S T E F A N O CAROTI

Melanchthon's Astrology

The central role of divination in Melanchthon's thought has been

emphasized by many scholars, notably by Johann Friedrich, Karl Hart-
felder, Aby Warburg and Lynn Thorndike.' Nowhere is this better
illustrated than in his letters, which, like a barometer, register precisely
how his hopes and fears were fuelled by prophecies of future events
foretold by stars, comets, monstrous births, by dreams and even every-
day events. 2 Melanchthon combined absolute belief in an immanent,
divine providence with a symbolic and - if we are to believe K. Hartfel-
der3 - Neoplatonic interpretation of natural and historical phenomena.
Accurate identification of his philosophical sources is therefore fre-
quently difficult, all the more so given his wide reading and skill in
combining ideas from sources as disparate as prophetic literature, astrol-
ogy, oneiromancy and the "marvels of nature" (mirabilia naturae).

* I wish to thank Dr. Dilwyn Knox for having improved the english version.
Quotations from Melanchthon's works in the following notes are from C. G. Bretschnei-
der-H. E. Bindseil's edition: Philippi Melanchthonis Opera quae supersunt omnia (Corpus
Reformatorum, 1-28; Halis Saxonum-Brunsvigae, 1843-1860 = C.R., followed by the
n u m b e r of the volume, the number(s) of the column(s), and, for the letters, prefaces and
dedicatory epistles, the progressive number).
1
J. Friedrich, Astrologie und Reformation oder Die Astrologen als Prediger der Reformation
und Urheber des Bauern-Krieges. Ein Beitrag zur Reformationsgeschichte (München, 1864);
K. Hartfelder, „Der Aberglaube Philipp Melanchthons", Historisches Taschenbuch, 6,
1889, pp. 233-269; A. Warburg, „Heidnisch-antike Weissagung in Wort und Bild zu
Luthers Zeiten", in A. Warburg, Gesammelte Schriften, hrsg. von G. Bing, II, (Leipzig,
1932), pp. 487-558 (at pp. 536-539 an unpublished Melanchthon's letter to Carion on the
C o m e t of 1531, on which see J. Rauscher, „Der Halleysche Komet im Jahre 1531 und die
Reformatoren", Zeitschrift fiir Kirchengeschichte, 32, 1911, pp. 259-276). L. Thorndike,
A History of Magic and Experimental Science, 5 (New York, 1941), pp. 378-405.
2
S. Caroti, "Comete, portenti, causalità naturale e escatologia in Filippo Melantone", in
Scienze, credenze occulte, livelli di cultura. Congresso Intemazionale di Studi [Firenze
26-30 giugno 1980] (Firenze, 1982), pp. 393-426.
3
More recently Wilhelm Maurer has stressed the importance of Renaissance Neoplato-
nism in Melanchthon's thought, W. Maurer, Der junge Melanchthon. I: Der Humanist, II:
Der Theologe (Göttingen, 1967). Though it is undoubtely easy to find some echoes of
Renaissance Neoplatonism in Melanchthon's works and letters, his faith in astrology
has nevertheless a marked aristotelian inspiration. Even Maurer acknowledges this
"medieval" component, Ibid., I, pp. 130,136 and 156.

