ALFA conference 2019
Analysing the corpus of Alfonsine texts 2
Villa Lanna Prague,
30 Sept.-3 Oct. 2019
Org.: ALFA Advisory Board, Alena and Petr Hadrava
Argument
This conference is the third and final of a series of three meetings dedicated to the shaping and analysis of the corpus of Alfonsine texts. In this concluding conference of ALFA first phase’s we will be discussing collectively initial written versions of our respective contributions to the project first collective publication. These discussions will aim at reinforcing the individual quality of each chapter but also its contributions to the general aims of the collective publication. It will be also important to dedicate sufficient time to the digital publication of the survey of Alfonsine texts that will documents the manuscript distribution of more than 150 Alfonsine texts by more than 60 auhors in about 600 manuscripts (and early print) across Europe.
ALFA first phase’s is dedicated to the analysis of the corpus of Alfonsine texts. It is mainly devoted to address ALFA first main objective to retrace the development of the corpus of Alfonsine texts from its origin in the second half of the 13th century to the end of the 15th century by following, on the manuscript level, the milieus fostering it. In order to achieve this we have assembled a team with complementary competences in the history of mathematical astronomy, history of the medieval book and art history. Together we have developed three main approaches to manuscripts. The first approaches is the survey of Alfonsine texts. In the second approaches smaller groups of manuscripts are considered. As a means to better contextualise astronomical practices, these approaches might be attentive to the diversity of texts that circulate with Alfonsine works. Such approaches can produce interesting papers helping us to understand the various intellectual milieus in which Alfonsine astronomy was practiced and their connections. These smaller corpus appear, for instance, when preparing an edition (the manuscript tradition of a given work) or when studying a specific ancient library or book collector. A third type of approaches is that of the detailed description of manuscripts. This approach challenges the simple divide between intellectual and material aspects of the manuscript and considers the codex as a whole artefact also including its graphical aspects. It studies how physical, graphical and intellectual dimensions of a codex cast light on the kind of practices actors where engaged with in the production and use of the manuscript. Papers resulting from this third approach can help us understand the relation between different types of documents and different types of astronomical/mathematical practices.
These different levels of analysis combine with the various perspective coming from history of astronomy, history of medieval book and art history to produce a more precise and refined knowledge of our corpus and a critical, reflexive posture with respect to it. This will form the ground on which we will build, in ALFA second phase’s, a different focus on the mathematical and astronomical practices attested in our corpus. Moreover these approaches have also interesting echoes in the broader field of manuscript studies as they address general questions, including: How a corpus is shaped over time (in the case of Alfonsine astronomy this corpus does not crystallise around a fixed canon)? How are multiple texts manuscripts organised, how do they document various intellectual milieus? What kind of intellectual or cultural practices is associated with the production/use of manuscripts (the manuscript as archaeological site metaphor)? Thus, in addition to their intrinsic value for ALFA they will also be of interest to larger scientific communities and contribute to build a broader field of discussion for the history of mathematical astronomy.
Participants:
Jean-Patrice Boudet; José Chabas; Samuel Gessner; Laura Fernandez Ferandez; Petr Hadrava; Alena Hadravova; Matthieu Husson; Nick Jacobson; Richard Kremer; Laure Miolo; Eric Ramirez Weaver; Marie-Madeleine Saby; Galla Topalian; Alexandre Tur; Glen van Brummelen
Program
Monday 30, 2019
Chair: Petr Hadrava
13h45-14h
Alena Hadravova (Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic) and Petr Hadrava (Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
Welcome
14h-15h
Alena Hadravová (Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
Iohannes de Lineriis and his Canons “Quia ad inveniendum”
Respondents: Nick Jacobson (Postdoctoral fellow, ERC project ALFA); Marie-Madeleine Saby (université Grenoble Alpes)
15h-16h
Richard Kremer (Dartmouth college, USA)
Exploring a late 15c astrologer’s toolbox: British Library Add Ms 34603
Respondents: Laure Milo (Postdoctoral fellow, ERC project ALFA); Alexandre Tur (BnF)
