Matthias Heiduk
Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie, Direktorialreferat, Department Member
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History of Imaginations, History of Interpretations, History of Ideas, History of Science, History of Philosophy, History of Religion, and 10 moreAlchemy, Magic, Astrology, Knights Templar, Hermes Trismegistus and Hermetica, History of Perceptions, Cultural History, Medieval History, Divination, and History of Games edit
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- Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie: Academic Referent (since 2022) - University of Erlangen-Nuremberg: Research fellow... more- Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie: Academic Referent (since 2022)
- University of Erlangen-Nuremberg: Research fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg (2015-2021)
- University of Göttingen: Research assistant and lecturer at the History Department (2009-2012)
- University of Freiburg: Research assistant and lecturer at the History Department (2005-2009)
- University of Freiburg: Research assistant at the Department for Regional History (2001-2004) edit
Open Secrets – The Medieval Reception of Hermetic Writings and Occult Sciences from Augustine to Albert the Great. This study examines for the very first time comprehensively and systematically the reception of the Hermetic tradition... more
Open Secrets – The Medieval Reception of Hermetic Writings and Occult Sciences from Augustine to Albert the Great.
This study examines for the very first time comprehensively and systematically the reception of the Hermetic tradition in Latin literature from Late Antiquity to the end of the thirteenth century. It thereby considers all writings of the time period in question, which draw on the mythical authorship of the hybrid figure of Hermes Trismegistos. The aim of this study is the uncovering of the specific historic contexts of the acquisition in order to raise the profile of the medieval discourse surrounding the Hermetica. Key questions concern the general conditions for the translation and distribution of the manuscript tradition, the treatment of the ancient-pagan myth of Hermes Trismegistos in the Christian environment of the Middle Ages, the social background and intellectual sensitivities of the recipients and the shaping and reshaping of the Hermetic myth in the changing motives of the reception. Important findings of the study can be summarized in the following theses:
The conclusion of Antiquity did not bring a radical break in the creation of traditions about Hermes in Western-Latin literature, the manuscript tradition and interpretations of the Church Fathers ensured continuity. Form the twelfth century onwards new stimuli made themselves felt in the reception. On the one hand, the falling back on the authority of Hermes gave growing prestige to the scholarly argument in the competition of the different schools. On the other hand, translations of new texts from Greek and Arabic opened up a great number of new Hermetic traditions, which were seen in the context of the acquisition of new knowledge and new scholarly standards. The transfer of medical, alchemical, astrological, and magical contents of Hermetica was largely completed by the end of the thirteenth century. The disputes of following centuries built on this medieval stock. A specific environment of recipients from secret societies or Hermetic circles cannot be identified for the Middle Ages since no taboos tainted with sanctions were attached to the preoccupation with the Hermetica. Nonetheless, the acquisition of the authority of Hermes turned out to be versatile and original with approving as well as dismissive connotations. The widespread dictum according to which the reception of Hermes was a specific phenomenon of the Renaissance and its medieval traces could merely be regarded as a marginal prelude is refuted on a broad basis with this study.
This study examines for the very first time comprehensively and systematically the reception of the Hermetic tradition in Latin literature from Late Antiquity to the end of the thirteenth century. It thereby considers all writings of the time period in question, which draw on the mythical authorship of the hybrid figure of Hermes Trismegistos. The aim of this study is the uncovering of the specific historic contexts of the acquisition in order to raise the profile of the medieval discourse surrounding the Hermetica. Key questions concern the general conditions for the translation and distribution of the manuscript tradition, the treatment of the ancient-pagan myth of Hermes Trismegistos in the Christian environment of the Middle Ages, the social background and intellectual sensitivities of the recipients and the shaping and reshaping of the Hermetic myth in the changing motives of the reception. Important findings of the study can be summarized in the following theses:
The conclusion of Antiquity did not bring a radical break in the creation of traditions about Hermes in Western-Latin literature, the manuscript tradition and interpretations of the Church Fathers ensured continuity. Form the twelfth century onwards new stimuli made themselves felt in the reception. On the one hand, the falling back on the authority of Hermes gave growing prestige to the scholarly argument in the competition of the different schools. On the other hand, translations of new texts from Greek and Arabic opened up a great number of new Hermetic traditions, which were seen in the context of the acquisition of new knowledge and new scholarly standards. The transfer of medical, alchemical, astrological, and magical contents of Hermetica was largely completed by the end of the thirteenth century. The disputes of following centuries built on this medieval stock. A specific environment of recipients from secret societies or Hermetic circles cannot be identified for the Middle Ages since no taboos tainted with sanctions were attached to the preoccupation with the Hermetica. Nonetheless, the acquisition of the authority of Hermes turned out to be versatile and original with approving as well as dismissive connotations. The widespread dictum according to which the reception of Hermes was a specific phenomenon of the Renaissance and its medieval traces could merely be regarded as a marginal prelude is refuted on a broad basis with this study.
