Speculum Astronomiae
Albertus Magnus produced the Speculum Astronomiae (The Mirror of Astronomy) (de refutatione librorum astronomiae, incipit Occasione quorundam librorum apud quos non est radix sciencie) sometime after 1260 to defend astrology as a Christian form of knowledge (Zambelli, 1992; Hendrix, 2007). Though Albert's authorship of this text has been debated by such scholars as Pierre Mandonnet and, more recently, Nicholas Weill-Parot, some scholars recognized it as a genuinely Albertine work (Mandonnet, 1910; Weill-Parot, 2002; Hendrix, 2010; Thorndike, 1923–28; Lemay, N.D.).
Background
Albert wrote the Speculum in response to the debate concerning medieval astrology. It came to a head with the
Content
Albert, however, built upon an idea originally expressed by
Furthermore, the celestial bodies through their corporeal nature caused this flow of influence, which is perceived as visible light, to function as a bodily, rather than a spiritual, force (Hendrix, 2007). Because of this quasi-corporeal status, Albert maintained that the transmitted influence could affect the body, but not the soul. This influence would result in corporeal impulses—such as lust or gluttonous desire—that influenced the soul only indirectly, through the body. Because of this, the person receiving the influence could choose to override it through an act of will. But since most people are perfectly content to be moved along by their physical impulses, astrology would be able to accurately predict future actions in almost every case. However, a knowledge of astrology helps one to resist the influences that celestial bodies impart, therefore assisting one in resisting these bodily impulses. Thus, in Albert's argument, astrology perfects, rather than negates, free will.
Influence
The Speculum became central to the debate about astrology in the medieval, Renaissance, and early-modern periods, with its status as a source not declining until the early seventeenth century (Hendrix, 2007). For more than a dozen generations those who wrote upon astrology almost invariably cited the Speculum or used its arguments, whether to defend celestial divination, such as the 13th century physician
Literature
- L. Bianchi, Censure et liberté intellectuelle à l' Université de Paris (XIII-XIV siècles). Paris: J. Vrin, 1999.
- Scott Hendrix, How Albert the Great’s Speculum astronomiae Was interpreted and Used by Four Centuries of Readers: A Study in Late Medieval Medicine, Astronomy and Astrology. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2010.
- Richard Lemay, “The Paris Prohibitions of 1210/15, the formulas of absolution by Gregory IX (1231), and the Incipit of Albertus Magnus’ Speculum Astronomiae. Origin and canonical character of the Speculum Astronomiae.” Unpublished paper, N.D.
- Richard Lemay, Abu Ma’shar and Latin Aristotelianism. Beirut: The Catholic Press, 1962.
- Pierre Mandonnet, “Roger Bacon et le Speculum Astronomiae (1277).” Revue neoscolastique de philosophie 17 (1910): 313- 335.
- Lynn Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental Science. 8 vols. New York: Columbia University Press, 1923-28.
- Nicolas Weill-Parot, Les “images astrologiques” au moyen âge et à la renaissance: spéculations intellectuelles et pratiques magiques (XIIe-XVe siècle). Paris: Champion, 2002.
- Paola Zambelli, The Speculum Astronomiae and its Enigma: Astrology, Theology, and Science in Albertus Magnus and his Contemporaries. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992.
- Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, Le "Speculum Astronomiae", une énigme? Enquête sur les manuscrits. Firenze, SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2001.