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110 Stefano Caroti

As far as the topic of our Colloquium is concerned, in Melan-

chthon's correspondance unfortunately there is not an explicit evidence
of his involvement in the quarrel on the Flood foretold for 1524; we can
not however exclude the possibility of such an involvement, chiefly
because the documentary sources of the years about 1524 are notori-
ously meagre. There are, moreover, some meaningful hints that com-
pel us to assume Melanchthon's high concern about the Flood. His
acquaintance with two of the leading actors, Johannes Stöffler and
Johannes Carion, is well known. Melanchthon in fact dedicated to the
first like to a beloved teacher his Oratio de artibus liberalibus.4 Carion
himself was in Tübingen to attend Stöffler's lessons just in the first years
of Melanchthon's teaching.5 The relevance of their friendly relations,
well attested by the letters, is corroborated by the fact that Melanchthon
was for Carion both a sort of privileged connection with the Lutheran
field and more than an editor of his Chronica, nothwithstanding Melan-
chthon's sharp opinion on him.6
The letters reveal how Melanchthon's lifelong fascination with
predictions, even in popular form like almanacs, annual prognostica-
tions, Flugschriften on astrological phenomena, on monstrous births and
other portents, was inspired by a conviction that the future could be
predicted accurately. Some signs, of course, were more reliable than
others. Astrological signs, in particular, were supposedly more reliable
because predictions based on them could be verified rigorously by
astronomical calculations and astrological rules expounded in scholarly
books on astral divination. Indeed among divinatory arts astrology
claimed a singularly privileged status since it boasted a secular and
almost universally acknowledged "scientific tradition". And Melan-
chthon, far from denying this long established claim, exalted astrology
as one of the most important of all sciences.
One of the most systematic expositions of Melanchthon's ideas on
astrology is to be found in his Initia doctrinae physicae, a work intended
as an introduction to various problems in physics. In the first book,
second chapter, Melanchthon repeatedly emphasizes the importance of
astral causality, evidently without being aware that this compromises his
advocacy of "consideratio circa propinquas causas" as the central tenet

4
C.R., I, 15, n. 6; Melanchthons Briefwechsel, Bd. I (1510-1528), hrsg. v. O. Clemen
(Supplementa Melanchthoniana, VI; Leipzig, 1926), pp. 24-25, n. 8a. On Stöffler see also
W. Maurer, Ibid., I, pp. 129ff.; at p. 138 we find a brief hint to the pamphlets on the
Flood.
5
O. Tschirch, "Johannes Carion Kurbranderburgischer Hofastrolog", Jahresbericht des
historischen Vereins zu Brandenburg, 26-27,1906, pp. 54-62; H. F. W. Kuhlow, "Johannes
Carion (1499-1537). Ein Wittenberger am Hofe Joachim I.", Jahrbuch f . Berlin-Branden-
burgische Kirchengeschichte, 54, 1983, p. 54.
6
H. F. W. Kuhlow, "Johannes Carion", p. 56.

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 Melanchthon's Astrology 111

of physics.7 He also quotes a well known passage in which Aristotle

apparently alludes to astrology8, thus following a tradition stemming
from the introduction of Aristotelian natural philosophy in the Latin
West. Nor does Melanchthon intend to undermine this tradition when
he mentions that Aristotle's general recognition of astral causality on
sublunary matter should be substantiated with specific theories and
facts:
Hanc doctrinam de particularibus effectionibus siderum omittit
haec aristotelica physica, contenta hac generali praemonitione quod
astra sint universale effìciens, ciens et temperane materiam motu et
lumine.9
By this reasoning also Melanchthon justifies his citations in the Initia
doctrinae physicae of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos and Almagest when discus-
sing, respectively, astrological and astronomical problems.
For Melanchthon astrology was made all the more respectable by
its connection with astronomy. He considered the two not as distinct
disciplines but rather as different components of the same discipline,
equal in dignity and importance. For this reason, too, Melanchthon was
convinced that censures of astral influence attacked not only divination
but also the entire science, including mathematical calculations of
planetary motions and geometrical representations of the universe.10
This fusion of astronomy and astrology is a recurrent theme. For
instance, on several occasions Melanchthon praises the revival of as-

7
C.R., XIII, 182-185.
8 Arist., Meteor., I, 2, 339a 21-23.
9 C.R., XIII, 185.
10 "Itaque studiosi adolescentes ament hanc doctrinam de motibus coelestibus, et vitae
utilem esse iudicent, cum propter anni descriptione cum etiam propter alias causas.
Nam quod nonnulli improbant τη μαντιχή, videmus indoctos eodem calculo etiam
motuum doctrinam condemnare. Certe contemptus huius totius Philosophiae in ru-
dibus confirmatur. Etsi autem de divinatrice hoc loco non disputabo, tarnen si recte
volumus aestimare, haec ipsa motuum doctrina vere est praecipua μαντική. Testatur
enim esse aeternam mentem opificem et gubernatricem mundi, nosque ad agnitio-
nem Dei et ad immortalitatem conditos esse. An haec μαντική aspernanda est? Quid
verius convenit vatibus, quam confirmare in animis hominum veras et pias opiniones
de Deo? Quare fateamur, hanc ipsam motuum doctrinam μαντικήν esse utilem vitae et
moribus. Sit sane fatidicum quiddam, ut est χράσεις corporum et ingenia iudicare ex
aliqua siderum insigni coniunctione, aut tempestates praedicere... Magis tamen
fatidicum est, monstratis certissimis motuum legibus confirmare mentes, ut vere
statuant esse Deum, qui ordinarit, qui gubernet hos motus, qui agnosci velit ab
hominibus, quorum utilitatis causa has varietates motuum condiderit; quique, cum
nos ad sui agnitionem invitet, bonis praemia, impiis poenas proposuerit. Sed haec alias
copiosius disputavi." Ph. Melanchthonis, Praefatio Achilli Gasserò to "Libellus Joannis
de Sacro Busto, De anni ratione seu ut vocatur vulgo Computus Ecclesiasticus, C. R., III,
575, η« 1715.

