The Speculum Astronomiae and Its Enigma
Title | The Speculum Astronomiae and Its Enigma PDF eBook |
Author | P. Zambelli |
Publisher | Springer |
Pages | 354 |
Release | 2013-12-21 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9401734674 |
The attribution of the Speculum Astronomiae to Albertus Magnus became a controversial issue only recently, when the great neo-Thomist historian Pierre Mandonnet suggested -- without any antecedents -- that the author was Roger Bacon rather than Albert. Mandonnet's theses were refuted by Lynn Thorndike and have since then been the subject of widespread discussion. The present historiographical case-study considers this debate in the light of an analysis of texts by Albert himself, as well as other important authors, such as Bacon, Bonaventura, Thomas Aquinas, Witelo, Campanus of Novara, and others, which shows how widespread the general concept of the influence of the stars and other astrological ideas to be found in the Speculum were. Most of the scientific ideas of the Middle Ages were based on principles derived from the notion of celestial influence and its consequences. The Speculum drew the fundamental outlines of this discipline into a theoretical and bibliographical introduction -- no small achievement -- and was consequently greeted with great interest and used as a standard reference book for many centuries. Set against the background of discussions taking place in the 1260s, within the Dominican Order as well as in the Faculties of Arts, Zambelli removes all doubt that the Speculum was written by Albert, possibly with some collaboration.
Unlocked Books
Title | Unlocked Books PDF eBook |
Author | Benedek Láng |
Publisher | Penn State Press |
Pages | 350 |
Release | 2010-11 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0271048212 |
"Presents and analyzes texts of learned magic written in medieval Central Europe (Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary), and attempts to identify their authors, readers, and collectors"--Provided by publisher.
A History of Science, Magic and Belief
Title | A History of Science, Magic and Belief PDF eBook |
Author | Steven P. Marrone |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Pages | 331 |
Release | 2014-12-11 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1137029781 |
A History of Science, Magic and Belief is an exploration of the origins of modern society through the culture of the middle ages and early modern period. By examining the intertwined paths of three different systems for interpreting the world, it seeks to create a narrative which culminates in the birth of modernity. It looks at the tensions and boundaries between science and magic throughout the middle ages and how they were affected by elite efforts to rationalise society, often through religion. The witch-crazes of the sixteenth and seventeenth century are seen as a pivotal point, and the emergence from these into social peace is deemed possible due to the Scientific Revolution and the politics of the early modern state. This book is unique in drawing together the histories of science, magic and religion. It is thus an ideal book for those studying any or all of these topics, and with its broad time frame, it is also suitable for students of the history of Europe or Western civilisation in general.
Debating the Stars in the Italian Renaissance
Title | Debating the Stars in the Italian Renaissance PDF eBook |
Author | Ovanes Akopyan |
Publisher | BRILL |
Pages | 272 |
Release | 2020-10-12 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9004442278 |
An account of the astrological controversies that arose in Renaissance Italy in the wake of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem, published in 1496.
A Companion to Albert the Great
Title | A Companion to Albert the Great PDF eBook |
Author | Irven Resnick |
Publisher | BRILL |
Pages | 849 |
Release | 2013-03-27 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9004239731 |
Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus; d. 1280) is one of the most prolific authors of the Middle Ages, and the only scholar to be known as “the Great” during his own lifetime. As the only Scholastic to to have commented upon all the works of Aristotle, Albert is also known as the Universal Doctor (Doctor Universalis) for his encyclopedic intellect, which enabled him to make important contributions not only to Christian theology but also to natural science and philosophy. The contributions to this omnibus volume will introduce students of philosophy, science, and theology to the current state of research and multiple perspectives on the work of Albert the Great. Contributors include Jan A. Aertsen, Henryk Anzulewicz, Benedict M. Ashley, Miguel de Asúa, Steven Baldner, Amos Bertolacci, Thérèse Bonin, Maria Burger, Markus Führer, Dagmar Gottschall, Jeremiah Hackett, Anthony Lo Bello, Isabelle Moulin, Timothy Noone, Mikołaj Olszewski, B.B. Price, Irven M. Resnick, Francisco J. Romero Carrasquillo, H. Darrel Rutkin, Steven C. Snyder, Michael W. Tkacz, Martin J. Tracey, Bruno Tremblay, David Twetten, Rosa E. Vargas and Gilla Wöllmer
Disenchanting Albert the Great
Title | Disenchanting Albert the Great PDF eBook |
Author | David J. Collins, S. J. |
Publisher | Penn State Press |
Pages | 273 |
Release | 2024-07-15 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 0271098392 |
Albert the Great (1200–1280) was a prominent Dominican friar, a leading philosopher, and the teacher of Thomas Aquinas. He also endorsed the use of magic. Controversial though that stance would have been, Albert was never punished or repudiated for what he wrote. Albert’s reception followed instead a markedly different course, leading ultimately to his canonization by the Catholic Church in 1931. But his thoughts about magic have been debated for centuries. Disenchanting Albert the Great takes Albert’s contested reputation as a case study for the long and complex history surrounding the concept of magic and magic’s relationship to science and religion. Over the centuries, Albert was celebrated for his magic, or it was explained away—but he was never condemned. In the fifteenth century, members of learned circles first attempted to distance Albert from magic, with the goal of exonerating him of superstition, irrationality, and immorality. Disenchanting Albert the Great discusses the philosopher’s own understanding of magic; an early, adulatory phase of his reputation as a magician; and the three primary strategies used to exonerate Albert over the centuries. In the end, Disenchanting Albert the Great tells the story of a thirteenth-century scholar who worked to disenchant the natural world with his ideas about magic but who himself would not be disenchanted until the modern era. This accessible and insightful history will appeal to those interested in Albert the Great, Catholic Church history, the history of magic, and Western understandings of the natural and the rational over time.
The Medieval World
Title | The Medieval World PDF eBook |
Author | Peter Linehan |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 770 |
Release | 2013-09-13 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 113650012X |
This groundbreaking collection brings the Middle Ages to life and conveys the distinctiveness of this diverse, constantly changing period. Thirty-eight scholars bring together one medieval world from many disparate worlds, from Connacht to Constantinople and from Tynemouth to Timbuktu. This extraordinary set of reconstructions presents the reader with a vivid re-drawing of the medieval past, offering fresh appraisals of the evidence and modern historical writing. Chapters are thematically linked in four sections: identities beliefs, social values and symbolic order power and power-structures elites, organizations and groups. Packed full of original scholarship, The Medieval World is essential reading for anyone studying medieval history.