Byz Astrology 14th

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The Astrological School of John AbramiusAuthor(s): David PingreeSource: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 25 (1971), pp. 189-215Published by: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1291307 .

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T H E ASTROLOGICALCHOOLO F

J O H N ABRAMIUSDAVID PINGREE

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Note: The superscript, lower-case, letters set in the bodyof the text, in Appendix I and in Appendix II, refer to thetranslations in Appendix III (pp. 211-215). Ed.



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N 12August 1376 Andronicus V, the eldest son of the Byzantine em-peror John V Palaeologus, entered the city of Constantinople with theaid of the Ottoman Murat I and the Genoese in Pera, and besieged hisfather and his two brothers, Manuel II and Theodore, in their palace.' Thehoroscope of this event, from which we learn that Andronicus' entry into thecity occurred three and one-half hours after sunrise, is preserved on folio 25vof a manuscript now in the Biblioteca Laurenziana in Florence (Laurentianus28,16).2 In the center of the diagram is written: itnviAvryoia-rcpip' dopay' s -r's1IIprpaslrroavaTroN'sHHiou,T-ro,Sco'rr8rovu, E'iao8osEis T'v Kcova-ravrivourr6?tvT-roPamticos Kx0p

'Av8poviKOVu 70U cAaxaio6you Kxai KaT-raXE(ITI S

paCAEicas.aThe positions of the planets in this horoscopic diagram fully confirmthe dategiven in the text: ComputationorText 12 August 13763Saturn Pisces 8;26o Pisces 90Jupiter Libra 1;31 Libra 1Mars Virgo 21;22 Virgo 22Sun Leo 27;22 Leo 27Venus Leo 0;22 Leo 0Mercury Virgo 10;5 Virgo 12Moon Cancer 17;5 Cancer 17Lunar Node Aquarius 2 Aquarius 3Ascendent Libra 8 ca. 9 A.M.Lot of Kingship4 Taurus 29

Below the diagram is written the following:'O pEv Kx~poS v KoaCKC TOTCrcO-ri T-r~Oi' 6' Tp1YCOVIKOS6 SEOTn6"srTOU, TouTvo-rt1V c'AqpoSi-rl, Ev KcaNC"r6OTcpToi " eopavpVTUoucV-"catarlKaivE -rTa valpamcMa(K OTrmKaliSet&icaSvbos sS ECauTOVE'TravE0ElVoMeaxtai&VpEI6TEpov EoYEoIa.Tri8'KC8 i &cla0 O pTyco-

1 G. T. Dennis, "The Reign of Manuel II Palaeologus in Thessalonica, 1382-1387," Orientalia Chris-tiana Analecta, 159 (1960), 29. My account of Byzantine affairs from 1371 to 1386 generally follows thatof Dennis. For the history of Mitylene while the astrological school was there and the connections of itsrulers with the party of Andronicus IV and John VII, see idem, "The Short Chronicle of Lesbos. 1355-1428," AEOptCaK&,(1965), 1-24. I owe this reference to the kindness of Prof. John Barker, whoseManuel II Palaeologus (New Brunswick, N. J., 1969) should also be consulted.2 The manuscript is described in CCAG, 1;38-39. This horoscope and that on folios 24v-25 werecopied by Ismael Bullialdus in Parisinus suppl. gr. 20, fols. 118-118v; see CCAG, 8,4;75-76. (Note thatCCAG refers to the Catalogus Codicum AstrologorumGraecorum[Brussels, 1898-1953]; the number[s]before the semicolon refer to volumes and their parts, those after it to pages.)I have used B. Tuckerman, "Planetary, Lunar, and Solar Positions. A.D. 2 to A.D. 1649," Memoirsof theAmerican Philosophical Society, 59 (1964), and, for the lunar node, P. V. Neugebauer, Tafeln fiirSonne, Planeten und Mond (Leipzig, 1914).

4 The Lot of Kingship is computed by laying off from the midheaven the longitudinal differencebetween the Sun and Moon; see, e.g., Heliodori, ut dicitur, in Paulum Alexandrinum commentarium,ed. E. Boer (Leipzig, 1962), 59. As midheaven is Cancer 90 and the longitudinal difference between theSun and Moon is almost 3200, the Lot of Kingship is correctly placed at Taurus 290.



