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ASTROLOGY movable foundation of all astronomical and astrological activity. At the same time the "Opus Quad- ripartitum" of the great Alexandrian was corrupted with Talmudic subtleties and overlaid with mystical and allegorical meanings, which were taken chiefly from the Jewish post-Talmudic belief concerning demons. This deterioration of astrology is not sur- prising if we bear in mind the strong tendency of all Semitic races to fatalism and their blind belief in an inevitable destiny, a belief which entails spiritual demoralization. The result was that every con- ceivable pursuit of mankind, every disease, and indeed every nation had a special "heavenly regent", a constellation of definitely assigned position from the course of which the most daring prophecies were deduced. Up to the time of the Crusades, Christian countries in general were spared any trouble from a degenerate astrology. Only natural astrology, the correctness of which the peasant thought he had recognized by experience, secured a firm footing in spite of the prohibition of Church and State. But the gradually increasing influence of Arabic learning upon the civi- lization of the West, which reached its highest point at the time of the crusades, was unavoidably followed by the spread of the false theories of astrology. This was a natural result of the amalgamation of the teachings of pure astronomy with astrology at the Mohammedan seats of learning. The spread of as- trology was also furthered by the Jewish scholars living in Christian lands, for they considered astrology as a necessary part of their cabalistic and Talmudic studies. The celebrated didactic poem, "Imago Mundi", written by Gautier of Metz in 1245, has a whole chapter on astrology. Pierre d'Ailly, the noted French theologian and astronomer, wrote several treatises on the subject. The public importance of astrology grew as the internal disorders of the Church increased and the papal and imperial power declined. Towards the close of the Middle Ages nearly every petty prince, as well as every ruler of importance, had his court astrologer, upon whose ambiguous ut- terances the weal and woe of the whole country often depended. Such a person was Angelo Catto, the astrologer of Louis XI of France. The revival of classical learning brought with it a second period of prosperity for astrology. Among the civilized peoples of the Renaissance period, so profoundly stirred by the all-prevailing religious, social, and political fer- ment, the astrological teachings which had come to light with other treasures of ancient Hellenic learn- ing found many ardent disciples. The romantic trend of the age and its highly cviltivated sensuality were conditions which contributed to place this art in a position far higher than any it had attained in its former period of prosperity. The forerunners of Humanism busied themselves with astrology, and but few of them perceived the dangerovis p.sychical effect of its teachings upon the masses. Towards the end of the thirteenth century the Florentines employed Guido Bonatti as their official astrologer, and, although Florence then stood alone in this re- pect, it was scarcely a hundred years later when astrology had entered in earnest upon its triumphant course, and a Cecco d'Ascoli was already its devoted adherent. In Petrarch's day the questionable ac- tivity of the astrologers at the Italian courts had made such progress that this clear-sighted Humanist (Do remeci. utr. fortun. I, iii, sqq; Epist. rer. famil.. Ill, S, etc.) again and again attacked astrology and its representatives with the keenest weapons of his wit, though without success, and even without any fol- lowing except the weak objections of Villani and the still more ineffectual polemics of Salutato in his di- dactic poem "De fato et fort una". Emperors and popes became votaries of astrology — the Emperors Charles IV and V, and Popes Sixtus IV, Julius II, Leo X, and Paul III. When these rulers lived as- trology was, so to say, the regulator of official life; it is a fact characteristic of the age, that at the papal and imperial courts ambassadors were not received in audience until the court astrologer had been con- sulted. Regiomontanus, the distinguished Bavarian mathematician, practised astrology, which from that time on assumed the character of a bread-winning profession, and as such was not beneath the dignity of so lofty an intellect as Kepler. Thus had astrology once more become the foster-mother of all astron- omers. In the judgment of the men of the Renais- sance — and this was the age of a Nicholas Coperni- cus — the most profound astronomical researches and theories were only profitable in so far as they aided in the development of astrology. Among^ the zealous patrons of the art were the Medici. Catharine de' Medici made astrology popular in France. She erected an astrological observatory for herself near Paris, and her court astrologer was the celebrated "magician" Michel de Notredame (Nostradamus) who in 1555 published his principal work on astrology — a work still regarded as authoritative among the followers of his art. Another well-known man was Lucas Gauricus, the court astrologer of Popes Leo X and Clement VII, who published a large number of as- trological treatises. In Germany Johann Stoffler, professor of mathematics at Tiibingen, Matthias Lan- denberg, and, above all, Philip Melanchthon were zealous and distinguished defenders of astrology. In Pico della Mirandola (Adversus Astrologos libri XII) and Paolo Toscanelli astrology encountered its first successful antagonists; later in the Renaissance Johann Fischart and the Franciscan Nas were among its opponents. (Cf. Fhilognesius, Practica Practi- carum, Ingolstadt, 1571.) Gabotto's charming essay, " L'astrologia nel quat- trocento", in "Rivista di filosofia scientifica". VIII, 378, sq., gives much information concerning astrology in the fifteenth century. A. Graf's "La fatality nelle credenze del medio evo" (in "Nuovo Antologia", 3d series, XXVIII, 201, sqq.) is also of value for astrology at the turning point of the Middle Ages. Some of the late Roman astrologers, among whom was probably Firmicus Maternus, thought to reform astrology by idealizing it and raising its moral tone. The same purpose animated Paolo Toscanelli, called Maestro Pagollo, a physician greatly respected for the piety of his life, who belonged to the learned and artistic circle which gathered around Brother Am- brosius Caraaldulensis in the Monastery of The Angels. There were special professors of astrology, besides those for astronomy, at the Universities of Pavia, Bologna, and even at the Sapienza during the pon- tificate of Leo X, while at times these astrologers outranked the astronomers. The three intellectual centres of astrology in the most brilliant period of the Renaissance were Bologna, Milan, and Mantua. The work of J. A. Campanus, published at Rome in 1495, and often commented on^ namely, "Oratio initio studii Perugire habita ", throws a clear light on the lack of comprehension shown by the Churcli Fathers in their attitude towards pagan fatalism. Among other things it is here said: "Quanquam Augustinus, sanctissimus ille vir quidem ac doc- tissimus, sed fortassis ad fidem religionemque pro- pensior, negat quicquam vel boni vel mali astrorum necessitate contingere". In the Renaissance, religion, also, was subordinated to the dictation of astrology. The hypothesis of an astrological epoch of the world for each religion was widely believed by Italian astrologers of the time, who obtained the theory from Arabo-Judaic sources. Thus it was said that the conjunction of Jupiter with Saturn permitted the rise of the Hebrew faith; that of Jupiter with Mars, the appearance of the Clialdaic religion; of Jupiter with the sun, the Egj-p-