Research Interests:
Medieval Philosophy, History of Ideas, Medieval History, History of Medicine, History of Science, and 11 moreMedieval Theology, Astrology, Alchemy, Magic, Medieval Science, Manuscript Studies, Hermes Trismegistus and Hermetica, Hermeticism, Medieval Libraries, History of Philosophy, and Hermetic Corpus
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Medieval History, Decision Making, Divination, Astrology, History of Games, and 13 moreAlfonso X el Sabio, Geomancy, Staufer, Valois, Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily, Sortes, Battle of Benevento (1266), Michael Scotus, Frederick II Staufer, Manfred of Hohenstaufen, Astrological geomancy, Charles V of France, and Theodor of Antioch
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This paper, co-authored together with Matthias Heiduk, will appear in:
Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian Lehner (eds.), Prognostication in the Medieval World. A Handbook, Berlin: de Gruyter 2020 (in print).
Matthias Heiduk, Klaus Herbers and Hans-Christian Lehner (eds.), Prognostication in the Medieval World. A Handbook, Berlin: de Gruyter 2020 (in print).
Research Interests:
Religion, History, Medieval Literature, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, and 15 moreDivination, Magic, Study of Religions, Medieval Europe, Western Esotericism (History), Hermetism, Medieval Magic, Religious Studies, Esotericism, Western Esotericism, Renaissance magic and astrology, History of magic, Middle Ages, Magical Spells, and Religious and Magical Practices
Medieval Europe learned about alchemy through the translation of Arabic treatises into Latin. What sparked the curiosity regarding this new knowledge? Was it perhaps the promise of the life-extending effect of the elixir that inspired its... more
Medieval Europe learned about alchemy through the translation of Arabic treatises into Latin. What sparked the curiosity regarding this new knowledge? Was it perhaps the promise of the life-extending effect of the elixir that inspired its initial reception? Historical research has been unable to answer this obvious question so far. This paper merely takes a few cautious steps on the road towards filling the gaps about early alchemy in the Medieval West. It focuses on the problems of the earliest textual witnesses in Latin from the XIIth century ("Liber Morieni", "Septem tractatus Hermetis", "Tabula smaragdina") and adopts a systematic approach by undertaking a stringent comparison of these early alchemica with a large amount of Latin translations from Arabic of this time facilitated by the «Arabic-Latin-Corpus» of digitally-converted texts. This approach disproves two assumptions regularly featured in the research literature. On the one hand, the "Liber dabessi" – a combination of the "Tabula smaragdina" and an alchemical compilation – is not a translation by Plato of Tivoli and probably not a XIIth century translation at all. On the other hand, the "Septem tractatus Hermetis" are not a translation by Robert of Chester, but they show some remarkable accordance with specific words and phrases used in the "Turba philosophorum" as well as by John of Seville. The analysis of the "Liber Morieni" gains less clear results. They neither fully approve nor exclude the commonly attested attribution to Robert of Chester. The second part of the paper collects the statements in these early translations on the possibility of prolonging life. The third part focuses on the question of whether anything can be derived from the historical context of these translations regarding the motivation of the translators in turning towards alchemy. The concluding resumé points to possible further research avenues built on the basis of this paper.
