TraLA · Transformations of Latin Astronomy, 1000-1250

Transformations of Latin Astronomy, 1000-1250

Medieval astronomy, as with medieval science more generally, remains subject to many popular misunderstandings and negative stereotypes. The findings generated by this project are aimed towards a better understanding of the status of this discipline in the period under investigation. They are intended as the basis for a fundamentally new account of the historically important transformation that occurred in European astronomy during the central Middle Ages, which will advance our understanding of Europe's role in the history of pre-modern science as well as the precise nature of its intellectual debts to the Islamic world. To this end, the project worked towards a thorough re-evaluation of the status of mathematical astronomy in Latin Europe during the watershed period from 1000 to 1250, a time frame that was subsequently expanded to 1000-1300. This re-evaluation was guided by two main themes, viz. (i) the assimilation of new knowledge from Islamic sources and (ii) the practical aspects of medieval astronomy, as manifested by the construction and use of instruments. Addressing these questions required a systematic investigation of the astronomical sources preserved in Latin from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. Since many of these sources remain unedited and are consequently unknown even to specialists, an initial task was to examine neglected manuscripts from European libraries and to make available unpublished texts. Overall, the project involved the study of over 350 medieval manuscripts and over 150 individual texts, most of them unedited or previously unrecorded. Its outputs include one book/monograph and seven articles. A second book is in progress. Included in these outputs are four critical editions of key texts. Among the numerous new conclusions to which the project has given rise, the following are especially worth highlighting: - the number of Arabic-to-Latin translations of astronomical texts made in the central Middle Ages was much greater than hitherto assumed. The project has unearthed direct and indirect evidence of previously unknown translations of this nature, including astronomical tables, canons for astronomical tables, and texts on instruments. - the number of original astronomical Latin writings on mathematical astronomy was much greater than previously realized, with over 150 unique extant works from the period 1100-1300. - astronomical observations and measurements were more widespread and sophisticated than previously realized, covering a multitude of approaches and applications - the dissemination of astronomical tables generally preceded the dissemination of texts on theoretical astronomy, a circumstance which in some areas led to the development of non-Ptolemaic interpretations of the models underlying astronomical tables.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union