Heaven and Earth in the Middle Ages by Rudolph Simek

Heaven and Earth in the Middle Ages by Rudolph Simek

What were the ideas held by medieval man concerning the size and shape of the earth, the extent and position of her continents? How many planets were there, and of what material was the universe constructed? What was the relationship between the sky and Heaven? How were snow, thunderstorms and comets explained? In this fascinating book Dr Simek shows that though nature was thought to be permeated by the will of God, there were numerous explanations for unknown phenomena, from crude theories of the early middle ages to the more sophisticated ideas of the centres of learned scholasticism in Paris and Oxford. He presents a cross-section of the medieval knowledge of the physical world, not just the knowledge of a single learned medieval author, but rather the sum of what was deliberated, discussed and rejected by authors from the 9th to the 15th centuries. It touches on fields as diverse as astronomy, geography, physics, botany and chemistry, showing how medieval knowledge combined scientific' explanations with others from popular mythology and folklore; importantly, it corrects the misconception that medieval man thought the earth was flat and disc-shaped, demonstrating that medieval authors always considered the earth round.

This lively and informative study surveys the medieval view of the world before ColumbusMEDIUM AEVUM Extraordinarily useful. * ARTHURIANA *

SKU	Non disponible
ISBN 13	9780851156088
ISBN 10	0851156088
Titre	Heaven and Earth in the Middle Ages
Auteur	Rudolph Simek
État	Non disponible
Type de reliure	Hardback
Éditeur	Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Année de publication	1996-11-01
Nombre de pages	176
Note de couverture	La photo du livre est présentée à titre d'illustration uniquement. La reliure, la couverture ou l'édition réelle peuvent varier.
Note	Non disponible