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1300Medicine: examining urine
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1300The medieval Church
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1300Medieval Surgery
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1300Rural life: the lazy ploughman
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1301Friar playing music
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1308Dante's Divine Comedy
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1310Harvesting acorns
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1315Living and dead Princes
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1320Golden Haggadah
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1320Noah in the Holkham Bible
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1325Apothecary shop
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1325City walls
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1330Lord at supper
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1330Peasants work the land
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1335The Last Judgement
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1337Hundred Years War
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1348Demons fall into Hell
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1348Chronicle of the Black Death
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1350Genesis picture book
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1360Medieval encyclopedia
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1375Sir Gawain & the Green Knight
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1381Peasants' Revolt
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1385Scottish freedom
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1390English cookery manuscript
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Intro
This is a zodiac illustration from a medical almanac, 1399. The man’s pointing finger serves as a warning against the powerful forces of the stars. 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: Sloane 2250, Section 12
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