Abstract
Illuminated manuscripts produced during the Carolingian revival played a crucial historic role in the transmission of not only astronomy, but also in the survival of ancient classics of literature, philosophy, history, and science and appropriating them for new uses. This chapter focuses on some general characteristics of the surviving Aratea manuscripts and the changes in the textual component through time. The overarching purpose is to highlight the presence of astronomical interest in the production of numerous pertinent manuscripts and the continued usage of astronomical imagery to legitimate the power and prestige of the monarchy under the rule of the Carolingian kings in the ninth century. This section details particular instances of astronomical iconography, citing some of the recent studies on its many aspects. It also describes the historic cultural circumstances and the idea of rebirth and renewal of educational and cultural life initiated by Charlemagne and its influence on Aratea manuscript production. To learn, stadium discendi, became a driving force during his extensive forty-six-year reign. This era also saw the first appearance of royal portraiture in religious manuscripts and was a time of great advances in artwork, looking back to the Classical period but adding their distinctive touches and also in creating textual uniformity for easier reading and retention.
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Notes
- 1.
The thirteen Aratea manuscripts from the ninth-century are listed in Appendix A. The two that do not include pictures Aratea contain the text of Avienus and are held in Vienna, Codex Vindobonensis Palatinus 107 and in Paris, BNF Lat. 7886.
- 2.
See Kidd and Martin for analysis of Aratus’ Phaenomena in Greek, and Gain, LeBoeuffle and Soubiran for the Aratea in Latin. Buescu, V. (1941) Cicéron. Les Aratea.
- 3.
Le Boeuffle, “La texte des Aratea de Germanicus est copieusement représenté”.
- 4.
McGurk cites Maass 1898, pp. 172–306; and Breysig 1867, pp. 105–232. The descriptions of the stars are mainly a Latin adaptation of the so-called Catasterisms of Ps-Eratosthenes, a mythological companion to the Phaenomena. See also McGurk, P. (1973) “Germanici Caesaris Aratea cum Scholiis.
- 5.
“The earliest Hyginus manuscripts with pictures date from the eleventh century, possibly the earliest being the Ademar of Chabannes book, Leiden Voss. Lat. Oct. 15 fasc. XIII, made at St Martial near Limoges about 1025.” (McGurk).
- 6.
Horror vacui also called kenophobia in Greek is ‘fear of the empty’, covering the entire space with artistic details was very prominent in medieval visual art, mainly in manuscript illuminations.
- 7.
See Dekker (2013) Illustrating the Phaenomena: Celestial cartography in Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
- 8.
Calcidius was known for his translation of the Timaeas as it was the only extensive writing of Plato available to Latin scholars for almost 800 years. He also wrote a commentary on the astronomical knowledge held by Greek scientist.
- 9.
Kühnel includes one known example of zodiacal art, a sixth-century mosaic in the Catholic monastery of Lady Mary in Bet She’an. (See Chap. 2—Possible Classical Models for Aratea Illustrations).
- 10.
See D. Lohrmann, “Alcuins Korrespendenz mit Karl dem Grossen über Kalender und Astronomie” in Science in Western and Eastern Civilization in Carolingian Times; also Borst, A “Alkuin und die Enzyklopädie von 809” in the same volume.
- 11.
McCluskey cites Bischoff, Hofbibliothek, p. 42.
- 12.
The two manuscripts are Vienna ÖNB Cod. 387 and Munich BSB Clm 210.
- 13.
According to McCluskey, Book I of this anthology is devoted to practical computistical matters in 99 chapters; much of its material was taken from Bede which was ultimately derived from Pliny. Book II deals with planetary excerpts from Pliny; and Book III consists of Bede’s De natura rerum in 51 chapters.
- 14.
A full color facsimile was published in Madrid, 1993 with a commentary volume by Manuel Sanchez Mariana.
- 15.
