Maxim the Greek, Astrology and the Great Conjunction of 1524

Abstract

This article examines Maxim the Greek's polemics against astrology, with particular regard to the relatively widespread predictions of a catastrophic flood that would inundate Europe in 1524. Drawing on his diatribes against Nicolaus Bülow, the chief physician to Vasilii III, the present work seeks to highlight how Maxim's intellectual and religious stance was indebted to the philosophical worldview of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and the religious heritage of Byzantium, alongside displaying an acute awareness of Russian historical traditions. It is argued that the anti-astrological writings of Maxim the Greek provide an excellent example of the complex relationship between religion and Western esotericism at the Muscovite court in the early sixteenth century.