe. Traditionally, conjuring tricks were judged to be deceptive and therefore illicit. Prominent sixteenth-century scholars like Reginald Scot and Agrippa von Nettesheim were determined to debunk such performances as fraudulent. Meanwhile, these feats of practical magic also conveyed early forms of specialist knowledge in mathematics (riddles), physics and astronomy (optical effects), chemistry (transmutation), and theatrical display (mechanical props). This essay examines the social life of sleight of hand in its widespread cultural transmission. This study also discovers striking similarities between entries in Ms. Fr. 640 and Jean Prevost’s Clever and Pleasant Inventions (Lyon, 1584), especially on fols. 33r, 33v, 34v, 35r, and 35v.
In his Serpentum et draconum historiae (1640), a first edition of which is held in the Library of the Palace of Mafra, Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605) selectively recounted ancient and contemporary beliefs concerning the dragonstone–a fabulous jewel said to naturally occur in the head of a dragon. The mythology of the dragonstone can be traced to works from the third century BC, and connections made to earlier mythology. Greek and Roman sources described the manner of the stones’ capture; their subtle inferences of the stones’ magical influence on eyesight were, however, omitted by Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) from his encyclopaedic Historia Naturalis (Natural History). Pliny’s text regarding the dragonstone became pre-eminent, and the key components of his account were repeated, to varying degrees, in written texts until the De Mineralibus of Albertus Magnus (circa 1200–1280), which introduced alexipharmic use for the dragonstone into medieval medical literature. Subsequent accounts relied either upon Pliny or Albertus Magnus as their primary authority. Additional consideration of vernacular accounts and material culture from the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries demonstrates that dragonstone mythology was widespread across various sectors of European society. Its particular depiction on tableware was likely an indirect consequence of the influence of Albertus Magnus’ genesis of a divergent tradition, which conflated the dragonstone with the supposed medical efficacy of the snakestone (a stone from a serpent’s head) against poison.
Among the characteristic features of Georg Peurbach's influential Theoricae novae planetarum (1454) was a model of the motion of the fixed stars, based on the Alfonsine Tables, that involved both an eighth sphere undergoing trepidation and a ninth sphere subject to linear precession. Instead of being an innovation on Peurbach's part, the model in question can be shown to have been derived from an obscure treatise De triplici motu octave spere written in 1450 by the Paduan astrologer Nicolò Conti (d. 1468). The main purpose of this article is to highlight relevant parallels between the two works, especially in their use of diagrams, and to present evidence of personal ties between Conti and Peurbach, which explain how the model in question was transmitted from Padua to Vienna. In addition, it discusses the astrological impetus behind Conti's physical model, which was based on the notion that the slow motion of the fixed stars influences the course of history.
This open access book explores commentaries on an influential text of pre-Copernican astronomy in Europe. It features essays that take a close look at key intellectuals and how they engaged with the main ideas of this qualitative introduction to geocentric cosmology.
Johannes de Sacrobosco compiled his Tractatus de sphaera during the thirteenth century in the frame of his teaching activities at the then recently founded University of Paris. It soon became a mandatory text all over Europe. As a result, a tradition of commentaries to the text was soon established and flourished until the second half of the 17th century. Here, readers will find an informative overview of these commentaries complete with a rich context. The essays explore the educational and social backgrounds of the writers. They also detail how their careers developed after the publication of their commentaries, the institutions and patrons they were affiliated with, what their agenda was, and whether and how they actually accomplished it.
The editor of this collection considers these scientific commentaries as genuine scientific works. The contributors investigate them here not only in reference to the work on which it comments but also, and especially, as independent scientific contributions that are socially, institutionally, and intellectually contextualized around their authors.
The chapter discusses the importance of fortune-telling as a strategy in dealing with an unknown future and everyday, widespread form of information retrieval from antiquity to the present day.
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