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112 Stefano Caroti

tronomy in Germany, summarising its history and interweaving the

fortunes of astrology with those of astronomy.11 He justified this ap-
proach by citing the authority of Ptolemy, the author of the Almagest
and Tetrabiblos. In these respects Melanchthon's ideas on astral in-
fluence differ little from those of medieval advocates of astrology.
However, in one very significant way he does diverge from medieval
tradition. In medieval astrology the contribution of Arabic writers had
been of paramount importance. But Melanchthon, like other Renais-
sance authors, thought Arabic astrology was almost worthless by com-
parison with Ptolemy's, and restricted their astrological achievements to
the supposedly unscientific part of the discipline, that is to illicit divina-
tion. His censure is absolute, as we can read in the Preface to the De
sphaera of 1531:
Nam etsi Arabes desertam a Graecis possessionem magna vi
invaserunt, adeo ut has artes in occidentem et Hispaniam usque
propagaverint, tarnen eorum scripta ostendunt, curiosam nationem
non tam elaborasse in observandis motibus, quam in divinationi-
bus, quarum adeo cupidi fuerunt, ut non contenti Ptolemaei Astro-
logia, quae pars quaedam Physices existimari potest, sortes etiam et
alia multa praedictionum genera ανοατιόλογητα commenti sint.12
Melanchthon never doubted the scientific accuracy of astrology. For
instance, in 1535 Joachim Camerarius' edition of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos
was warmly received by Melanchthon 13 ; in the same year he began
lecturing on Ptolemy's work at Wittenberg and stressed the scientific

11
"Suavissime enim a Platone dictum est: θεον άει γεωμετρεΐν, hoc est, ut ego quidem
interpretar, gubernare omnia, et certissima lege cursus coelestes et totam naturam
regere. Quare haud dubie probat Studium eorum, qui, quasi observantes illius cursus
lineas, gubernatorem ipsum agnoscunt et venerantur. Iacobus Milichius utili Consilio
coniunxit libellos Arithmeticos et Geométricos aptissimos scholis, scriptos a praestan-
tibus artificibus, et in ea Academia, quae aliquot seculis praecipuum fuit domicilium
harum artium. Nam Viennae, autore Purbachio, propemodum renata est haec Philoso-
phia de rebus coelestibus, et nunc magna cum laude possessionem eius velut haeredi-
tariam retinent", Ph. Melanchthonis, Praefatio in J. Vogelini Iibellum de geometrías
elementis, C.R., III, 114, n° 1453.
12
C.R., II, 532, n. 1002. On this important topic see P. Zambelli, "Fine del mondo o inizio
della propaganda? Astrologia, filosofia della storia e propaganda politico-religiosa nel
dibattito sulla congiunzione del 1524", in Scienze, credenze occulte, pp. 352 ff., and supra
her Introduction, pp. 24 ff.
13
"Maximam tibi gratiam habeo et mea et Reipublicae caussa, quod Ptolemaeum nobis
edidisti. Etsi enim nos huic studio non sumus prorsus dediti, tarnen erit mihi curae, ut
commoveam et accendem iuvenum studia. Itaque pro elegam quaedam ut gramma-
ticus tantum, ut plures in manibus habeant aureum libellum, et spero his, qui Philoso-
phiam amant, etiam graecas litteras propterea gratiores fore", letter sent to Joachim
Camerarius on October 5th 1535, C.R., II, 951, n° 1339.

