CONGRESS CANCELED Poets and Astronomers
Description
Medieval poets and astronomers shared an interest in the stars, and they knew it. Dante chats with philosophers about the cosmos in the Comedy while Chaucer devotes himself to its instruments. At the same time, Sacrobosco, in a text often used as an astronomy textbook in the Middle Ages, appeals to poets and takes their writings on the topic seriously. This session will focus on the intimate relationship between the two disciplines. Is there something inherently poetic about the motion of the stars, according to medieval writers? What special authority do poets have on the topic? Does the modern division between science and the humanities apply to the Middle Ages? Michelle Karnes
CONGRESS CANCELED Poets and Astronomers
Fetzer 2016
Medieval poets and astronomers shared an interest in the stars, and they knew it. Dante chats with philosophers about the cosmos in the Comedy while Chaucer devotes himself to its instruments. At the same time, Sacrobosco, in a text often used as an astronomy textbook in the Middle Ages, appeals to poets and takes their writings on the topic seriously. This session will focus on the intimate relationship between the two disciplines. Is there something inherently poetic about the motion of the stars, according to medieval writers? What special authority do poets have on the topic? Does the modern division between science and the humanities apply to the Middle Ages? Michelle Karnes