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Medieval History, History of Science, Alchemy, Medieval Science, Medieval Iberian History, and 9 moreHermes Trismegistus and Hermetica, Longevity, Occult Sciences, Medieval Alchemy, Interpreters and Translators, Alchemy and hermetics, History of Science In the Middle Ages. Translations From Arabic Into Latin., Medieval Text Transmission, and Translations from Arabic into Latin
Temptation and Self-Assertion – Encounters with Dervishes and Lamas as Challenges of the Faith for Medieval Mendicants Around the mid-13th century William of Rubruk ranks among the earliest western reporters regarding the history and... more
Temptation and Self-Assertion – Encounters with Dervishes and Lamas as Challenges of the Faith for Medieval Mendicants
Around the mid-13th century William of Rubruk ranks among the earliest western reporters regarding the history and culture of people from central and East Asia. His travel report constitutes an outstanding ethnographic source for modern scholarship. This article focuses on William’s work as a self-portray of the author’s struggle for his own self-esteem as monk and missionary, in particular in the face of other monastic communities as he encountered in Buddhism. The thesis is that William – besides his detailed descriptions of customs and conditions in the Mongolian empire – accounts for his failure to fulfill the original mission of his journey in the name of the Christian religion. Alongside William’s observations this article focuses on the “Tractatus” of George of Hungary, another examination of foreign faith and religious orders. George of Hungary reports on his decades as a prisoner of war and slave in the Ottoman Empire of the 15th century. In his descriptions of everyday life experiences in Anatolia George also focuses on the other religion, especially in the form of the spirituality of the Dervishes. Despite their different nature, the reports of William of Rubruk and George of Hungary meet at the level of the very personal experience that reveals inner conflicts concerning the own faith. These personal conflicts are illustrated in the following on the basis of the observations from both texts about Buddhist monks and lamas on the one hand and Turkish Dervishes on the other hand. A central intention of both reports becomes clear, namely the sobering demonstration of the limits of spreading the own Christian faith.
Around the mid-13th century William of Rubruk ranks among the earliest western reporters regarding the history and culture of people from central and East Asia. His travel report constitutes an outstanding ethnographic source for modern scholarship. This article focuses on William’s work as a self-portray of the author’s struggle for his own self-esteem as monk and missionary, in particular in the face of other monastic communities as he encountered in Buddhism. The thesis is that William – besides his detailed descriptions of customs and conditions in the Mongolian empire – accounts for his failure to fulfill the original mission of his journey in the name of the Christian religion. Alongside William’s observations this article focuses on the “Tractatus” of George of Hungary, another examination of foreign faith and religious orders. George of Hungary reports on his decades as a prisoner of war and slave in the Ottoman Empire of the 15th century. In his descriptions of everyday life experiences in Anatolia George also focuses on the other religion, especially in the form of the spirituality of the Dervishes. Despite their different nature, the reports of William of Rubruk and George of Hungary meet at the level of the very personal experience that reveals inner conflicts concerning the own faith. These personal conflicts are illustrated in the following on the basis of the observations from both texts about Buddhist monks and lamas on the one hand and Turkish Dervishes on the other hand. A central intention of both reports becomes clear, namely the sobering demonstration of the limits of spreading the own Christian faith.
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Buddhism, History of Ideas, Ottoman History, Medieval History, History of Religion, and 20 moreCentral Asia (History), Medieval theology (Medieval Studies), History of Religions, History of the Mongol Empire, History of Religion (Medieval Studies), Religious congregations and monastic orders, Mendicant Orders, Religious Studies, Culture Contact, East Asian History, Medieval Cultural Contacts, Buddhist monasticism, Whirling Dervish, Medieval Travels and Travellers, William of Rubruck, Dervish Piety, Mongolian Buddhist History, Dervish Orders (Tariqas), History of Religous Thought, and George of Hungary
According to Renaissance research it is possible to establish the exact date when the mythical figure of Hermes Trismegistos was rediscovered in Latin literature: it happened in 1463, when Marsilio Ficino finished his translation of the... more
According to Renaissance research it is possible to establish the exact date when the mythical figure of Hermes Trismegistos was rediscovered in Latin literature: it happened in 1463, when Marsilio Ficino finished his translation of the Pimander commissioned by Cosimo de’ Medici. Ficino’s translation is considered a turning point in the reception history of Hermetic texts and a typical project of the age of Renaissance. There is, however, one fact that recent accounts of this phenomenon frequently fail to mention – the Pimander’s impact was so enormous because over the centuries a multitude of earlier traditions had already awakened scholarly interest in the revelations of Hermes. It is the aim of this paper to present some examples of this earlier reception of Hermetic traditions before Ficino’s supposedly epochal work. The study suggests that during the Middle Ages references to Hermetic teachings substantiated a myth of the Trismegistos as originator and teacher of ancient secret knowledge. In studying the transformation of this myth, however, it is neither assumed that we see a linear perpetuation of the traditions of Antiquity nor an early onset of the age of Renaissance. Instead, the following pages will address specific re-interpretation and transformation processes, and deal with questions about the historical, discursive and socio-cultural factors that caused them. Overall, various transfer scenarios can show how mythical traditions from different cultural backgrounds and historical contexts were integrated into a civilization’s own conceptual framework.