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192 DAVID PINGREEVtKOlEoTrT6X1tToi0 Kxpou, lyouv fq'Aqpo8ir Kali~ XEhi~V, v dayaO4To6Trcpr pEaou-pav?laT-r ltc ai E- f1'AqpoSiTrl Ecavqgamcv -rroEi-rat, eaillEpfav Kcal iK'v aacratoarllpaivae-q aCXiacNE,TNTjVTrE815 0 ZEjS V TcKc'OSavl-OVr'.LaAri O-rT,?IlTr)TVIVa lPErpaV TCr)CaCvlETKCaI&VCOpaaiCav-TcV3ac' a viKCoVrpaylIaTcoV EaEoeal oCrlpalvEt.ETrEL T6lETCoupxvllpa v6piots /ycaowoTo0 iot T-r0o Ai6s, yca06vailpa~ti.bThe generally optimistic twist which is given to the interpretation of this horo-scope indicates that its caster was a partisan of Andronicus IV.The astrologer, perhaps, showed more courage than did Andronicus, whoseignominious defeat on 25 May 1373 is obliquely referred to, for the patriarchalcourt during the preceding forty years had been waging violent war on magi-cians and other practitioners of the black arts, including astrologers. GeorgeTzerentzes was convicted in November 1338;5 the Patriarch John XIV Calecaswarned the clergy6and the government7of the dangers of the practice of magicin Constantinople in late 1338 or early 1339; the Patriarch Callistus I in 1350-51 rejoiced in the fact that one Amarantina had abandoned the practice ofmagic to become a nun ; and a certain Cappadoces from Thessalonica was con-demned for practicing magic in 1354.9More immediate were two famous cases tried in 1371 under the PatriarchPhilotheus Coccinus. The first, involving accusations against a number of men,including Demetrius Chlorus, who shortly before had been protonotary of "ourholiest great church of God," was considered on 12 May.o0Demetrius wasaccused of having transcribed a manuscript full of curses and appeals to demonswhich had been painstakingly assembled by him from other magical books,especially from the Coeranides. Demetrius replied that this demonology wasreally just a part of medical science, an allegation that professional doctorswere quick to deny. An older accusation against him was then injected into thetrial, the charge that he was an adherent of the heretical views of Barlaamand Acindynus, though he had abjured their errors two years previously, on15 June 1369.11 Demetrius eventually threw himself on the mercy of the court,and was sentenced to solitary confinement in the Peribleptos monastery. I havedwelt at length on Demetrius Chlorus, as one of the half dozen manuscriptsto containhis sole survivingtreatise,TTEpiro0-riTroiv is EpioaE "6v copooK6Trovroi"r1v vacE'rvacv popcavda'rtrcdars, s our Laurentianus 28, 16.12The second case of 1371 involving magic was also heard in May. At this trialJohn Exacustus, Stylianus Cleidas, and the priest Stamatinus declared thatthey were not associated with a man referredto only as Abramius either in the

5 F. Miklosich and J. Miiller, Acta et Diplomata Graeca Medii Aevi, 6 vols. (Vienna, 1860-90), 1,nos. LXXIX and LXXX, 180-82.6 Ibid., no LXXXV, 184-87.7 Ibid., no. LXXXVI, 188-90.8 Ibid., no. CXXXIV, 301-6, and no. CXXXVII, 317-18.9 Ibid., no. CLIII, 342-44.10 Ibid., no. CCXCII, 541-50; see F. Cumont, Bull. de la socidtddes Antiquaires de France (1919),175. One of Demetrius' fellow defendants, Theodosius Phudulis, promised in May 1383 never to practicemagic again; see Miklosich and Miiller, 2, no. CCCLXXVII, 84-85.11Miklosich and Miiller, 1, no. CCXLVI, 503-5.12 Folios 23v-24. This and the other astronomical texts in the manuscripts produced by the schoolof John Abramius I hope to publish elsewhere.



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ASTROLOGICAL SCHOOL OF JOHN ABRAMIUS 193letter full of evil intent which he wrote to the emperor, John V, or in his magicand curses.13 I will attempt to demonstrate below that the astrologer who castthe horoscope of Andronicus' entry into Constantinople in 1376 was none otherthan John Abramius, the scribe of most of Laurentianus 28,16; it is temptingto identify him also with the Abramius who was practicing magic against John Vin 1371.14But his identity has not yet been established. The horoscope is written in thecarefully formed script of a professional scribe. The same hand has copied onfolios 24v-25 of Laurentianus 28,16 the horoscope of the proclamation ofManuel II as emperor of Byzantium on 25 September 1373.15 This horoscopeis found also on folios 1-1v of Laurentianus 28,13,16 a manuscript copied byJohn Abramius,as was most of Laurentianus 28,16. The center of the horoscop-ic diagram in Laurentianus 28,16 bears the inscription: es~raTlov eyov6s -rrirfidyopEcEstxK0pMavouAT0rouio PacruioS 'loadvvouoOlaAaioAX6yourous,oSTrr3p lvilvrreppicq KEs' r' 'nOTSTS E(7r.4PiCsC;hat in Laurentianus8,13 bears hein-scription: c vli2Er-rpEppicpE'To0 ,5OTPrr rou~TTr' aTrijs Tis pEolippias,arefullyavoiding any reference to the dangerous fact that it is a political horoscope.The positions of the planets in the diagram again confirm the given date,except that the Moon should be at Capricorn 18;44o.

