[MUSIC] Hi again, welcome to the last video of this series devoted to
medieval astrology in Christian Europe. As promised in our last lesson, today, we are going to discuss the evolution of the discipline
in the post Islamic period, that is, in the centuries that followed the period
of greatest expansion of Islam. During the 10th century, several Latin translations and treatises on divinatory astrology enriched the local popular
astrological tradition, which maintained its success among the lowest sector
of the profession until the Modern period. But the Arabic Islamic influence was especially remarkable on technical astrology from the 12th century onwards. European learned astrology, the only one deserving the name 'science of the stars'
according to its practitioners was inextricably related to Arabic names such as Albumasar or Albohazen. The new texts available were manuals that compiled the principles of the astrological science as it was practiced by Greek, Persian, Indian and Chaldean authorities, among others. Turning back to Europe, it was thanks to the task of 12th-century
translators that the names of Dorotheus of Sidon and Ptolemy make their way back to the elite of astrological authorities of Christian Europe and that their works entered university syllabi. Some of those translators also authored their own compilations on the basis of Arabic sources. This so to speak, new astrology had its own apparatus and its own degree of pomp, much as the rest of the sciences of the period. The amount of complex calculations needed to cast a horoscope
involved three things. One, mathematical skills that went beyond arithmetic. Two, the use of instruments such as the astrolabe, which was explained in several Arabic Islamic manuals that also taught how to make one. And three, the use of comprehensive and accurate astronomical charts that had to be adapted to the latitude of the city where the astrologer
exercised his trade. Once the relative positions of planets for a specific moment
were determined and represented, the astrologer had to consult one of the many canonical compilations to find the meaning of that particular astral configuration and cast the prediction for his client. The purpose of the prediction also defined different types
of astrological practices, which were Interrogative Astrology, the <i>electiones</i>
we mentioned a couple of periods ago. World Astrology and Natal Astrology. Each of them had its own methods and history, which were included in specific manuals. Interrogative Astrology, basically dealt with determining the advisability of carrying out a certain activity, depending on the relative positions of the planets at that specific moment. The client could pose a question about the most adequate moment to embark on a journey towards the East, take a purgative or choose the best day of the week or month to plant his vineyard. World Astrology, also known as political astrology and foreign to Graeco-Roman tradition tried to establish the precise moment
of each of the major astral conjunctions and their qualities. On the basis of these data, the astrologer could predict
great historical events such as wars, the fall of kingdoms or the appearance of sects and prophets. Finally, natal astrologers were concerned
about determining the future of their clients from the astral configuration present at the time of their birth. Natal Astrology already developed in the Hellenistic period with its characteristic play of ascendants and aspects is probably the most renowned and stereotypic representative of medieval astrology. Evidence of these are the large number of authors
who wrote planet books in Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and vernacular languages, and the homonymus treatises that were authored anonymously
or under a pseudonym. In sum, from the 15th century onwards, Western Europeans had a large astrological literary corpus
within their reach. A corpus that included a great variety of techniques from the most basic and divinations to the most complicated mathematical calculations. The circulation and use of the former or the latter mainly depended on social circumstances for both responded to a specific audience. Horoscopes were obviously reserved for the few erudites that had the necessary books and instruments and for the clients
who could afford their services. It is not by chance that this kind of astrology developed
within courtly milieus. For instance, Kepler and Tycho Brahe were both appointed
as imperial astrologers and Galileo made his predictions at the service of the powerful Medicis. In contrast, without astrolabes, astronomical charts or without the essentials skills to use them, astrologers still could turn to far simpler techniques. They looked at the position of the moon or the debasing the principles of the science of the stars, they added the numbers that correlated with the letters of the name
of their clients and ascribed them a sign of the Zodiac, then they turned
to their simpler manuals, which provided a series of predictions somewhat similar
to those offered by high-end astrology. Back then, just as it happens now, the social and intellectual context determined the type of astrology people turned to and the laws of supply and demand were just as prevalent. The Christian demand for astrological texts
fostered the task of the translators that resulted in the massive incorporation
of the Arabic-Islamic tradition. In the same way, the demands of the audience
who lived outside the courts and universities favored the survival of a different corpus that was far more primitive and scientifically inferior, which was no competition for mathematics astrology, but simply offered an alternative to it. [MUSIC]