16h-16h30
break
16h30-17h30
Galla Topalian (IT DISHAS, chef de projet Numérique ERC ALFA and Matthieu Husson (CNRS, SYRTE-Observatoire de Paris-PSL)
From documents to data: the digital projects of ALFA
Respondents: Laura Fernandez (Art History Department, Complutense University, Madrid); Glen van Brumellen (Quest University, Canada)
Tuesday October 1,2019
Chair: Jean-Patrice Boudet
9h30-10h30
Petr Hadrava (Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
Manuscript Prague, National Library XIV E 37 and precession in medieval star catalogues
Respondents: Laura Fernadez (Art History Department, Complutense University, Madrid); Richard Kremer (Dartmouth College, USA)
10h30-10h45
break
10h45-11h45
José Chabás (Université Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona)
New texts and tables attributed to John of Lignères: context and analysis
Respondents: Marie-Madelaine Saby (Université Grenoble Alpes); Matthieu Husson (CNRS, ERC project ALFA)
11h45-13h
lunch break
13h-14h
Chair: José Chabas
Eric Ramírez-Weaver (University of Virginia, USA)
Bohemian King Wenceslas IV’s Copy of the Alfonsine Tables and Their Place within His Astronomical and Astrological Corpus
Respondent: Laura Fernadez (Art History Department, Complutense University, Madrid); Laure Miolo (Postdoctoral fellow, ERC project ALFA)
14h-15h
Laura Fernández Fernández (Art History Department, Complutense University, Madrid)
The Libro de las tablas alfonsíes: an illuminated manuscript
Respondent: Eric Ramírez-Weaver (University of Virginia, USA); Alexandre Tur (BnF)
15h-15h30
break
15h30-16h30
Glen van Brumellen (Quest University, Canada ) and Matthieu Husson (CNRS, ERC project ALFA)
Toward a popular book to present ALFA to wider audiences?
Wednesday October 2, 2019
Chair: Richard Kremer
9h30-10h30
Matthieu Husson
(CNRS, SYRTE-Observatoire de Paris-PSL)
Work cohesion to the test of manuscript transmission: the case of Tabule magne
Respondents: José Chabas (Université Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona); Alena Hadravova (Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
10h30-10h45
break
10h45-11h45
Jean-Patrice Boudet (IRHT, Université d’Orléans)
Simon de Phares, Historian of Alfonsine Astronomy
Respondents: Petr Hadrava (Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic); Nick Jacobson (Postdoctoral Fellow, ERC project ALFA)
11h45-13h
lunch break
13h-14h
Chair: Nick Jacobson
Alexandre Tur (BnF)
Almanach in ‘Bat-books’ manuscript the case of BnF lat. 7478
Respondent: Jean-Patrice Boudet (université d’Orléans, IRHT); Eric Ramírez-Weaver (University of Virginia, USA)
14h-15h
José Chabás (Université Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona) & Marie-Madeleine Saby (université Grenoble)
The Tables of John the Lignères of 1322: Identification and Edition
Respondents: Samuel Gesner (Postdoctoral fellow, ERC project ALFA); Glen van Brumellen (Quest University, Canada)
15h-15h30
break
15h30-16h30
Jean-Patrice Boudet (IRHT, Univ Orléans) & Laure Miolo (Postdoctoral fellow, ERC project ALFA)
Alfonsine Astronomy and Astrology in Fourteenth Century Oxford: the case of MS Bodleian Library, Digby 176
Respondents: José Chabas (Université Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona); Alena Hadravova (Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
Thursday October 3, 2019
Chair: Matthieu Husson
9h30-10h30
Laure Miolo (Postdoctoral fellow, ERC project ALFA)
Retracing the tradition of John of Genoa’s astronomical works through extant manuscripts
Respondents: Jean-Patrice Boudet (université d’Orléans, IRHT); Richard Kremer (Darmouth College, USA)
10h30-10h45
break
10h45-11h45
Matthieu Husson (CNRS, ERC project ALFA)
Launching the next phase of ALFA
11h45-12h15
Conclusion discussion
Abstracts
Alena Hadravová
(Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
Iohannes de Lineriis and his Canons “Quia ad inveniendum”
Canons with incipit “Quia ad inveniendum” by Iohannes de Lineriis were written after the year 1322 and perhaps before 1327 when Iohannes de Saxonia finished his much more elaborated canons “Tempus est mensura motus” to the Alfonsine tables. They are preserved in a much smaller number of copies than those by IoS: today there are known approximately fifteen manuscripts with the canons “Quia ad inveniendum”. My present edition of it is based on nine of them: Paris, BnF, lat. 7281, fol. 175r–178r; Paris, BnF, lat. 7286, fol. 1ra–3va; Oxford, Bodl., Digby 168, fol. 145ra–146rb; Vatican, BAV, Ott. lat. 1826, fol. 41ra–46vb; Vatican, BAV, Pal. lat. 1403, fol. 1v–3v; Cracow, BJ 548, fol. 30ra–33va; Wien, ÖNB, Cod. 5144, fol. 143v–145v; Bernkastel-Kues, Cus. 212, fol. 65ra–66vb. In the contribution, there will be presented an edition supplemented with English translation of the canons.
