Classical Astrology. Guido Bonatti
Part I
Foreword by Robert Hand
Этandм выпуском серandand “ATзгляд в прошлое”, Латandнскandй След, начandнается осуществленandе наandболее честолюбandвого плана — первый полный перевод кнandгand Guido Bonatti “Liber Astronomiae”,одного andз самых старых and всестороннandх руководств по астрологandand, когда-лandбо напandсанных. We don't even know exactly how many such issues will be needed to complete this translation, but it is clear that there will be at least a dozen of them, and they could well make up a yearly set of one2 issues[one], or even more. But we are not going to throw translations of other works in the Latin Trail. The translation of "Liber Astronomiae" will be interspersed with translations of other authors until the whole is completed. But the reader, unfamiliar with Bonatti's work, may well ask the question: is the only work of this author worth such an effort? The answer is a resounding yes!
Liber Astronomiae, a work known by various names[2], is probably the most significant single work on astrology written in the Western tradition between the time of Ptolemy and the Renaissance. It is not original and does not subvert the foundations, but it is an almost complete and exhaustive set of concepts of the Western astrological tradition, as it was at a certain historical moment, shortly after the return of astrology to Europe from the Muslim Middle East. Bonatti's work contains the thoughts, methods and methods of work of almost all famous Arab astrologers of the Middle Ages, as well as earlier astrologers, whose ideas have survived to this time.
Bonatti himself was more than just a compiler. Even summing up all the methods known to him, he gave them a critical assessment based on his own extensive experience. As Robert Zoller (translator from Latin into English) notes in his Translator's Preface, if Bonatti had not been a medieval astrologer with practical experience, his work would not have been so interesting, despite its scope; but he was, as far as we know, a highly skilled astrologer. As the translation progresses, the reader will become acquainted with examples of his insight, especially in the field of the astrology of wars - a topic inaccessible to modern astrologers!
Bonatti's work stands out among other astrological writings also by the fact that he, the author, apparently says about everything that he knows, as far as it was possible to do it in the book. He comments and describes almost all aspects of the activity of medieval astrologers, providing them with examples; although there are not as many examples as we would like, but quite enough to understand his thought. "Liber Astronomiae" is intended for a wide range of people: from an inexperienced beginner to a specialist who has achieved significant success in astrology. Indeed, one of the most amusing criticisms of the book by contemporaries was that Bonatti was accused of expounding the basics of astrology too clearly, so that even a housewife [3] could learn it. Of course, this housewife was supposed to be able to read Latin! But such "housewives" were rare.
As Robert Zoller points out in his preface, the work is too long to give a proper summary in the small space at our disposal. The table of contents of the entire book "Liber Astronomiae" alone would take about thirty pages. Very often it is described as consisting of ten treatises, but if you look closely at the text, for example, in the edition of Ratdolt (onefour9one), then there are many more sections. Moreover, in the introduction, Bonatti himself first describes the book as consisting of six sections, and then breaks these six sections into ten treatises. There seems to be a certain degree of arbitrariness in the division of the book into sections, and therefore different lists contain a different number of sections in a different order.
Since the English translator of the book, Robert Zoller, wrote an extensive preface to this edition, I will not go into details. However, the one5thirty edition, which Zoller used as the basis of his translation, seems to lack an introduction to the entire work, apparently written by Bonatti himself. This introduction is in the onefour9one edition of Ratdolt, which I used when editing the translation. Thus, I took the liberty of presenting my translation of this text as part of my preface. The text also contains the aforementioned summary and Bonatti's dedications of this work to the Lord Jesus, to the disciples who find the book valuable to themselves, and to their nephew. In this introduction, he proclaims his intention to create such a book that would be understandable to those who are little taught by others. the sciences of his time, but is willing to spend time and effort on learning. This, as we see in "Liber Astronomiae", he quite succeeded. Now here is what is believed to be Bonatti's own introduction to the onefour9one edition of Liber Astronomiae by I rhard Ratdolt.
Introduction to the book "Liber Astronomiae", contained in the onefour9one edition of Erhard Ratdolt
In the name of the Lord, Amen! Beginning an introductory book on judging by the stars; and это не только вступленandе к сужденandям, но and к астрономandческandм основам сужденandй, создано оно Guido Bonatti andз Форлand, что в провandнцandand Романдandола в Италandand. He collected in this work the sayings of philosophers, which seemed to him useful, in order to tell those who wish to reflect on judgments by the stars. [He also collected] what seemed to him suitable for persons who wish to form their judgments according to the meanings of the stars, as well as what has to do with some other subjects related to such judgments.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the many-merciful, holy, true God and man, to whom there is neither equal nor like, and cannot be, and His most blessed Mother Mary, Ever-Virgin, most glorious, and blessed Valerian martyr, prince, ruler and defender of Forli communities[four], with the Father and the Holy Spirit, consubstantial and trinitarian, to whose mercy we invoke and honor as the Trinity consubstantial and indivisible. There is no other God but Him, Who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them, Who created the firmament and everything else for the benefit of man, who adorned the sky with stars, and such lights [5] in their merits are higher than all the lower ones and control them, and the like. in the same way, they offer their guidance to Man, as far as it is allowed (from the side of the stars and planets there is no complete and exhaustive guidance on the life and actions of man. - R. Hand's note), and He placed rational souls ahead of all spiritual creatures so that all the rest served them, and, preferring them, endowed them [intelligent creatures] with the ability to know and understand; He also proclaimed to them the movements of the supracelestial bodies and what these movements mean; He stretched out the heavens like a parchment to intelligent creatures, that by these heavens they might know everything, and these heavens bind and reveal the divine will, not only about past or present, but also [for they can] warn, predict and proclaim what will be.
I have studied astronomy and have seen much of the work of our predecessors, whom we must greatly honor and respect. However, some of them [predecessors!, who loved brevity, said that whatever [else] their explanations were, they would speak for those who were [already] versed in other sciences, even if they needed instruction in astronomy, especially when making judgments, which they are not trained in.
Такandм образом, я, Guido Bonatti andз Форлand, решandл составandть эту кнandгу and собрать высказыванandя древнandх о наandболее важных предметах, которые мне кажутся соответствующandмand andстandне [and] которые содержатся в этandх высказыванandях.
On this occasion, [I wished] to place in this work all the information on astronomy that may be useful to those who [have not yet] been sufficiently instructed in other sciences, so that these persons can easily, although not necessarily quickly, achieve the desired goal. [making] judgments. Though I have spent my days in search of wisdom and divine mercy, it may be worth considering that I have been given a strong body and a secure life, so that I can complete this book for the glory of God and for all those who want to learn, and also for your benefit, my nephew Bonatti.
And since this work will be long and tedious, and because of its length it will be difficult, and the limited number of words will not allow completely unraveling very complicated questions in all parts, in order to avoid verbosity as much as possible, I do not intend to enter into discussions and place a huge number of proofs, although some of them will appear in this book. I believe that [this essay] will be written not only for the benefit of the students, but also for your benefit, Bonatti.
I divided the essay into six parts. Of these, the first is a general introduction; the second part is [about] questions; the third is elective; the fourth is [on] annual and world returns, and conjunctions are also included here; the fifth is about innate qualities; and the sixth is about showers and rains.
In writing this introduction, I will do this: I will first consider the advantages that we get from astronomy and the ability to judge from the stars, and