Computation orText 25 September1373Saturn Capricorn27;300 Capricorn280Jupiter Cancer 26;22 Cancer 26Mars Aries 12;28 Aries 14Sun Libra 10;21 Libra 11Venus Libra 12;10 Libra 13Mercury Libra 18;37 Libra 18Moon Capricorn8;44 Capricorn22Lunar node Pisces 2817 Pisces 27Ascendent Sagittarius 17 ca. noonLot of Fortunes8 Pisces 15;43Lot of Kingship'9 Capricorn9

13 Miklosich and Miiller, 1, no. CCCV, 560. The Patriarchal Court seems in this case (and perhaps inthat of Demetrius Chlorus) to be attacking supporters of Andronicus IV. Stylianus Cledas was con-demned for practicing magic on 22 April 1372; see ibid., no. CCCXXXI, 594-95.14The only other members of the Abramius family in the fourteenth century that I now know of area Manuel Abramius who was a witness in the trial leading to the excommunication of the Metropolitanof Philippi in 1337 (ibid., no. LXXV, 168-71) and a George Abramius who was one of many clerics whosigned a document of good faith in December 1357 (ibid., no. CLXVII, 368-75).15 The planetary positions are given by I. Bullialdus (see supra, note 2) in his commentary to Ducas'Historia Byzantina, reprinted in the edition by I. Bekker (Bonn, 1834), 555.16 Described in CCAG, 1;6-20.17Aquarius 280 in Laurentianus 28,13.18 The Lot of Fortune, during the day, is computed by laying off the longitudinal difference betweenthe Sun and Moon (here 88; 230) from the ascendent; one should, then, have Pisces 15; 230 rather thanPisces 15;43019As midheaven is Libra 100, the Lot of Kingship should be Capricorn 8; 230, for which our astrolo-ger has erroneously substituted 8;430, rounded off to 90.



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194 DAVID PINGREEBelow the horoscopic diagram the astrologer has inserted a long list of all thebad aspects that he can find:'EKlPV TCV-T'v mp rrorrlKaaPXsfpXs rrtloarllaoicovrara gpa a c7~oEilaKplVTral.'O ro0 PpoOKOTrlKOyiLC.pioVTOeTo 6Tov xuptoS 6 ZES EIS "rOvn' 6TrOovOpieO. ZE0SKI0pos&v TOJ cbpOo-K6"Touc1IaETpET-Tby Kp6vov bvK iT 'T6rcpT P'I3v-ra. Eto'8i iaElA-vavtriotl & i~Aots -rEKipltOSTOOcbpoom6"rrou6 ZE0i cxai Kiplos TOJ 3' 6 Kp6vos" taI~pET-

