Annals of Science

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Preludes to the Inquisition: self-censorship in

medieval astrological discourse

Helena Avelar de Carvalho

To cite this article: Helena Avelar de Carvalho (2020) Preludes to the Inquisition: self-
censorship in medieval astrological discourse, Annals of Science, 77:1, 10-25, DOI:
10.1080/00033790.2020.1714283

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Published online: 06 Apr 2020.

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ANNALS OF SCIENCE
2020, VOL. 77, NO. 1, 10–25
https://doi.org/10.1080/00033790.2020.1714283

The Inquisition and the Censorship of Science in Early

Modern Europe

Preludes to the Inquisition: self-censorship in medieval

astrological discourse
Helena Avelar de Carvalho
Centro Interuniversitário de História das Ciências e da Tecnologia, Faculdade de Ciências da
Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Astrologers have exercised self-censorship throughout the Astrology; Portuguese
centuries in order to fend off criticism. This was largely for Inquisition; self-censorship;
religious reasons, but social, political, and ethical Index; papal bulls
motivations also have to be taken into account. This paper
explores the main reasons that led astrologers to increase
censorship in their writings in the decades that preceded
the Church’s regulations and offers some examples of this
self-imposed restraint in astrological judgements.

1. Introduction
To some degree, self-censorship has always been present in astrological writings
as a defensive measure against criticism. The topics avoided may change accord-
ing to the particular social context, usually varying between political and reli-
gious issues, but whatever the case, the self-imposed restrictions always
intensify in periods of increased hostility towards astrology.
From the middle of the fifteenth century, astrological texts reveal an increas-
ing concern with presenting astrology as licit and pious, making it compatible
with Christian doctrine. So prevalent is this concern that it often overcame
the technical accuracy of the results. This defensive attitude increased following
the publication in 1496 of the first great anti-astrology text of the modern era,
Pico della Mirandola’s Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem.
Astrology began to be officially regulated by the ecclesiastic authorities with
the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Forbidden Books) published in
1559 by the Sacred Congregation of the Roman Inquisition, and later by the
two papal bulls against the practice of astrology, ‘Coeli et Terra’ in 1586, and
‘Inscrutabilis’ in 1631. Astrologers responded by insisting on the validity of
astrology and distinguishing it from illicit practices such as geomancy or necro-
mancy. Some of these texts were simple preambles added to the books of astro-
logical doctrine, while others were fully developed apologies specifically created

CONTACT Helena Avelar de Carvalho helena.avelar@me.com

© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 ANNALS OF SCIENCE 11

to respond to the ever-growing accusations. At the same time, educated astrol-

ogers began to take especial care in those of their writings that were directed at
the laymen in order to avoid misunderstandings. The intent of these measures
was to assert the lawfulness of their practice and to clarify any topics that
might raise disapproval.
The main criticism directed at astrology in the late medieval period was its
apparent determinism making it incompatible with Christian doctrine. This
accusation was by no means a novelty. Quite the contrary, it had been a recur-
rent theme in all cultures and all periods, and in fact had been the most fre-
quently evoked by the detractors of astrology.1 This argument was often
presented in absolute terms: everything was predetermined by the astrological
configurations and therefore astrology denied the existence of free will. Not sur-
prisingly, this was vigorously and systematically refuted by educated astrologers
of all periods who presented instead a more flexible and complex view of the
matter. For instance, Ptolemy, whose work came to be the main source for
Western astrological practice throughout the medieval period, states that,
we should not believe that separate events attend mankind as the result of the heavenly
cause as if they had been originally ordained for each person by some irrevocable
divine command and destined to take place by necessity without the possibility of
any other cause whatever interfering.2

He refutes the notion of the planets as direct influences over each individual
viewing them as universal causes that interact with specific causes, thus generat-
ing different results in different circumstances.3 Albumasar (787–886) also con-
tests the notion of absolute determinism, offering instead a concept of free will
that balances ‘possibility and choice’.4 For Christian astrologers, the allegation
of determinism was particularly damaging since it made their practice incompa-
tible with the faith. As before, this was refuted by educated astrologers such as
Roger Bacon (1214–1294), who advocated that determinism and free will could
coexist without conflict, and that no wise astrologer ever defended the idea of
direct influence of the stars over human destiny; only the ignorant would do so.5

1
See for instance Teri Gee, ‘Strategies of Defending Astrology: A Continuing Tradition’ (unpublished PhD thesis,
University of Toronto, 2012) <https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/34009> [accessed 22 May 2016];
Scott Hendrix, ‘Reading the Future and Freeing the Will: Astrology of the Arabic World and Albertus Magnus’,
Hortulus: The Online Graduate Journal of Medieval Studies, 2.1 (2006), 30–49.
2
Tetrabiblos I.3, Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, trans. by F. E. Robbins (Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press,
1940), p. 23.
3
This is discussed in detail in Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, I.2, pp. 5–19, and I.3, pp. 21–35. See also Gee, ‘Strategies of
Defending Astrology’, pp. 60–64.
4
The complete discussion can be found in Abū Maʿšar, The Great Introduction to Astrology, ed. by Keiji Yamamoto
and Charles Burnett, 2 vols (Turnhout: Brill, 2019), I , pp. 106–49 I.5. Albumasar’s position towards determinism is
examined by Charles Burnett, ‘The Certitude of Astrology: The Scientific Methodology of Al-Qabisi and Abu
Ma‘shar’, Early Science and Medicine, 7.3 (2002), 198–213 (pp. 198–213). See also Gee, ‘Strategies of Defending
Astrology’, pp. 126–56.
5
The topic is extensively discussed in his works; see for instance Roger Bacon, The ‘Opus majus’ of Roger Bacon, ed.
by J. H. Bridges (London: Williams & Norgate, 1900), pp. 240–52. For an encompassing perspective on determin-
ism and free will, see H. Darrel Rutkin, Sapientia Astrologica: Astrology, Magic and Natural Knowledge, ca. 1250-
1800: I. Medieval Structures (1250-1500): Conceptual, Institutional, Socio-Political, Theologico-Religious and Cultural,
12 H. AVELAR DE CARVALHO