Another Carolingian copy of the seven book computus is Città del Vaticano, BAV Vat. Regin.309, the only complete copy: the others are Città del Vaticano, BAV Vat. Lat. 645 (s. IX); Monza Bibl. capit. MS F.9.176 (ca. 869) and Paris BNF nal. 456 (s. IX/X). See Appendix B for further information.
- 16.
Kühnel states in an analysis of the anthology of 809 (or the Aix in Chappelle encyclopedia) that “the zodiac in the heaven of fixed stars is depicted in detail, then the motions of the planets through the signs of the zodiac, following Aratus and Pliny.” Pliny may be a correct reference, but Aratus does not refer to the signs of the zodiac separately as a special grouping, only as they appear among the other constellation, and he emphatically refuses to discuss the planets at all. Pliny never mentions the planets’ appearance in the zodiac or the principles of astrology, which in the medieval period, was the main reason for recording in which zodiacal sign a planet is located.
- 17.
In the Astronomer’s, Vita Ludovici PL 104, col. 971–72, Louis asks the meaning of the comet, aware of the dire predictions attached concerning disasters or the death of the ruler. In reply, “the Astronomer” quotes from the Old Testament that one should not fear signs in the heavens. The worrying comet that Louis witnessed turned out to be Halley’s Comet, which was depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry two visits later.
- 18.
Katzenstein says, “There is reason to believe that the Virgil manuscripts now in the Vatican Library once belonged to Charlemagne”.
- 19.
Wright continues on Charlemagne’s library, “Then when his library was dispersed after his death in 814 it seems to have gone to the royal abbey of Saint-Denis, where it certainly was during the Middle Ages”.
- 20.
Mütherich writes, “The oldest is the Vatican Terence (Vatican lat. 3868), written about 825, and also the Agrimensores codex of the Vatican Library, a collection of illustrated treatises by Roman surveyors.”.
- 21.
The first wife of Louis the Pious was Ermengard of Hesbaye; they married in 794 and she died in 818. In 820, Louis married Judith for her beauty, intelligence and influential family. “She adorned the robe of her husband Louis so that he might shine like a hero in the eyes of the people”. (Dodwell 1954: 30) Louis had six children with his first wife, two with his second.
- 22.
After Charles reached adulthood, Walafrid returned to Richenau where he was named abbot; he continued his scholastic dedication promoting manuscript production and exchange, making their library and scriptorium most famous. After 829 he became chaplain to Empress Judith.
- 23.
John Scottus Erigena (c.800–877), medieval poet, philosopher and teacher, was the most significant scholar living in the early Middle Ages. He was already mentioned in this study as a promoter of Plato. He wrote a poem Aulae siderae for the dedication of Charles’ palace church, drawing upon “the traditional bond associating rulers with astronomy” (McClusky 1987: 157). His poem was charged with astronomical metaphors and numerical harmonies containing spiritual significance. He wrote of the solstices and equinoxes and their relationship to the conception and birth of Jesus Christ and St. John the Baptist. He also suggested that the planets Mars and Jupiter, along with Mercury and Venus which was promoted by Martianus Cappella, orbit the Sun rather than the earth.
- 24.
Astronomical images carved on Carolingian ivories are discussed in the following section; also see “The Ivory Throne of Charles the Bald” in Nees, A Tainted Mantle. Constellation images appear on a casket that survives at Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, and also on a comb in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Certainly royal association with astronomical imagery derives from ancient Rome, Mesopotamia and other earlier cultures as well.
- 25.
Although Schutz received negative reviews of this book, The Carolingians in Central Europe, their History, Arts and Architecture, this statement is reliable.
- 26.
Constantine was greatly admired in the Middle Ages and almost considered a saint, as he was the first Roman emperor to allow and even promote public displays of Christianity by donating buildings that became churches, such as St John Lateran Basilica, cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome. Constantine’s mother Helena and daughter Constantia are both considered saints, even though formal canonization was not officially instituted by the Church until many centuries later.
- 27.
