Nicholas of Autrecourt: His Correspondence with Master Giles and Bernard of Arezzo

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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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Publications & Services> Books> Book Series> Nicholas of Autrecourt: His Correspondence with Master Giles and Bernard of Arezzo

Nicholas of Autrecourt: His Correspondence with Master Giles and Bernard of Arezzo

A Critical Edition from the Two Parisian Manuscripts with an Introduction, English Translation, Explanatory Notes and Indexes

Edited and Translated by L.M. de Rijk

PrimarySources

Available
Publication year: 1994


Series:	Studien und Texte zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters, 42
ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 09988 3
ISBN-10:	90 04 09988 3

Cover:	Cloth with dustjacket
Number of pages:	ix, 241 pp.

List price:	€ 159.00 / US$ 236.00

Reviews

'Le volume embrasse probablement tout ce qu'aujourd'hui on peut savoir des Lettres et des circonstances dans lesquelles ont été écrtites.'
Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Theologiques, 1995.
'Travail méritoire, utile pour les médiévistes qui témoigne que jadis -déjà- les gens ne s'inclinaient pas automatiquement devant une interdiction de Rome.'
E. Manning Bulletin Codicologique, 1995.
'De Rijk's critical edition and translation is both important and timely...This edition and English translation of Nicholas's philosophical works and related documents is an indispensable point of departure for any future studies on fourteenth-century philosophy in general and on the philosophy of Nicholas in particular.'
Ivan Boh, Speculum, 1996.

Readership

All those interested in intellectual history (especially the 14th-century vicissitudes of Aristotelianism), as well as theologians and philosophers, and medievalists.

About the author(s)

L.M. de Rijk (1924) is Emeritus Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at the University of Leiden, and Honorary Professor in the State University of Maastricht. He has been a member of the Dutch Parliament (Senate 1956-1991; Deputy Speaker, 1980-1991) and is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (K.N.A.W.). He is the author of a large number of publications on ancient and medieval philosophy, including La philosophie au moyen âge, (Brill, 1985); and (with Joke Spruyt ed.) Peter of Spain (Petrus Hispanus Portug.): Syncategoreumata. First critical edition with an introduction and indexes. With an English translation, (Brill, 1992).

This volume contains the first critical edition and a complete English translation of the well-known correspondence conducted by the fourteenth-century 'sceptic' author, Nicholas of Autrecourt, with Bernard of Arezzo and a Master Giles. In the Introduction the extant manuscripts are analysed and the different positions of Nicholas, Bernard and Giles are discussed; the purport of Giles' reply to Nicholas is, contrary to common opinion, identified as a defence of Aristotelianism rather than of Bernard's 'sceptic' views. Two appendices contain the first critical edition of the records of the Avignon trial against Nicholas found in the Vatican Archives, and the 'Condemned Articles' with an English translation. The volume is rounded off with extensive indexes, which facilitate the use of the book as a source for the history of fourteenth-century thought.

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