Tarrant, N. orcid.org/0000-0001-7597-0210 (2020) Reconstructing Thomist astrology: Robert Bellarmine and the papal bull Coeli et terrae. Annals of Science, 77 (1). pp. 26-49. ISSN 0003-3790
Abstract
Historians have portrayed the papal bull Coeli et terrae (1586) as a significant turning point in the history of the Catholic Church’s censorship of astrology. They argue that this bull was intended to prohibit the idea that the stars could naturally incline humans towards future actions, but also had the effect of preventing the discussion of other forms of natural astrology including those useful to medicine, agriculture, and navigation. The bull, therefore, threatened to overturn principles established by Thomas Aquinas, which not only justified long-standing astrological practices, but also informed the Roman Inquisition’s attitude towards this art. The promulgation of the bull has been attributed to the ‘rigour’ of the incumbent pope, Sixtus V. In this article I revise our understanding of this bull in two ways. First, I reconsider the Inquisition’s attitude towards astrology in the mid-sixteenth century, arguing that its members promoted a limited form of Thomist astrology that did not permit the doctrine of inclination. Second, using Robert Bellarmine’s unpublished lectures discussing Aquinas’s views of astrology, I suggest that this attitude was common during the sixteenth century, and may have been caused by the crisis of Renaissance astrology precipitated by the work of Giovanni Pico.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | Roman Inquisition; Robert Bellarmine; Thomist astrology; censorship |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of History (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > Fine Art, History of Art & Cultural Studies (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 12 Dec 2023 12:58 |
Last Modified: | 13 Dec 2023 09:26 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor and Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/00033790.2020.1714286 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:206473 |