TWO ASTROMAGICALMANUSCRIPTSOF ALFONSO X«
Alejandro GarciaAviles
A mis maestros,CristinaGutierrez-Cortines
Um die Mittedes dreizehntenJahrhundertserfuhr in Toledo, unter dem Einflussdes
vom gestirntenHimmeleine eigentumlich
KonigsAlfonsoel Sabio,die antikeWissenschaft
zwiespaltigeWiederbelebung: Der Sternhimmeldes Aratmusstezugleichder Naturwissen-
schaftund dem Aberglaubendienen:griechischeSterntafelnwurdenexakt mathematisch
korrigiertund danebenHandbucherrekonstruiert, die den Missbrauch der Sternnamenzu
magischen und divinatorischenZweckenlehrten.Das war freilichnicht wohl
altgriechisch,
aberquellenechthellenistisch.
(AbyWarburg,'Die Wanderungender antikenGotterweltvor ihremEintrittin die italien-
ischeHochrenaissance',unpublishedlecture,Gottingen,29 November1913)
_ ' n 1911 Aby Warburghad his first sight of BibliotecaApostolicaVaticanamanu-
script Reg. Iat. 1283, folios 1-36, a richly illustratedastrologicalcodex to which
_ - his attention had been drawn by Franz Ehrle and Bartolomeo Nogara.l This
proved to be what remains of a book produced under the supervision of Alfonso X,
King of Castile (1252-84). Warburgintended to edit the work in collaborationwith
his friend Franz Boll, the philologist and historian of astrology,but the project was
never completed.2In the meantime the manuscriptwas rediscovered independently
* This paper is part of the researchfor my doctoral
thesis,'La miniaturaastrologicaen los reinos medieales
hispanicos(siglos XI-XIII): iconografiay contexto cul-
tural',Uniersidad de Murcia1994, under the direction
of Dr Joaquin YarzaLuaces(UniversidadAutonomade
Barcelona),to whom I am indebted for his generous
help and encouragement.The first part of this thesis,
on astrologicalillustrationin the Carolingiantradition
and its cultural context, is forthcomingas El tiearlpoy
los asto.s: Acte, rielcia y ligion el la Alta Edarl Media. I
should like to thank the VaticanLibraryfor grantingme
permission to consult the astrologicalmanuscriptsin
their collectionsin the summer of 1990. Most of this
articleuas writtenin 1992 with the aid of a FrancesA.
YatesResearchFellowshipfrom the WarburgInstitute,
and some of the resultsof my researchwere presentedat
the Director'sWorkin ProgressSeminar.I am indebted
especiallyto Dr Chal-lesBurnett, Dr KristenLippincott,
ProfessorNicholas Mann, MissAnne Mal-ieMeyer and
MissAnitaPollardfor their assistance.Lastly,I am grate-
ful to the late Professor Hugo Buchthal, who kindly
allowed me to share his room at the WarburgInstitute
during my stay there, and to Sir Ernst(Jombrich,for a
long and fascinatingconversationon Warburgand Saxl
in December1990.
Frequentlycited works:
D'Agostino= Alfonso X el Sabio,Astrourlagia(MS Reg.
lat. 1283a),ed. A. D'Agostino,Naples 1992;
Darby = G. O. S. Darby,'An AstrologicalManuscript
of Alfonso X', Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University,Cam-
bridge, Mass.1932;
Diman and Winget = Alfonso el Sabio,Lapidasio aald
Librode lasformas S ysslagenes,ed. R. C. Dimanand L. W.
Winget,Madison,Wisc. 1980;
14
J()ltsw(ll ()f tXle [l(Xtl)tlstr t1(l (,()llst(lll(l ltwatltlltes, Volume 59, 1996
yJoaqutn YarzaLuaces
Rico y Sinobas = Librosdel sabe} de astm20erli(ldml D. }'8AT1
AlfoulsoX de Castilln,ed. M. Rico y Sinobas,5 sols, Madrid
1863-7.
' A. Warburg, 'Heidnisch-antike Weissagung in Wort
und Bild zu Luthers Zeiten', SitzgllngsbericXltm de} Hmidel-
bf}^ge}Akadeeniede} Wisserlschaftel,Philosophisch-histol--
ische Klasse, xxxTi,1920; repr. in his (9X.srlarlolelte Sc11ifterl,
ii, Leipzig and Berlin 1932, pp. 487-558, esp. 515-16
n. 3, and 528 n. 2. The discosTerywas probably made
during his xTisitto Rome early in 1911 to discuss uith
Adolfo Venturi the arrangements for the forthconaillg
International (Congless of History of Art, at which Ab)
Warburg was to read his famous lecture 0n the iCOz10-
graphic programme of the Schifanoia Palace (see E. H.
GoTmbricl1, A/TATWlbllog: Asl Irltellectlll Biog} lp11y,London
1970, pp. 192, 194). In the discussion of his discoxery
\krburg referred to the compilatioTnas 'Libro de los [.sic]
ymagenes', probabl>Ta confusioTIluith the title of the
other manuscript I deal u!ith in this paper. It is cleal-
from his own uTordsthat Warburg saw MS Reg. lat. 1283
for the first time in 191 1; howexTer,his interest in it un-
doubtedly began earlier, since in the Warbul-g ArchixTe
there is a letter to him dated 10 June 1910, fi-om Bar-
tolomeo Nogara, which gixes a brief descriptioTnof the
manuscript. I am indebted to Miss Meyer for drauTillg
mnTattention to the existence of this letter.
) See F. Saxl and H. Meier, Catrllogl of A.stologic(llarld
MythologicalIllluarlilaterlMal l.sc ipt.s of t118L^ltin Mirlfllf?
Agfcs.III. Malll.scipts irl Er2glis11Libraie.s, ed. H. 13ober,i,
London 1953, p. LS n 3. The project uras interrupted
by Warburg's illness, by 13oll'sdeath (see the obituary by
K. Meister, 'Franz Boll und die Erforschung der antiken
Astrologie', NfclleqJahsbdichfs,iii, 1925, pp. 321-30) and by
Warburg's ourn death in 1929.
 ASTROMAGICALMANUSCRIPTS 15

by a Spanish scholar, Alfonso Garcia Solalinde,3and in 1932 one of his doctoral

students at Harvard, George Darby,wrote a dissertationon it.4
The manuscript belongs to the final phase of activity of the royal scriptorium of
Alfonso X, from 1276 to 1284. This was the period in which the learned monarch
devoted his attention to the subjectswhich most interested him personally,5result-
ing in the production of three encyclopedic collections of works on astronomy and
astral magic.6The first, generally known as the Librosdelsaberde astronomta,7 com-
prises fifteen treatises on the construction and use of astronomical instruments.8
The other two compilations are the Librode lasformaset de las ymagenes and the
3 See A. GarciaSolalinde,'AlfonsoX, astrologo.Noticia X el Sabic7:estudio codicologicc7actual de la c7braregia
del manuscritoaticano, Reg. lat. num. 1283',RetJista de (mutilacic7nes, fechas y motisos)',Hoo2eslfljeq a l'mdsoSffislz
filolog2'ae.spanola,xiii, 1926, pp. 350-6, eThereits relation- Rode2'glleqz, ii, Madrid 1986, pp. 111-20). On the fil-st
ship to the Picatix is discussed.Solalindeclaimsto hase treatiseof the cc7mpendium,the Lib}o de 1a1 OC11flZ(l f'SpP}'a
come acrossthe manuscriptin 1916 and seems unaware ('Book e7fthe Eighth Sphere'), see M. (Comes,'Al-Sufi
OfWarburg'sarticleof 1920 (as in n. 1). cc7mofuente del libro de la Oc11azrl f2eSpf2}'flde Alfonsc7 X',
4 Darby(as in n. *). 'Ochrzzrx7evspeen' y Astof2sirfl'.7eqxtos
81eqst2xdios .sob Irl.s fieslt.s
5 E. S. Procter,'The ScientificWorksof the (Courtof firlbeqs
deq la rl.stoulonl2a
deq AlfoulsoX eqlSflbio,ed. M. (Cc7mes,
Alfonso X of Cjastile:The Wingand his (Collaborators', H. Mielgo and J. Samso, Barcelona 1990, pp. 11-113;
Modesl LaslglxageRezziezlw, xl, 1945, pp. 12-29; idem, Al- the criticaleditic7nby (C.Rambc7z, 'Alfc7nsc7 X: Libl-c7 de la
fon.soX of Czstile:Patronof Litesatlsu(zndLeasning, Oxford ochava espel-a.Editic7ncritique',dc7ctc7ral thesis, 2 7ols,
1951 (l-epr.MTestport, (Conn.1980); G. Menendez Pidal, Unix7ersit>7 c7fParisXIII 1983, takes insufficientaccc7unt
'AlfonsoX el sabio',Histoaiagelesrll de la.s Iiteantluslzs 11iS- c7fmodernschc71arship.
