The importance of general celestial influences on the Earth in
Aristotle's cosmological model enabled the art of astrology to find
a large degree of acceptance in intellectual circles by the
mid-twelfth century, even if throughout the late Middle Ages it
continued to be haunted by the debate about determinism. Astrology
- or the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial
bodies in order to make predictions about human personalities,
dispositions, and public and personal events - included the belief
that the planets could incline men to good and evil, and negatively
influence the course of events. In this paper, Sophie Page examines
how the question of whether or how demons could provoke, manipulate
or make use of these celestial influences was of particular concern
to three different types of medieval author: theologians explaining
the structure and operations of the cosmos, authors of literary or
popular scientific texts discussing the origins of evil in the
world, and writers of texts on astrology and magic, whose main goal
was to identify networks of power in the cosmos which could be
manipulated by humans.
About the Podcast
Recordings from the popular public lecture series featuring new work on all aspects of intellectual history. Hosted by the Institute of Intellectual History at the University of St Andrews.