Adding to the charge of determinism, astrology was also accused of reclaim-

ing absolute power over every aspect of life, from the most meaningful to the
most trivial, thus dismissing the influence of any other factors and, more impor-
tantly, denying the power of God over all things. Again, this allegation raised
emphatic protest from educated astrologers of all periods. Ptolemy emphasizes
the interconnection between celestial configurations and several other factors,
such as the place of birth, the family, and the way the child was raised, stating
that,
unless each one of these things is examined together with the causes that are derived
from the ambient [that is, the horoscope], although this latter can be conceded to exer-
cise the greatest influence (for the ambient is one of the causes for these things being
what they are, while they in turn have no influence upon it), they can cause much
difficulty for those who believe that in such cases everything can be understood,
even things not wholly within its jurisdiction, from the motion of the heavenly
bodies alone.6

This concept of universal and particular causes emphasizes not only their inter-
connection, but also the hierarchy of influences: he considers the ‘ambient’, the
celestial configurations, as universal causes, that can be modified to a certain
extent by particular causes related to worldly conditions. This is true, even con-
sidering that these worldly conditions are themselves, in Ptolemy’s mind, the
result of celestial configurations.
With the advent of printing and its dissemination throughout the second half
of the fifteenth century, the continuing debate about astrology gained a new and
powerful platform. Printed books allowed a swift and efficient transmission of
ideas and were used by both supporters and detractors of astrology to voice
their arguments.7 As the written attacks on astrology became more intense,
the corresponding refutations also grew in vehemence and proficiency. One of
the most violent attacks on astrology, often presented as a fatal blow, was the
Disputationes, written by Pico della Mirandola and posthumously published
in Bologna 1496.8 Indeed, the book inspired a series of other attacks on
astrology, but contrary to expectations, it did not bring about astrology’s
demise.9 Instead, it prompted a myriad of organized defences of astrology

Archimedes (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2019) particularly, pp. 117–274; for Bacon’s defence of
astrology, see Gee, ‘Strategies of Defending Astrology’, pp. 205–18.
6
Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, I. 2, p. 19.
7
It also facilitated the circulation of astrological almanacs, annual prognostications, and prognostications related to
occasional events such as comets. In most cases these publications offered a simplified version of astrology
influenced by political factors. For context, see also Justin Rivest, ‘Printing and Astrology in Early Modem
France: Vernacular Almanac-Prognostications, 1497–1555’ (unpublished MA dissertation, Carleton University,
2004) especially pp. 86–88 and 181–6; Bernard Stuart Capp, Astrology and the Popular Press: English Almanacs
1500–1800 (London: Faber, 1979), pp. 180–214.
8
Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola, Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem (Bologna: B. Hector,
1496).
9
As noted by Graziella Federici Vescovini, ‘The Theological Debate’, in A Companion to Astrology in the Renaissance,
ed. by Brendan Dooley (Leiden: Brill, 2014), pp. 99–140. For a different perspective, seeOvanes Akopyan, ‘“Prin-
ceps Aliorum” and His Followers: Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola on the “Astrological Tradition” in “the Disputa-
tiones Adversus Astrologiam Divinatricem”’, Renaissance Studies, 32.4 (2018), 547–64.
 ANNALS OF SCIENCE 13

written by authorities such as Lucio Bellanti, Giovanni Pontano, and Gabriele

Pirovano, who took inspiration from earlier theologians and philosophers,
among them Abraham ibn Ezra, Peter of Limoges, Roger Bacon, Ramon Lull,
Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas.10
But in spite of these vigorous defences most astrologers maintained a certain
caution in their practices and writings, keeping away from sensitive topics to
avoid accusations of any kind. This choice was motivated not only by fears of
condemnation by the Church, but also by personal beliefs and for practical
reasons such as pleasing their patrons. This cautious attitude encompassed all
four parts of astrology: nativities, that is, the study of individual birth charts;
revolutions, the study of collective events; interrogations, the interpretation of
horoscopes for answering direct questions; and elections, the study of future
configurations for choosing the best moment to act. It was common practice
to condemn only the parts that were said to hinder free will and to allow the
others. However, the criteria to separate the licit and natural astrology from
the illicit and superstitious, therefore prohibited, practices was a matter of dis-
cussion and varied significantly from one author to another. Some wanted to
ban all nativities, interrogations, and elections, accepting only some practices
related to medicine and meteorology. Others proposed moderate restrictions,
accepting the use of any form of astrology that did not impinge on free will;
this implied all meteorological applications, certain parts of nativities, and
natural elections. These shifting boundaries allowed some astrologers to bring
back significant parts of the practice that had been prohibited, arguing that
they did not interfere with free will.11 However, these restorations were always
tempted with caution.
The same caution is quite evident in judgements related to collective and pol-
itical changes such as the conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn, which were an
important part of the study of collective events. These planetary configurations
occur about every twenty years and are used by astrologers to make prognosti-
cations about kingdoms, nations, rulers, and people.12 Predictions of this nature
entailed considerable responsibility since they would deal with the political,
10
Vescovini, ‘The Theological Debate’, p. 100. See also Ornella Pompeo Faracovi, ‘In Difesa Dell’astrologia. Risposte a
Pico in Bellanti e Pontano’, in Nello Specchio Del Cielo: Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola e Le Disputationes Contro
l’astrologia Divinatoria, ed. by Marco Bertozzi (Firenze: Olschki, 2008), pp. 47–65.
11
The aforementioned works of Roger Bacon illustrate the discussions around this topic.
12
This topic has been extensively debated in recent historiography. See for instance Giuseppe Bezza, ‘Saturn-Jupiter
Conjunctions and General Astrology: Ptolemy, Abu Ma’shar and Their Commentators’, in From Masha’ Allah to
Kepler: Theory and Practice in Medieval and Renaissance Astrology, ed. by Charles Burnett and Dorian Gieseler
Greenbaum (Ceredigion, Wales: Sophia Centre Press, 2015), pp. 5–48 (pp. 30–40); Abraham Ibn Ezra Book of
the World, ed. by Shlomo Sela (Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2009); Josefina Rodríguez Arribas, El cielo de Sefarad: los
judíos y los astros (siglos XII y XIV) (Córdoba: El Almendro, 2011), pp. 94–120. See also J. D. North, ‘Astrology
and the Fortunes of Churches’, Centaurus, 24.1 (1980), 181–211; Eugenio Garin, Astrology in the Renaissance:
The Zodiac of Life (London ; Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983), pp. XIII, 1–28; Dag Nikolaus Hasse,
Success and Suppression: Arabic Sciences and Philosophy in the Renaissance (Cambridge, Massachusetts;
London, England: Harvard University Press, 2016), pp. 272–89; Astrologers and Their Clients in Medieval and
Early Modern Europe, ed. by Wiebke Deimann and David Juste (Köln Weimar Wien: Böhlau, 2015), pp. 29–31;
Laura Ackerman Smoller, History, Prophecy, and the Stars: The Christian Astrology of Pierre d’Ailly, 1350–1420 (Prin-
ceton University Press, 1994), pp. 20–22, 70–74.
14 H. AVELAR DE CARVALHO