paslicas, 13alcelona 1949, pp. 427-46; idem, '(36motra- 8 This compendium was thc7ught tc7hax7ebeen tralls-
bajaron las escuelas alfonsies',Nl8za snista de filolog2'a lated in c7rdel-to help sith pl-eparatic7n c7fthe Alfonsine
11i.spfislica,, 1951, pp. 363-80; D. RomanoS'Le opere Tables (Pl-c7cter,,41foalso X, as in n. 5, p. 10).Julic7Samsc7,
scientifiche di Alfonso X e l'interento degli ebl-ei'. hc7u7eser, has pointed out that: 'la mayoriade lc7sinstlu-
Orieslte? e o(firleslte s1el ssIerliofI10: t210sot2rl e scieslza, Rome mentos descritc7sen los Lilvosdel srlb} nc7SOI1, eStliCta-
1971, pp. 677-711 (repr.in his De?1li.storia jlldia 11i.sprislicfl, mente, instrulllentc7s de c7bserx7acic7n SillO illStrUlllelltOS
13arcelona1991, pp. 147-81, and incorporatedin hisLa de calculc7,computadoresanalogicosdestinadc7sa resol-
iss2cia 1li.SpRlSlOjlld2a,
Madrid1992, pp. 139-49). 7er graficamenteprc7blelllas de astrc7nomia esf'erica'('La
6 The Alfolisinetexts in Xernacularprose are published astronc)miade AlfconsoX', Ilze.stigrlfiosl ?1(islCirl, lxxxix,
in L. Kasten,J. Nitti et al., (J0's2('0}'6lflsl('(2.S' 1evxtsof t118 1984, pp. 91-103 [95]). Alsce,thel-ehas been mucll dis-
61/16l

X evlSfllvio,Madi- cusslon amc)ngspecialistsregardillg the questiconof'the

.

RoA,lrll Sc}iptosi1lss1MFls12l.s( } ipts of Alfor1.so

SOI1, MriSC. 1978 (micrc)fiches). Alfollsineol-igincf'the tables,the Latin xrersic)n of sThich
7 Tlle OrigillclliXl6C)llSille lBanUSCript iS aCUphalC)US alld became the standal-dtext for measuringthe moxremellts
the title u as dexised bwits firsteditol-,Ricoy Sinobas;his of the heaxrenl)bodies in the late MiddleAges. Emmml-
choice of rl.stos1oolirl rathel- than (l.stolog2rl(terms shich uel Pc)ulle,the editc)l-cf the mditio pri)llQs of Venice 14X3
uere used intel-cllallgeabl}in the Middle Ages) should (Le.stfllvles fllpXloslsislms flzM( 1es G'fl)lo)ls rle Jefl)ldmAllvxm, Pal-is
be seen in the context of late l9th-centul-ydiscussions 1984), has argued in sexreralpapers fol- a Frencllc)rigi
on Spanisll natic)nalism.Prexiousln,the manuscl-iptU'clS of the tables: 'Les tables alphonsines:sc)nt-ellesd'Al-
entitled Lilvo (l,ql SKllVf2}618 (ISt}O/OglRl, \shich appeal-sin a phc)nseX?', Dfq rlr,toraossIirl ,4l/hf)1lsi sfqgis, Bal-celonal9X7,
16th-centulN COpWt (Madrid,BibliotecaNacionalMS 1197, pp. 51-69; 'Les tables alphonsines et Alphollse X de
fol. 21) and in the Italian (mc)reprecisel) Florentille) (Castille',(,o))lpt.s-}Msldlls dml'Acrlde))lim d.s Il.scilvtio)l.s et
translcltionmade in Sexille in 1341: BibliotecaApostolicc BeIIe.s-LmttM.s, Jan.-Mar. l9X7, pp. X2-102; 'The Alfon-
XraticallaMS \7at. Llt. X174, incipit 'Questo libro e di sine Tables and Alfonsc.X of' Cjastile'.Joll)slfllto) t1lm
sapere di astl-olc)gia...', in I' Knecht,I lihei (l.stos1osli(ili Histol of Astel)Z01sl:, xix, 198X,pp. 97-113. But sexrercll
AlfOSISO X ill llUlfl Z9f2}NiO}lfqflO}{'}2tiSl(1 flMl 7}fs2tO, Saragc)ssa historiclns dispute this sTiew,f:asoul-ingan Alfonsilleori-
1965. See nour,houexer, a recellt transcl-iptiollin uhich gin: see J. Sams(')and F. (fastello,'AnH>pothesisOnthe
the title chosen b) Rico X Sinobasis recoxered:Alfonso Epoch of Ptolemy's Star (Catalogueaccol-dillg to the
X, el Sabio,7extrlsld(Jos2f0sdflsleof t11eBiblioterlAto.stolic(l Authol-sof the Alfonsine'rables',JollRwlfllfos tllP Hi.st()Rn
['(ltif(ls1al,
MS. 817X, Libso rli .s^+e rli rl.tros10Rs1irl, ed. J. A. of ,4.$t?0Rl()}22\, XiX, 1988, pp. 115-20; J. D. Nol-th, 'Just
Lexi, Madison, Wisc. 1993; cf. also A. J. Cjal-denas,'A Whose zere the Alfonsine Tables.', unpublished COlll-
Neu Title fol- the Alfonsille C)mnibuson Astrollomic municationsubmittedto the Simposio Intel-llaciollalde
Instrulllents',Lfl Cosos1if(lxii.2, 1980, pp. 172-8. The Historiade la CjienciaArabe (C>ranada 1992);J. Samso,
Rico Sinobas edition is found wallting when ]udged 'Lascienciasexactas577
\nT fisico-llatul-ales',Lfl e8)or(lrIeI(Joti(()
bxTtodaw'sphilologicalstandards,and C3cirdenas's long- 811 1fl (IlltIlRN P.SpdR?OlEl (C. 1220-r. 1480), ed. J. A. (Jarvia
auaited criticaledition,basedOna collatiollof the manu- de CMol-tazar (Historiade Espana Menendez Pidal, xi),
ScliptS,is to the best of my knoxsledgestill tlllpublished. Madrid 1994, pp. 553-93, esp. 564-6; ideln, 'Las Ciell-
In the mealltime one must consult his edition of the cias exactasen CMastilla dul-antela EcladMedia',Histosir
original Alfonsine manuscl-ipt('A Study and Edition of rl(llsl(2rIlltllrll. II. Ln.sisIgllIsidalrI
de C.stiIIrl,ed. A. C>arcicl
the RoyalScriptoriumManuscriptof El Librodel Saber Simon,Valladolid1995, pp. 661-89, esp. 674-6. See also
de Astrologiabl, AlfonsoX, el Sabio',Ph.D. diss., 4 xols, the recent assessmentof Alfonso'spatronage of astlv-
Uniersitl, of Wisconsill 1974), in conjullctioIlwith the nomical wol-ksbR7C). C>ingerich,'Alfonsothe Tenth as
Italiantl-anslation;this is necessarydue to the fragmell- a Patl-onof AstrollomR77', ,cllposlso
X of (,alstiIetl2eLeflslefI
tary state of the original (see A. J. C3cirdenas, 'HaciaUllcl Kie2g, ed. F.Mcil-quez Villanuea and C. Vega,Cjclnlbl-idge,
e(liciollcl-iticadel Librodel saberde astl-ologiade Alfonso Mass.1990, pp. 30-44.
