C. Philipp E. Nothaft
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198799559
- eISBN:
- 9780191839818
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198799559.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter identifies three important developments in the field of late medieval computational astronomy and discusses their influence on the calendar-reform debate. First on is the evolution of ...
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This chapter identifies three important developments in the field of late medieval computational astronomy and discusses their influence on the calendar-reform debate. First on is the evolution of astronomically ‘enhanced’ calendars and related lunar tables or almanacs, whose dissemination in a variety of forms and different languages became a central feature of astronomical culture between 1290 and 1500. Next in line are some new departures in observational and mathematical astronomy in the 1290s, which led Latin Christian authors to reconsider key questions such as the length and long-term variability of the solar year. Finally, there is the introduction of the Alfonsine Tables in 1320s Paris, which laid the basis for the gradual formation of a European-wide standard for computational astronomy, but also fostered continuing doubts about the accuracy of individual parameters and the Alfonsine theory of precession.Less
This chapter identifies three important developments in the field of late medieval computational astronomy and discusses their influence on the calendar-reform debate. First on is the evolution of astronomically ‘enhanced’ calendars and related lunar tables or almanacs, whose dissemination in a variety of forms and different languages became a central feature of astronomical culture between 1290 and 1500. Next in line are some new departures in observational and mathematical astronomy in the 1290s, which led Latin Christian authors to reconsider key questions such as the length and long-term variability of the solar year. Finally, there is the introduction of the Alfonsine Tables in 1320s Paris, which laid the basis for the gradual formation of a European-wide standard for computational astronomy, but also fostered continuing doubts about the accuracy of individual parameters and the Alfonsine theory of precession.