economic, and religious conditions for the following two decades. An example of
a disastrous use of such judgements would be the prediction of a universal deluge
for the year 1524 attributed to a conjunction of planets in the zodiacal signs of
Aquarius and Pisces.13 In Almanac Nova, a planetary ephemeris for 1499–1535,
astrologers Johannes Stöffler and Jacob Pflaum mentioned some ‘changes’ in the
weather as possible effects of this conjunction. This innocuous prediction was
repeated and amplified in other almanacs. Exacerbated even further by oral
transmission it soon escalated into apocalyptic proportions with catastrophic
consequences for all Christendom. It now included a new universal deluge,
devastating earthquakes, mortal epidemics, and the coming of a false prophet.
As a reaction, several texts were published, written by respected astrologers
and detractors alike, reprimanding such exaggerations. The prediction also
had religious and political undertones, and prompted heated disputes among
astrologers, theologians, philosophers, physicians, and politicians.14 As the
date approached, mass hysteria ensued and several groups of people began to
relocate to higher grounds in order to escape the impending flood; the president
of the parliament of Toulouse went even further and ordered the construction of
an ark on a mountain top.15 When the date of the predicted catastrophe arrived
without any noticeable event, the opponents of astrology responded with
another, even fiercer, wave of criticism.
Conversely, an example of self-imposed discretion can be found in the judge-
ment of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of 1425 written by Simon Belle, an
astrologer who lived in late fifteen-century France and possibly served Duke
Jean II of Bourbon.16 Although he describes in detail all possible effects of the
conjunction, he avoids any statement that could be deemed deterministic.17

13
This topic has been widely discussed; see for instance William Eamon, ‘Astrology and Society’, in A Companion to
Astrology in the Renaissance, ed. by Brendan Maurice Dooley, Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, 49
(Leiden: Brill, 2014), pp. 141–92 (pp. 142–51); Jonathan Green, Printing and Prophecy: Prognostication and
Media Change 1450-1550, Cultures of Knowledge in the Early Modern World (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press, 2011), pp. 139–50; Rivest, ‘Printing and Astrology in Early Modem France’, pp. 65–73.
14
For the religious and political implications of this debate see for instance Robin Bruce Barnes, Astrology and Refor-
mation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp. 82–131; Marjorie Reeves, The Influence of Prophecy in the Later
Middle Ages: A Study in Joachimism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969); Stefano Caroti, ‘Melanchton’s Astrology’, in
‘Astrologi Hallucinati’: Stars and the End of the World in Luther’s Time, ed. by Paola Zambelli (Berlin ; New York:
W. de Gruyter, 1986), pp. 108–21; Dietrich Kurze, ‘Popular Astrology and Prophecy in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth
Centuries: Johannes Lichtenberger’, in ‘Astrologi Hallucinati’: Stars and the End of the World in Luther’s Time, ed. by
Paola Zambelli (Berlin ; New York: W. de Gruyter, 1986), pp. 177–93; Charles Trinkaus, ‘The Astrological Cosmos
and Rhetorical Culture of Giovanni Gioviano Pontano’, Renaissance Quarterly, 38.3 (1985), 446–72; Christine Jack,
‘Visual Culture: Prints, Pamphlets and the Conjunction of 1524’ (unpublished MA Dissertation, University of
Alberta, 1997).
15
See Paola Zambelli, Astrology and Magic from the Medieval Latin and Islamic World to Renaissance Europe: Theories
and Approaches, Variorum Collected Studies Series, New edition (Abingdon: Routledge, 2012), pp. 1–28, 239–63.
16
Belle’s manuscripts entail several examples of self-censorship for religious and political reasons. He authored two
manuscripts: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Nouvelles Acquisitions Latines 398, henceforth NAL 398; and
Lisbon, ANTT-Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Manuscritos da Livraria, Ms. 1711 – ‘Almanaque ab anno 68
usque ad annum 80, Nativitates quarundam personarum’, henceforth MS 1711. For details, see Helena Avelar de
Carvalho, ‘The Making of an Astrologer in Fifteenth-Century France. The Notebooks of S. Belle: Lisbon, MS 1711
and Paris, NAL 398’ (unpublished PhD thesis, University of London, The Warburg Institute, 2018).
17
NAL 398, ff. 80rb-84va. Belle wrote this text in 1473 (as stated in the explicit on f. 84v), thus forty-eight years after
the event. He copied and adapted parts of the judgement of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of 1365, written by
 ANNALS OF SCIENCE 15

After mentioning the possible victory for the Christians against the Saracens (the
Muslims) and the appearance of a new prophet, he finds it necessary to clarify
his position carefully given the sensitivity of the matter: 18
it is not my intention to assert that the aforesaid effects signified by the great conjunc-
tion will inevitably or necessarily happen from the aforesaid conjunction.19

His intention, he states, is not to predict per se, but only to identify the potential
represented by the horoscope of the conjunction. By placing his forecast within
the safety of possibilities, he expects to circumvent any accusations of interfer-
ence with free will. Yet, he decides to offer further clarification:
I do not say that the aforementioned effects will necessarily happen, nor do I want to
affirm with all certainty that they come about from the aforesaid conjunction, but I do
want to state that this conjunction and other subsequent conjunctions with eclipses are
signs which signify that the effects will happen, according to the judgement of the
astrologers.20

In other words, he mentions all possible outcomes revealed by the horoscope

of the conjunction but refrains from identifying which of these possibilities will
come to pass in this particular case. This establishes a differentiation between
what astrology can do, that is, the theoretical prediction of all possible effects,
and what the astrologer should or should not do, that is, the identification of
those effects that will actually come to pass.21 The reference to the celestial
configurations as signs echoes the words of Bacon, who considers the planets
as ‘signs hinting to us those things which God has disposed from eternity’.22

