Abstract
In this book Philipp Nothaft offers a study and edition of the Tractatus de tempore dominice annunciationis, nativitatis et passionis, a biblical chronology text by an anonymous author, composed between 1371 and 1379. Nothaft’s discussion of the sources, transmission, authorship, and content (156 pages) of the Tractatus is followed by an edition of the Latin text and its English translation (pp. 160–375). The Latin is presented side-by-side with the English text, which greatly facilitates the reading and further analysis of this source. Nothaft attributes the text to Heinrich Selder (Paris master, 1378), who also authored a set of Canones for the Parisian Alfonsine Tables. 1 The text in full exists in a single copy, Munich, Clm 18298 (1440s); scattered excerpts are in Vatican City, BAV Pal. lat. 1354 (1460s).
The treatise goes beyond a mere chronology of the life of Jesus by offering rigorous and astronomically sound elements to consolidate its arguments. Here the author anticipates methodology that would become common only by the 16th and 17th centuries. An example is the use of “dated eclipses of the Sun and Moon as a means by which historical events could be anchored in relation to the present” (p. 79). According to Nothaft, one of the most impressive examples is the use of one of the earliest eclipses known at the time to date from 720 BCE. Another curious part of the treatise is the computation of the distance that Jesus had to travel through the celestial spheres to reach heaven.
Beyond its relevant and obvious input to the history of biblical chronology, this book also offers a valuable contribution to the history of astrology. Together with its historical computations the Tractatus includes a rich criticism of astrology which precedes by more than a century the famous Disputationes of Pico della Mirandola, which became the foundational anti-astrological text for early modern Europe. As an historian of astrology, this element drew my particular attention. Selder’s arguments, however, are not unprecedented; Nothaft summarizes in a clear and concise manner the main lines of criticism of astrology that preceded it and those contemporary to it. The Tractatus follows a trend represented by works such as those of Gerald de Feltre (1218-c. 1291) and Nicole Oresme (c. 1320–1382). It appears to also have connections to other contemporary works, as Nothaft offers evidence of a connection between Selder’s writings and Heinrich von Langenstein’s Tractatus contra astrologos coniunctionistas, a coeval text.
The same scholarship shown in the astronomical discussions is present in the astrological sections. The author cites names such as Albumasar, Haly Abenragel, and Guido Bonatti, debating in detail their positions on astrological practice. Apart from the arguments against divination, the criticism of astrology was often based on matters of astronomical computation. Such is the case for the conjunction theory of Albumasar, where Selder highlights the errors of the dating and calculation of conjunctions of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. He has strong objections against most practices of astrology, from nativities to revolutions of the years, interrogations, and elections. He cleverly contends with the matter of celestial influence, an essential point of Aristotelian natural philosophy which was hard to dismiss. For example, he contends that “even if there were only daily motion in the heavens, there would still be change and growth” (p. 125). Another of his targets is medical astrology, another staple of medieval astrological practice. Among other things, Selder argues that the position of the Moon, the ascending degree, and the dignities of the planets either are not efficient causes or produce different effects. He offers his own trial by making a bloodletting when the Moon was in Gemini and not experiencing any of the supposedly ill effects. The other main element of his criticism regards the astrology of conception, where he strongly dismisses methods such as the animodar and the “Scales of Hermes.”
Overall, this book makes a very valuable contribution to the study of astrology in the Latin medieval, Christian context, presented with the scholarly depth and acumen to which Phillip Nothaft has accustomed us.