In the following, three examples of transfer processes will be presented: the first section pursues how the originally pagan Hermetic traditions have been combined with the Christian revelation since the time of the Church Fathers. The second and third sections focus on the reception of the Hermetica by Latin scholars in the twelfth century. On the one hand, the treatise referred to as Asclepius, studied at the schools of Paris, serves as an example for the acquisition of knowledge in an institutional environment with specific links among the learned recipients. On the other hand, valuable insights can be gained into the motivation of the actors of the twelfth-century translation movement who translated Hermetic texts from different cultural regions. This paper puts the focus on Latin translators from the Iberian Peninsula and from Constantinople, because their cases exemplify the cultural transfer from the Islamic and the Byzantine world.
In the following, three examples of transfer processes will be presented: the first section pursues how the originally pagan Hermetic traditions have been combined with the Christian revelation since the time of the Church Fathers. The second and third sections focus on the reception of the Hermetica by Latin scholars in the twelfth century. On the one hand, the treatise referred to as Asclepius, studied at the schools of Paris, serves as an example for the acquisition of knowledge in an institutional environment with specific links among the learned recipients. On the other hand, valuable insights can be gained into the motivation of the actors of the twelfth-century translation movement who translated Hermetic texts from different cultural regions. This paper puts the focus on Latin translators from the Iberian Peninsula and from Constantinople, because their cases exemplify the cultural transfer from the Islamic and the Byzantine world.
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Medieval Philosophy, History of Ideas, Medieval History, History of Medicine, Medieval Studies, and 24 moreHistory of Science, Medieval Theology, Astrology, Alchemy, Magic, Medieval Science, Medieval Iberian History, Hermes Trismegistus and Hermetica, Augustine, Hugh of St. Victor, Knowledge Transfer, Medieval Intellectual History, Bernardus Silvestris, Byzantium, Astronomy, Hermeticism, Twelfth-century schools, Peter Abelard, Lactantius, Medieval Cultural Contacts, Thierry of Chartres, History of Philosophy, Hermann of Carinthia, and Hermetic Corpus
This article examines the relevance of alchemy, astrology, and magic to Roger Bacon according to the opinions of contemporaries, of posterity, and in the history of research to the present day. The few known facts of Roger Bacon’s life... more
This article examines the relevance of alchemy, astrology, and magic to Roger Bacon according to the opinions of contemporaries, of posterity, and in the history of research to the present day. The few known facts of Roger Bacon’s life and the insufficient editing of his work over a long period of time offer plenty of room for the creation of myths. During the Middle Ages the first legends already emerged about the magician Roger Bacon skilled in wonderous arts. These were joined by the image of the magus in the Age of Renaissance and romantic ideas of Bacon as inventor and alchemist in his tower in Oxford. On the other hand the English Reformation and the Enlightenment discover Roger Bacon as spearhead against superstition and pioneer of experimental science. Despite all the efforts for a historical contextualisation of Bacon and his work the charakterisations continue to be ambivalent: On one hand, the secret sciences serve as laboratory for Bacon’s new ways. On the other hand, they are marginalized because they do not match the picture of Bacon as innovator of enlightened modernity. Therefore this article concludes that the tendencies of the research on Bacon reveal the definition of science of the particular researcher, but rarley offer a sufficient contextualisation of alchemy, astrology, and magic into Roger Bacon’s self-image as scientist.