2. Courtly debates in Portugal

On certain occasions the astrologer had to please a patron who struggled to
reconcile astrology and religion. Portuguese chronicler Rui de Pina records
the case of King Duarte (1391–1438), who was asked to postpone his coronation
to avoid an unfavourable astrological configuration.23 The ceremony had been

astrologer John of Ashenden (Johannes Eschuid, fl. 1350) and preserved in several manuscripts, including Paris,
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Latin, 7443, ff. 221r-227v.
18
See Laura Smoller, ‘Apocalyptic Calculators of the Later Middle Ages’, in Knowing the Time, Knowing of a Time. 3rd
Annual Conference of the Center for Millennial Studies, Boston, December 6-8, 1998. Conference Proceedings (Boston:
Center for Millennial Studies, 1998), pp. 1–7.
19
Non est mee intentionis asserere quod effectus predicti significati per coniunctionem magnum evenient inevit-
abiliter vel necessarie ex coniunctione predicta, f. 84ra.
20
Nolo ergo dicere quod predicti effectus contingent necessario nec volo certitudinaliter asserere quod contingent
ex predicta coniunctione, sed volo asserere quod ista coniunctio et alie coniunctiones sequentes cum eclipsibus
erunt signa quedam significantia predictos effectus contingere seu futuros esse iuxta sententias astrologorum,
f. 84rb-84va.
21
On a similar note, astrologer Joannes Laet (d. 1487) adopted the term ‘possible future’ (futura contingentia) in the
letter of dedication of his prognostications for 1479. See Steven Vanden Broecke, The Limits of Influence: Pico,
Louvain, and the Crisis of Renaissance Astrology (Leiden: Brill, 2003), pp. 49–53.
22
‘planetas esse signa innuentia nobis ea que Deus disposit ab eterno’, Bacon, The ‘Opus majus’ of Roger Bacon, p. 266.
Bacon does not endorse this idea in all instances, as noted in Gee, ‘Strategies of Defending Astrology’, pp. 230–1.
23
Rui de Pina, Crónicas de Rui de Pina (Porto: Lello & Irmão Editores, 1977), pp. 492–3.
16 H. AVELAR DE CARVALHO

scheduled for the morning of 15 August 1433 but the court astrologer, Mestre
Guedelha, asked for it to be postponed for a few hours.24 Duarte refused:
I will not do it, because I should not, at least so it doesn’t look like I lacks the hope of
the steadfastness in God and in His faith that I must have.25

According to the chronicle, Duarte does not want to follow the astrological
advice because that would give him the appearance of lacking faith. The
compatibility between astrology and religion seems to be a recurrent
concern to this king, who expressed it several times in his books, Livro
dos Conselhos (‘Book of Counsels’) and Leal Conselheiro (‘The Loyal Advi-
sour’).26 Interestingly, he does not seem to have many reservations about
astrology’s efficacy; he accepts its effects, even though he considers them sub-
ordinate to human will:
it is to be taken without any doubt that the planets induce in us and confer on us incli-
nation, but not in such a way that we cannot contradict [it]’.27

He seems to be echoing the words of Thomas Aquinas who states that the wise
man commands the stars in so far as he commands his passions.28 In other
words, the stars can produce effects in a human being through the body by sti-
mulating natural inclinations, but these could always be overruled by the indi-
vidual’s will, because will is not physical in nature and thus is not affected by
the stars. Duarte is known to have questioned astrology’s value, but his com-
plaints were mainly directed at the exaggerated claims of some astrologers.
Thus, he says, with a hint of sarcasm, ‘that the planets confer on us a great
part of [our] conditions, [go] ask the astrologers, who say that not only part,
but all, are given to us [by the planets]’.29 Like Ptolemy, Bacon, and many
others, Duarte also sees astrology as one among many factors to be taken into
account when evaluating a situation. He expresses this concept in his poem
‘What we seize from the land’:
From the land [we seize] complexion / From milk and meat, sustenance / From rela-
tives, nation / From illness and happenings, occasion / From the planets, constellation /
From the sovereign and [from] friends, conversation / From our lord God, by special

24
Mestre Guedelha is Gedaliah ben Shlomo ibn Yahia (c.1400-c.1453), a member of the respected Negro family. He
was chief rabbi, physician and astrologer to King João I and King Duarte, served Prince Pedro during his regency,
and later also served Henry the Navigator, and King Afonso V. See Inácio Steinhardt, ‘Um Documento Hebraico
Sobre a Batalha de Toro’, Cadernos de Estudos Sefarditas, 5 (2005), 115–34 (p. 119).
25
Pina, Crónicas de Rui de Pina, p. 493.
26
Respectively: Duarte, Livro Dos Conselhos (Livro Da Cartuxa) (Lisboa: Editorial Estampa, 1996); and Duarte, Leal
Conselheiro (Lisboa: Editorial Estampa, 1998).
27
Duarte, Livro Dos Conselhos (Livro Da Cartuxa), p. 151.
28
The topic is extensively debated by Aquinas in several of his works, namely in Summa Theologiae, Question 115,
De Sortibus, ch. 4, and in the letter De Judiciis Astrorum.
29
Duarte, Livro Dos Conselhos (Livro Da Cartuxa), p. 151. The topic is addressed in Helena Avelar de Carvalho, ‘D.
Duarte e a Astrologia Na Corte de Avis’, in D. Duarte e a Sua Época. Arte, Cultura, Poder e Espiritualidade, ed.
by Catarina Fernandes Barreira and Miguel Metelo de Seixas (Lisboa: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, Centro
Lusíada de Estudos Genealógicos, Heráldicos e Históricos, 2014), pp. 235–48.
 ANNALS OF SCIENCE 17

inspiration, it is conceded upon us [social] condition and discretion [good

judgement].30

For him the place of birth is the main contributing factor in the formation of an
individual since it confers physical traits according to the climate.31 This impor-
tant condition may be enhanced or diminished by many others, namely nourish-
ing, family, and innate physical conditions. Only then he mentions the
‘constellation’, that is, the set of celestial configurations present at the birth, as
yet another factor to be taken into account. Being a Christian, he gives
primacy to God’s will as he makes abundantly clear in his writings:
from the planets and other parts [of the horoscope] we can be induced and tempted
but not constrained, because everything rests mainly in the power of our free will,
not being constrained neither by predestination nor by prescience of God our Lord.32

His main argument against determinism is that it leads to the neglect of moral
responsibility, since if all human actions are constrained by the planetary
configurations, then ‘by our achievements we would not have neither reward
nor punishment.’33 The concerns expressed by King Duarte illustrate the
main objections that astrologers had to take into account when judging a horo-
scope, particularly for an educated patron. They were often placed in difficult
situations, compelled to adapt the judgement to the patron’s concerns to
avoid being offensive or to give the impression of impiety.
On some occasions, a lack of self-restraint when it comes to astrological
remarks could aggravate an already tense situation especially one charged by
religious tensions. The chronicle of the Congregation of Saint Elói, written by
Friar Paulo de Portalegre in the second half of the fifteen century, recalls one
of these situations.34 By then the Congregation offered classes to young Chris-
tians and also accepted students from wealthy Jewish families.35 Among these
was young Abraham Guedelha, son of the aforementioned Master Guedelha.36
The chronicler recounts that on a given occasion one of the Christian students