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 Melanchthon's Astrology 113

character of the work in his opening address.14 And in the following year
he commented on the second book, beginning with an exhortation to
appreciate the philosophical arguments of the first book.15
The first two chapters of the Initia doctrinae physicae also allude
repeatedly to the scientific nature and practical value of astral divination
and explain how it may reveal, by decoding signs, the original design of
God's providence and means of fulfilling it - to the limited degree, at
least, that mankind can fulfil divine intentions:
Non est enim verisimile haec pulcherrima corpora in coelo frustra
condita esse, praesertim cum et maneant eadem et leges habeant
motuum magno Consilio ordinatasi 6
In the second chapter of the first book Melanchthon recalls the dire
predictions of a universal deluge in 1524 to prove astral efficiency over
meteorological phenomenon, even though they had already been shown
incorrect:
Econtra humiditates auctas esse, largos fuisse imbres, exunda-
tiones magnas et diluvia, cum in signis humidis Cancro aut Piscibus
congressi sunt Saturnus, Jupiter et Venus, ut meminimus anni 1524
coniunctionem auxisse humiditatem 17
The presence of this reference to the deluge foretold in 1524 in a work
conceived as an introduction to physics is a clear witness of the impor-
tance given by the author to the many predictions that appeared some
years before. This reference, moreover, shows a concerned attitude
towards the astrological pamphlets of 1524: Melanchthon in fact, far
from denying the validity of such foretellings - that evidently resulted at
least farfetched - seems to legitimate the astrologers' warnings, adduc-
ing them as a clear corroboration of astral causality.
Melanchthon never distinguished clearly between an acceptable,
scientific astrology and unscientific astrology, as earlier authors had
14
"Hoc Consilio et animo instituí interpretan Ptolemaei librum de Judiáis, in quo nihil nisi
grammaticam interpretationem p o l l i c e o r . . . Id autem eo faceo, ut optimus author fiat
notior ac familiarior adolescentibus et ut aliqui foelicioribus ingeniis prediti accendan-
tur ad Studium illarum praestantissimarum artium. Et multa sunt Physica in his quae
assequi omnes studiosi facile possunt et sunt utilia in vita.", C.R., 964, n° 1342.
15
"Habuit primus liber utilissimas de fato, de causis physicis, deque aliis quibusdam locis
sententias, quae ad multas res iudicandas in vita conducunt, et habent usum in reliqua
P h i l o s o p h i a . . . Hodie, D e o volente, secundi libri enarrationem incipiam, qui habet
gentium discrimina, causas tempestatum, eclipsium et cometarum significationes",
C.R., III, 220, n° 1507.
16
C. R., XIII, 179. The strong connection between providence and astral efficiency is topic
in Melanchthon's thought: see, for instance, what he affirms in the Preface to John
Holywood's Computus Ecclesiasticus, quoted in n. 10.
17
C.R., XIII, 182.

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114 Stefano Caroti

done. I think he shied away from drawing this distinction for two, or
perhaps, three reasons. First, he did not want to risk providing critics of
astral divination, who had become increasingly vociferous since the
publication of Pico's Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem
with further arguments. 18 Second, Melanchthon rejected contemporary
criticisms of astrology - including Pico's - precisely because they surrep-
titiously ignored distinctions and condemned without discrimination
both the unscientific, improper part of the science and its supposed
scientific part. Third, he was convinced that all sciences were divine by
origin, regardless the corruptions man had introduced into them; con-
sequently, the imperfections of astrology, that is, illicit divination, were
not part of the science proper and should be ignored in a textbook on
astronomy.
In the chapters on the planets and their movements, Melanchthon
carefully records different astrological signiflcationes, establishing gen-
eral rules for forecasting correctly from planetary positions.19 That
Melanchthon's ideas here had been formulated, to some degree at least,
some years before the publication of the Initia doctrinaephysicaem 1549
is abundantly clear. Indeed he appears to have been working methodi-
cally on a treatise on physics in the years around 1535, a period rich in
astrological events and readings. In a letter of May 24th of that year, in
which he thanked his friend Camerarius for a copy of his edition of
Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, Melanchthon remarked that he was studying
problems of the soul.20 In October he was writing on anatomy. 21 In a