As the youngest of Louis the Pious’ three combatant sons (the older two were already adults when he was born), Charles may have needed heavenly reassurance to maintain control of his share of Charlemagne’s Empire, apportioned, after three years of fraternal warfare, by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. The vast kingdom established by Charlemagne was divided into three major kingdoms; Lothair the eldest received the eastern portion along with the Papal States and the title Holy Roman Emperor; Louis the German gained the central portion; and the westernmost territory was allocated to Charles.
- 28.
Dutton and Kessler have published a study of the eleven poems and eight miniatures in the Vivian Bible; they state that the manuscript was begun in the scriptorium at St. Martin’s of Tours with an original plan of four illuminations and accompanying tituli. When Charles decided to visit the monastery in 845, the canons added four additional miniatures and elaborate verses in order to present the Bible as a compliment to honor Charles and at the same time attain their own ambitions. The authors believe the monastic community hoped for a quid pro quo from the king, the right to elect their own officials in the future.
- 29.
P. McGurk, in “Carolingian Astrological Manuscripts”, draws attention to the zodiacal initial, but does not comment on the special placement of Pisces. p. 317.
- 30.
See W. Köehler and F. Mütherich Die karolingischen Miniaturen.
- 31.
According to John North, “There is no evidence, however, to support the idea that anyone before Hipparchus both recognized the slow drift in star positions and also described it with reference to a precise astronomical coordinate system”; although some look to a Babylonian discovery. (North 2008: 14).
- 32.
For more information on the significance of the Nodus Caeli in the Phaenomena of Aratus, see G.
- 33.
Douglas Kidd translation.
- 34.
According to Ulansey, this precessional event in the heavens was secret knowledge, valuable to members of the cult of Mithras, and hidden in the astronomical iconography of the Tauroctony scene. See Chap. 2.
- 35.
As a final note on this extraordinary Bible, the famed library at St Martin at Tours where it was housed was tragically destroyed in a raid by Viking marauders; only one manuscript survived—that was the Vivian Bible.
- 36.
Nees writes, “The portrait features are closer to those of Charles the Bald than to any other monarch of the period and much closer than portraits of Ottonian rulers generally portrayed either clean-shaven or with full beard.” Also the most likely time period for the carving of the vine-scroll patterns with figures on the chair is the late Carolingian schools of Metz or the court school of Charles the Bald or both.
- 37.
The other possible model is Cologne, Dombibliothek, Cod. 83 II (ca. 805), which holds a close likeness to Hercules with the Golden Apples. The study by Nees is mainly concerned with the illustrations of the Labors of Hercules which are attached to the front of the throne. In addition to the Hercules scenes, there is a carving of Scorpio and also some mythological animals, definitely not zodiacal. He compares the carving of Hercules and Achelous with the illustration of Eridanus from the Cicero Aratea, Harley 647. There is some likeness, but that example is seen in many astronomical manuscripts. See also Weitzmann, K. (1975) “The Iconography of the Carolingian Ivories of the Throne” in Maccarrone et al., Nuove ricerche sulla cattedra lignea di S.Pietro.
- 38.
The detailed study by Ganz (Pictorial Textiles and their Performance: the Star Mantle of Henry II) has been downloaded on Academia.edu. The treatise explains how the major restoration preserved the mantel and yet destroyed it at the same time.
- 39.
The ‘Star Mantle of Henry II’ is the topic of a doctoral dissertation by E. O’Connor, (1980) Columbia Univ. O’Connor found close relationships with the astronomical illustrations of the mantle with those in two ninth-century “star catalogs”, St. Gall Stiftsbibliothek MS 902 and its copy, St. Gall MS 250, both have the text of revised Aratus Latinus, pp. 63–66 and 108. The Star Mantle is also discussed in great detail in McCluskey (1998) 141–144.
- 40.
Saxl, “Belief in Stars in the Twelfth Century” in Lectures.
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Dolan, M. (2017). Astronomical Symbolism in the Carolingian Period. In: Astronomical Knowledge Transmission Through Illustrated Aratea Manuscripts. Historical & Cultural Astronomy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56784-6_6
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