An Astrologer at Work in Late Medieval France

This book explores the notebooks of S. Belle, an astrologer who lived in late fifteenth-century France, as a case study of late medieval astrological practice. These notebooks combine astrological doctrine, a large collection of horoscopes, an almanac, and three complete judgements of nativities. By studying Belle’s methods, processes of learning, and practices, this book contributes to a better understanding of the internal architecture of astrology in the pre-modern world; this includes its techniques, methodologies, goals, transmission, and development throughout history. It offers an internalist view of the practice of astrology, as a counterpart to the existing research into astrology’s social and cultural impact.

Helena Avelar de Carvalho, researcher of the History of Astrology. Ph.D. on Combined Historical Studies (2018) at the Warburg Institute, University of London. Co-founder of the Astra Project: Historical Research on Astrological Techniques and Practices, hosted at CIUHCT-University of Lisbon.