 ALEJANDROGARCIAAVILES
16
colupendiulnof astralluagicbroughtto light by Warburgand GarciaSolalinde.'J
This latterwork,which I shallrefer to as the Librode astromagia,"'is knownprin-
cipallyfor preservingthe only reluainingfraglnentof the Spanishversionof the
Picatrix.llAlfonsod'Agostino,who recentlyedited the luanuscript,pays very little
attentionto its fortuna;he suggeststhat it luay have been housed in the Royal
Chapelof Granadain the latefifteentl1century,l'9
but I shallshowtllis to be unlikely.
As for RodericDiluanand LynnWinget,the editorsof the Libyode lasforslaset de
lasymagenes, they do not go lnuchbeyondrepeatingthe conventionalwisdolncon-
cerning the fortunaof the colupilation.l3The historyof these two closelyrelated
astroluagical luanuscriptsthusreluainsto be written.
THE LIBRODE LAS FORMASET DE LAS YMAGENES
The 'Book of the Forlusand Iluageswhich are in the Heavens'is the luost con-
troversialof the three Alfonsinecolupendia indeed, one celebratednineteenth-
centurySpanishscholarcalne to regardit as spurious.l The survivingluanuscript
of the work, El Escorial,Real BibliotecaMS h-I-16, consistsof little luore than a
synopsis,or tabla,whichsulnluarisesin solne detailthe contentsof eleven treatises
dealingwiththe influenceof heavenlyiluageson huluanbeingsand withthe luagi-
cal powersconferredby the starson certainstones.The luagicalpropertiesof the
stonesare describedin the tabla,but the discussionsof the stonestheluselves,and
of the heavenlyiluages,are lacking.Solne chapterscan be recoveredfroln other
Alfonsineworksin which certainof the treatisesare also found, particularlythe
Librodeastromagia, the LiberRazielisand the Lapidario.l5The contentof otherchap-
ters can only be guessedat; for exaluple,in the fourth treatisewe read that 'the
fourteenthchapterconcernshow to avoid harln froln bears and wild beasts,and
how to gain poweroverfoolishand evil lnen'(folio 11\t).
The genericrelationshipbetweenthe Librodelasformaset delasyasaagenes and the
AlfonsineLapidario (in realitya collectionof lapidaries),togetherwith the presence
of solne of the salne texts in both colupilationsand, in particular,the lnentionof
an unidentifiedperson referredto as 'Abolays'in the first treatiseof both collec-
tions,l6has for a long tilne led scholarsto believethat the Lapidario was originally
" For complete transcriptionssee D'Agostino;Darby; imagenes de la magia astral judia en el scriptorium
and Kasten,Nitti et al. (as in n. 6), undel-the microfiche alfonsi', forthcoming,Blllletin of Histas2ieStlldies, lxxis l,
entry 'Picatrix'. 1997.
"' D'Agostinohas preferredto referto the compendium lejThe identity of Abolawsremains a puzzle. On this
simply as 'Astromagia',but, in my opinion, 'Libro de problem see J.-H. Nunemaker,'Index of the Stones in
astromagia'seems more appropriate, as can be seen the Lapidary of Alfonso eith Identificationsin othel-
b) comparisonwith other lrnowntitles of Alfonso'ssci- Lapidaries',Ph.D. diss., UnisTersity of Wisconsin 1928,
entificworks(suchas the Libros delsrlbe}
deastronosslfa
and p. 5; idem, 'Note on Abolaws', HistclslizRetieal, ii, 1934,
the Librode las fosslas ef de las wsslagenes), cited above. pp. 242-6; G. O. S. Darby,'The MysteriousAbolays',
Professor D'Agostinokindly informed me in a recent Osiris,i, 1936, pp. 251-9; idem, 'Ibn Wahshlyain Medi-
personal letter that he agrees with me that 'Libro de aesal SpanishLiterature',Isis, xxxiii, 1941-2, pp. 433-8.
astromagia'is a very appropriatetitle, adding that even None of the identificationsproposed by these authol-s
in an apparentlyexceptionalcase such as the Alfonsine is entirely convincing. In m) opinion, Abolaysis to be
compilationknown as Latidasio,the originaltitle zas in identified with Abu 'All al-Khaiyat (on eTholllsee F.
-ealityLibrodelbzs
piedras('Bookof the Stones'). Sezgin, GesehieSlte sii, Frankfurt
des asabi.sehe,lScXlrifttll1sls,
" See D. Pingree,'Betweenthe C>hayaand Picatrix.I: 1979, pp. 120- 1), unhosename was changed into 'A1-
The Spanishversion',thiSJOll}tlAll, xliv, 1981, pp. 27-56. bolay' in a 14th-centurw7 book list (CMopenhagen, Royal
" See D'Agostino,p. 81, who advancesthis hypothesis Libl-ary,Gl.Kgl.S.277, fol. 1461);see A. A. Bjo,l-llbo,, 'Ein
very cautiously,since it is based on the tentativereading Lehrgang der Mathematikund Astrologie irmMittel-
of the word 'Gl-anada'in a virtuallyillegibleArabicin- alter',Bibliothecasrlathesslatiea,
ser. 3, is, 1903, pp. 288-90;
scriptionon fol. 8\5. R. Lemay,'The Teachingof Astronomyin MediesalIJTni-
13 Dimanand Winget,p. i. sersities,Principallyat Parisin the FourteenthCjentul-y',
1-1M. Menendezy Pelayo,La eieneiaespanola,3rd edn, Malllse7ipta, xx, 1976, pp. 197-217 (210-11); (j. S. Ft
iii, Madrid1887-8, p. 351. Burnett,'The Impactof ArabicScienceon A,V'esterl1 Cjisi-
15 On the relationshipbetweenthe Libew Razielisand the lisationin the MiddleAges',BlllletiwloftXleBritishA..soei-
Lib10d(elastosslas see my 'Xfonso X y el 'LiberRazielis': atiosl of07ientalists,ii, 1979-80, pp. 40-51 (50). Itl some
 ASTROMAGICALMANUSCRIPTS 17
partof the Librodelasformas;consequently,they were publishedtogetherin 1881.'7
Alfonsinescholarshave persistedin this opinion,despitethe fact that it was ques-
tioned by MoritzSteinschneiderin 1893.'8Solne have gone even further,clailuing
not only that the Latidariois the sole reluainingportionof the Librode lasformas,
but also that the constituenttreatisesof the Latidarioare the only itelus aluong
those listedin the tablathatwere actuallyproducedfor the colupendiuln.This atti-
tude is sulnlnedup byJ. H. Nuneluaker,who states:
Any approach to a study of the sources of the Alfonsine Lapidaries must include a con-
sideration of their tabla,
which purports to be their index. In reality,this tabla
is an index for
a proposed work of eleven lapidaries,which so far as is known was never written.l9
In reality,the only pointsin colnluonbetweenthetablaand the Latidarioare those
noted byJoan Evansas earlyas 1922:the correspondencebetweenthe secondand
third treatisesof the Latidario,on the one hand, and the fourthand fifth treatises
of the Librodelasformasetdelasymagenes, on the other.20By contrast,thereare coln-
pellingfactorswhichpointto a separateoriginfor the twoworks;aboveall, the fact
that the Latidariois an early piece, colupiledin its entiretywhen Alfonsowas still
the Infanteof Castile,whereasthe prologueto the Librode lasformasindicatesthat
it wasbegunin 1277andfinishedin 1279,fiveyearsbeforehis death.
That it wasfinishedhas been doubtedby the recenteditorsof the work.Accord-
ing to Diluanand Winget:'whetheror not these eleven treatiseswerefinishedis
not known'.2lThere are, however,firlnindicationsthatthe colupilationwasindeed
colupleted.Solne of these have been discussedby AnthonyCardenasin a recent
study.22First,certainlateradditionsin the luarginsof the tablagive nulnericalref-
erencesfroln the second treatiseonwards;these are luost likelyindicationsof the
pageson whichthe correspondingtextsbegin. Second,indicesfor Alfonsineworks
were generallywrittenafterthe bookshad been colupleted,as was colnluonin the
MiddleAges. Cardenashas pointed to the exaluple of the Librosdelsaberde astro-
nomta,in which the third treatise(the second in the Rico y Sinobasedition)was
added once the rest of the colupilationhad been copied.23 The additionalchapter,
however,is fully integratedinto the index, which shows no sign of havingbeen
uodified,suggestingthatit waswrittenafterthe treatisehadbeen inserted.24
other manuscriptswe find the transcriptions'Abuali', las piedras,pero solo se llegaron a copiar cuatro de los
'Albuali','Aubueli'or 'Albohaly'for Abu 'All al-Khaiyat once que anunciael indice del manuscritoalfonsino.'
(see F. J. Carmody,Arabic Astronomicaland Astrological 20 J. Evans, Magical Jewels of the Middle Ages and the
Sciencesin Latin Translation.A CriticalBibliography,Berke- Renaissance, Particularlyin England, Oxford 1922, repr.
ley and Los Angeles 1956, pp. 49-51). New York 1976, pp. 38-50. Anthony J. Cardenas has
17 J. FernandezMontaha,Lapidariodel Rey D. AlfonsoX. pointed out the existence of 14 chapters in the first
C6diceoriginal, facs.edn, Madrid1881.The new facs.edn treatisesof the tabla and the Lapidarioin which the sub-
(PrimerLapidariodel Rey AlfonsoX el Sabio, Madrid 1982) ject matter coincides very closely ('AlfonsoX's Libro de
does not include the Librode las formas. See also S. Rod- las formas & de las ymagenes: Factsand Probabilities',
riguez Montalvo,Lapidario,segun el manuscritoescurialense RomanceQuarterly,xxxiii, 1986, pp. 269-74, esp. 271-2);
H.I.15, Madrid 1981. The first person to connect the but bearing in mind that there are 360 chaptersin each
codices, which are numbered consecutivelyin the Real of the treatises,the relationshipis only sporadic.
Bibliotecade E1Escorial,seems to have been J. Rodri- 21 Diman and Winget, p. i; however,at p. xxvii n. 2,
guez de Castro,Bibliotecaespanola,i, Madrid1781,p. 159. they conclude: 'we think that the evidence points to its
Accordingly,the title which appears on the cover of the having been completed and later separated from the
Librode las formas (MS h-I-16) is 'Tabladel libro llamado tableof contents'.
Lapidario'('Index of the Book calledthe Lapidary'). '2'2Cardenas, 'AlfonsoX's Libro de las formas' (as in
18 M. Steinschneider, Die hebraischenUebersetzangendes n. 20). See also the edition of the Lapidarioed. M. B.
Mittelaltersund die Juden als Dolmetscher,ii, Berlin 1893, Marino,Madrid 1968, p. XXIV; Diman and Winget, p.
p. 980; idem, 'ArabischeLapidarien',Zeitschriftder Deut- xxvii n. 2; D'Agostino,pp. 36-8.
schenMorgenlandischenGesellschaft,xlix, 1895, pp. 244-78 23 Rico y Sinobas.See Cardenas'sedition (as in n. 7), i,
(266-8). p. cxxv, and ii, p. 264; and idem, 'A MedievalSpanish
9 J. H. Nunemaker,'In Pursuitof the Sources of the Collectaneaof AstronomicalInstruments:An Integrated
AlfonsineLapidaries',Speculum,xiv, 1939, at p. 483. See Compilation',Journal of the RockyMounta2nMedietwaland
also A. GarciaSolalinde,Antologzade Alfonso X el Sabio, RenaissanceAssociation,i, 1980, pp. 21-8.
Madrid 1965, p. 195: 'Varioseran los librosdedicadosa 94 Cardenas(asin n.23), p.23; idem (asin n.20), p.270.
 18 ALEJANDRO GARCIA AVILES
A third factor is the evidence that the Librode lasformaset de las ymagenes was
already finished by the time that the Librodeastromagia was compiled.25We read in
the Picatrix,referring to a certain image of Mars: 'and, God granting, I will speak
about it in the future' ('et de ea Deo dante erimus in posterum locuti').26This
phrase is not found in the Ghayat al-Hakzm(the Arabic text on which the Picatrixis
based),27but was added in 1256 when the translation was made in the Alfonsine
scriptorium. In the Librodeastromagia, however, which was compiled around 1280,
it is stated that: 'we spoke about this image in our Librode las imagenes' ('fablamos
desta ymagen en el nuestro Libro de las imagenes').28The reference appears to
be to the treatise on talismanic images and the powers conferred on them by the
seven planets, by 'Ut-arid (Mercury-Hermes;),29which is the seventh part of the
Librode lasformaset de lasymagenes (MS h-I-16, folios 12V-13r).This would suggest
that at least this section had been completed, although the exact correspondence of
subject-mattercannot be checked since, as was noted above, the descriptions of the
images are not included in the tabla.
The final confirmation that the Librode lasformaset de lasymagenes was actually
finished is a reference to the existence of a French version of the text, apparently
of the complete work. In the 1373 catalogue of the libraryof Charles V of France,
compiled by Gilles Mallet, the following item appears: 'Thirty-nine paper quires of
the book of the forms, figures and images which are in the heavens, translatedfrom
Spanish into French by Pierre Levant... by order of my lord, the Duke of Berry.'3('
The catalogue of the French royal library,commissioned in 1423 by the Duke of
Bedford, adds to this entry: 'in which the first quire begins "In the name of the

'*5 See now D'Agostino,pp. 36-8. les siens,Paris 1830, p. 85: '486. xxxix cayersen papier,
26 Picatrix.lXleLatin Version of the Ghayatal-Haka-m,ed. du Livredes formes,figureset ymagesqui sont es cieux,
D. Pingree,London 1986, p. 66. translatez d'espagnol en francaois,par Pierre Levant,
27 G/la-yat al-Haka-m,ed. H. Ritter, Leipzig and Berlin jadis maistre des pors et passages en la seneschaucie
1933, p. 111; German tr. H. Ritter and M. Plessner, de Beaucaire,du commandementde monseigl. le duc
'Picatrix'.