30
Duarte, Livro Dos Conselhos (Livro Da Cartuxa), p. 157; Duarte, Leal Conselheiro, pp. 150–4.
31
The topic of climates in the medieval period is discussed in Pierre d’Ailly, Ymago Mundi, de Pierre d’Ailly, Cardinal
de Cambrai et Chancelier de l’Université de Paris (1350-1420), ed. by Edmond Buron, 1930, pp. 226–7; J.T. Olsson,
‘The World in Arab Eyes: A Reassessment of the Climes in Medieval Islamic Scholarship’, Bulletin of the School of
Oriental and African Studies, 77.3 (2014), 487–508. See also Muh ammad ibn Ah mad Bīrūnī, The Book of Instruction
in the Elements of the Art of Astrology, trans. by Robert Ramsay Wright (London: Luzac & co, 1934), pp. 138–45;
Bacon, The ‘Opus majus’ of Roger Bacon, pp. 249–51.
32
Duarte, Leal Conselheiro, p. 150.
33
Duarte, Leal Conselheiro, p. 151.
34
Paulo de Portalegre, Novo Memorial Do Estado Apostólico. Primeira Crónica Dos Lóios (Lisboa: Roma Editora, 2007),
pp. 130–40. The Secular Canons of St. John the Evangelist, also called Boni Homines, was a religious order founded
in the fifteenth century. Its main activities were education, management of hospitals, and the installing of mis-
sions in India and Ethiopia.
35
For the ‘social mimetism’ of Jewish courtiers living at Christian courts in the medieval period and its consequences
in Jewish culture, see Reuven Faingold, ‘Judeus Nas Cortes Reais Portuguesas’, Sefarad - Revista de Estudios Heb-
raicos, Sefardíes y de Oriente Próximo, 55.1 (1995), 77–104.
36
Abraham Guedelha (d. 1471) lived at the court of King Afonso V. He studied philosophy at Estudos Gerais, the
equivalent of the University. In 1453 he succeeded his father as court physician and chief rabbi.
18 H. AVELAR DE CARVALHO

brought a veronica (a cloth with the face of Christ painted on it) into the class.
The other students gathered around in awe, and one of them commented:
Oh, what a good complexion! Surely, if he had not been killed by deceit, he would have
never died by natural causes.37

This apparently casual reference carried a thinly veiled criticism of the Jewish
people who they considered responsible for the death of Christ. According to
the chronicler, young Abraham Guedelha took offense at this remark and
sharply replied:
How can that be? For he was a melancholic, which is the worst complexion possible!38

This comment dismayed the Christian students but they dared not reply,
‘because of the high and malignant esteem the father of the said Jew received
from the king and other great lords’.39 Apparently, the high social status of
Master Guedelha allowed his son to speak freely, at least to a certain degree.
However, the incident did not end there: some students went on to report it to
the school’s principal, Father Baptista, whom they met outside the building
having a conversation with a Jewish physician. When informed of the disagree-
ment, Father Baptista became annoyed and replied that, had he been there, the
boy’s insolence would have been severely punished. At this point the said phys-
ician, who overheard the conversation, defiantly asked Father Baptista: ‘What did
he say wrong, if indeed it is so?’40 By this he meant that Christ had indeed a mel-
ancholic complexion and therefore he saw no reason for such commotion. This
defiant retort turned out to be more than Father Baptista was willing to bear. The
chronicler reports that he ‘could not refrain himself and slapped him in the face’
notwithstanding him being a respected physician.41 As a consequence of this
incident, the sons of Jewish courtiers were forbidden to attend Christian
schools and the already difficult situation of the Jews in Portugal was aggravated
still further.42 The incident served as a pretext to express the mutual aversion of
the two religious groups; the presence of privileged Jews in the royal courts was a
deeply-ingrained cause of tension in Portuguese society of this period.43

37
Portalegre, Novo Memorial Do Estado Apostólico, p. 130.
38
Portalegre, Novo Memorial Do Estado Apostólico, pp. 130–40.
39
Portalegre, Novo Memorial Do Estado Apostólico, pp. 130–40.
40
Portalegre, Novo Memorial Do Estado Apostólico, p. 140.
41
Portalegre, Novo Memorial Do Estado Apostólico, p. 140.
42
The long-standing tension between Christians and Jews exploded with tremendous violence in the massacres of
April 1506. See Humberto Baquero Moreno, ‘Tensões e conflitos na sociedade portuguesa em vésperas de 1492’,
Revista de História, 11 (1991), 23–44 (p. 24). For the Jews in medieval Portugal, see Maria José Pimenta Ferro
Tavares, Os judeus em Portugal no século XV, 2 vols (Lisboa: Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universi-
dade Nova de Lisboa / Instituto Nacional de Investigação Científica, 1982); Os judeus na época dos Descobrimentos,
ed. by António Luís Ferronha, As grandes navegações (s. l.: Edições Elo, 1995); Os judeus em Portugal no século XIV,
História e ensaios, 1, 2nd edn (Lisboa: Guimarães Editores, 1999); A herança judaica em Portugal ([Lisboa]: CTT
Correios de Portugal, 2004); and François Soyer, The Persecution of the Jews and Muslims of Portugal. King
Manuel I and the End of Religious Tolerance (1496-7), The Medieval Mediterranean, 69 (Leiden: Brill, 2007),
pp. 21–83.
43
Faingold, ‘Judeus Nas Cortes Reais Portuguesas’, p. 104.
 ANNALS OF SCIENCE 19

The calculation of the horoscope of Christ, from which his complexion,

health, and longevity could have been deduced, was a recurrent debate through-
out the medieval period, for Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike.44 For the latter,
however, the topic was rather sensitive, since it implied that Christ could be con-
ditioned, to some extent, by the planetary configurations as a common human
being – an assertion that verged on blasphemy. Some caution was thus required
to avoid such accusations, but still many Christian astrologers ventured the cal-
culation of Christ’s birthdate and from this horoscope they deduced his com-
plexion and temperament. The remark about Christ’s melancholic
temperament would not make sense, and would not have caused so much
outrage, if the Christian students had not been familiar with the medieval
theory of the temperaments, which was a crucial part of the astrological
system and, indeed, the foundation of the study of medicine.45

