Encyclopedia Project Search | Luminarium | Encyclopedia | What's New | Letter from the Editor | Bookstore | Poster Store | Discussion Forums | Search   The Ptolemaic universe from Andrew Borde's The First Book of the Introduction of Knowledge, 1542. Medieval cosmology was centered around the concept of the Ptolemaic universe, named after Greek astronomer Ptolemy (ca. 150 CE). In this geocentric model, the earth was the motionless center of the universe, with the rest of the universe revolving around it in spheres. Ptolemy's work was based on Aristotle's (384-322 BCE) idea of an ordered universe, divided into the sublunary, or earthly, region which was changeable and corruptible, and the heavenly region, which was immutable and perfect. Aristotle posited that the heavens contained 55 spheres, with the Primum Mobile, "Prime Mover" or "First Moveable", giving motion to all the spheres within it.       Centermost in this cosmology was the Earth. The sublunary sphere was comprised of the four elements (earth, water, fire, and air). Next, followed the spheres of the 7 planets (which included the sun and the moon). After these came the Circle of the Fixed Stars (including the signs of the Zodiac). Outermost in this scheme was the Primum Mobile, sometimes divided into three spheres of the Crystalline Heaven, the First Moveable, and the Empyrean, or highest heaven.       While not scientifically supportable, this cosmology was eagerly embraced and adapted to fit Medieval theology. The Prime Mover became the Christian God, the outermost sphere became heaven, and the earth was the center of God's attention. The spheres, moved by the Prime Mover, existed and rotated in perfect harmony, creating the “music of the spheres”. Man, habitant of the sublunary sphere which was corruptible since Adam's fall, could no longer hear this music. This worldview gave rise to further Medieval philosophical explanations of man's place in the universe, such as the concept of corresponding plains, and the idea of the Great Chain of Being, so prominent in Boethius and Chaucer, for example.       By the 17th century, the Copernican and Galilean models gained ground, and replaced this worldview. It was still an attractive philosophical construction, and one that persisted for a long time in the collective Renaissance consciousness. Milton, who chose to use the Ptolemaic cosmology for his Paradise Lost, was not alone in Renaissance literature to hold on to the Medieval worldview, if not in scientific earnest, as a poetical conceit (cf. Donne's "The First Anniversary" and "Good Friday, 1613"). Earth at the center of the Spheres. Copy of Gossuin de Metz, 13th c. From Les Echecs amoureux MS for Louise of Savoy, 15th c. Creation of the World, Nuremberg Chronicles. 1492. Livre du ciel et du monde, Nicole Oresme, 1377. Creation of the World, 4th Day Nuremberg Chronicles. 1492. Earthly Paradise Nicolas de Lyre. Other Local Resources: Zodiac and Planets Circling Earth - Sacrobosco, Sphaera Mundi, early 15th-c. Planisphere with Constellations - Aratus, Phaenomena, 1469. Zodiacal Man - Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Fol. 14v), 1413. Books for further study:     Debus, Allen G. Man and Nature in the Renaissance                New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978 (repr. 1991).     Garin, Eugenio. Astrology in the Renaissance: The Zodiac of Life.                London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1983.     Kristeller, Paul Oskar. Renaissance Thought: The Classic, Scholastic, and Humanist Strains.                NY: Harper Torchbooks, 1961. (repr. 1981)     Tillyard, E. M. W. The Elizabethan World Picture.                New York: Random House, 1959. Medieval Cosmology on the Web: The Medieval Universe - UVictoria The Ptolemaic System - Rice University The Planets and Their Children: Medieval Popular Astrology - Marianne Hansen Norden's Vicissitudo rerum (1600) - Renascence Editions Article Citation: Jokinen, Anniina. “Medieval Cosmology.” Luminarium.              7 Apr. 2002. [Date when you accessed the page].              <http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/medievalcosmology.htm> Index of Encyclopedia Entries: Medieval Cosmology Edward II Piers Gaveston Thomas, Earl of Lancaster Roger Mortimer, Earl of March Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) Edward III Edward, Black Prince of Wales Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster Edmund of Langley, Duke of York Thomas of Woodstock, Gloucester Richard of York, E. of Cambridge Richard II Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford Ralph Neville, E. of Westmorland Edmund Mortimer, 3. Earl of March Roger Mortimer, 4. Earl of March Edmund Mortimer, 5. Earl of March Sir Henry Percy, "Harry Hotspur" Owen Glendower Henry IV Edward, Duke of York Henry V Thomas, Duke of Clarence John, Duke of Bedford Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury The Battle of Castillon, 1453 William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk Thomas de Montacute, E. of Salisbury Richard de Beauchamp, E. of Warwick Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter Cardinal Henry Beaufort John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset Catherine of Valois Owen Tudor Charles VII, King of France Joan of Arc Louis XI, King of France Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy The Wars of the Roses 1455-1485 Causes of the Wars of the Roses The House of Lancaster The House of York The House of Beaufort The House of Neville The First Battle of St. Albans, 1455 The Battle of Blore Heath, 1459 The Rout of Ludford, 1459 The Battle of Northampton, 1460 The Battle of Wakefield, 1460 The Battle of Mortimer's Cross, 1461 The Second Battle of St. Albans, 1461 The Battle of Towton, 1461 The Battle of Hedgeley Moor, 1464 The Battle of Hexham, 1464 The Battle of Edgecote, 1469 The Battle of Barnet, 1471 The Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471 The Treaty of Pecquigny, 1475 The Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485 The Battle of Stoke Field, 1487 Henry VI Margaret of Anjou Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York Edward IV Elizabeth Woodville Richard Woodville, 1. Earl Rivers Anthony Woodville, 2. Earl Rivers Jane Shore Edward V Richard III George, Duke of Clarence Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick John Neville, Marquis of Montague George Neville, Archbishop of York John Beaufort, 1. Duke Somerset Edmund Beaufort, 2. Duke Somerset Henry Beaufort, 3. Duke of Somerset Edmund Beaufort, 4. Duke Somerset Margaret Beaufort Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke Humphrey Stafford, E. of Buckingham Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham Thomas, Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby Archbishop Thomas Bourchier William, Lord Hastings Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter William Herbert, 1. Earl of Pembroke John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford Thomas de Clifford, 8. Baron Clifford John de Clifford, 9. Baron Clifford John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester Sir Andrew Trollop Archbishop John Morton Jack Cade's Rebellion, 1450 Tudor Period King Henry VII Queen Elizabeth of York Lambert Simnel Perkin Warbeck King Ferdinand II of Aragon Queen Isabella of Castile Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor King Henry VIII Queen Catherine of Aragon Queen Anne Boleyn Queen Jane Seymour Queen Anne of Cleves Queen Catherine Howard Queen Katherine Parr King Edward VI Queen Mary I Queen Elizabeth I Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland James IV, King of Scotland The Battle of Flodden Field, 1513 James V, King of Scotland Mary of Guise, Queen of Scotland Mary Tudor, Queen of France Louis XII, King of France Francis I, King of France Field of the Cloth of Gold, 1520 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor The Siege of Boulogne, 1544 Pico della Mirandola Thomas Linacre William Grocyn Archbishop William Warham Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire John Russell, Earl of Bedford Thomas, Lord Audley Richard de la Pole Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral Edward Seymour, Protector Somerset Lady Jane Grey Cardinal Thomas Wolsey Archbishop Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cromwell Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio Cardinal Reginald Pole Bishop Stephen Gardiner Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester John Aylmer, Bishop of London Pope Julius II Pope Leo X Pope Clement VII Pope Paul III Desiderius Erasmus Martin Bucer Richard Pace Thomas Tallis Elizabeth Barton, the Nun of Kent Robert Aske The Sweating Sickness Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536 Attainder Oath of Supremacy The Act of Supremacy, 1534 The Act of Succession, 1534 The Ten Articles, 1536 The Six Articles, 1539 The Second Statute of Repeal, 1555 The Act of Supremacy, 1559 Articles Touching Preachers, 1583 Contemporary Letter on Anne Boleyn's Execution, 1536 Edward VI's Letter to Dowager Queen Katherine Parr, 1547 Katherine "Kat" Ashley Archbishop Matthew Parker Sir Francis Walsingham Sir Nicholas Bacon William Cecil, Lord Burghley Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury Sir Thomas Egerton, Viscount Brackley Sir Henry Sidney Sir Robert Sidney Sir Francis Knollys Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich Sir Christopher Hatton Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley Mary, Queen of Scots James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell Anthony Babington and the Babington Plot William Davison Philip II of Spain The Spanish Armada, 1588 Sir Francis Drake John Knox William Camden Archbishop Whitgift Martin Marprelate Controversy John Penry (Martin Marprelate) Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury Philip Henslowe Edward Alleyn The Blackfriars Theatre The Fortune Theatre The Rose Theatre The Swan Theatre Children's Companies The Admiral's Men The Lord Chamberlain's Men Citizen Comedy The Isle of Dogs, 1597 Common Law Court of Common Pleas Court of King's Bench Court of Star Chamber Council of the North Anne of Denmark Henry, Prince of Wales King Charles I George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham Queen Henrietta Maria William Alabaster Bishop Hall Bishop Thomas Morton Archbishop William Laud John Selden Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford Henry Lawes King Charles II King James II Test Acts Greenwich Palace Hatfield House Richmond Palace Windsor Palace Woodstock Manor Fleet Prison Mermaid Tavern Malmsey Wine Great Fire of London, 1666 Merchant Taylors' School Westminster School The Sanctuary at Westminster "Sanctuary" Images: Chart of the English Succession from William I through Henry VII Medieval English Drama Ptolemaic Universe - Andrew Borde's The First Book of the Introduction of Knowledge, 1542. Zodiac and Planets Circling Earth - Sacrobosco, Sphaera Mundi, early 15th-c. Planisphere with Constellations - Aratus, Phaenomena, 1469. London in the time of Henry VII. MS. Roy. 16 F. ii. London, 1510, the earliest view in print Map of England from Saxton's Descriptio Angliae, 1579 Location Map of Elizabethan London Plan of the Bankside, Southwark, in Shakespeare's time Detail of Norden's Map of the Bankside, 1593 Bull and Bear Baiting Rings from the Agas Map (1569-1590, pub. 1631) Sketch of the Swan Theatre, c. 1596 Westminster in the Seventeenth Century, by Hollar Visscher's Panoramic View of London, 1616. COLOR c. 1690. View of London Churches, after the Great Fire The Yard of the Tabard Inn from Thornbury, Old and New London Site copyright ©1996-2007 Anniina Jokinen. All Rights Reserved.   Created by Anniina Jokinen on January 15, 2007. Last updated on April 30, 2007.