18
Pico is mentioned frequently in Melanchthon's letters and prefaces, and he is always
sharply censured. See, for instance Melanchthon's Preface to Johann Schoner's Tabu-
lae astronomicae resolutae: "Multa indicari possunt ex positu astrorum de valetudine
corporum, de ingeniis et inclinationibus, deque multis in vita casibus, de tempesta-
tibus, de mutationibus Rerumpublicarum. Plurimum autem tantarum rerum conside-
rado et animadversio conducit prudentibus. N e c pugnat religio Christiana cum hac
sententia, nec damnant has praedictiones sacrae literae: sunt enim pars quaedam
Physices, sicut Medicorum praedictiones: sumuntur enim a causis naturalibus. Divini-
tus alia vis est indita Soli, alia Lunae, ut vis est alia piperis, alia malvae, et pium est
agnoscere opera Dei et observare vires illis inditas. Sed haec disputatio longior est,
quam ut hic tractari tota possit, et extant libri eruditissime scripti multorum, qui Pici et
aliorum similibus calumniis respondent. Illud tantum adiiciendum esse putavi, ini-
quum est pronunciare priusquam causam cognoveris. At íIli vitupérant hanc doctri-
nam, qui simpliciter eam ignorant: quare eorum iudicia merito deridentur." C.R., III,
119, η» 1455.
« C.R., XIII, 179.
20
"Quaestiones habeo multas Physicas, de quibus utinam tecum et cum Medicis vestris
confabulan liceret. Perveni enim, iam ed earn partem quae inscribitur de anima, in qua
tota hominis natura nobis quantum quidem possumus, expondenda est." C. R., II, 878,
n° 1277.
21
"Nostra φυσικά etiam satis pulcre procedunt, nunc enim pervenimus ad Anatomen
corporis humani" C.R., II, 951, n° 1339.

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 Melanchthon's Astrology 115

letter of 1548 Melanchthon informs his friend Martin Bucer that he has
substantially corrected his work, a statement which implies nevertheless
that the original structure had been retained. The most significant
corrections apparently concerned the wealth of astrological examples in
the first draft, which now, at a distance of more than 10 years, Melan-
chthon found excessive. Furthermore, by publishing his Initia doctrinae
physicae in 1549 Melanchthon may well have been hoping to forestall a
pirate edition of the first draft which, according to letters, had been
circulating for some time. This hypothesis is supported by remarks in
his letter to Bucer:
Scripsit ad me quispiam cui nomen est Morello de physicis eden-
dis que ante annos XII scripsi. Ubicumque ille est aut ubicum-
que adparatur sive Argentinae sive Lutetiae quaeso cures prohi-
bere editionem. Nam totam lucubrationem retextui et in veteri
sunt exempla astrologica quae proferri etiam typographo pericu-
losum esset22
Certainly, Melanchthon's absolute faith in the scientific nature of astral
divination had not diminished over the decade, even if, as years went by,
he felt compelled to reduce the number of astrological examples and
eliminate those which were not meteorological. He still believed un-
swervingly in the divine origin of all signs, including astrological ones.
In a letter of April 153823, in which he complained that only lack of time
prevented him from compiling a thorough defence of astrology ("con-
stitueram epistola copiosiore tibi iudicium meum de dignitate illarum
artium quae coelestes effectus monstrant exponere, ad quam lucubra-
tionem mihi aliquod vacuis diebus opus erat"), he warns that philosophy
as a whole is the real target of those denigrating astrology:
Nam qui nos calumniantur propter astrologiam, mihi crede, nihilo
sunt aequiores universae phylosophiae. Sed astute hanc partem
lacérant, cuius reprehensio est plausibilior. Saepe audio pariter
damnantes divinatricem et demonstrationem de motibus.24
Melanchthon's belief in divine forces informing natural and historical
events is also undoubtedly a mainspring of his educational programme
and his philosophy. For instance, one of the most frequently acknowl-
edged differences between the two champions of the Reformation,
Luther and Melanchthon, was the latter's insistance that human en-
deavour was important for attaining the grace of God. Melanchthon's
comments in his preface to John of Holywood's De sphaera in 1531 are