Laure Miolo
(Postdoctoral fellow, ERC project ALFA)
Retracing the tradition of John of Genoa’s astronomical works through extant manuscripts
This paper aims to situate John of Genoa’s astronomical treatises in the Parisian scientific practices of the first half of the 14th century, and to retrace the dissemination of his works regarding extant manuscripts. Little is known about John of Genoa, he was probably a disciple of John of Lignières to whom he borrowed a lot of material. Several evidences indicate that he was a scholar of the University of Paris in the 1330’s. He wrote at least three astronomical works mainly related to eclipses and the motion of the Sun, the Moon, based on Alfonsine tables for the meridian of Paris. His best known treatise is a canon on eclipses dated to 1332, extant in seven manuscripts, ranging from c. 1344 to the end of the 15th century. Regarding the colophon of the Canones eclipsium, this work is based on three important astronomical works, which constituted sources for pre-Alphonsine astronomers : the Almagestum parvum, Albategni, De scientia astrorum and John of Sicily’s commentary on Toledan Tables. Likewise, his short canon on Solar and Lunar motions is based on Albategni’s zij. John of Genoa wrote also a detailed computation for the 1337 eclipse, such as John of Murs and Levi ben Gerson produced on this same phenomenon. I will focus on his three works : the Canones eclipsium, his computation of the 1337 eclipse (Investigatio eclipsis solis anno Christi 1337) and his short canons for his table of Solar and Lunar true motion and velocities (Verum motum solis et lune in una hora). A close study of the extant manuscripts should lead to encompass the process of dissemination of these works, as well as the texts to which they are associated in the textual tradition. This overview will allow a better understanding of their context of reception.
Alexandre Tur
(BnF)
Almanach in ‘Bat-books’ manuscript the case of BnF lat. 7478
Recently brought to light by Johan Gumbert, “bat-books” are a codicological type of folded manuscript mainly used, in the 14th and 15th centuries, for calendars and almanacs. Not only the well-known “English almanacs”, but also diverse (mostly Latin) continental perpetual calendars adopt this shape in the Alfonsine era. How much of their content is influenced (or not) by Alfonsine astronomy, or whether they were a common tool in the “Alfonsine civilization” remains however to be determined. This contribution will aim to suggest a few first ideas on this matter, considering the case of the BnF Latin 7478 “bat-book”, an Italian almanac dated 1456.
Eric Ramírez-Weaver
(University of Virginia, USA)
Bohemian King Wenceslas IV’s Copy of the Alfonsine Tables and Their Place within His Astronomical and Astrological Corpus
Wenceslas IV (d. 1419) ruled Bohemia after the death of his father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (d. 1378). The legacy of Emperor Charles’s French education, which he received at his uncle’s court in Paris, the late Capetian King Charles IV (d. 1328) starting with 1323, can be felt in one of the seven luxury codices associated with the royal library of his son and heir, Wenceslas. Alongside literary romance, a prescient biblical translation into the German vernacular, and ecclesiastic or political documents, three books of medieval astronomy and astrology form a nucleus around which all discussion of the Wenceslas library must by necessity revolve. One of these three books, the Astronomical Anthology with Alfonsine Planetary Tables (currently in Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 2352), contains the canons of Johannes Dank (or of Saxony) datable to 1327 on folios 34r-51r with tables to follow on folios 53r-80r. In addition, this manuscript anthology juxtaposed the exegetical canons with a collection of texts linked to Michael Scotus (1r-31v) or concerned with prognostication (83v-102r). The other two astronomical and astrological books from the Wenceslas IV library are a de luxe copy of Haly ibn Ridwan’s Commentary on Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos (Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 2271) and the Astronomical Anthology for Wenceslas IV in Munich (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 826). Considering these manuscripts in conjunction with the Alfonsine Tables contained within Cod. 2352, and reflecting upon the inclusion of said planetary tables alongside definitive late medieval visualizations of the heavens, as well as, statements about genethlialogy or prediction, permits an uncommon opportunity to investigate the role of astrological and astronomical texts in Prague in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. The historical connections linking Paris to Prague during the reign of Bohemian Emperor Charles IV, and supplying the catalyst for the celestial curriculum eventually presented to Wenceslas IV by his astrologically minded courtiers, encourage greater reflection. It is worth considering the degree to which Valois Parisian manuscripts might have continued to foster cultural and scientific exchange with Prague during the reign of Charles V of France (d. 1380). The contents of the three Bohemian manuscripts made in Prague for and during the reign of Wenceslas IV provide a compelling opportunity to revisit the significance of the Alfonsine astronomical tradition within a central European court ca. 1400.
