Luca Gaurico

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the crater, see Gauricus (crater).
Luca Gaurico

Luca Gaurico (in Latin, Lucas Gauricus) (Giffoni March 12, 1475 – March 6, 1558, in Rome) was an Italian astrologer, astronomer, astrological data collector, [1] and mathematician. He was born to a poor family in the Kingdom of Naples, and studied judicial astrology, a subject he defended in his Oratio de Inventoribus et Astrologiae Laudibus (1508). Judicial astrology concerned the fate of man (astrologia judiciaria; mundane astrology) as influenced by the stars. His most famous work is the Tractatus Astrologicus. Later in life he was named a bishop of the Catholic Church.

Career as astrologer

Gaurico's reputation was such that he served as an "astrological consultant" to

Henry VIII of England
.

Julius II, Gaurico returned to general favor.[2]

Gaurico became famous after predicting the ascension of Alessandro Farnese, a prediction that came true with Farnese's ascension as

Capitanata, in southern Italy
, in 1545. Four years after the death of Paul III, Gaurico abandoned these duties and settled in Rome.

The Tractatus Astrologicus contained the natal charts of popes and cardinals, kings and nobles, scholars, musicians and artists. Gaurico systematically examined each natal chart, compared it to the life of the person in question, and in the case of living subjects, predicted the outcome of their lives and careers. Gaurico also attempted to calculate the exact date of Jesus' crucifixion, and the number of hours between it and the resurrection. Allegedly, both he and Nostradamus were responsible for predicting the death of Henry II of France in a tournament in 1559.

Henry II of France, whose death both Nostradamus and Gauricus are said to have predicted.

Allegedly, Catherine de' Medici had wished to know Henry's destiny as the Apparent Heir of France. Allegedly, Gaurico replied that the Heir would exert his royal power, which would first marked by a duel, and finally by another duel that would put a stop to his reign and his life. Allegedly, he also explained in detail the kind of wound that would result in the death of Henry II during this duel.

Allegedly, the danger of this duel was considered impossible because of the social condition of the Prince, and Gaurico was not believed. Allegedly, Gaurico insisted on his statements, printed in France in 1552, that is, seven years before the well-known

joust
in which Henry II would find his death. He is also said to have sent a letter to the King repeating with full details his prediction and advising him to avoid any single combat in closed field, especially around the time when he had reached 41 years of age, since a wound on his head, at this age, could produce his blindness or his death. Allegedly, the letter did not deter Henry.

On July 1, 1559, during a match to celebrate the

Saint Denis Basilica
.

In fact, the one known horoscope of Henri II by Gaurico is literally quoted in the Dictionnaire of Pierre Bayle. There is no question of a duel. Gaurico promises the best successes to Henri II and adds that he shall live up to the age of 69 year, 10 month and 12 days, provided that he passes the years 56, 63 and 64 of his age.[3]

In regard to the birth of

Reformation.[4]

Gaurico has been identified by the historian Paola Zambelli as the author of an anonymous 1512 pamphlet that predicted a universal deluge to take place in 1524 as a result of a conjunction of the superior planets in the watery sign of Pisces.[5]

Astrology and buildings

Ephemerides recognitae et ad unguem castigatae, 1533
Super diebus decretoriis quos etiam criticos vocitant axiomata, 1546

Gaurico was widely renowned as an astrologer, and his Tractatus Astrologicus (1552) also contained charts of the foundation of various buildings and cities. Pope Paul III thus used Gaurico to determine the most auspicious time at which the cornerstone of a new building in the neighborhood of

St Peter's Basilica should be laid. It is said that Gaurico arrived at the scene in great pomp. An assistant, the astrologer Vincentius Campanatius of Bologna, was commanded to inspect the sky with an astrolabe and cry out in a loud voice the best time when the moment to lay the first marble slab arrived.[6]

Legacy

Gaurico ran a school of

Nicholas V, who had commissioned the work. Gaurico theorized that Ptolemy was a native of Pelusium.[7]

The

lunar crater Gauricus
is named after him.

References

  1. ^ Rantzau, Henrik (1602). "Astrological data collection". Tractatus Astrologicus.
  2. ^ BOOK XVI: HISTORY OF THE ESOTERIC ORDERS. Archived from santiagobovisio.com
  3. Gui du Faur de Pibrac, Apologie à la reine Marguerite, in D'Artigny, Mémoires d'histoire, de critique et de littérature, Paris, 1749, t. II and t. III, pp. 317 and ff. The passage of Pibrac is quoted p. 410 of volume II of D'Artigny's book and in vol. III, pp. 317 and ff., D'Artigny argues against the authenticity of the prediction attributed by Pibrac to Gaurico. See David Clement, Bibliothèque curieuse, t. 9, chez Jean Guillaume Schmid, 1760, available on Google Books
  4. ^ The Coming of a 'Little Prophet': Astrological Pamphlets and the Reformation. Esoteric.msu.edu. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.
  5. ^ Paola Zambelli, "Many Ends for the World," in ‘Astrologi hallucinati‘: Stars and the End of the World in Luther's Time (New York, 1986).
  6. ^ Success – And The Beginning Of Failure. Meta-religion.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.
  7. ^ Ptolemy: Iconography of His Portrait – Ptolémée: Iconographie de son portrait. Er.uqam.ca. Retrieved on 2011-10-01.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luca_Gaurico&oldid=1164857809"