pooai y&p &ANjAAouS.oiKoSEor6ThS TJ70KXApov ssTXilS, youv 6 ZE0S, v T-r rl' Tor'rrcTo-ri81alE-Trpov-Triov P', Kcxi ppo-rpcv 6vrcovCivTAv T6TyV TTrcAV . 6 "AprSv0rL0 -rr6yjvcov (aKiaVCT"e"'OiO TAOS OTypaihlV. KiplOS T0O KA-XTOSV 4 KTCa-aPX1l,rouTa-rT-VKp6voS,8tWjETrp6SG-nT"rKlUpi) TOObpooTK6TIOU,'yoUV20TC)At.'EK8 T v TrEptpiacaAwfis avappi~aEOSi-rao-1aaCviKaciTaOTa q(paciCX OprlvTat jrlhea.21'O "Apls KCmo-rOTOiso1yC-iTpE TT6V "HhMOV,icai lt Trap' aipEaIV. freMiV oaivEo-rnTKp6vcp KCYOOTrot0VOnKCaiTrap' CXalpEIV.TO6 Eaoupavouv'I 5ov TpOTr1KiVV8I9OTT-rTwapOVOVvohT 5 PX'p~orarov CliaPPIov at i --pJETTpTOV.rTTO &V-ITTE OV8iaCo ov6v 8riXho poviavpv, o0i iTrapd~ovovB.1lIsEMXjVlpXETaLrTir6vKp6vov, 6 86Kp6voS OaorpiLe"'Kai i ioT -rlv &pXlv crarov. 6 "AprisKcxKorot6s&v cSae-rpETPlv "% l~aoup-vrpa, T-r-rpaycoviEt 8 -rTv bpoox6TrOV' ci 817Ao0varaXElavTv PETraclpoIv6 "Aprl 8ta-PIETPETiV AqpoSiTrmv ipiov 6vra rToCIIEaoupavijplaTo,lTISX6yOV XEii'OKEaoi6Tra E1Srilv KaTaPXv "ri avayopEJIoCs. Tr 805vov TrXa'Lov ~L8ovVv YaKoCrraiT6*T22(0OpOOTroloToij "ApEcosTETpaYCoV1KCSpoSa-T O(-)QTaTll OQIVOU23 &AKiptOSGaiouo 6 'EpCiS KaAilv0aiv24 EXEt,KCaci9lo i TOrrOijVYai KipalovTrv a&vpa. ) XAfivrloaIVEaT1r Kp6vcYcxaoTroi4o6vrt,25 Ki 8~hoi TraXETcxvl 8ta8o0Xi~v.6 "'HAosEriKEVT-rp6QTL Kat TirrrKaKOwrroioTOJ"ApECOSArrTE-rat 8a~ET-rpo0iiEVOS'"caivE oiv 6XAyoXpovt6T'lra.TO5 XpEYovEI 6i6Xyo-XpovW6T-ra -L icai o oiKoS6ear6TanrT~VC-roT, f-youvn 'Appo8irnlxai 6 Kp6vos, PAdTr-rov--rTa0r6 KaKoTroIAcv, 1pv 'AppoSi-rl irrrb0To "ApECOS, 8 Kp6vos 0Ci' EaJurojKa ET- rrITTo' "ApEcoA. 6 KiplOS TOOVcpOCF6TrOu, yOUV26 6 ZEUS,o)X11taTirE-Trat5tal~ETPplKCAS"CupiCTOi p3' r6Tro, ''youv T-r Kp6vcp Yai 8XoiT 6TiEouaiovoS 6 pXcov '680ouS oTrOil'aE1 oXXa.6 ta' 0o-r6roS ao-rat irrr6ToIJ Kp6vou TpYcov1(COIaXlCrEvTourpPVs cxb vr xaicx8KhoiTphXapyvCvOIKEiCov.f&O0 pP' 6Tou1Kxcoas 8rANhotA6PPv-rTisvrroiviso0.This dismal catalogue of portents of ill luck for Manuel could have been com-piled only by an astrologer desirous of pleasing his bitter fraternal foe, Androni-cus.The same professional scribe who copied the horoscopes in Laurentianus28,16 also penned the whole of Laurentianus 28,14,27a manuscript sharingmanyof its contents with the Laurentiani 28,13 and 28,16. Several horoscopes arefound in this manuscript too, evidently the work of the same astrologer whocast those which have been discussed above. On folios 290-290 is the horoscopeof a wealthy man, a friend of the Emperor, who was born in Byzantium on17 January 1352; and on folios 292-293 one of a noble Venetian ambassador

20 rfyovvom. Laur. 28,13.o21oel Ta om. Laur. 28,13.22 0rTr6m. Laur. 28,13.23 ClXarlT-LoLvou Trp6o


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ASTROLOGICAL SCHOOL OF JOHN ABRAMIUS 195born on 4 February 1345.28 More interesting is another political horoscope onfolios 291-292, cast beforehand for a lunar eclipse which had been predictedfor three hours after sunset on 22 August 1374.29Above the horoscopic diagramis written: OEeITOV AiEiyEcos EyovuiaL EXAVItaKrVV TE,EscorI3PAyo0iorcp p' cpa y'T-ri5-rKT6.eThe planetary positions given in the diagram again confirm the date (thedirections of the planets' latitudes are also indicated):

Computation orText 22 August 1374Saturn Aquarius 11o S. Aquarius 120 S.Jupiter Leo 15 N. Leo 15 N.Mars Virgo 16 N. Virgo 16 N.Sun Virgo 7;8 Virgo 7Venus Cancer 23 N. Cancer 24 S.Mercury Leo 27 S. Virgo 1 N.Moon Pisces 7;8 Pisces 8Lunar node Pisces 9 Pisces 10Ascendent Gemini 14 ca. midnight