3. Political affairs and ethical concerns

Many high dignitaries of the Church, including popes, were acquainted with
the practice of astrology and resorted to it regularly.46 Likewise, many Chris-
tian authors remarked on the compatibility of astrology with devotion, and
some, like Bacon, even maintained that astrology could strengthen faith.47
Going still further, he stated that living in ignorance of the Heavens put
Christianity under the power of the stars.48 Following this line of thought,
some astrologers advised their patrons of the most favourable moment to
practice their devotions in order to increase their effectiveness. A known
example is the advice given by the court astrologer Pellegrino Priscianni
(1435–c.1518) to Isabella d’Este Gonzaga, Marchesa de Mantua (1474–
1539), to begin her prayers ‘in the moment of the arrival of the beneficent
configuration of the Dragon’s Head at Midheaven’, alleging that this configur-
ation would increase her chances of receiving divine grace.49 Similar attitudes
44
See Vescovini, ‘The Theological Debate’, pp. 113–4. See also John David North, Horoscopes and History, Warburg
Institute Surveys and Texts, 13 (London: Warburg Institute, 1986), p. 164.
45
This theory, established by Empedocles and developed by Hippocrates and Galen, correlates the four classical
elements with the four temperaments: fire to the choleric temperament, earth with the melancholic, air with
the sanguine and water with the phlegmatic.
46
Interestingly, Pope Urban VIII, who in 1631 issued the bull Inscrutabilis further prohibiting certain astrological
practices, was well acquainted with astrology and even employed the astrologer Tommaso Campanella to
address his concerns about the astrological prediction of his own death. On this matter see Daniel Pickering
Walker, Spiritual and Demonic Magic: From Ficino to Campanella (University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 2000),
pp. 205–12; and Brendan Maurice Dooley, Morandi’s Last Prophecy and the End of Renaissance Politics (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2002). For the ambivalent position of the Church towards astrology in the medieval
periods, see also Hasse, Success and Suppression, pp. 249–50.
47
‘Magnum enim solatium fidei nostrae possumus habere, postquam philisophi qui ducti sunt solo motu rationis
nobis consentiunt, et sectam seu professionem fidei Christianae confirmant et nobiscum concordant in stalitate
hujus sectae’, Bacon, The ‘Opus majus’ of Roger Bacon, p. 253. See also Gee, ‘Strategies of Defending Astrology’,
pp. 218–37.
48
As noted by Gee, ‘Strategies of Defending Astrology’, p. 237.
49
Vescovini, ‘The Theological Debate’, p. 117. This advice is inspired by Almansor’s proposition n° 108, see Textos
Astrológicos: Zahel, Hermes, Almanzor, Bethen, ed. by Demetrio Santos Santos (Barcelona: Visión Libros, 1985),
p. 337. The Head of the Dragon is the North Lunar Node, that is, the point where the path of the Moon intercepts
20 H. AVELAR DE CARVALHO

can be found in the judgements of nativities. When evaluating the health of a

certain native, Belle states that:
by the assistance of some good saint and prayers and orisons, which will be made by
him [the native], the said illnesses will be ameliorated by the intercession of the blessed
saints.50

This reference is consistent with the horoscope under scrutiny: Venus, a ben-
eficial planet, rules the ninth house (the sector of the horoscope associated
with religion) and is placed near the Ascendant (the most important point in
the horoscope, signifying the native himself), thus establishing a favourable
relationship between the native and religion. For Belle, the possibilities rep-
resented in the horoscope could be ameliorated by the direct intervention of
the saints: as these resided in the Empyrum, the divine realm outside the plane-
tary spheres, and were not restricted by the forces represented in the horoscope,
they could act upon them. The Cosmos was perceived as a seamless continuum
between the planetary realm pertaining to astrology, and the divine realm, the
Kingdom of Heaven, pertaining to theology. This is often represented in art
by the inclusion of the image of God enthroned outside of the planetary
spheres and surrounded by the angelic hosts.
Not all self-censorship was motivated by religious concerns; other factors,
such as political and social unrest, war, and economic instability were also
taken into account. Court astrologers lived and worked within a complex web
of ever-shifting political alliances, where allies could easily turn into enemies,
and former adversaries could suddenly become associates.51 They often pos-
sessed sensitive information about powerful figures across the political spectrum
requiring extreme circumspection when delivering astrological judgements. In
the turmoil of court politics, it was easy to get into trouble: a simple slip
could be enough to bring infamy, exile, and in some cases torture and even
death.52 In this context of imminent danger, the accuracy of their judgements
was sometimes subject to other considerations, such as the need to reassure
their patrons, especially in times of war or when the patron was suffering
from an ailment. Many astrologers opted to conceal sensitive information,

the ecliptic (the path of the Sun) moving northwards. The Midheaven corresponds to the degree of the ecliptic
that is culminating at a given moment and location. For magical practices in a religious context, see Sophie Page,
Magic in the Cloister: Pious Motives, Illicit Interests, and Occult Approaches to the Medieval Universe (University Park,
Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press, 2013).
50
per l’aide d’aucun bon saint et prieres et oroisons lesquelles seront faittes pour luy lesdites maladies lui seront
allegee per l’intercession des benois sains, NAL 398, f. 96vb.
51
For the uses of astrology in politics see Steven Vanden Broecke, ‘Astrology and Politics’, in A Companion to
Astrology in the Renaissance, ed. by Brendan Maurice Dooley, Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, 49
(Leiden: Brill, 2014); Hilary M. Carey, Courting Disaster. Astrology at the English Court and University in the Later
Middle Ages (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1992); Monica Azzolini, ‘The Politics of Prognostication: Astrology, Political
Conspiracy and Murder In Fifteenth-Century Milan’, History of Universities, XXIII.2 (2008), 6–34; and ‘Annius of
Viterbo Astrologer: Predicting the Death of Ferrante of Aragon, King of Naples’, Bruniana & Campanelliana,
2.XIV (2008), 575–88.
52
See the unfortunate cases of Gaurico and Harriot mentioned in A Companion to Astrology in the Renaissance, ed.
by Brendan Maurice Dooley, Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, 49 (Leiden: Brill, 2014), p. 12.
 ANNALS OF SCIENCE 21

