Celestial Incorruptibility in Medieval Cosmology 1200–1687

Abstract

Prior to the introduction of Aristotle’s physical works into the Latin West during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, the idea of celestial incorruptibility was probably a minority opinion. It was not uncommon for scholars in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages to assume that the heavens were composed of one or more of the four elements. Since the elements were thought of as changeable entities, those who held that the whole world, including the heavens, was composed of one or more of them were committed, implicitly or explicitly, to the idea of a changeable or corruptible heaven.1 The introduction of Latin translations of Aristotle’s works during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries radically altered this tradition. A vital ingredient of Aristotle’s ‘new’ cosmology was the belief in celestial incorruptibility.