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The chivalric order of the Temple captures the collective imagination about alternative interpretations of history, hidden secrets, and global conspiracies like no other historical community. Countless adaptations in literature, movies,... more
The chivalric order of the Temple captures the collective imagination about alternative interpretations of history, hidden secrets, and global conspiracies like no other historical community. Countless adaptations in literature, movies, and games shape the image of the Knights Templar as archetypes of elitist guardians of secrets. One reason for the unbroken popularity of imagined Templar secrets is their various uses for the real or desired formation of elites. This article illustrates the order’s reputation as an imagined secret elite by drawing on six examples. Three examples address the assumption that the Templars were keepers of spiritual traditions, while another three examples are dominated by the idea of a biological heritage that is allegedly guarded by the knights. The traditions of the masonic “Strikte Oberservanz”, of the “Ordre du Temple”, and the speculations of the orientalist Joseph of Hammer-Purgstall belong to the first group of examples. The second group of examples concerns the Neo-Templars of Adolf Lanz, the “Ordre du Temple Solaire”, and the alleged connections of the Templars with a certain “Prieuré de Sion”. The article tries to sum up the functions of these attributions to the Templars and to discuss what of all things made this chivalric order so suitable for imaginations about secret elites. The purpose is to emphasize the significance of this counterfactual field of imaginations for the research on processes of elite formations within social history and the history of ideas.
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History of Ideas, Early Modern History, History of Elites, Knights Templar, Neo-Templarism, and 33 moreWestern Esotericism (History), History of Freemasonry, Counterfactual History, Elite Theory, Ariosophy, Counterfactual Thinking, Elites and Society, History of Secret Societies, Elites, Sociology of elites, History of the Imagination, The Historical Imagination, Rennes le Chateau, Order of the Solar Temple, Jorg Lanz Von Liebenfels, Ordre Du Temple, Joseph Von Hammer-Purgstall, Pierre Plantard, Strikte Observanz, Karl Gotthelf von Hund und Altengrottkau, Johann August Starck, Fratres Clerici Ordinis Templariorum, Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat, William Sidney Smith, Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani, Mysterium Baphometis revelatum, Ordo Novi Templi, Adolf Josef Lanz, Ordre du Temple Solaire, Joseph di Mambro, Luc Jouret, Prieuré de Sion, and Philippe de Chérisey
The vampire represents a myth with inexhaustible possibilities of variation of the main themes illness, death, violence, and sexuality. The vampire myth is a research topic of cultural studies for many decades. However, interpretions from... more
The vampire represents a myth with inexhaustible possibilities of variation of the main themes illness, death, violence, and sexuality. The vampire myth is a research topic of cultural studies for many decades. However, interpretions from natural sciences and in particular medicine are most decisive for the spreading and manifastion of popular vampire imaginations. These scientifical explanations connect the „vampirism“ preferably to symptoms of contagious diseases and ascribe it hereby to natural causes. Therefore, the thesis of this article is that the vampire becomes a modern myth through the fusion of rational scientific explanations and traditions of faith. The medical reports from the 18th century are the starting point of research, because they made the vampire phenomenon of South Eastern Europe known to a broad global public and delivered first attempts of scientific interpretation. In a further step this article shows that those interpretations influence the popular vampire topic in literal and cinematic adaptions up until today. On the other hand the vampire imaginations in popular culture form the basis for seemingly rational explanations of scientists up until recentley. By this means scientific and non-scientific ideas intewine and detach the vampire myth from its context of specific beliefs in South Eastern European traditions.
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Michael Scot is considered to be the most outstanding scholar in the entourage of Emperor Frederick II and so as key figure of research and translation activities at the court of the Hohenstaufen monarch. The medieval historiography... more
Michael Scot is considered to be the most outstanding scholar in the entourage of Emperor Frederick II and so as key figure of research and translation activities at the court of the Hohenstaufen monarch. The medieval historiography already appriciates his importance but usually portrays Michael Scot simultaneously as sorcerer and conjurer of demons. Michael Scot‘s alleged dark activities serve as proof for the vileness of his lord, the heretical Staufer, and continue the propagandistic battle between pope and emperor in eschatological metaphors. Michael Scot as magician lives on as literary character in works from Dante to Walter Scott as well as in modern biographies of Frederick II and narratives of his court culture. This article exposes on the one hand what is known for certain about Michael Scot and the impact of magic, astrology, and alchemy in his works. On the other hand, it portrays how the alleged magician Michael Scot becomes part oft he mythical image of Emperor Frederick II and the culture of knowledge at his court.
