Investigating the impact of Arabic medieval astrological and magical theories on early modern occult philosophy, this book argues that they provided a naturalistic explanation of astral influences and magical efficacy based on Aristotelian notions of causality.

Cultures of learning and practices of education in the Middle Ages are drawing renewed attention, and recent approaches are questioning the traditional boundaries of institutional and intellectual history. This book assembles contributions on both Byzantine and Latin learned culture, and locates medieval scholars in their religious and political contexts, instead of studying them in a framework of 'schools.' The contributions offer complementary perspectives on scholars and their work, discussing the symbolic and discursive construction of religious and intellectual authority, practices of networking, and adaptations of knowledge formations. (Series: Byzantinistische Studies and Texts / Byzantinistische Studien und Texte - Vol. 6) [Subject: Medieval Studies, History, Education]

This groundbreaking collection brings the Middle Ages to life and conveys the distinctiveness of this diverse, constantly changing period. Thirty-eight scholars bring together one medieval world from many disparate worlds, from Connacht to Constantinople and from Tynemouth to Timbuktu. This extraordinary set of reconstructions presents the reader with a vivid re-drawing of the medieval past, offering fresh appraisals of the evidence and modern historical writing. Chapters are thematically linked in four sections: identities beliefs, social values and symbolic order power and power-structures elites, organizations and groups. Packed full of original scholarship, The Medieval World is essential reading for anyone studying medieval history.

The first comprehensive study of the philosophical achievements of twelfth-century Western Europe.

Boethius' Consolatio Philosophiae is one of those exceptional works that circulated widely throughout such diverse medieval cultures as the schools and universities, the court, and religious houses. It spawned a rich tradition of Latin commentaries and was a major force in shaping vernacular literary traditions, including the works of Jean de Meun, Dante, and Chaucer. The changing perceptions of the Consolatio are the subject of this collection of new essays. The first section is devoted to the Latin commentary tradition (William of Conches, Nicholas Trevet, and Pierre d'Ailly). The other sections explore the vernacular traditions (Italian, French, German, English, and Dutch). The book underlines the interactions between the Latin and the vernacular and between literary and scholastic contexts, and the focus throughout is on the intellectual and institutional background of the works discussed.

The German philosophical culture of the Middle Ages is inextricable linked to the thought of Albert the Great. This volume brings together 14 papers, which deal with Albert's influence from the points of view of mysticism, philosophy, and the history of universities.

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