Understanding the History of Astrology Accurately: Methodological Reflections on Terminology and Anachronism

In this essay, I will use two of Roger Bacon’s

distinctive phrases—astronomia iudiciaria et operativa

and opera et verba sapientium—to build up a

picture of his distinctive configuration of the 13thcentury

map of knowledge, in which mathematics,

perspectiva and astrology are all utterly central. I will

then explore how astrology thus configured may be

used to explore Bacon’s relation to what we call science,

magic and religion, although he often understands

them differently than we do. This exploration

will include an analysis of the fundamental distinction

between terminological and conceptual anachronism.

Universally acknowledged as one of the most important

medieval natural philosophers, especially in 

England, my essay hopes to clarify areas of Bacon’s

thought that are still mired in confusion.