Article ID: CBB005462295

Reconstructing Thomist Astrology: Robert Bellarmine and the Papal Bull coeli et terrae (2020)

unapi

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 Second, using Robert Bellarmine’s unpublished lectures discussing Aquinas’s views of astrology, I suggest that this attitude was common during the sixteenth century, and may have been caused by the crisis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.

...More
Included in

Article Francisco Malta Romeiras (2020) The Inquisition and the Censorship of Science in Early Modern Europe: Introduction. Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology (pp. 1-9). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB005462295/

Similar Citations

Article Francisco Malta Romeiras; (2020)
Putting the Indices into Practice: Censoring Science in Early Modern Portugal (/isis/citation/CBB223674544/)

Article Luís Campos Ribeiro; (2020)
The Bounded Heavens: Defining the Limits of Astrological Practice in the Iberian Indices (/isis/citation/CBB478312733/)

Article Tarrant, Neil; (2014)
Censoring Science in Sixteenth-Century Italy: Recent (and Not-So-Recent) Research (/isis/citation/CBB001420237/)

Book Clizia Carminati; (2008)
Giovan Battista Marino tra inquisizione e censura (/isis/citation/CBB099790160/)

Book Fragnito, Gigliola; (2001)
Church, Censorship, and Culture in Early Modern Italy (/isis/citation/CBB000100783/)

Article Helena Avelar de Carvalho; (2020)
Preludes to the Inquisition: Self-Censorship in Medieval Astrological Discourse (/isis/citation/CBB950440979/)

Article Poppi, Antonino; (2003)
On Trial for Astral Fatalism: Galileo Faces the Inquistion (/isis/citation/CBB000411074/)

Article Michel-Pierre Lerner; (2004)
Copernic suspendu et corrigé : sur deux décrets de la Congrégation romaine de l'Index, 1616-1620 (/isis/citation/CBB583560633/)

Article Leen Spruit; (2016)
Roman Censorship of Science and Natural Philosophy: 16th–17th Centuries (/isis/citation/CBB513454885/)

Article Peter Andersen; (2014)
De la devise de Bruno à la mort de Tycho Brahe (/isis/citation/CBB757868142/)

Article Pietro Redondi; (2004)
Fede lincea e teologia tridentina (/isis/citation/CBB841483681/)

Essay Review Roberta Ferro; (2010)
Novità dagli archivi: Marino e l'Inquisizione (/isis/citation/CBB795941908/)

Article Vincenzo Lavenia; (2004)
"Contes des bonnes femmes". La medicina legale italiana, Naudé e la stregoneria (/isis/citation/CBB607439909/)

Book Dougherty, M. V.; (2007)
Pico della Mirandola: New Essays (/isis/citation/CBB000830114/)

Article Tayra M. C. Lanuza-Navarro; (2017)
Astrology in Court: The Spanish Inquisition, Authority, and Expertise (/isis/citation/CBB916769431/)

Chapter Franco Bacchelli; (2012)
Appunti sulla prima fortuna basileese e francese dello "Zodiacus vitae" del Palingenio (/isis/citation/CBB655068651/)

Article Harries, Karsten; (2004)
Truth and Value Today: Galileo contra Bellarmine (/isis/citation/CBB000500058/)

Essay Review Michele Camerota; (2004)
Campanella e la scienza galileiana. Intorno ad una recente edizione della Apologia pro Galileo (/isis/citation/CBB666471463/)

Authors & Contributors
Tarrant, Neil
Bacchelli, Franco
Brambilla, Elena
Camerota, Michele
Dougherty, M. V.
Fragnito, Gigliola
Journals
Galilæana: Journal of Galilean Studies
Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology
Bruniana & Campanelliana: Ricerche Filosofiche e Materiali Storico-testuali
History of Science
British Journal for the History of Science
Culture and Cosmos
Publishers
Cambridge University Press
Antenore
Carocci Editore
Olschki
Concepts
Inquisitions
Science and religion
Censorship
Roman Catholic Church
Astrology
Natural philosophy
People
Galilei, Galileo
Bruno, Giordano
Bellarmine, Roberto Francesco Romolo
Brahe, Tycho
Campanella, Tommaso
Copernicus, Nicolaus
Time Periods
17th century
16th century
Renaissance
Early modern
Medieval
15th century
Places
Italy
Europe
Portugal
Spain
Rome (Italy)
Venice (Italy)
Institutions
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment