A History of Medieval Astrology

A History of Medieval Astrology analyses the contributions of the Kraków Astronomy and Astrology School, part of the University of Kraków - one of the fastest growing universities in fifteenth-century Europe.Astrology was a science and practiced by the most prominent representatives of the most important mediaeval universities. Astrology was an 'inseparable life companion' of the then contemporary society, and it explained both the surrounding reality as well as what was difficult to understand. The two departments of the Faculty of Liberal Arts - astronomy - founded in at the beginning of the fifteenth century, and astrology - established in the mid-fifteenth century - were the first such departments in contemporary Central Europe. Between the mid-fifteenth and mid-sixteenth centuries, Polish scholars wrote a number of excellent works on astronomical and astrological issues. These were not only texts for astrology students, but also prognostics, almanacs, calendars, short notes and longer astrological treatises. Discussing this rich source material, the book shows the importance of the Krakow cathedral of astrology and its masters in medieval Europe.The book is an important contribution to the history of knowledge, the study of astrology and astronomy, Central European history and Medieval Studies.