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History of Ideas, Medieval History, History of Medicine, Medieval Historiography, History of Science, and 18 moreAstrology, Alchemy, Magic, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Medieval Italy, Medieval Sicily, History of Historiography, Cultural Exchange, Court Culture, Knowledge Exchange, Hohenstaufen in Sicily, The Historical Imagination, Medieval Astrology, Emperor Frederick II, Foreknowledge, History of Philosophy, Cross-Cultural Exchange In the Medieval Mediterranean, and Michael Scotus
According to a widley spread opinion the rediscovery and reception of traditions around the mythical figure of Hermes Trismegistos are characteristic for the Age of Renaissance. This article proves that most of the hermetic texts were... more
According to a widley spread opinion the rediscovery and reception of traditions around the mythical figure of Hermes Trismegistos are characteristic for the Age of Renaissance. This article proves that most of the hermetic texts were known in Latin Europe of the Middle Ages and were part of the established references of scholars particularly since the 12th century. The translations of the 12th and 13th century from both Arabic and Greek even established the ground for all hermetic teachings of the following periods in the fields of alchemy, astrology, medicine, and magic. Therefore, the reception of hermetic traditions in the Middle Ages obtains new meaning and steps out from the shadows of the alleged epochal change in the 15th century characterized by its own forms of analysis and acquisition. As a result the article questions commonly used terms like "hermetism" or "hermetic corpus" which frequently indicate intellectual mentalities and traditions around Hermes Trismegistos without sufficent historical contextualisation.
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The media response was enormous when in 2007 a facsimile edition of documents about the trial of the Templars was published. In particular the so called Chinon chart from 1308 with the proceedings of the Grand Master and further leading... more
The media response was enormous when in 2007 a facsimile edition of documents about the trial of the Templars was published. In particular the so called Chinon chart from 1308 with the proceedings of the Grand Master and further leading members of the chivalric order ruled the headlines as newly discovered key document from the depth of the Vatican archives, which allegedly proves the innocence of the Knights Templar. Barbara Frale, the founder of the Chinon Chart, postulates vehemently a reconsideration of the Templar trial. Accordingly pope Clement V tried to rescue the knights and defended them consequently against the French king and his counsellors. The pope believed the Templars were not guilty as charged with the crime of heresy. But according to Frale the pope believed also the Templars were in urgent need of reform because they practised an offending initiation ritual.
This article deconstructes this view systematically. The historical context of the Chinon chart will be examined and its less relevance pointed out in the end. The accurate research shows that there are no convincing hints for a rescue plan of pope Clement V. Quite the opposit the proceedings in the trial indicate the convicition on the papal side that the Templars were guilty. Furthermore there exists no convincing methodological way to shape out any irregular ritual according to the contradicting testimonies of the Templars during the proceedings.
This article deconstructes this view systematically. The historical context of the Chinon chart will be examined and its less relevance pointed out in the end. The accurate research shows that there are no convincing hints for a rescue plan of pope Clement V. Quite the opposit the proceedings in the trial indicate the convicition on the papal side that the Templars were guilty. Furthermore there exists no convincing methodological way to shape out any irregular ritual according to the contradicting testimonies of the Templars during the proceedings.
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This article portrais the impact of hermetic traditions on the transfer of knowlegde at the court of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in the 13th century. It focusses in particular on the "Liber de pomo", the "Centiloquium Hermetis", the "Livre... more
This article portrais the impact of hermetic traditions on the transfer of knowlegde at the court of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in the 13th century. It focusses in particular on the "Liber de pomo", the "Centiloquium Hermetis", the "Livre de Sidrac" and quotations from the "Secretum secretorum" and the "Liber introductorius" by Michael Scot.
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History of Ideas, Medieval History, History of Medicine, History of Science, Hermes Trismegistus and Hermetica, and 10 moreKnowledge Transfer, Medieval Italy, Medieval Sicily, Cultural Exchange, Court Culture, Knowledge Exchange, Hohenstaufen in Sicily, Hermeticism, Emperor Frederick II, and History of Philosophy
This article investigates the historical context of the "Centiloquium Hermetis", which is a Latin 'florilegium' of astrological sentences based on the model of the famous "Centiloquium" with teachings of Claudios Ptolemaios. According to... more
This article investigates the historical context of the "Centiloquium Hermetis", which is a Latin 'florilegium' of astrological sentences based on the model of the famous "Centiloquium" with teachings of Claudios Ptolemaios. According to medieval manuscripts the Latin text is a translation of teachings of the mythical figure of Hermes Trismegistos, conducted by Stephanus of Messina for King Manfred of Sicily, son of Emperor Frederick II. Indeed the majority of the sentences originate from works of the oriental astrologer Abū Maʿshar, above all from the so called "Albumasar in Sadan" and the "De revolutionibus nativitatum". The article emphasizes how the translation of the "Centiloquium Hermetis" fits into King Manfred‘s interest for astrology in general and for hermetic traditions in particular and how fits into the translation programme of the Sicilian court of the Staufer era.
