Renaissance and Early Modern

'An Astrologer Casting a Horoscope' from Robert Fludd's Utriusque Cosmi Historia, 11!
Renaissance sc"olars often practised astrology to pay for t"eir researc" into ot"er sub#ects$%&'(
)erolamo Cardano cast t"e "oroscope of *ing Ed+ard ,- of England, +"ile .o"n /ee +as t"e
personal astrologer to queen Eli0abet" - of England$%&'( Cat"erine de Medici paid Mic"ael
1ostradamus in 1& to 2erify t"e prediction of t"e deat" of "er "usband, *ing Henry -- of France
made by "er astrologer 3ucus )auricus$%&'( Ma#or astronomers +"o practised as court
astrologers included 4yc"o 5ra"e in t"e royal court of /enmar*, .o"annes 6epler to t"e
Habsburgs and )alileo )alilei to t"e Medici$%&'( 4"e astronomer and spiritual astrologer
)iordano 5runo +as burnt at t"e sta*e for "eresy in Rome in 177$%&'(
Ep"emerides +it" comple8 astrological calculations, and almanacs interpreting celestial e2ents
for use in medicine and for c"oosing times to plant crops, +ere popular in Eli0abet"an England$
%7( -n 1&'!, t"e Englis" mat"ematician and p"ysician 4"omas Hood made a set of paper
instruments using re2ol2ing o2erlays +"ic" enabled students to +or* out relations"ips bet+een
t"e fi8ed stars or constellations, t"e mid"ea2en, and t"e t+el2e astrological "ouses$%1( Hood's
instruments also illustrated for pedagogical purposes t"e supposed relations"ips bet+een t"e
signs of t"e 0odiac, t"e planets, and t"e parts of t"e "uman body +"ic" +ere belie2ed to be
go2erned by t"e planets and signs$%1(%9( :"ile Hood's presentation +as inno2ati2e, "is
astrological information +as largely standard and +as ta*en from )erard Mercator's astrological
disc made in 1&&1, or a source used by Mercator$%;(%<(
Englis" astrology "ad reac"ed its 0enit" by t"e 1!t" century$%&( Astrologers +ere t"eorists,
researc"ers, and social engineers, as +ell as pro2iding indi2idual ad2ice to e2eryone from
monarc"s do+n+ards$ Among ot"er t"ings, astrologers could ad2ise on t"e best time to ta*e a
#ourney or "ar2est a crop, diagnose and prescribe for p"ysical or mental illnesses, and predict
natural disasters$ 4"is underpinned a system in +"ic" e2eryt"ing = people, t"e +orld, t"e uni2erse
= +as understood to be interconnected, and astrology co=e8isted "appily +it" religion, magic and
science$%(