ad Astra

In episode 60 of the podcast I have the pleasure of talking with Professor Steven Vanden Broecke, a well known scholar on the history of astrology. We discuss the history of astrology as a discipline and field of study within the academia. Steven Vanden Broecke is a Full professor at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Department of History, University of Ghent. He has written many papers on the history of astrology and his book "The Limits of Influence: Pico, Louvain, and the Crisis of Renaissance Astrology" (2003) was quite influential in the field.

For an overview of Steven Vanden Broecke's work, see:

https://research.flw.ugent.be/en/steven.vandenbroecke

https://ugent.academia.edu/StevenVandenBroecke

Note: this episode was recorded an year ago, but technical difficulties and other delays led to a later publication.

In this episode I speak with researcher Sergio Orozco-Echeverri, Associate Professor at the Instituto de Filosofía, Universidad de Antioquia, and the principal researcher at the project: Repertorios. An alternative history of knowledge. We discuss his project on Reportorios, an early modern form of almanac in the Iberian world, and its importance in the transmission of astrological and astronomical knowledge.

For Sergio Orozco-Echeverri's work, see: https://edinburgh.academia.edu/SergioOrozcoEcheverri

The Repertorios project page: https://ratiotemporis.com 

In this episode I talk with Simon Dolet about his research on astrometeorology in the early eighteenth century. Simon is a PhD candidate at the Côte d’Azur University (Nice) and has been studying the role of astrology in the history of meteorology. His project is a continuation of his MA "L'astrologie saine de Giuseppe Toaldo. Un astro-météorologue dans la République des sciences" (2022).

Simon's publications and work can be found here: https://cmmc-nice.academia.edu/SimonDolet

In this episode, I talk with Fien de Block about her research on astrologers and astrological practices in the fifteenth-century Sultanate of Cairo. This was the subject of her PhD thesis titled "(Re)drawing the lines: the science of the stars in the late fifteenth century Sultanate of Cairo" (2020). Fien de Block is currently a guest professor and a researcher at the University of Gent.

Her publications and works can be found here: https://research.flw.ugent.be/en/fdblock.deblock

In this episode, I talk to Professor Tunç Şen, Assistant Professor at the Department of History of Columbia University. He is a historian of the Ottoman Empire interested in intellectual, cultural, and political history. Is PhD thesis “Astrology in the Service of the Empire: Knowledge, Prognostication, and Politics at the Ottoman Court, 1450s-1550s” (2016) focuses the astrological practices and practitioners of the Ottoman Court.

For more see on his work, see: https://history.columbia.edu/person/tunc-a-sen/

Some related articles:

“Books on Astrology, Astronomical Tables, and Almanacs in the Library Inventory of Bayezid II (co-authored with Cornell H. Fleischer,” in Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4), eds. Gülru Necipoğlu, Cemal Kafadar, Cornell H. Fleischer (Leiden: Brill, 2019), 767-821.

“Reading the Stars at the Ottoman Court: Bāyezīd II (r. 886/1481-918/1512) andhis Celestial Interests,” Arabica 64/3-4 (2017): 557-608.

“Practicing Astral Magic in Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Istanbul: A Treatise onTalismans attributed to Ibn Kemāl (d. 1534),” Journal of Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 12 (2017): 66- 88.

In this episode I talk with Tayra Lanuza Navarro on her research on Early Modern Astrology in Spain. Tayra has been one of the foremost historians of astrology in Spain and has produced numerous papers on this topic. She is currently a researcher at the ERC project Early Modern Cosmology: Institutions and Metaphysics at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice.

Find more about Tayra's work at: https://unive.academia.edu/TayraLanuzaNavarro

The Early Modern Cosmology project: https://www.unive.it/pag/35129/

In this episode, which is very dear to me, I invite three previous guests of the podcast to discuss Helena Avelar's work, in particular her book: "An Astrologer at Work in Late Medieval France. The Workbooks of S. Belle". Helena was the co-founder of the Astra project and co-host of this podcast. She passed way unexpectedly in March 2021 before her book published. Dorian Greenbaum, Charles Burnett and Henrique Leitão join me to discuss the importance of Helena's research and academic work.

Details on the book can be found here: https://brill.com/view/title/57551

For a list of Helena's works see: https://ulondon.academia.edu/HelenaAvelardeCarvalho

Helena's memorial: https://ciuhct.org/noticias/helena-avelar-carvalho-1964-2021

In this episode we talk to Josefina Rodriguez Arribas and Dorian G. Greenbaum about their new edited volume "Unveiling the Hidden – Anticipating the Future: Divinatory Practices Among Jews Between Qumran and the Modern Period" (Brill, 2021). Gathering the work of ten scholars, the book explores various Jewish practices of divination (astrology, bibliomancy, physiognomy, dream requests, astral magic, etc.)

For more information on the book see https://brill.com/view/title/59308 

In this episode we speak with Professor Jean-Patrice Boudet, about his new book containing his collected works on the history of astrology. Professor Boudet is one of the chief researchers in this field has published various books and numerous papers on the medieval practices of astrology in Europe now collected in this volume by Micrologus Library (Sismel): https://www.sismel.it/pubblicazioni/1790-astrologie-et-politique-entre-moyen-age-et-renaissance

For a list of his works see https://univ-orleans.academia.edu/JeanPatriceBoudet or https://www.irht.cnrs.fr/?q=fr/annuaire/boudet-jean-patrice.

In this episode we talk to Michael Ryan, associate professor of medieval and early modern history at the University of New Mexico. Michael research interests include the intersection of magic, science, and religion in the premodern world. In the podcast we discuss his book, A Kingdom of Stargazers: Astrology and Authority in the Late Medieval Crown of Aragon (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2011), as well as his current research on alchemical manuscripts and charlatanry and magical-themed fraud in the later Middle Ages.

For more details on Michael Ryan’s work see: https://history.unm.edu/people/faculty/profile/michael-ryan.html