Das Zieldes Weisenvon PseHo-Magran, London de Berry.'This inventorywas compiledby the royal lib-
1962, pp. 118-19; Spanishtr. M. Villegas,Picatrix. Elfan rarian, Gilles Mallet (see his InzJentaire ou cataloguedes
del sabioy el mejorde los dos mediospara atwanzar, Madrid livresde l'ancienneBibliotheque du Lourrefait ewll'anne'e
1982, pp. 140-1. 1373, Paris 1836, p. 177). See also L. Delisle,RecherrXles
98 VaticanCity, BibliotecaApostolicaVaticanaMS Vat. sur la Librairiede C'harles I,' II. Inventairedes lizwe.s
ayant
Reg. lat. 1283, fol. 26V.It is not absolutelyclearwhether appartenuaux roisCharlesV et CharlesVI et a Jeawl,Dc
the verb 'fablamos'is in the present or past tense; but deBerry,Paris1907, p. 304 n. l 73. Delislesuggests,with-
given the date of the work, I am inclined to think that out any solid evidence, that this book may be close to
the author is referring to the past. The words 'e te' another one from the Duke of Berry'slibrary:'Un petit
which precede 'fablamos'('e te fablamos','and we speak livre des images du ciel et du rmonde,escript, en fran-
to you') unfortunatelydo not help to clarifythis point. caois,de lettre de forme' (p. 251). The latter work is, in
Pingree(as in n. 11, p. 55), has transcribed'<&> te fab- fact, Nicole Oresme'sLitJre dlxcielet du monde(ed. A. D.
lamos';while D'Agostino(pp. 37, 242) has 'e nos esto Menut and A. J. Denomy,Madison 1968). I have found
fablamos'('and we speak about this');and Darby(p. 19) no reference to the Libwo de lasformasin J.-J. Guiffrey,
thinks that it could be a mistake of the copyist, who InzJentaires deJean,ducde Bewwy (1401-1416), Paris 1894-
intended to write'antefablamos'('wespokepreviously'). 6, nor in A. Hiver de Beauvoir,La Librairie deJeandlxcde
29 The text is attributedto Mercurius(Hermes)inPica- Berryau Chateaude Mehuwl-sur-YetJre, Paris 1860, although
trix,iii.3.3 (ed. D. Pingree,London 1986, p. 97), where it among the books on astrologyand magic which appear
is referred to as the 'Book of the Seven Planets'. in this catalogue is an interesting reference to 'Deux
'Ut-aridis the Arabicname for Mercury,and so, as has gros livresde magiqueescriptsen espagnol...'(p. 43, no.
been pointed out by J. Ruska,Griechische Planetendarstel- 81). Regardingthe translator,'PierreLevant'is the read-
lungenin arabisehen Steinburhewn,Heidelberg 1919, p. 24, ing of Barrois;Douet-d'Arcqand Delisle prefer 'Pierre
the name'Utarid ibn Muhammadal-Katib,which ap- Leraut'(see next note), but the real name of this royal
pears in some other manuscriptswould be a mere 'arab- officer was Pierre Lesant,or Lesanti(other variantsare
isation'of Mercury-Hermes: al-Katib('the scribe')being Le Santi, Lesenti, or, less probably,Lasantior Lescuti).
the usual characterisationfor the ArabMercury.See also He was 'maltredes ports de la senechausseede Beau-
M. Ullmann,DieNatur-undGeheimwissensehaften imIslam, caire' from 1370-1, apparentlyuntil his death in 1393;
Leiden 1972, pp. 422-3. see G. Dupont-Ferrier, Galliaregia,ou e'tatdesofhriersroy-
30 'Inventairedes livres du roy nostre sire Charles V, auxdesbailliages et desse'ne'chausse'es
de 1328 a 1515,i, Paris
estans en son chasteldu Louvre, a Paris,en 1373', in J. 1942, pp. 302-3, 330, 366. I am indebted to Professor
Barrois,Bibliotheque protypographiqee,ou Librairies
desfals Francaois Avrilfor this reference.
du roiJean, CharlesT;JeandeBerri,PhilippedeBourgogne et
 ASTROMAGICALMANUSCRIPTS 19

Fatherand of the Son",and these quires are tied together with a parchment cover'.3l
The considerable size of the French translation thirty-nine quires (cahiers)leads
one to suppose that the original work must indeed have been complete. Further-
more, it seems reasonable to assume that the separation of the main body of the
Librode lasformaset de las ymagenes from the tablahad something to do with the
movements of the manuscript at the time of its translation into French, through
the patronage of the Duke of Berry. The incipit quoted in the Duke of Bedford's
catalogue does not come from the tabla,but rather corresponds to the phraseology
employed by Alfonso to begin the prologues of several of his treatises.32The texts
of the treatises which made up the Librode lasformaset de lasymagenesmight there-
fore have been sent to France, while the tablaremained in Spain and ended up in
the Escorial library. How the book fell into the hands of the Duke of Berry is a
question I shall deal with below.
THE LIBRODE ASTROMAGIA
The 'Book of Astromagic' must have been planned and begun around 1280, dur-
ing the last years of the Alfonsine scriptorium, since there are several references in
it to 'el nuestro Libro de las ymagenes', a work which, as we have seen, was com-
pleted in 1279. The Librode astromagia, moreover, shares some material with the
earlier compilation: its first chapter (folios lr-8V) is parallel to the third one in the
Librode lasformaset de lasymagenes, as can be established from the tabla.It is bound
in the VaticanLibrarywith a collection of Latin texts, whose titlesHncerti detempli
Privilegiauniversitatis
dedicatione,
et aliorumGalliaetemplorum
Ierosolymitani Parisiensis,
in DomoDeiParisiisfactae
visitationis
verbalis
Processus etc.33 clearly point to a French
origin. This is confirmed by repeated mentions of the 'Ecclesia Fossatensis', the
Abbey of Saint-Maur-des-Fosses,near Paris.34
The exact route taken by the Librodeastromagia
following the death of Alfonso X
is unknown. The manuscriptcan, however,be shown to have been in Franceby the
31 Intentairede la Bibliotheque du roi CharlesVIfait au ii.l: FondsPatettaetfondsde la Reine,Paris1978, pp. 159-
Lourreen 1423 par ordredu re'gentDuc de Bedford(with 60. The manuscriptwas catalogued as no. 481 by the
preface by L. Douet-d'Arcq),Paris 1867, p. 208: '805. Benedictine monks of St Maur, whose inventory was
Item. xxxix cayersen papier du livre des formes,figures publishedby Montfaucon.The modern cataloguenum-
& images qui sont es Cieux, translatezd'espaignol en ber originates from Domenico Teoli's 'Inventario dei
francJoispar Pierre Leraut, jadiz maistre des pors et manoscrittireginensi',compiledin the mid-18thcentury
passaiges en la seneschaussee de Beaucaire, du com- (unpublished;copy in the VaticanLibrary).
mandement de monseigneur le duc de Berry. Dont le 34 See E. Pellegrin, 'Possesseursde manuscritslatins
premier cayer commence "ou nom du Pere & du Filz." du fonds de la Reine',Revued'histoire destextes,iii, 1973,
& sont touz iceulz cayersliez en une couverturede par- pp. 271-97 (283), repr. in eadem,Bibliotheques retrouve'es.
chemin.Non prise... Nihil.'See also Barrois(as in n. 30), Manuscrits, bibliotheques du MoyenA^geet de
et bibliophiles
p. 85; Delisle (as in n. 30), p. 103; and idem, Le Cabinet la Renaissance, Paris 1988, pp. 457-97 (469); L. Auvray,
desmanuscrits de la BibliothequeNationale,iii, Paris1881, p. 'Documentsparisienstires de la Bibliothequedu Vatican
143. The entry in the 1423 inventorycorrespondsto nos (VIIe-XIIIe siecles)',Me'moires de l'Histoire
de la Societe' de
873 and 897 respectivelyin those of 1411 and 1413. Paris,xix, 1892, pp. 2-17. Folios 95-6 of the Vatican
32 See M. Y. Corona de Ley, 'The Prologuein Castilian manuscriptcome from the Abbeyof St Remi in Rheims
Literaturebetween 1200 and 1400', Ph.D. diss., Univer- (Pellegrin,Bibliotheques p. 465). Folios66, 70-2
retrouve'es,
sityof Illinois1976;A.J. Cardenas,'Alfonso'sScriptorium and 145 are attributedto the Abbeyof Fleuryby F. M.
and Chancery:The Role of the Prologue in Bonding Carey, 'De scriptura Floriacensi',Ph.D. diss., Harvard
the Translatio studiito the Translatio Emperor
potestatis', of University1923 (see M. Mostert,TheLibrary of Fleury.A
Culture.AlfonsoX theLearnedof Castileand his Thirteenth- Provisional Hilversum 1989, pp. 280-
Listof Manuscripts,
CenturyRenaissance, ed. R. I. Burns, Philadelphia1990, 1). Folios 92-4, which currentlyconstituteMS Reg. lat.
pp. 90-108. 1283b (since they were separated by Franz Ehrle in
33 See the Reg. lat. 1283 index in Bernard de Mont- 1897, as statedon the coverleavesof MS Reg. lat. 1283),
faucon, Bibliotheca bibliothecarummanuscriptorum 2
nova, are also probablyfrom Fleury:see E. Pellegrin,'La tra-
vols, Paris 1739, i, cols 61-96 (repr. with an indication dition des textes classiqueslatins a l'abbayede Fleury-
of the correspondingpresent-daycataloguenumbersin sur-Loire',Revued'histoire des textes,xiv-xv, 1984-5, pp.