22
C.R., VII, 157, n° 4372.
23
C.R., III, 515, η» 1668.
24
Ibid., 516.

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116 Stefano Caroti

pertinent here. Besides echoing traditional apologetic ("Quis est autem

tarn ferreus, tam sine sensu ullo ut non aliquando suspiciens coelum et
pulcherrima in eo lumina intuens, admiretur tam varias vices quae
motibus conficiuntur, ne cupiat quasi vestigia illorum motuum, vide-
licet certam rationem divinitus ostensam, cognoscere?"25), Melanchthon
roundly condemns critics of astrology and, by implication, those belittl-
ing other disciplines. By finding fault with man's natural desire to
know God's works, through which His providential plans are revealed
("praesertim cum ilia cognitio admnoneat etiam nos de Deo et immor-
talitate nostra"26), such critics deny His very existence and so must be
denounced as atheists. By denying the significance of divinatory signs,
they deny divine providence and so reduce the world to the level of
material chaos and human nature, destitute of reason, to the level of
matter. This argument is a topos in Melanchthon's thought and his
target is usually those supposedly espousing Epicureanism. His attack
was not obviously confined to Epicureans of antiquity; it was also
directed against contemporary theologians:

Sed sunt nonnulli epicurei theologi qui totum hoc doctrinae genus
irrident nec solum praedictionibus fidem detrahunt, sed etiam
vitupérant motuum cognitionem, quos sinamus una cum Epicuro
ineptire.27
This uncompromising rebuttal of extreme mysticism, nourished by
Melanchthon's Christian humanism, was intended as a firm warning
against blind intolerance towards the sciences.
The preface to the De sphaera demands attention for at least two
further reasons. The first is its theological justification of science, a
justification supported by quotations from Genesis and Jeremiah, and by
an elaborate argument for the similarity of nature and prophecy: both
of which are considered by Melanchthon, though in different ways,
theophanies:
Cum igitur et natura nos exsuscitet et hortentur divina oracula
(quamquam ille etiam naturae sensus divinus quidam afflatus et
quaedam quasi Dei vox est) et magnitudo utilitatum invitet ad hanc
doctrinam, diligenter earn colere studiosi adolescentes debent.28
Second is Melanchthon's insistence on including astrology as a part of
astronomy and his disregard for arguments to the contrary proposed by
many authors, most notably Pico in his Disputationes. Without explicitly

25 C.R., II, 530-531, n° 1002.

26 Ibid., 531.
27 Ibid., 533.
28 Ibid., 532.

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 Melanchthon's Astrology 117

refuting them, Melanchthon declares himself dissatisfied with Pico's

criticisms. T h e mere fact Melanchthon launches his attack on Pico's
Disputationes immediately after his refutation of Epicureanism men-
tioned above suggests how strongly he condemns Pico's dismissal of
divination. Pico's ghost, too, compels him to a thorough defense of
astrology which occupies most of his preface and which, he claims, he
would have preferred to omit ("ut maxime alteram illam partem divina-
tricem omitamus"). After initially stressing the high scientific level at-
tained by astronomy, he comments:

Quamquam mihi ñeque Picus ñeque quisquam alius persuaserit

sidera nullos habere effectus in elementis et in animantium corpori-
bus, praeterea nullas significationes in hac inferiori natura.29

Melanchthon's hesitation here between "causing" and "meaning" does

not have theoretical significance. Preferring to leave as wide a scope as
possible for his analysis, he avoids distinguishing these two ideas which
he believes wholly compatible. More particularly, he prefers not to
distinguish them because manifestations of God's will, which governs
natural and historical events, are always concealed as natural causality.
Melanchthon's defence of astral divination was founded both on
the data of natural phenomenon (warm planets in conjunction give rise
to dry weather, cold ones increase moisture) and on the authority of
Aristotle. He quotes a passage in the Meteorologica, often cited by
Mediaeval and Renaissance advocates of astrology, in which Aristotle
explains sublunary motions are governed by circular, celestial ones.
Astrology's reputation and wide following were, supposedly, further
arguments:

Idque interpretatur consensus omnium saeculorum, quo comper-

tum est eclipses semper habuisse tristes eventus. N o n est autem
hominis bene instituti dissentire a consensu tot saeculorum. 30
T h e most delicate problem was, however, the religious propriety of
astronomy and astrology. But even here Melanchthon's response is
unfaltering. While admitting "omnia divinitus gubernari", he retains
that G o d "non tollit naturales actiones et significationes rerum". (I
doubt Melanchthon's belief in astral efficiency is entirely consistent
with the traditional distinction which he proposes between natural and
supernatural human acts - the latter concern mental and voluntary
faculties - but that need not worry us here). Astral influence affects
man's inclinations (inclinatio humana), his behaviour and, albeit indi-

29 ibid., 533.
30 Ibid., 536.