Laura Fernández Fernández
(Art History Department, Complutense University, Madrid)
The Libro de las tablas alfonsíes: an illuminated manuscript
The original manuscript of the Alphonsine Tables has unfortunately not been preserved, but we have precise information about why the Tables were executed and who carried it out thanks to the Ms. 3306 kept at the National Library in Madrid. The book, a factitious paper manuscript with several scientific treatises, belonged to the library of Juan Fernández de Velasco, Condestable de Castilla, and, as is well known, includes the unique extant copy of part of the Libro de las tablas alfonsíes (ff. 34v-72r). This copy, dated in the early sixteenth century, has no iconic repertoire, just the text of the canons. Nevertheless, clear documentary references reveal that the original manuscript was conceived as an illuminated manuscript, as were most of the scientific books commissioned by Alfonso X. Given the importance of visual language in the Alfonsine scriptorium, it is plausible to think in the Libro de las tablas alfonsíes as a rich codex, carefully executed, whose iconic repertoire could include a presentation of the book image at the beginning of the manuscript, and the figures of the constellations following al-Sufi’s iconography, as in the Lapidario, Ms. h-I-15, Escorial Royal Library, or in the Libro del saber de astrología, BH Ms. 156, Complutense University.
Galla Topalian (IT DISHAS, chef de projet Numérique ERC ALFA
& Matthieu Husson (CNRS, SYRTE-Observatoire de Paris-PSL)
From documents to data: the digital projects of ALFA
In the first phase of ALFA we have built together the corpus of Alfonsine texts. This innovative corpus is designed to address broadly the project first main objective: Retrace the development of alfonsine astronomy from its origin in the 13th century to the end of the 15th century by following, on the manuscript level, the milieus fostering it. To build that corpus we have joined expertise in history of astronomy, history of arts, history of books, texts and manuscripts.
In this ongoing process, the competences of ALFA’s digital and documentary engineering team allowed an essential transformation of our historical documents into data. This digitalisation was pursued at three granularity levels: the full corpus, manuscript witnesses, and individual manuscript. In this contribution we intend to analyse this transformation process, how it occurred, what are its consequences on our ways to collectively asks and answers questions and finally the new opportunities it opens for our field.
Petr Hadrava
(Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
Manuscript Prague, National Library XIV E 37 and precession in medieval star catalogues
The ms. Prague, NL XIV E 37 contains ten folios with a star catalogue inscribed “Loca stellarum fixarum verificata Anno Domini 1429o“. This catalogue lists 1014 stars, which are ordered in a non-standard way according to increasing longitude within each of the 48 Ptolemaic constellations, the sequence of which is also unusual. The catalogue contains short descriptions of some of the constellations, which are obviously influenced by the literary and iconographic tradition (Gerardus of Cremona’s translation with Arabic traces, Michael Scot).
The longitudes of the stars are updated to the year 1429 allegedly according to Alfonsine “motus accessus et recessus”, however, our recalculations reveal, that the actual correction significantly deviates from this model.
Richard Kremer
(Dartmouth college, USA)
Exploring a late 15c astrologer’s toolbox: British Library Add Ms 34603
The BL catalogers describe the codex very tersely. It contains eight texts, medical and astrological (only one source is given), a “large collection of tables” (32 are listed, no sources listed), several autograph rubrics (Tabula de vrina visa per me magistrum Marcum Schynagel alme vniuersitatis Crakouiensis), and was “compiled about A.D. 1500 by Marcus Schynagel”. 305 folios. The codex, of course, contains much more, including three quires of unfinished illuminated sheets related to a large winged polyptych that Schinnagel prepared in 1489 (now in Stuttgart, that I studied in a 2012 article) and to an edition of paranatella published by Johann Engel in 1488. It also contains most of the Parisian Alfonsine tables, completely rearranged and mixed with other tables. Combining the worlds of print, large (1 x 3 meter) painted panels, astronomical tables and astrological medicine, Add Ms 34603 offers a rich “archaeological site” for considering the “intellectual or cultural practices … associated with the production and use of manuscripts” at the end of the Alfonsine period.