Below this the astrologer gives his interpretations:('O) pooKo-rroaGAiufiboi,otKos KcaiVVKTEpiVbVpiycovOVEpIpo0, jpEpiv6v86Kp6vou,KOtivv&8Ka'r' ctpc Al6s,6ptov AppoSifs, rrp6oowrrovApEoS,OypacxAvapil3dLov-ros,-raTrEiVmopaa-raplpa~ovros. T6rros AKEIAVcoE'IxO'ESL', OIKOS 16S, 6piov 'AppoSifrS,-rrp6aow-rrovp6vouKai VUKTEplV6VplyCOVOV,Ep-lIv6v 86 "ApEco, dVilwlSolv6v,, Ocoya'Appo8irTlS,,30aTraiVo.paEppov. OeaoupavovvEV-rpovY8poX60os', oIKosKp6vou, 6ptovA6lb, "'rp6oacorovEpLpoi,crplyovov vUKrEp1V6vCEplpo, TptIv6v& Kp6vou, KOtv6v &At6s.f'OTrulviKci iKElY/lS'Hk0iou0' Xr~vSj v 'oiSIXvjaOOot yivTlTrc, rail ot TrOXS ETr'S, TrT-li-s Alp?6s T Kai I&OvemairrvvKiV6UVOiaciKaxcoaKcv- roV v86o ov KacipylEya-aTVOV.. 'ai6"Apl -rErpaycovilcov i 8ltacISTrpCv Cs ivtraaeOa-r6 L8ov'iT'S KeiyeSO 8roi rr6 tMov Kxaic4alT-rKXuaiav,TrroXXvTE Xa'x1jvTCv X6p'rO KcailEyd&ou&PXovroSTrvPXclaicov 0va-Toy. rrti18i Kxieit r6v ' T6rrovTOOOBictTroSiKellS y'yovEv, 8ri2oi KaKoocGivKctI9p63ov8EtT"r1KCpioLS&V"r alhEVTO vToaTS 0a1VOIK-EOUvvaiotopas r$os8ic, rixhEivEoS(Eiai 86 airai Oalavia, NaaaCoovitS, FapacavTrvii, Au8ia, KthxKia,la1u5ia)" 0-ri 5i9oiViKTIVTCrVVT' c-rJTCOVpV, Kc Ia&nhTaOT KayKOTrol6SApnsK ITpou I~ETa'Ep o>)31Ph3TElK~Ei.TTiEiB IL~XTTinV&rr6ppotavTiS iQKhEilECoS8XEIVrTrPCbTCoS4~ "ApEtaV/vaqi-(eral KCTXaaoa)a(a 8lIaI TpOV,- rooi OTI Yccpayai aovTacl KAci AVCaTOT iXy1acovErpo(cbTrcovKctirvplqcVic KAETirr Kcti6b&8OTCO-rtV.El oiv golrcttT6 Xp~(lcParis ~KhEKfEOSTCtIIT"SEaSK6V,S 6 MoTpo6cyyefoS?yel, lub6vKOi0cOvaovT To1S T' KT'VEO'aci ltpr6pots Olploivet el i Apu0p6v,cbso ''pactt Akyouolv,

28These two horoscopes will be found in Appendix I.29 This is lunar eclipse 3996 in T. R. von Oppolzer, Canon derFinsternisse, DenkschriftenderKaiser-lichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Math.-Naturwiss. Cl. 52 (Vienna, 1887), 364, which reached itsmaximum at 9:35 P.M. n Byzantium.30 6ppo8tT KOtV , Oqcopa OArXvrjSS.31 Lacuna of 5 letters in MS.



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196 DAVID PINGREEi?rrE8i atiTji8911S ipi TO'AvappoTllovTEaT""v, 8Thoiorloaiv Kit oVaia E tCv oc 3tPa1-AOu6vTrcorTaoleTIrle~oasX(opal.elTri&Kai6oiploS "TOo' OTKOUZeF;SvvaMrrTeTatlcKUpiC~TOO1'lT6wTOuo Kp6vcpKcTar&CXi(pCailaperpov, 8tihoi 6 0cearvEiTTl&VOpcoWOSISTOKpaToSTov PaahO XS Xp spro yEpcovKai XapaTrurvlrs. elTri&Kaci Kp6vos KupiElteTs pCoipacS 'sj EK S5iOEOS,r51oi 0aaEVEiCtSroNaS Kai XpoviouS. EITBi% 6 'EppiS bva-rco-Trp6OSi- KpioS TiSE07K &oES , T6OTEOTroTEaOle'Tal 0 8gl oi TrOo-1vTrTCoC cTaV rTos80aci' iSTOrb1p8ovTiS &KsiVECS, lyouv wiEpiTvOM priov pIfva-yaiceTaIC 8& al pepiK6VTira-To Trocv iry coPrCa wEptiTs pXasToO2E-rrTErpioU816T1TbTO1 Xivrl p0eaE1etTrOv bpOaKlTov T1S E?i'AKYCOS,rilalC TOojSAi0ipouS.(ErTaC%KC 6 KapTriSTOvirTOurrpcilpoS 816Tl ~ ;KEI1S Ev "'lX0m yEYEVrlTatI.6o'1- Kai Lcp8iov ir6aTCS'alv ol 'IX";eS,EvoTli~E~K~eXY1SiveTCa, CKai woTTraS Hpiav6~S Tp bpOO6w(oTCpavavCaTrE1 KCai OKi~rosEaTrctlv rTOiTsIX0mi,3PA&PTIali v lTra~cTOTSTOiOOiTo a 8ItTpi13Xv OSamUIVi.TI m i8 Kali6'Avapl3pdEcovvYiv) EXUA1vtoioTvTr~tflv xi'iv v 'IX0um, iEpiv32 cXTCvoToWOcarOUIVYvTariSTroi"rOS rrroKreIPva~Xcopatcs Te TroiSE 'Aair&avepCoTrouSiSXE.aS XbpcaS PeTroi-KO(T'tCl1 TV VTC'rE1TrllSEviOV Ai ylV' EiSi yap1iXEJ0 ivYr"ET") OciaXado? Kaii EVTOIS TrOTt-oTiS evll-Tralt.This long interpretation manifests hostility toward both the emperor of theRomans (John V), whose death is predicted, and toward the inhabitants ofAnatolia (the list of countries subject to Pisces is taken from Ptolemy, 'Awro-TrAEOpaTxKd&,4,4), the Turks, whose rulers, it is said, will be terrified and whosenumbers (apparently those inhabiting coastal regions) will be diminished byfamine. Again the astrologer expresses what must have been the desires ofAndronicus IV in the summer of 1374 after he had been imprisoned by hisfather and partially blinded at the insistence of the Ottoman Sultan, Murat I,a year before.It is clear, therefore, that this astrologer favored the cause of AndronicusIVat least from 1373 to 1376; and, if he is indeed identical with the Abramiuswho practiced magic against John V in 1371 (in which connection it must beremembered that the hostility between John V and his son Andronicus IV goesback at least till 1370, when the latter refused to remit to his father in Venicethe funds required for his return to Constantinople), then his adherence toAndronicus' cause must be traced back at least to the beginning of the discordin the imperial family. But he was busy with other tasks besides his practiceof magic and astrology for the claimant to the throne.In the 1360's the chief Byzantine champion of the Ptolemaic tradition inastronomy was the monk Isaac Argyrus.33Among his works are a HTpaycycTia

