Abstract
This article offers the first study and critical edition of the Liber de motibus planetarum (Lmp), a neglected Latin text on planetary theory that appears anonymously and without any clear indication of date or place of origin in nine manuscripts of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. An analysis of its sources and parallels to other Latin treatises and translations from Arabic indicates that the Lmp originated in England in the third quarter of the twelfth century. A plausible terminus post quem is provided by the appearance of similar passages in the anonymous treatise Ptolomeus et multi sapientum (1145), which can be linked to Abraham Ibn Ezra and his astronomical tables for the meridian of Pisa. The Lmp would appear to be historically significant for its relatively detailed textual and diagrammatic presentations of Ptolemy’s planetary models as composed of multipart physical orbs. While it is generally accepted that physicalized or ‘orbed’ versions of these models entered Latin astronomy through the influence of Ibn al-Haytham’s Maqāla fī hayʾat al-ʿālam (On the Configuration of the World), the early history of this idea in a Latin context has not been studied to any deeper extent. In this regard, the Lmp offers clear evidence that Ptolemaic orbs and diagrams representing them already were a part of Latin astronomy three centuries before Peuerbach’s Theoricae novae planetarum (1454).
Highlights
The translation of Arabic scientific works into Latin and the ensuing Renaissance of the exact sciences in twelfth-century Europe led to such an outburst of intellectual productivity that only a small fraction of the relevant source material has ever received close scrutiny from modern scholars
In the first I shall discuss one of the most intriguing features of the Liber de motibus planetarum—or Lmp, as I shall call it: its endorsement of physicalized versions of Ptolemy’s planetary models, which are closely related to the multipart orb models described at much greater length in Ibn al-Haytham’s Maqāla fī hayat al-ʿālam (On the Configuration of the World)
In Ibn al-Haytham’s text, the term falak in used indiscriminatly to denote circles or solid orbs, the main focus is clearly on the three-dimensional quality of the planetary models and on orbs, which are described in ways similar to what we find in the Lmp
Summary
The translation of Arabic scientific works into Latin and the ensuing Renaissance of the exact sciences in twelfth-century Europe led to such an outburst of intellectual productivity that only a small fraction of the relevant source material has ever received close scrutiny from modern scholars Neglect of this sort has been especially common for anonymous texs in fields such as astronomy and mathematics, whose origin and date are often difficult to ascertain. The fourth and final part presents the nine extant manuscripts and uses their shared variants to reconstruct the Lmp’s transmission in the form of a stemma This reconstruction will inform the critical edition attached to this article
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Mediterranea. International Journal on the Transfer of Knowledge
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
