Medieval Caesarean
Illegal English Bible
Chaucer, Canterbury Tales
Monsters in hell
Ptolemy's World Map
Medieval woman poet
Old Hall manuscript
Bedford Hours
Medicinal plants
Chess playing
Medical Treatise by John Aderne
Recipe for 'custarde'
Gutenberg Bible
The Temptation of Eve
Pregnancy
The Legend of King Arthur
Caxton's Chaucer
Valentine's day love letter
Medieval zodiac chart
Heretics burned at the stake
Royal feast
Courtly love
Columbus in America
This is a zodiac illustration from a medical almanac, 1486. Ideas of astrology in medieval Europe were a long way from today's star sign horoscopes. Although some medieval astrologers were thought to be magicians, many were highly respected scholars. Astrologers believed that the movements of the stars influenced numerous things on Earth, from the weather and the growth of crops to the personalities of new born babies and the inner workings of the human body.
Ancient studies of astrology were translated from Arabic to Latin in the 12th and 13th centuries and soon became a part of everyday medical practice in Europe. Doctors combined Galenic medicine (inherited from the Greek physiologist Galen - AD 129-216) with careful studies of the stars. By the end of the 1500s, physicians across Europe were required by law to calculate the position of the moon before carrying out complicated medical procedures, such as surgery or bleeding.
Shelfmark: Egerton 2572, f.50v