32 AyS MS.33 Isaac, who was born (probably in Thrace) about 1310, wrote a large number of mathematical andastronomical works, including a Computus addressed to Andronicus Oenaeotes in 1372/3 (imperfectlyedited by D. Petavius, Uranologion [Paris, 1630], 359-83, an edition reprinted by Migne, PatrologiaGraeca, 19, cols. 1279-1316); a treatise on the astrolabe written in 1367/8 (published by A. Delatte,Anecdota Atheniensia et alia, 2 [Paris, 1939], 236-53); a work on geodesy dedicated to one Colybas,

who was in Mitylene; scholia on Ptolemy's Geographyand on John Philoponus' work on the astrolabe;a treatise on square numbers; another on reducing triangles to right triangles, written in 1367/8; andthe works mentioned in the text. He is not the author of the [Tap&BoaiIs-rofsITEpamKo1j Kiav6vao seeG. Mercati, Notizie di Procoro e DemetrioCidone, Manuele Caleca e TeodoroMeliteniota, ed altri appuntiper la storia della teologia e della letteraturabizantina del secoloXIV, Studi e Testi, 56 (Vatican City,1931), 175. Nothing is known of him after 1373. The only other references to Argyri in the fourteenth



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ASTROLOGICAL SCHOOL OF JOHN ABRAMIUS 197vcOvxavovioav,n which he recomputes for the Roman calendarand the longitudeof Byzantium the tables of mean motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets givenin Ptolemy's XvwTa?tsaenpaTruialccording to the Egyptian calendar and thelongitudeof Alexandria;ndarTpaypaTeia~ovKavovicovUvvo8itKVrEKai-TaVEXT1-viaKcV, in which he performs the same transformation for Ptolemy's tables ofthe syzygies of the luminaries. The epoch of both these works is 1 September1367.34In Laurentianus 28,14, on folios 18-30v is an anonymous astronomical trea-tiseentitledt&uvvTr60PCvVPEalsKCTa ToVL-)TOUIPEVOV'PcopC(fK6VfvaQCOOEvtTCapIVOUETOUSov TETWTOUCiTrOXp6vouTCOVuv68vCV KCiTCV WOCViaEXvcov.hemethodsand the tables of the bulk of this treatise are taken directly from the twoworks of Argyrus mentioned above; but the author refers in chapter fifteento the date 10 June 1374,which began the year 776 of the Hijra, and in chaptersseventeen and nineteen discusses the astronomical details of the lunar eclipse of22 August 1374, for which the horoscope mentioned above was cast. Moreover,the epoch for the planetary tables in this work is 1 March 1376. The authoris very cautious in referring to his source; in Laurentianus 28,14, where hisname should appear, the scribe has left a blank space; and in the only othercopy of the anonymous work, Vaticanus gr. 208,35one finds a grudging referenceto ris TrovoIpa laa KT6 oX ia c ovaX6s.His reluctanceforthrightly o name IsaacArgyrus may be due not only to professional jealousy, but also to political ani-mosity; for in 1372/3 Isaac had dedicated his Meo0oi hoylKCaiiltaKCvKCxiEAlivia-Kcov O'Acovo Andronicus Oenaeotes,"6whose adherence to the cause of John Vand Manuel II is indicated by his having acted as John's ambassadorto Venicein 1362,37 by his correspondence with Manuel's friend, Demetrius Cydones,between 1369 and 1371,38 and by his continuing friendship with Cydones tillat least 1374/5.39If political allegiance prevented the author of the anonymous astronomicaltreatise from clearly acknowledging his model, Isaac Argyrus, it may also ex-plain the peculiar nature of his work. As Isaac represents the orthodox Ptol-emaic tradition in astronomy that goes back to Manuel Bryennius, TheodoreMetochites, and Nicephorus Gregoras, the so-far nameless astronomer crit-century that I have found is an Argyrus, archon of the churches of the clergy of Aenus, who was sued,together with his son, by John Manclabites on 28 May 1325 (Miklosich and Miiller, 1, no. LXIII a,132), and Nicetas Argyrus and Manuel Argyrus who both signed the declaration of December 1357(ibid., no. CLXVII, 368-75).34The manuscripts of these two works available to the anonymous astronomer were Vaticanusgr. 208, fols. 5-11; Marcianus gr. 324, fols. 43v-45v; and probably Marcianus gr. 323, fols. 287vff.35 Described in CCAG, 5,1;63-64; the anonymous work is on folios 13ff. At the bottom of folio 15vis the note: pi? ri 1piv iqmraulo1c 8t-h-r&o0 'Apyipov Kav6vla iv XPEsi 6&rrouvEi roirTCOvyEvopIvos, &AAd~K&(KaIVOVKCaToOISKC(Tr'O(jTbVEoXcO 1 1PjIvi EOate raT-rTEIVOlva v"Tois &vayKayOrOipolISKcl V VuEVO08:iEXP1v ipPCAVEilvac."r6TTr-v yap iv "oTr-oaiT)a'.aLOVE'atdmr6vuo'v, cSKca-i rrv -rcvKcvVX&v1 "raTrEivcoo'ilKi'raa-0a(rETalK l c "rrEpiT6v7rXT1IcfoVrntO-rpoq.36 See supra, note 33.