LesManuscrits de la Reinede Suedeau Vatican, Studie testi, 155-67 (63) (now in her Bibliotheques pp. 285-
retrouve'es,
ccxxxviii,VaticanCity 1964). See also now E. Pellegrin, 97 [293])
Les Manuscritsclassiqueslatinsde la Bibliotheque Vaticane,
 20 ALEJANDROGARCIAAVILES
late fourteenth century. For in the same 1373 catalogue of the libraryof Charles V
which mentioned the French translationof the Librode lasformaset de lasymagenes,
the following entry is also found: 'A book of astronomy, which seems to be of the
Arsnotoria,written in Spanish, perfectly decorated with figures and with fine col-
ours of Bolognese illumination.'35In the 1411 and 1413 inventories of the libraryof
books on astronomywhich CharlesV housed in the Louvre, informationwas added
to this entry which confirms that the manuscript referred to is indeed our Alfon-
sine codex. It is said to be made up of 'five quires, of which the first begins with a
rubric on the second folio: "estasson las figuras";and the last with "ocio aniello de
mercurio"'.36This description corresponds to the Librode astromagia in its present
form, in which the incipit 'estas son las figuras' occurs on the second folio37and
'otro anillo de Mercurio' ('another ring of Mercury' the French scribe misread
'otro' as 'ocio') on the last (folio 36r). The original ordering of the compendium,
which can be deduced from a paragraph on folio 25r,38must have been changed
before the manuscript reached the library of Charles V. In that ordering the last
section dealt with the moon. The fact that the surviving pages of the Librodeastro-
magiainclude a 'Libro de la Luna' (folios 1lr-24V)would indicate that the text part
of the compilation was colupleted, even though some of the illustrationsremained
unfinished.
FORTUNAOF THE MANUSCRIPTS
We have no knowledge of any other document that bears witness to thefortunaof
the manuscriptof the Librodeastromagia, or, for that matter,of the Librodelasformas
et de lasymagenes,between Alfonso's death in 1284 and Gilles Mallet'scatalogue in
1373. It is reasonable to assume that the Duke of Berry's interest in Alfonsine
works, borne out by his commissioning of the translationof the Librode lasformas,
might have extended to the Librode astromagia; but we have no solid information
on how the two manuscripts could have come into the possession of the French
royal family. Nevertheless, it is worth noting the close ties between Jean de Berry
and Joan I of Aragon who became brothers-in-lawfollowing Joan I's marriage to
Violante de Bar.39Correspondence between the French nobleman and the Aragon-
ese monarch reveals a common taste for astrological literature (as well as certain
other kinds of literature) and a passion for collecting books some of which they
sent to each other.40An example of their shared interest in astrology is a letter
35 See Barrois (as in n. 30), p. 176: 'Livre d'astrono- franfaises.I: Les bibliotheqges
me'dieovalesn
dx FIe siecled
mie, qui semble estre de Arte notoria,en espagnol, tres 1530, Paris 1989, pp. 311-31; and S. Balaye,La Biblio-
parfaitementbien figure et de bonnes couleurs d'enlu- thequeNationaledesoriginesd 1800, Geneva 1988, pp. 5-
minure de Boulogne'.For theArsnotorzaor 'notoryart', 10.
which seeks to gain knowledge from or in communion 37 The incipit 'estasson lasfiguras'appearsnot only on
with God by invocation of angels, mystic figures arld the second folio but at the beginning of every page of
magicalprayers,see L. Thorndike,A Histo77of Magis arzd the first treatise (in the present order); this work deals
ExperimentalScience, 8 vols, New York 1923-58, ii, chap. with the figures of the 'gradosque suben en los signos',
XLIX,and iii, pp. 10, 21. that is, the paranatellonta,
or constellationsthat rise at the
36 'Un livre d'astronomie, qui semble estre de Arte same time as the signsof the zodiac.
notoria,escripten espagnol, de lettre en forme, a deux 38 See D'Agostino,pp. 226-8 (text) and pp. 45-8 (com-
coulombes,tres parfaitementbien figure, et de bonnes mentary).
couleursd'enluminurede Boulougne,et contienten tout 39 R. Olivar Bertrand Bodas realesentreFranciay la
cinq cayers,dont le premiercommence,au IIe foilleten Corona deAragoon Barcelona1947, p. 179.
rouge lettre:'4estasson lasfaguras...", et ou derrenier"ocio 4(1 F. de Bofarully Sans7'Antiguosy nuevos datos refe-
aniello de mercurio...".Couvertd'une pele de parchemin': rentes al bibliofilofrancesJuan de Francia,Duque de
Paris,BibliothequeNationale,respectivelyMS Fr. 2700, Berry', Revistade ciensiashistoricas, v, 1887, pp. 22-60;
no. 863 (1411) and MS Fr.9430, no. 887 (1413); quoted see also A. Rubioi Lluch,'Joan I humanistai el primer
by Delisle (as in n. 30), ii, p. 117, no. 714; idem (as in n. periode de l'humanismecatala',EstudisUniversitarts Cata-
31), p. 147; Darby,p. 5. See alsoLa Librairiede Charlesg lans, 1917-18 (published 1919)7pp. 1-117 (8-9). In
X7

ed. F. Avril and J. Lafaurie,exhib. cat. (Bibliotheque tracing the route taken by the Librode astromagia from
Nationale),Paris1968;and recentlyD. Bloch74Laforma- Spain to France, it should be borne in mind that the
tion de la Bibliothequedu Roi',Histoiredes bibliot1leques I)uke of Berry was not the only member of the French
 ASTROMAGICALMANUSCRIPTS
fromJoan I to Jean de Berryin 1388, askingthe duke to grantpermissionfor the 21
masterastrologer,GuillemLunell, to travelfrom Paristo the court of Aragon.4l
CharlesV is said to have held astrologersin high regardand to have governedhis
personallife in accordancewith their recommendations.42 Likewise,in the court
of Joan I, the astrologerwasno mere ornamentalfigure,as is demonstratedby the
fact that the Aragoneseking refusedto fix the date of his marriageto Violantede
Baruntil he had consultedthe astrologerDalmauSes Planes:in 1379 the monarch
askedhim whichdaysand monthsbetweenFebruaryand Aprilwouldbe mostpro-
pitiousfor the duchessto enter the principalityof Cataloniaand to celebrateher
wedding.43
We do not knowwhetherthe close relationshipbetweenJoan I and the French
monarchywas adverselyaffectedby the famousprophecyattributedto Francesc
Eiximenis,thatin 1400 therewouldbe only one kingrulingthe worldand thatthis
would be the king of France.44Joan I was so disturbedby this that he sent a mes-
senger to Eiximenistellinghim to refrainfrom makingsuch pronouncements.He
implied,however,that the matterwouldbe viewedin a more favourablelight if it
shouldprovethatthe prophecywasfoundedon soundastronomicalobservations:
If by chance[Eiximenis]refusesto obey,on the groundthatwhathe has saidis whathe has
discoveredthroughthe art of astronomy,we wouldlike you to tell him to come into our
presencein completesecurityand freedom,so that he can demonstrateto us the con-
clusionsof thejudgementmadeaccordingto thisart,sinceDivineProvidenceis superiorto
everything,and everyCatholicprincemustsubordinatehimselfto it.45

royal family with whom the Aragonese monarch cor-
responded about his love of books. There are also the
letters betweenJoan I and King CharlesVI of France;
and we should, for instance, give some thought to the
controversy over whether it was Abraham Cresques's
CatalanAtlaswhichwas given to CharlesVI by Joan I, as
some scholarshave maintained(for a discussionof this
question see F. Avrilet al., Manuscrits enlumine'sde la Pe'-
ninsuleibe'rique,Paris1982, p. 98).
l A. Rubio i Lluch,Documents per l'historia
de la cultura
catalanamig.ezzal, i, Barcelona1908, p. 8; idem (as in n.