particularly the names of some individuals represented in their collections of

horoscopes, by using a code. This practice can be found in the writings of astrol-
ogers such as Joannes Laet (d. 1487), Johannes Regiomontanus (1436–1476),
and later Johannes Kepler (1571–1630).53
Simon Belle also uses a code in his two manuscripts, but he opts for a sim-
plified version, quite easy to decipher and hardly fulfilling any real function of
concealment. He merely replaces the vowels in the names by a number following
their order in the alphabet. Thus, the letter A is replaced by the number 1, E by
number 2, I by number 3, O by number 4, and U by number 5. For instance, the
reference to Charles, Duke of Burgundy, is written as ‘K1r4l3 d5c3s b5r’, which,
by replacing the numbers with the respective vowels, translates into ‘Karoli Ducis
Bur[gundiae]’.54 Similarly, the encoded reference ‘xrs31n3ss3m3 francorum
r2g3s l4dov3ci’ translates as ‘xristianissimi francorum regis Ludovici’, that is,
‘the most Christian king of the Franks, Louis’, and ‘r2g3s h2nr3c3 Ingl32’
reads ‘Regis Henrici Inglie’, ‘King Henry of England’.55 Belle’s encryptions
change significantly from one manuscript to the other. While in one the identity
of many horoscopes is concealed, in the other these same horoscopes have their
identities revealed. This change suggests that the latter was written sometime
later perhaps when those individuals were already deceased, or there were sig-
nificant changes in the political web of allegiances to assure that it was now
safe to disclose this data.
Belle also uses the code to conceal the identity of his sources of astrological
information, as in the horoscope of Charles VIII whose exact time of birth
seems to have been a topic of discussion among astrologers.56 Belle collects
three horoscopes for this king, all with slightly different birth times, and in
two of them he adds the source of the data using the code or a shorthand to
conceal the identity of the informants. One of them is mentioned by the abbre-
viated term ‘P. Cho9’, possibly a reference to Pierre Choisnet (c.1411–c.1484),
physician and astrologer to Louis XI.57 The other as ‘C4r1rdus’, meaning
‘Conrad’, possibly Conrad Heingarter also a physician to both Louis XI and
Charles VIII.58 It is unclear why Belle encoded these names. His decision may

53
Such uses of cyphers is addressed by Emmanuel Poulle, Astronomie Planetaire Au Moyen Age Latin (Aldershot:
Variorum, 1996), p. 76. He establishes a relationship between the codes in NAL 389 and those in another manu-
script of a medical nature written by J. de Borlees in 1463 and mentioned by Jules Camus, ‘Um manuscript namur-
ois du XVe siècle’, Revue des langues romanes / publiée par la Société pour l’étude des langues romanes, XXXVIII,
1895, 27–48, 149–64, 194–205 (pp. 26–43).
54
NAL 398, f. 90rb2.
55
Respectively: NAL 398, f. 91rb1 and NAL 398, f. 90va2.
56
MS 1711, f. 87v; NAL 398, f. 90va1, f. 93rb2, and f. 93va1.
57
For Choisnet, see Charles Samaran, ‘Pierre Choisnet. Le Rosier des guerres et le Livre des Trois Eages’, Bibliothèque
de l’école des chartes, 87.1 (1926), 372–80 (pp. 372–80). See also Jean-Patrice Boudet, ‘Les Astrologues et Le
Pouvoir Sous Le Règne de Louis XI.’, in Observer, Lire, Écrire Le Ciel Au Moyen Âge (Paris: Klincksieck, 1991),
pp. 7–61 (p. 29, n.2); Entre Science et Nigromancie. Astrologie et Nigromance Dans l’occident Médiéval (XIIe-XVe
Siècle) (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2006), p. 310; Le Recueil des plus célèbres astrologues, ed. by Jean-
Patrice Boudet, 2 vols (Paris: Librairie Droz, 1999), II , pp. 276–7.
58
For Heingarter, see Lynn Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental Science. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Cen-
turies (New York: Columbia University Press, 1934), IV , pp. 357–73; Boudet, Entre Science et Nigromancie. Astrologie
22 H. AVELAR DE CARVALHO

be related to professional courtesy: as he collected the data from several astrol-

ogers, he may have preferred to keep their identities veiled to avoid offending
any of them; additionally, as the king’s chart could be seen as sensitive infor-
mation, this concealment was also an act of prudence.
Similar considerations may have prompted his caution with the horoscope of
the individual he refers to as ‘N’.59 The title of the horoscope, at the top of the
page, includes the birth time, the birth date, and some astrological consider-
ations, but not the name. However, there is an encoded name in a lighter
shade of ink written below the title. Apparently, he intended to keep this nativity
a secret but later returned to leave a clue about its identity. The code is easy to
decipher: ‘k1th2r3n1 d1rm3gn1c’, meaning ‘Katherina Darmignac’. This is
therefore the horoscope of Catherine d’Armagnac (or Armignac), daughter of
the duke of Nemours, Jacques d’Armagnac and Louise d’Anjou; she was the
second wife of Duke Jean II de Bourbon, Belle’s patron. Both her husband
and her father were vehemently opposed to King Louis XI and both feared his
retaliation. Jean de Bourbon managed to keep his life and social status, but
Jacques d’Armagnac was imprisoned and, after a year of terrible suffering, exe-
cuted by order of the king in 1477.60 By the time Catherine married the duke, in
1484, Louis XI had died, so it seemed that there was no reason to worry.
However, the situation changed abruptly when Catherine died, in 1487, and
Jean also died shortly after in 1488. The new duke and duchess, and possibly
Belle’s new patrons, Pierre II de Bourbon and Anne de Beaujeu, were not sym-
pathetic to the d’Armagnac family. Pierre used to be one of Louis XI’s most
trusted counsellors and – most importantly – Anne was the king’s favourite
daughter. This may be the reason that Belle kept Catherine’s horoscope a
secret: to avoid any connection to the tragic events surrounding the
d’Armagnacs.
Similar reasons may have led Belle to conceal the reference to the death of
Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, on 5 January 1477.61 In the correspond-
ing entry of his almanac he wrote ‘M4rs D5 circa N1nc2’, ‘Mors Du[cis] circa
Nance’, that is, ‘death of the Duke [Charles the Bold], near Nancy’. Charles
the Bold had been a fierce enemy of Louis XI for most of his life so it
would not be prudent to evoke his memory even long after his death.
These differences hint at the insecure position of an astrologer (or of any
counsellor) in the face of the ever-changing political powers. However, not
all astrologers felt the need to be cautious in this regard. For instance,
Angelo Cato de Supino (d. 1495) foretold the defeat of Charles the Bold in