37 R. Predelli, Diplomatarium Veneto-LevantinumII, Monumenti storici pubblicati dalla R. Deputa-zione Veneta di Storia Patria, I, 9 (Venice, 1899), 82-85.38 Dme'trius Cydones. Correspondance,ed. R.-J. Loenertz, 2 vols., Studi e testi, 186 and 208 (VaticanCity, 1956-60), 1, epist. 36, 68-70.39Dimitrius Cydones, 2, epist. 141, 10-11.



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198 DAVID PINGREEicizes this tradition on the basis of the Islamic astronomical works introducedinto Byzantium by Gregory Chioniades and popularized by George Chryso-cocces;a4in fact his manuscripts contain as a representative of this Islamictraditionthe TTcapaC8ooiITro S TfEpa1KoY;Sav6vas,apparently composed n 1352/3as a first draft of the third book ofTheodore Meliteniotes' 'AaTpovoI


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ASTROLOGICAL SCHOOL OF JOHN ABRAMIUS 199founder, the astrologer of Andronicus IV, and continuing into the first decadeof the fifteenth century.We have mentioned before our theory that the astronomer and astrologer ofAndronicus IV was John Abramius, the scribe of Laurentiani 28,13 and 28,16.It is the latter manuscript that will provide furtherclues allowingus to strength-en our hypothesis. A poem on folio 2v of Laurentianus 28,16 informs us thatJohn Abramius finished copying it in 1382; the marginalia, also in his hand,include comments which indicate that he continued to use the manuscript forprofessional purposes until at least 1390.On folio 151, to the text's statement that the Sun's lordship of a tetartemo-rion indicates the love and friendship of kings, Abramius remarks: &d~?AeisiSo-pEvyey6vaC v "r7BVuC.avri8"rpj'mS'Cw rl2rtwi "riisPacrtaiXEalcOwvouvvaOC-AXatoX6youKl TcovarTroIuviV MCvoUiKaiiAv6poviKou.hhis clearly refers to a reconciliationbetween John V and his second son Manuel II on the one hand and John'seldest son Andronicus IV on the other in the year 6888-that is, between1 September 1379 and 31 August 1380. Such a reconciliation at this time isdifficult indeed to imagine. Our scanty sources are usually interpreted as in-dicating a civil war between the two parties beginning in June 1379; a trucebetween the Turks, who supported John V, and the Genoese, who sup-ported Andronicus, was arrived at in April 1381, and a peace treaty betweenJohn V on the one side and Andronicus IV and his son John VII on the otherwas signed in May 1381. The terms of this treaty deprived Manuel II of hisright to the succession first affirmed on 25 September 1373, and led to hisestablishment of a "New Empire" at Thessalonica which lasted from 1382 till1387. The scholium may mean that an accord between John V and his twosons had been arrived at unofficially in 1380, but that Andronicus' allies, theGenoese, had insisted on the exclusion of Manuel from the succession to thethrone. Manuel's trip to the Ottoman court immediately after the treaty ofMay 1381 may, then, have represented an attempt to persuade the Turks tosupport his claims against those of Andronicus.On folio 123 is found another interesting scholium of Abramius:43 ETOVS,s'Oq8PlTvi clavvovapicp ' Kia-r&ilv 3' TpiCopOvYVErTOKAElyllsHMiovKaTr"rbvAiyoKipcoTa,KmihoSSatvrldpCauvp6s.icibvTrosoEO v 'AXE~avSpEirrcap&"oiP0aoipa~oscaErcraXtvov cWvisicarpuWGvi&tSvEiv,OUTrcoOp Sv6"srAEOVO6v'ro,a"rfKiKarrav~orMc-rr&roiXlovX-T"rvovuAwp~ xsc0roi pyas Kai rr2irpca,TrocbvKc-rx "r"xrSEfOVsic) II-r&KcIi"r v O7r'a"r6v, TrpooKaoIcopEvoS r6irr6v is Tr6IOV' 6 8 OCp'rpIOoS0OpUvie0.i On examiningthis interesting account we first recall that the solar eclipse of 1 January 1386was the last of the eclipses for which dual computations were made on folio 33Vof Laurentianus 28,14.44Secondly, we remark that John Abramius' qualifica-tions as a physician (which make him even more comparable to GregoryChioniades and George Chrysococces) are also attested by his having copied

