A History of Medieval Astrology

A History of Medieval Astrology analyses the contributions of the Kraków Astronomy and Astrology School, part of the University of Kraków – one of the fastest growing universities in 15th-century Europe. Astrology was a science practised by the most prominent representatives of the most important medieval universities. Astrology was an ‘inseparable life companion’ of the then contemporary society, and it explained both the surrounding reality as well as what was difficult to understand. The two departments of the Faculty of Liberal Arts – astronomy, founded in at the beginning of the 15th century, and astrology, established in the mid-15th century – were the first such departments in contemporary Central Europe. Between the mid-15th and mid-16th centuries, Polish scholars wrote a number of excellent works on astronomical and astrological issues. These were not only texts for astrology students, but also prognostics, almanacs, calendars, short notes and longer astrological treatises. Discussing this rich source material, the book shows the importance of the Kraków cathedral of astrology and its masters in medieval Europe. The book is an important contribution to the history of knowledge, the study of astrology and astronomy, Central European history and medieval studies.