YA L E STUD I ES IN EN GLI SH K ED A LBE RT S . C OO , ITOR T HE MEDIE VA L AT T I T UDE T OWA R D A ST R O LO GY PA RT I C U L A R LY I N E N GL A N D T HE O D O R E OTT O WE D E L I n stru cto r i n E ngl i sh i n Y al e U n i ver sity A D i ssertat i on p re se nt ed to the Fa cu l ty o f th e Grad u at e Sch o ol o f Yal e U n ive rs ity i n C an d id acy f o r the D eg ree o f D o ct or of Phil o so phy N EW H A VEN : YA L E UN IVER SIT Y P R ESS LON D ON : HUMPH R EY MI L F O R D OX FO R D UN IVER SIT Y P R ES S MD C CC C X X PREFACE n ff n c c Mediaeval astrology ha s lo g su ered a egle t whi h , L n n c . j udged i tri si ally , it deserves ittle more than a romantic interest now attaches to a complex divinatory art that for centuries has been looked upon as one of the n n . n c aberrations o f the huma mi d Whe viewed histori ally , a s l n cc c in however , tro ogy is see to have o upied a pla e art a nd c n sc nc n philosophy whi h ma y a later ie e might e vy , and Anc n c c n n to n . whi h , o seque tly , it is not well ig ore ie t s n ha s c in c n c a trology , i deed , already re eived re e t years lose n Th M n has n a d appreciative study . e poem of a ilius ever lost its appeal for the classicist ; a nd the prominence of astrological thought in ancient philosophy and ethics has n c A t freque tly aroused the curio sity of s holars . his ory of a on n n medi eval astrology , the other ha d , still remai s to be n writte . o f c n n Yet for the men the thirteenth entury , eve more tha t he s a nd o c and R for poet philos phers of Gree e ome , the rule of the stars over human destinies was an indisputable c n n n t c nc n n s . fa t , e teri g i to heir every o eptio of the u iver e I n that sudden revival of A ristotelian a nd Arabian learning c in c n t he c c whi h , the twelfth e tury , heralded s holasti age , c c nc A astrology was hailed as the hief of the s ie es . lthough a long warfare with theology had to precede its accepta nce a n c . by medi eval orthodoxy , its fi al triumph was omplete Theologians dared to credit the stars with a power seco nd n . W n C c n o ly to that of God himself he hau er , in li es ’ c D I n erno c e hoing ante s f , ex laims O i nfl uences o f thi se hevenes hye ! Sot i s t at u n e God e b en ou r hier des h , h , d r , y , he is expressing the convictio n of the best mediaeval n A ff n n n thi kers . strology , o eri g , as it did , a reaso ed expla a Medicevol Attitu de tow ar d A s tr ology n n n n s c n n a nd tio o f a i fi ite diversity of phy i al phe ome a , nc n in c s c and cs ss i ludi g its s ope p y hology ethi , made po ible n a nc even in the Middle Ages dream s of a u iver s l scie e . I have endeavored in this dis sertation to trace the devel opment of mediaeval thought concerning a strology f rom A n n c n and n ugusti e to the fiftee th e tury , to i terpret refer The enc es to it in mediaeval English literature . larger — purpose w a s a direct outgrowth of the second a summary of as trological passages in Old and Middle Engli sh proving n n n c n barre without a i terpretative ba kgrou d . It will be easily recognized that the treatment of mediaeval astrology is c n nc A as a whole ursory a d i omplete . field so little explored a s that of A rabian and Jew ish scienc e off ers c n f n n ou tless di ficulties to the novice . But the ge eral tre d of astrological opinion in the Middle Ages seemed not s o f c and c s n impo sible dis overy , alled for at lea t a te tative x n n e pla atio . The recent investigations of several scholars have nc n n h n e ouraged my i terest i t e prese t work . Professor ’ Tatlo-ck s studies on the astrology o f Chaucer w ere resp on s S ible for my first intelligent V iew o f the problem . ome twenty pages o f incidental exposition in his S cene of the ’ F ranklin s Tale Visited co nstitute the most suggestive mo nograph of mediaeval astrology with which I am ’ c n Th h a quai ted . e earlie r volumes of D u em s Sys tem e du onde s in c and in M al o aided me matters bibliographi al , out linin g the evolution o f scientific ideas f rom A r ist otle to n A n n moder times . lthough my i troductory discussio of ’ ancient astrology is based upon Bouché - Leclercq s As tr ol o i e Gr ec u e n n g q , I have e deavored to i terpret the early his c nc in i n The tory of the s ie e the light of ts later developme t . nc a c n i n n i n c pri ip l o tr butio of the prese t study , fa t , will be found to consist in an attempt to explain the mediaeval attitude toward astrology a s the result of a c ombat between an cc c nc n C c e lesiasti al hostility , inherited from the a ie t hur h , and nc n i n n s A r c nc the i reasi gly nsiste t dema d of abian s ie e . P r eface My thanks are due to the officials of the Library of Yale ‘ n c n o U iversity , who se ured for me ma y of the b oks here T L n S n f c s . S . c ited ; to Profe sor J P atlo k , of ela d ta ord T C n C n n n and . U iversity , Professor F ra e , of or ell U iver i s C . s t c C . y, for ourteous replies to queries ; and to Pro fe sor T and s n n s orrey Profes or Willisto Walker , of Yale U iver ity , n n o a M for aid in solvi g problems of Orie tal bibli gr phy . y A Stanbur rou h C n gratitude to Professor lbert g ook , u der t t en whom this disserta ion was wri t , must be left largely . C unexpressed Professor ook helped me everywhere , n and always u grudging of his time , always ready with c c n sympatheti ou sel . A portion o f the expense of printing this thesis ha s been n n L C b o f n bor e by the Moder anguage lu Yale U iversity , from funds plac ed at its disposal by the generosity of the Mr . E D late George . imock, a graduate o f Yale in the C 1 8 lass of 74 . U V YALE NI ERSITY, N ovember 1 1 , 9 9. CONT E NTS CHAPTER PAGE A c A o I . n ient str logy A in M a C n II . strology the Early edi eval e turies As o in L III . tr logy Old English iterature A n A IV . rabia strology The M a Acc nc A V . edi eval epta e of strology A in M VI . strologers ediaeval England A n VII . strology in the Mediaeval Roma ces A o in M En L VIII . strol gy iddle glish iterature I X A l . stro ogy in Gower and Chaucer Bibliography Index CHAPTER I ANCIENT ASTROLOGY Little is definitely known of the history of astrology bef ore its advent in the Greek world at the time o f the A n w in C Alexandrian empire . risi g some here the haldean nd n w on East , a spreadi g early over Egypt , it its first foot hold in the West in a school of astrologers founded by s on o A c n Berosu the island of C s .