40), p. 14. Other relevant informationis also available.
For example, in both the French and Aragonesecourts
at this time, astronomywas includedin medicaltraining:
see R. Lemay (as in n. 16), pp. 200-4; A. Cardonery
Planas,Historiade la medicinaa la Coronade Arago'1162-
1479, Barcelona1973, p. 209; idem, 'La medicinaastro-
logica durante el siglo XIV en la Corona de Aragon',
Actesdu IXe CongresInternational d'Histoiredes Sciences,
Barcelonaand Paris1960, pp. 341-6; L. Comenge i Fer-
rer,La medicina en el ReinodeAragon.SigloXIV,Valladolid
1974, pp. 76-81. See also J. Chabas(with the collabor-
ation of A. Rocaand X. Rodriguez),L'AstronomiadeJacob
benDavidBonIorn(Arxiude les Seccionsde Ciencies,civ),
Barcelona 1992, pp. 23-8. On Charles V's interest in
astrology see C. Jourdain, 'Nicolas Oresme et les as-
trologues de la cour de Charles V', Ret1uedes questions
historiques,xviii, 187S, pp. 136-59 (also in idem, Excur-
sionshistoriquesetphilosophiquesd traversle moyenage, Paris
1888, repr. Frankfurtam Main 1966);Thorndike (as in
n. 35), iii, pp. 585-9; and E. Laird, 'Astrologyin the
Courtof CharlesV of France,as Reflectedin Oxford, St.
John's College, ms. 164', Manuscripta, xxxiv, 1990, pp.
167-76.
42 S. de Phares, Recueildes plus celebres astrologues et
quelques hommes doctes,ed. E. Wickersheimer,Paris 1929,
p. 228: 'I1eut en merveilleuserecommandacionles as-
trologienset se gouvernapar eulx'.
43 '...quals dies e quant dels mesos de febrer, marc,,e
abril serien bons a entrar la duquesa en el principatde
Catalunya,e axi mateix a fer bodes':Barcelona,Archivo
de la Coronade Aragon,Reg. Y, 766, fol. 50, quoted by
Rubioi Lluch(as in n. 41); see also S. Sanperey Miquel,
Lascostumbres catalanasen tiempodeJuan I, Gerona 1878,
part 3; and J. M. Roca,JohanI d'Arago' (Memoriasde la
Real Academiade Buenas Letras, xi), Barcelona 1929,
pp. 363-415 ('Johan I i les supersticions').A largenum-
ber of workson astrologyand magic had been accumu-
lated in the Aragoneseroyal collection,as can be seen
from the inventoryof books of King MartiI of Aragon
(d. 1410): seeJ. Massoy Torrents,'Inventaridels bens
moblesdel rey Martid'Arago',Revuehispanique, xii, 190S,
pp. 413-590; and also Chabas(as in n. 41), pp. 28-37.
44 F. Eiximenis,Dotzedel chrestia, chap. 466, entitled
'Que han dit algunsdels regnes presentse de lur durada
e de novell imperi' ('Whatsome people have said about
the present kingdoms and their duration, and on the
new empire'):'...I)ien encara que, ac,ofet, tota potestat
reial cessaraen lo mon, sino solamentla casa de Franc,a,
qui durarallongament...'(Rubioi Lluch, as in n. 40, p.
18 n. 2). See alsoJ. GuadalajaraMedina,Las profeciasdel
Anticristoen la Edad Media,Madrid 1996, pp. 206-16
(212). Pere Bohigas,however,pointsout that people who
denounced Eiximenis'sprophecycannot be referringto
this chapter,since, as stated in its title, Eiximenisonly
reproduces prophecies current in his own time (this is
further demonstratedby the fact that he devotes the
following chapters, 467-72, to denying them): see P.
Bohigas i Balaguer,'Profeciescatalanesdels segles XIV
i XV. Assaigbibliografic',Butllettde la Biblioteca de Cata-
lunya,vi, 192S, pp. 24-49 (35-7); and also J. M. Pou i
Marti,Vlsionarios, beguinosy fraticeloscatalanes(siglosXIII-
XV),2nd edn, Madrid1991, pp. 291-2.
45 'Si por ventura [Eiximenis]se resistieraa obedecer
la orden basandoseen que lo dicho lo ha encontradopor
arte de astronomia, nos place que le digais venga a
22 ALEJANDRO GARCIA AVILES
Joan I inheriteda noteworthycollectionof workson astronomyand astrology
fromhis father,Pereel Cerimonios,whoseinterestin thosesubjectsis wellknown.46
Since SanchoIV of Castile,the son of AlfonsoX, did not displaya particularin-
terestin the astrologicalworkof his father,47
it seemspossiblethat the manuscripts
producedin the Alfonsinescriptoriummayhavebeen dispersedand thatsomemay
havereachedthe neighbouringAragonesecourtof Pereel Cerimonios.This is pre-
ciselywhathappenedin the caseof'Al1Abenragel'sLibroconplido en losiadiziosdelas
estrellas.48
AfterJoan I came into possessionof Pere'slibrary,he could have given
certainmanuscriptsto Jean de Berry,withwhomhe wasconnectedby both shared
interestsand personalties, and other volumescould havebeen lent to him for the
purposeof translation.49 Mostof the Dukeof Berry'sbookswere later transferred
to the royallibraryof the Louvre,where they were inventoriedand described.As
wasmentionedabove,only a detailedplan of theLibrodelasformasetdelasymagenes
has survived.Sincethe publicationof the tablaby FernandezMontanain 1881, no
scholar,to my knowledge,has thrownany light on the whereaboutsof the actual
workor of the Frenchversioncommissionedby the Dukeof Berry.
Fortunately,however,the subsequentroute takenby the Librode astromagia can
be tracedwith only one significantinterruption.There is no entry corresponding
to the workin the inventoryof booksin the Louvrebelongingto CharlesVI, com-
piled by Garnierde Saint-Yon in 1423,whichseemsto indicatethatthe manuscript
wasno longerpartof the royalcollectionat the Louvreby this time.50In 1425,the
astronomylibraryof the Louvrepassedto the Dukeof Bedford,who transferredit
nuestrapresenciaen completaseguridady en toda liber- comprisesonly the first five chaptersin the Arabicver-
tad para que nos demuestre las conclusionesdel juicio sion; see Aly Abenragel,El libroconplidoen los iadizios
que segun dicha arte ha hecho, pues sobre todas las de las estrellas,ed. G. Hilty, Madrid 1954. Later, Guy
cosas esta la Divina providenciaa la que todo principe Beaujouan found the eighth chapter of the Spanish
cat61icoha de someterse.'Letter from Joan I dated 17 version in the libraryof the Cathedralof Segovia, MS
Nov. 1391: Barcelona,Archivode la Coronade Arag6n, B 388, olim115 (lSth century):see his 'Manuscritsscien-
Reg. 1962, fol. 3, tr. Sanpere (as in n. 43), p. 167 n. 1. tifiquesmedievauxde la Cathedralede Segovie',Actes da
See also P. Bohigas,'Prediccionsi profeciesen les obres XIe Congres Internacionald'HistoiredesSciences, iii, Warsaw
de Fra FrancescEiximenis',Franciscalia, Barcelona1928, 1968, pp. 15-18 (now in his Scienceme'dieovale d'Espagne e
pp. 23-38 (now in his Aportacio a l'estudide la literatura d'alentour,Aldershot1992).This chapterhas been edited
catalana,Montserrat1982, pp. 94ff, esp. 107-8). On the recentlyby L. M. VicenteGarcia('Laastrologiaen el cris-
excusesofferedby Eiximenisand the exchange of letters tianismoy en la literaturamedieval castellana.Edicion
in this respect, see R. Tasis,Joan I, el reicafadori music, de la octavaparte ineditadel Libroconplido en losjayziosde
Barcelona1959, p. 212. las estrellas',Ph.I). diss., UCLA 1989), but his study is
46 See J. M. MillasVallicrosa,Las tablasastronomicas del unreliable:even a later 17th-centurycopy of it seems to
reyD. Pedroel Ceremonioso, Madridand Barcelona1962, have escaped his notice (VaticanCity, BibliotecaApos-
pp. 123-4; J. Samso,'AlfonsoX y los origenesde la astro- tolica VaticanaMS Barb. lat. 4363, for which see H. G.