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History of Ideas, Medieval History, History of Medicine, Medieval Studies, History of Science, and 13 moreAstrology, Medieval Science, Manuscript Studies, Hermes Trismegistus and Hermetica, Knowledge Transfer, Medieval Italy, Court Culture, Hohenstaufen in Sicily, Hermeticism, Emperor Frederick II, Medieval Libraries, History of Philosophy, and Hermetic Corpus
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Medieval Philosophy, Medieval Literature, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Divination, and 15 moreHistory of Science, Jewish Mysticism, Astrology, Medieval Islam, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Byzantine Studies, Byzantine History, Jewish Thought, Visions And Dreams, Medieval Jewish History, Islamic Mysticism, Magic and Divination in the Ancient World, Prophecy, Medieval Thought, and Magic and Divination In the Middle Ages
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Having hosted an international Conference on The Impact of Arabic Sciences in Europe and Asia (2014 = Micrologus XXIV: www.sismel.it), the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities (IKGF) organized an international... more
Having hosted an international Conference on The Impact of Arabic Sciences in Europe and Asia (2014 = Micrologus XXIV: www.sismel.it), the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities (IKGF) organized an international Conference on Longevity and Immortality. Europe- Islam-Asia, held in Erlangen in 2016 with similar interdisciplinary intentions. Both these events were placed under the patronage of the Union Académique internationale (UAI, Brussels).
The 2016 Conference aimed to develop a comparative perspective on the traditions and practices associated with longevity and immortality across a wide range of civilizations, regions, and periods, spanning Asia (China, Tibet, Japan), the Islamic World, and Western Europe (Middle Ages, Renaissance), and focussing in particular on up to a dozen themes. These included: the philosophical and medical background to the metaphors and terminology of longevity; instances of extraordinary longevity; astrology and the prediction of lifespan; elixirs and immortality; literary and spatial myths of longevity; natural death, its prognostics and predispositions; prediction
in contemporary genetics; resurrection or regeneration of the body; animals and longevity. Scholars from various disciplines – ranging from alchemy to astrology, and from medical history and the history of the body to hagiography – entered into dialogue on how theories and practices concerning the prolongation of life have been influenced or restricted at different times by the beliefs of the ancient world, by Christianity, Buddhism, Daoism and Islam, and by a variety of cultural traditions.
How has longevity been predicted, theorized, and calculated within such civilizations and traditions? What routes towards immortality or avoidance of death have been elaborated? What was the social diffusion of such theories and practices? In what ways do the theories here, across time and space, differ from one another? Is there a general human impulse to render death predictable and knowable?
The 2016 Conference aimed to develop a comparative perspective on the traditions and practices associated with longevity and immortality across a wide range of civilizations, regions, and periods, spanning Asia (China, Tibet, Japan), the Islamic World, and Western Europe (Middle Ages, Renaissance), and focussing in particular on up to a dozen themes. These included: the philosophical and medical background to the metaphors and terminology of longevity; instances of extraordinary longevity; astrology and the prediction of lifespan; elixirs and immortality; literary and spatial myths of longevity; natural death, its prognostics and predispositions; prediction
in contemporary genetics; resurrection or regeneration of the body; animals and longevity. Scholars from various disciplines – ranging from alchemy to astrology, and from medical history and the history of the body to hagiography – entered into dialogue on how theories and practices concerning the prolongation of life have been influenced or restricted at different times by the beliefs of the ancient world, by Christianity, Buddhism, Daoism and Islam, and by a variety of cultural traditions.
How has longevity been predicted, theorized, and calculated within such civilizations and traditions? What routes towards immortality or avoidance of death have been elaborated? What was the social diffusion of such theories and practices? In what ways do the theories here, across time and space, differ from one another? Is there a general human impulse to render death predictable and knowable?