Companion to Astrology in the Renaissance

Brendan Dooley (PhD Chicago 1986) is Professor of Renaissance Studies at University College Cork. Previous books include Morandi’s Last Prophecy and the End of Renaissance Politics (Princeton 2002) and Science and the Marketplace in Early Modern Italy (Lexington Books, 2001).

“An excellent starting point for a graduate student beginning work on a topic that involves astrology or for an established scholar adding to a field of research.”Sheila J. Rabin, Saint Peter’s University. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Summer 2015), pp. 659-661. “Physicians based their cures and remedies on the movements of the stars and planets; scholars debated the significance of the movement of the heavens on political, moral, and psychological activities; writers and poets tried to provide ordinary people with some guidance for their daily activities; and theologians and preachers cautioned and condemned against following stellar conjunctions rather than divine providence. In the end, astrology during the Renaissance period was fully integrated into everyone’s life, and a better understanding of its influence and integration in the fabric of Renaissance culture is provided by this book.”Bradford Lee Eden, Valparaiso University. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 46, No. 2 (2015), pp. 435-436. “Das Buch bietet ein umfassendes Panorama der Erscheinungsformen der Astrologie in der Renaissanceperiode, enthält eine Fülle wertvoller Informationen und zeigt eine Vielzahl möglicher Forschungswege auf. Es kann jedem an der Astrologiegeschichte Interessierten empfohlen werden.”Günther Oestmann, Bremen. In: Beiträge zur Astronomiegeschichte, Bd. 12 (2014), S. 242-244.“Agile, ben informato, ricco di illustrazioni: nel complesso, questo volume si rivela una delle opere collettive più stimolanti tra quelle pubblicate negli ultimi anni.”Michele Rinaldi, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II. In: Bruniana & Campanelliana, Vol. 20, No. 2 (2014), pp. 666-669.

• Table of ContentsList of FiguresNote on ContributorsPrefaceIntroductionBrendan Dooley1.The Culture of Astrology from Ancient to RenaissanceWolfgang Hübner2.Representation of the Skies and the Astrological ChartGiuseppe Bezza3.The Return to Ptolemy Ornella Faracovi4.The Theological DebateGraziella Federici Vescovini5.Astrology and Society William Eamon6.Astrology and Politics Steven Vanden Broecke7.Astrology and Science Brendan Dooley8.The New Astral MedicineHiro Hirai9.Astrology and Literature Eileen Reeves10.Picturing the Stars: Astrological Imagery in the Latin West, 1100–1550Dieter Blume11.Reading the Peruvian Skies Claudia BrossederConclusionIndexList of Figures1.1 The four humours and elements adapted to the four triplicities of the zodiac1.2Zodiacal man from the Flores Albumasaris, Erhard Radolt 14881.3The symmetry of the seven planets1.4Francesco di Giorgio: Atlas, Braunschweig, Kupferkabinett1.5Joseph Justus Scaliger’s horoscope1.6Capital of the doge’s palace in Venice: Mercury with Virgin (Virgo) and Twins (Gemini)1.7Planisphere of the Aldina from 14991.8The Tychonic system2.1Making a Geniture2.2Graphic representation of a geniture2.3 Geniture of Girolamo Cardano5.1The great conjunction in Pisces, portending a second deluge. Leonhard Reynmann, Practica vber die grossen und manigfeltigen Coniunction der Planeten (Nuremberg, 1524)5.2Frontispiece to John Melton, Astrologaster (1620)5.3Girolamo Cardano’s Horoscope of Andreas Vesalius (Courtesy of the Clendening History of Medicine Library, University of Kansas Medical Center)Figure 5.4. Pages from A Perfyte Pronostycacion Perpetuall by “J.A.” (c. 1555) illustrating events that would occur in years “When Newe yeres daye falleth on the Tuesday,” including windy winters, rainy summers, sickness of women, and “Syppes and Galleys shall perysshe.”7.1Kepler’s Polyhedric Model7.2Robert Fludd’s Monochord7.3Robert Fludd: Microcosm and Macrocosm10.1Raphael, Dome of the Chigi Chapel in Rome, S. Maria del Popolo10.2Ferrara Palazzo Schifanoia, Sala dei Mesi, March with Aries10.3Ferrara Palazzo Schifanoia, Sala dei Mesi, April with Taurus10.4Ferrara Palazzo Schifanoia, Sala dei Mesi, Detail, First Decan of Aries10.5Ferrara Palazzo Schifanoia, Sala dei Mesi, Detail ot the upper Register with Vulcan10.6Paris, bibl. Nat. Ms. lat. 7330, Fol. 42v, Saturn in his houses10.7Paris, bibl. Nat. Ms. lat. 7330, Fol. 43r, Saturn in his Anti-Houses10.8Paris, bibl. Nat. Ms. lat. 7330, Fol. 43v, Saturn in his exaltation10.9Paris, bibl. Nat. Ms. lat. 7330, Fol. 44r. Saturn in his deiectio10.10Paris, bibl. Nat. Ms. lat. 7330, Fol. 54v, Venus in his exaltatio10.11Paris, bibl. Nat. Ms. lat. 7330, Fol. 56r, Mercury in his houses10.12Madrid, Bibl. Nac. Cod. 19, fol.55r, Jupiter on the eagle10.13Madrid, Bibl. Nac. Cod. 19, fol. 68r, The five planets10.14München, Bayr. Staatsbibl., Clm 10268, Michael Scotus, Liber introductorius, fol. 85r, The five planets10.15Padua, Palazzo della Ragione, The Great Hall10.16Padua, Palazzo della Ragione, Mercury in the sign of Virgo10.17Chantilly, Musée condé, Ms. 754, Fol. 1v, Saturn10.18Chantilly, Musée condé, Ms. 754, Fol. 2r, Jupiter10.19Chantilly, Musée condé, Ms. 754, Fol. 2v, Mars10.20Padua, Chiesa degli Eremitani, main chapel, Venus10.21Padua, Chiesa degli Eremitani, main chapel, Rising Christ 10.22Foligno, Palazzo Trinci, Sala dei pianeti, Luna10.23Foligno, Palazzo Trinci, Sala dei pianeti, Mars10.24Foligno, Palazzo Trinci, Sala dei pianeti, Mercury10.25Foligno, Palazzo Trinci, Sala dei pianeti, Jupiter10.26Rimini, Tempio Malatestiano, Mercury10.27Rimini, Tempio Malatestiano, Venus10.28Rimini, Tempio Malatestiano, Saturn10.29Rome, Villa Farnesina, Loggia del Galatea, ceiling10.30Rome, Villa Farnesina, Loggia del Galatea, ceiling, detail, twins (Leda and the swan)10.31Schweinfurt, Bibl. Otto Schäfer, Woodcuts from Basel, Venus10.32Schweinfurt, Bibl. Otto Schäfer, Woodcuts from Basel, children of Venus10.33Schweinfurt, Bibl. Otto Schäfer, Woodcuts from Basel, Mercury10.34Schweinfurt, Bibl. Otto Schäfer, Woodcuts from Basel, children of Mercury10.35Berlin, Staatsbibl. Ms. Germ. Fol. 244, Fol. 186v-187r, Mercury and his children10.36Kassel, Landesbibl. Ms. Astronom 1 (2°), Fol. 64r, Luna and her children10.37Tübingen, Univ.Bibl., Ms. M. d. 2, fol. 272r, Luna and her children10.38London, British Museum, Engraving by Baccio Baldini (?), Venus and her children10.39London, British Museum, Engraving by Baccio Baldini (?), Mercury and his children10.40London, British Museum, Engraving by Baccio Baldini (?),Luna and her children