logia hispanica',in Estudiossobrehistoriade la cienciaarabe, Jones, HispanicManuscripts and PrintedBooksin theBar-
ed. J. Vernet,Barcelona1980, pp. 81-114; Chabas(as in beriniCollection, i, VaticanCity 1978, p. 189). Finally,the
n. 41), pp. 16-23. sixthchapterof the Spanishversionis partiallypreserved
47 The traditional view of Sancho'svery limitedliterary in Valladolid,Colegio de Santa Cruz MS 253, olitn78
patronagemust, however,be reconsideredin light of R. (14th century);see the descriptionby M. N. AlonsoCor-
P.Kinkade,'SanchoIV: Puenteliterarioentre AlfonsoX tes, Catalogode man?scritos de la Bibliotecade SantaCruz,
y Don Juan Manuel',PMLA, lxxxvii, 1972, pp. 1039-5 1 Valladolid1976, pp. 196-8, and also C. Faulhaberand
(I thankProfessorAlan Deyermondfor this reference). J. K. Nitti in La Coroonica, xi.2, 1983, p. 290; but they all
48 A copy of the Libro conplidoen losiad1ziosde lasestrellas seem unawarethatthe discoverywasmadeby Beaujouan
was in Pere IV's libraryin 1359 and was translatedinto (Annuaire 1967-68 de l'EcolePratique desHautesEtudes.IVe
Catalanin 1386: see J. Vernet, 'Tradicione innovacion se'ction:
sciences historiquesetphilologiques,
p. 352).
en la ciencia medieval', Orientee occidente nel medioevo: 49 On the documented gift of a 'book of Marco Polo'
falosofaa e scienze,Rome 1971, p. 751, now in hisEstudios fromJoan I to Jean de Berrysee De Bofarully Sans (as
sobrehistoriadela cienciamedieval, Barcelona1979, p. 183. in n. 40), p. 44 n. 2 and p. 53.
It has furtherbeen shown that the treatiseon astrology 3° The catalogue is reproduced with a preface by L.
by Bartolomeude Tresbens,commissionedby Pere el I)ouet-d'Arcqin the Inventairede la Bibliotheque du roi
Cerimoni6s,is a summaryof booksIV and V of the Libro CharlesVIfaitau Lourreen 1423 par ordredu reogent ducde
conplido:see Bartolomeude Tresbens,Tractatde astrolo- Bedford,Paris1867.
gia, ed. J. Vernet and I). Romano, Barcelona 1957-8.
Abenragel'smanual seems to have been translatedinto
Frenchat the court of CharlesV: see I)e Phares(as in n.
42), p. 228. Gerold Hilty'sedition of the Spanishversion
 ASTROMAGICALMANUSCRIPTS 23
to Englandin 1429.5lThe collectionbegan to be dispersedwhen the duke died in
1435.
We find the Libro de astromagiaagain in the second half of the sixteenthcen-
tury,52on the shelvesof the bibliophilePaul Petau.53 Some folios have annotations
by the FrenchhumanistPierreDanield'Orleans,54 fromwhosecollectioncamesev-
eral of the manuscriptswhichnow makeup the codex containingtheLibrode astro-
magla in the VaticanLibrary.55 Certainsectionsof this codex were acquiredfor
Petauby ClaudeFauchet(whosename appearson folio 112V).56 In commonwith
other humanistsof his time,57Petau did not respect the integrity of medieval
manuscriptsand was in the habitof cuttingup those in his collectionin order to
constructnew ones accordingto his own whim. This would explain the present
state of the codex: a collectionof manuscriptsfrom varioussources,which Petau,
for reasonsthatare no longerapparent,put togetheras one.
Afterthe death of PaulPetau,his collectionpassedto his son Alexandre,58 who
in 1650, sold some 15,000books among them the Libro de astromagia to Queen
Christinaof Sweden,throughthe good servicesof IsaacVossius.59 The possessions
of the queen travelledwith her to Rome,where she settledin exile after her ab-
dicationand publicconversionto RomanCatholicismin 1655.6°Her collectionof
manuscriptswas incorporatedin the VaticanLibraryafter the accessionof Pope
AlexanderVIII (1689-91).61 And it is therethatthe manuscriptof theLibrode astro-
magia lay unnoticeduntilits recoveryfor scholarshipby AbyWarburg in 1911.
UN IVERSI DAD D E MURC IA

51 Delisle (as in n. 30)?pp. 138, Bloch (as in n. 36), p.
312.
52 See Pellegrin (as in n. 33); and also A. D'Agostino,
'E1'Librode la magicade los signos',in his II 'Librosulla
magia dei segni' ed altri studi di filologia spagnola, Brescia
1979, pp. 21-64.
53 Manuscriptsbelonging to Paul Petau can be ident-
ified by a cataloguenumberin the top right-handcorner
of the first page, comprisinga letter and two numbers.
The manuscriptof the Librode astromagiahas the press
mark'A44'in this position(Pellegrin,as in n.33, p. 24).
54 Pellegrin(as in n.33), p. 160.
59 The library of Pierre d'Orleans is known to have
been divided among Paul Petau and Jacques Bongars:
L. Jarry, 'Une correspondancelitteraireau XVI siecle.
Pierre Daniel et les erudits de son temps',Me'moiresde
et historiquede l'Orle'anais,xv, 1875,
la societe'archewologique
pp. 343-43 1; H. Hagen,Etude sur P Daniel, Orleans1876
(lst edn Berne 1873, in German).
56 Pellegrin(as in n.33), pp. 24, 160.
57 See E. Pellegrin, 'Membra disiecta Floriacensia',
Bibliothequede l'Ecole des chartes,cvii, 1959, pp. 5-56 (5)
(now in her Bibliothequesretrouze'es,as in n. 34, pp. 159-
210 [159])
58 On Paul and Alexandre Petau?slibrarysee K. A. de
Meyier,Paul en AlexandrePetau en de geschiedenisvan hun
handschriften1Leiden (E.J. Brill) 1947 (Dissertationesin-
auguralesBatavaead res antiquaspertinentes,v).
59 I am indebted to the Prefectof the VaticanLibrary,
P. Leonard E. Boyle O.P.,for clarificationof this matter.
On the figure of Isaac Vossiusas a bibliophilesee F. F.
Blok, Contributionsto the Histo7yof Isaac Vossius'sLibraJy,
Amsterdamand London 1974.
60 C. Callmer,Konigin Chaestina,ihreBibliothekarP und ihre
Handschriften.Beitragezur europaischenBibliotheksgeschichte
(Acta BibliothecaeRegiae Stockholmensis,xxx), Stock-
holm 1977, pp. 217-34.
fil J. BignamiOdier, 'Le fonds de la Reine a la Biblio-
theque Vaticane',CollectaneaVaticanain honoremAnselmi
Albaredavi (Studi e testi, ccxix), VaticanCity 1962, pp.
159-89.