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118 Stefano Caroti

rectly, his reason, and sometimes so forcefully that he is completely

overwhelmed by his bodily constitution:
Quid enim tam receptum apud medicos est, quam τά ήθη χαί τά
πάθη corporum dispositionem imitari? Idque res loquitur ipsa ήθη
in homine bilioso existere nulla posse, sed excitari in eo immode-
ratos impetus, quasi ventos, magna et vehementia πάθη, quae diffi-
cilime possit ratio regere aut flectere.31
Differences in physical and social characteristic between geographical
regions corroborate astral influence on the sublunary sphere.32 But
astral influence on human inclinations, though theoretically tenable,
had in the past encountered many difficulties in practice, particularly
when the superiority of man's reason over his other faculties was
insufficiently stressed. In the Middle Ages even Thomas Aquinas had
faced the serious charge of having surreptitiously countenanced astral
predestination by his espousal of planetary influence on man.33
In his preface Melanchthon does not in fact insist on this kind of
superiority: when discussing miracles, he hastens to exclude from astral
causality Biblical events like the crossing of the Nile by the Isrealites,
Peter's liberation from prison and Paul's conversion. These are not
standard examples in astrological literature but Melanchthon mentions
them to refute astrological interpretations of Biblical miracles proposed
by earlier astrologers, notably Pierre d'Ailly. Melanchthon was charac-
teristically circumspect about the dangerous implications of these inter-
pretations. His belief in astral determinism was by no means blind and
uncritical.
For Melanchthon the problem of reconciling astral influences with
free will had to be analyzed more subtly. Everything was part of God's
providential plan and subject to His will, both natural events and laws,
including astrological ones. Consequently the notion that man is sub-
ject to astral influences does not exclude him from God's providential
plan because astral influences are themselves subject to God's will. By
thus reducing the distinction between natural and divine law, Melan-
chthon could avoid the materialistic implications of astral determinism,
implications entertained only by those who denied God's providence or,
worse, by atheists and Epicureans who denied the very existence of
God:

31
Ibid., 534.
32
"Si quis autem considerabit diversas regionum naturas et diversarum gentium ingenia,
quam aliam causam huius dissimiltudinis ostendere poterit quam coeli naturam?"
Ibid., 534.
33
Th. Litt, Les corps célestes dans ¡'univers deSaint Thomas d'Aquin, (Philosophes Médié-
vaux, VII; Louvain-Paris, 1963).

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 Melanchthon's Astrology 119