Jean-Patrice Boudet (IRHT, Univ Orléans) & Laure Miolo (Postdoctoral fellow, ERC project ALFA)
Alfonsine Astronomy and Astrology in Fourteenth Century Oxford: the case of MS Bodleian Library, Digby 176
MS Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 176, is a privileged witness of the evolution of the astronomical and astrological science in Oxford in the fourteenth century. This codex belonged to William Reed (d. 1385), former fellow of Merton College and bishop of Chichester. It is a composite collection of texts and tables which some parts were acquired by William from different masters (Nicholas of Sandwich and the executors of Thomas Bradwardine and Richard Campsale) and which was completed by William’s own hand and that of his secretary, Walter Robert. It reflects the influence of Alfonsine astronomy in England and constitutes the richest preserved collection of predictions on the planetary conjunctions of the fourteenth century (predictions on the conjunctions of 1325, 1345, 1357, 1365 and 1367). It raises in particular the problem of the practical complementarity between astronomy and astrology, some of these predictions having been made by John Aschenden on the basis of William Reed’s calculations. This codex shows that Merton College became, in the fourteenth century, a tree nursery of scholars specialized in the sciences of quadrivium, collaborating the one with the other one, particularly in the field of astronomy-astrology.
Jean-Patrice Boudet
(IRHT, Université d’Orléans)
Simon de Phares, Historian of Alfonsine Astronomy
Author of an apologetic history of the science of the stars written in the end of the fifteenth century, the French astrologer Simon de Phares is also, in so doing, a historian of the alfonsine astronomy whose testimony must not be neglected, even it is most of the time unreliable. Himself owner of several copies of the Alfonsine tables and their canons (e.g. MS Paris, BnF, lat. 7287, and the editio princeps of Erhard Ratdolt, Venice, 1483), Simon de Phares is well enough informed about the works of Jean Vimond, Jean de Ligneres and Jean de Saxe. And he also evokes the existence, ca. 1300, maybe in Paris, of a certain “Johannes Ungerii”, who “was the first one to give the order to understand the practice of the tables of King Alfonso” (“Cestui donna premier l’ordre d’entendre la pratique des tables du roy Alphonce”). What does it mean and who was this mysterious individual?
José Chabás (Université Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona) & Marie-Madeleine Saby (université Grenoble)
The Tables of John the Lignères of 1322: Identification and Edition
Among his astronomical texts, John of Lignères wrote two canons: one for the daily rotation and various trigonometric problems and another for the motion of the planets and the computation of eclipses. The incipits of the two texts are, respectively, Cuiuslibet arcus propositi sinum rectum…, in 44 chapters, and Priores astrologi motus corporum celesti…, in 46 chapters. The tables associated with these canons are identified and described in this paper. In order to make an edition of the set, several manuscripts have been selected and edition criteria have been established. The relevant information is presented in this paper.
Matthieu Husson
(CNRS, SYRTE-Observatoire de Paris-PSL)
Work cohesion to the test of manuscript transmission: the case of Tabule magne
John of Lignères Tabule magne consist of a set of canons and tables compiled by John of Lignères. Together with a Saphae and an equatorium texts they were dedicated to Robert Lombard, dean of Glasgow, in 1325. In the Latin context, the Tabule magne are the first to rely on double arguments layouts for planetary equations tables. They are also important in the transmission of the Alfonsine astronomy in England. The canons are now attested in at least 4 manuscripts and different portion of the tables sets in 17 manuscripts. We will make a review of the manuscripts and discuss the contrasted transmission of the canons and tables in various milieus. We analyse on the intellectual level, the variability of the transmitted sets of canons and tables from one manuscript to the next. Finally we discuss on these premises the relation between the canons and tables.
José Chabás (Université Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona)
New texts and tables attributed to John of Lignères: context and analysis
New texts and tables attributed to John of Lignères, so far unknown, appear in three manuscripts in Madrid and the Vatican. They raise the problem of authorship of an astronomer whose work had a remarkable impact on future generations and whose authority was widely accepted. In this presentation we analyze these pieces in the context of the manuscripts were they are found and we confront them with similar works by John of Lignères and other contemporary astronomers.