et Nigromance Dans l’occident Médiéval (XIIe-XVe Siècle), p. 6, n.310; Maxime Préaud, Les astrologues à la fin du
Moyen Âge (Paris: J.C. Lattès, 1984), pp. 71–74.
59
MS 1711 f. 80r.
60
See Jean-Patrice Boudet, Lire Dans Le Ciel. La Bibliothèque de Simon de Phares, Astrologue Du XVe Siècle (Bruxelles:
Centre d’étude des manuscrits, 1994), p. 104; and Boudet, II , pp. 99, 277, 280–1, 286–7.
61
MS 1711, f. 54r.
 ANNALS OF SCIENCE 23

the battles of Grandson and Morat (Murten) and is credited with having pre-
dicted the duke’s death in the Battle of Nancy.62
In some cases, self-censorship was motivated not by personal concerns but for
the protection of a third party. This was particularly important when dealing
with interrogations, that is the horoscopes that answer direct questions, since
in this case a careless or hasty judgement could ruin a life.63 The topic is
addressed by Guido Bonatti in detail in the chapter about the virginity of
women.64 When addressing such interrogations, Bonatti is particularly judi-
cious. He begins by advising the astrologers to consider the reasons that led to
that question. Perhaps, he says, it was asked,
by reason of jealousy or to disturb the marriage so that it is not completed [consum-
mated]; or perhaps [there was] someone who wanted something lewd from her that
she did not want to do [that] with him.65

If these preliminary concerns were confirmed, the astrologer could – and should
– avoid the question altogether. Furthermore, he advises the astrologers to
ponder the circumstances of each situation, to confirm if the woman had
taken part in the alleged sexual activity through her own volition, or if she
had found herself in a situation beyond her control. After enumerating several
astrological configurations suggesting that the woman had been ‘deceived in
some way’ (that is, coerced or forced to participate in a sexual act) he urges
the astrologer to ‘excuse’ her, that is, to abstain from mentioning the event.66
In some cases, he goes as far as to advise the astrologers to confirm her virginity
even if she had committed some indiscretion:
You may say that even if she herself laughed or had fun with someone else, she
was not, however, known [sexually] by some man, whatever may be said about
her, and thus the woman will remain excused [of guilt] in the eye of the one
who asks you.67

The intention of this advice is to defend the woman’s reputation and keep
her from reproach even if this implied omitting certain details of the
judgement.

62
These events were intensely debated by astrologers of both factions. See Laurens Pignon, Magic and Divination at
the Courts of Burgundy and France: Text and Context of Laurens Pignon’s Contre Les Devineurs (1411), ed. by Jan
R. Veenstra (Leiden ; New York: Brill, 1998), p. 133; Richard J. Walsh, Charles the Bold and Italy (1467 - 1477): Politics
and Personnel (Liverpool: Liverpool Univ. Press, 2005), pp. 320, 338 n.148. For Cato’s predictions, see Philippe de
Commynes, Les mémoires de messire Philippe de Commines, Chevalier, seigneur d’Argenton: sur les principaux faits &
gestes de Loys XI & Charles VIII, son fils, Rois de France, et un ample indice des choses plus remarkables (Rouen: Jean
Berthelin, 1606), p. 746.
63
Interrogations, as mentioned before, are the application of astrology to provide answers to direct questions.
64
Guido Bonatti, The Book of Astronomy, trans. by Benjamin N. Dykes (Golden Valley: Cazimi Press, 2007), pp. 440–3.
For astrology and sexuality see Helen Lemay, ‘The Stars and Human Sexuality: Some Medieval Scientific Views’,
Isis, 71.1 (1980), 127–37.
65
Bonatti, The Book of Astronomy, pp. 440–1.
66
Bonatti, The Book of Astronomy, p. 443.
67
Bonatti, The Book of Astronomy, p. 443.
24 H. AVELAR DE CARVALHO

If you tell him [the person who asked the question] the whole truth, perhaps he will
consider her corrupted and that she has gone with a man [to engage in sexual
relations].68

In cases of this nature Bonatti is aware that a complete and technically accurate
judgement should be avoided for it could have serious consequences for the
woman under scrutiny.

4. Final thoughts
Throughout all periods of history astrologers have practiced some form of self-
censorship in order to regulate their practice and elude their detractors; such
censorship tends to intensify in periods of greater hostility against astrology.
The increasing hostility of late medieval Europe prompted this mechanism of
self-defence to develop into a complex system of protection, capable of disputing
all forms of criticism directed at astrology.
Part of this criticism of astrology derived from religious and philosophical
concerns that limited or denied its practice. The most frequent accusation was
astrology’s apparent determinism, which was said to interfere with human
free will and thus led to its rejection. Astrology was also criticized for political
and social reasons, since it could be used as a political weapon to attack
enemies, or as a method for social mobility, allowing educated newcomers
access to the royal court. Both situations were disapproved of, since they
would upset even further an already volatile social milieu. Another part of the
criticism was intrinsic to astrology itself and included ethical and practical con-
cerns; it was intended to keep astrology’s quality and legitimacy making it less
vulnerable to further attacks. Thus, many astrologers insisted on astrology’s aca-
demic status, distancing it from other forms of divination especially those sus-
pected of consorting with evil spirits. Another frequent matter of discussion
were the dubious techniques and the exaggerated predictions made by some
practitioners since they could bring astrology into disrepute.
In any of these cases, the first reaction of most astrologers was self-censorship:
paying particular attention to sensitive topics, sometimes avoiding them entirely,
while insisting on the lawfulness of their practice. This control was applied in the
first instance to their own texts, but it extended to the astrological texts of both to
coeval and classical sources, on occasion editing some passages to make them
more acceptable to the current sensibilities.
These defensive measures hint at an internalized sense of danger, a persistent
need for self-defence so pressing that it developed and consolidated into an art
itself over the centuries. This continual alertness, which was their first – and
sometimes only – line of defence, continued to develop throughout the centuries.
Thus, when the rules of the Index of Forbidden Books and of the first papal bull
68
Bonatti, The Book of Astronomy, p. 443.
 ANNALS OF SCIENCE 25

came into being, they were met by a body of knowledge that had already adapted
to many different philosophies, religions, and cultures, had developed elaborate
defences and coping mechanisms, and thus was able to face the extremely adver-
sarial environment of the late fifteenth century.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID
Helena Avelar de Carvalho http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0256-4144