Tomislav Matić (Zagreb): Unraveling the Threads of Knowledge – Late Medieval Astronomy and its Readers

Moderation: Daniel Luger

PRÄSENZVERANSTALTUNG

Abstract:

Predicting the future was always an obsession of mankind, and in the late Middle Ages astrology and astronomy dealt with matters of extreme importance to the contemporaries. This art had a great impact on politics, social relations and everyday lives. However, the manuscripts written by late Medieval astronomers/astrologers, such as Johannes von Gmunden, Georg von Peuerbach or Johannes Regiomontanus, tell only half the story. The marginalia left by their readers indicate a vibrant culture of communicating with the texts. These readers were not passive receivers of information, but avid conoisseurs, critics and continuators. In their comments, they would indicate the mistakes made by the authors, compare different texts and, sometimes, condemn the text they were reading as false. These marginalia can help us unravel the threads that made up astronomical treatises – to understand their origins and underpinnings, their evolution and their reception, and the purpose for which they were used. Here we will analyze some examples of the usefulness of readers' comments, such as in determining the authorship of certain treatises or the evolution of astronomical practices through time. A large part of these examples come from manuscripts kept in Vienna, but the threads of which their texts are made often lead to other manuscripts in Cracow, Paris, or the Vatican.

Zum Vortragenden:

Dr. Tomislav Matić specializes in late Medieval and Renaissance history. He worked or studied at the University of California – Los Angeles, University of Oxford, University of Vienna and elsewhere. His work was supported by the Fulbright Program, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Hungarian state Balassi Institute and other institutions. He works at the Croatian Institute of History in Zagreb.

Rückfragen: martina.fuchs@univie.ac.at