Sicut igitur naturae vires in aliis partibus eatenus recipimus, ne

regnum Christi tollant, ita suas vires lumini eatenus tribuimus, ne
quid de gloria Christi detrahatur, cui cum omnia subiecta sint, iure
etiam sentiendum est stellarum vires ei parere oportere.34
This supposed harmony between natural events and God's will permit-
ted Melanchthon to interpret favourably a line from Jeremiah which
Medieval and Renaissance authors usually read as an unequivocal con-
demnation of astral divination: "Nolite timere a signis coeli, quae timent
gentes". This passage is especially pertinent to the theme of our collo-
quium. Though Melanchthon's letters do not explicitly mention predic-
tions of a Flood in 1524, they are pervaded by premonitions of coming
disasters prefigured in menacing conjunctions, dire portents and omi-
nous dreams. He does not try to deny these grim prophecies; to do so
would require a denial of divine providence, the consequences of which
are more insidious than any temporal fears. Instead he believed human
suffering could only be mitigated by complete trust in God's providence
and particularly in His promise of man's everlasting salvation:
Ñeque enim negat Propheta signa esse: sed cum signa nominet
sentit ea res magnas atque tristes minari. Consolatur autem pios ne
ea metuant, non quia nihil signifícent, sed ut confidant se divinitus
inter ilia pericula tegi ac servari... Erigenda igitur mens est supra
universam hanc corporalem naturam, vel si fractus illabatur orbis,
nec patiendum ut verbum Dei, ut fiducia erga Deum nobis excu-
tiatur, qua sicut muniuntur piae mentes adversus praesentia peri-
cula, ita muniendae erunt etiam adversus inimicas astrorum signifi-
cationes.35
For Melanchthon, then, predictions based on astral and other signs,
however dire they may be, strengthen the pious man in a faith which
cannot be perturbed by even the direst prophecies. This idea is repeated
throughout Melanchthon's works and explains why he constantly looked
for forewarnings or corroborations of catastrophies, like the Peasant's
War, the dramatic fate of the Smalcaldic Confederates or the ever
impending Turkish invasion.
With the contradiction between astral divination and Christian
faith reconciled, to his own satisfaction at least, Melanchthon's conclu-
sion follows easily:
Sicut igitur aliae partes physicae non laedunt religionem chri-
stianam ita ñeque astrologia (nam hanc quoque partem Physicae
esse sentimus) officii pietati... nam illa doctrina de motibus cogni-

34 C.R., 11,535, no 1002.

35 Ibid., 535.

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120 Stefano Caroti

tionem habet gravissimam et homine dignissimam. Et si quis ad-

hibebit iudicium, intelliget alteram partem artis, divinatricem vi-
delicet, perinde esse partem Physices, sicut medicorum praedic-
tiones pars quaedam Physices esse existimatur.36
The religious propriety of astronomy and calculations of planetary
motions follow from the divine character of celestial signs:
Cum autem et hic admirabilis ordo ac positus deinde certissimae
leges cursus testentur, hoc opificium summa ratione constare, non
est consentaneum astra nullas significationes, nullos effectus ha-
bere.37
Elsewhere I have discussed the different kinds of divination found in
Melanchthon's letters38 and have chosen here to emphasize instead
their religious foundations in Melanchthon's philosophy as articulated
in his preface to John Holywood's De sphaera. The most conspicuous
feature of all, I believe, is the theological origin of Melanchthon's
conviction that natural and historical events have, besides their immedi-
ate natural and historical significance, a hidden symbolism relating
them to God's providential design for man's salvation. This theophanic
character of reality underpins both his faith in signs, even the most
ominous, and his conviction that such signs could not be be ignored
without calling God's providence into question.
These ideas reappear, sometimes developed in greater detail, in
other works, letters and prefaces - the Preface to Georg Peurbach's
Theoricae novae planetarum39 and the Dedicatory epistle to Erasmus
Ebner of his Latin version of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos*0 are just two of many
examples. For example, in the latter Melanchthon returns to the theme
of our Colloquium and attributes the rise of moisture in 1524 to a
planetary conjunction in Pisces:
In aeris et aquarum et terrae mutationibus videmus causam ali-
quam esse lumen et motus coelestes, ut in magna humiditate
qualis fuit anno 1524, propter coniunctionem multorum plane-
tarum in Piscibus, aut in magno aestu qualis fuit anno 154041
In conclusion, then, I do not think that Melanchthon's reputation as a
firm supporter of astral divination is overstated. Indeed he enjoyed the
same reputation amongst his contemporaries. In 1549, the year in which

36 Ibid., 535.
37 Ibid., 536.
38 See η. 2.
39 C.R., II, 814-821, n° 1239.
40
C.R., Vili, 61-63, n° 5362.
41
Ibid., 63.

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 Melanchthon's Astrology 121

the Initia doctrinae physicae was published, Gervasius Marstallerus

published an anthology - dedicated to another significant figure in
Renaissance astrology, the royal mathematician Oronce Fine - in which
he collected "Artis divinatricis quam astrologiam seu iudiciariam vocant
Encomia et Patrocinia". Of the authors he included the most conspic-
uous by far was Melanchthon. 42

42
Gervasius Marstallerus (ed.), Artis divinatricis quam astrologiam seu iudiciariam vocant
Encomia et Patrocinia (Parisiis: Christianus Wechelus, 1549).

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