43 Previously published by G. Mercati, Scritti d' Isidoro il cardinale Ruteno, Studi e testi, 46 (Rome,1926), 98 note 1.44 This eclipse is no. 6178 in von Oppolzer's canon of solar eclipses (as in note 29, supra, 248-49);its maximum was at 12:14 P.M. in Alexandria, which is indeed in the second three-hour period ofdaylight. The longitude of the Sun was Capricorn 200o.



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200 DAVID PINGREEthe medical manuscript Nanianus gr. 247 (now Marcianus App. Cl. V, 13) on18 September 1376.45The revolt of the Amir against the Burji Mamlak Sultan,Barqfiq (1382-89 and 1390-98), is also of historical interest. But most fascinat-ing is to speculate on the identity of the pacalOEVswho despatched JohnAbramius to Alexandria in the fall of 1385 to purchase medicines.It is difficult to discover the state of health of John V or that of membersof his court in this period, though he was certainly an old man. His son Manuelwas apparently in good health, and, in any case, was busy defending the wallsof Thessalonica against the Turkish forces. Andronicus IV had died after ashort illness on 28 June 1385 in Selymbria, but his son, later John VII, con-tinued to hold court there under the aegis of the Ottoman ruler. In view of thenext scholium which we shall examine, I believe that it was John VII or amember of his court who was so ill in late 1385 that it was felt necessary to sendAbramius to Egypt.This scholium s foundon folio 153:46EITBOVv4O 1rfikp"CPWo0ATropaIapKaiTroJ-rTOv EJpo1Sv -r7 T0 TouS Evaihcayf,Tv Kxp1ov ro0 PEoupavpcilVa1roSTv K1iplovTOi cbpoaK6TIOUTraCUyov1 &vacroiovra, i Tlr1 LvT4 pEaovpavilpcat TriS vahxayiisKcKOTrOlbSvaTroSiLwv,orlTpaivEl1a8o0Xiv. 1b Kai WrapcTpTlrov"TrapETipfi0rlKci 05.T-c yap ,s'coiqmrTELaT-rTriv icapivr]va1EpiavCmEaovp&va 'lX0JESa', 6 KiplOSTOOTovZEUSEv rro5' T6mrcp rrroTo5ilCv' 'Kvci 881E8ol"'KpioskI&VVs acrxIAE0S rTAtCXalOb6yoS.The quotation probably comes from the MVaTilptaof Abfi Ma'shar preserveduniquely in Angelicus gr. 29,47 a manuscript copied by Abramius' pupil Eleu-therius Elius, whom we shall discuss below; unfortunately I have not yet locatedit in that vast, unpublished text. The astronomical conditions noted in thescholium were satisfied on the day of the vernal equinox of 6898, that is on12 March 1390; for Jupiter was beginning to retrograde in Sagittarius 40, and,if Pisces 160 was the midheaven, Jupiter in Sagittarius 40 was in the sixth place.But most important is the mention of the succession of the pactaOs John VII,which obviously refers to his brief usurpation of power in Byzantium from14 April to 17 September 1390. This passage proves that Abramius, if he isthe astrologer who cast the horoscopes mentioned above, remained loyal tothe house of Andronicus IV from 1371 or 1373 till at least 1390.The last bit of evidence supporting the thesis that the anonymous astrologerand astronomer was indeed John Abramius is found on folio 275 of Lauren-tianus 28,16. This contains a catalogue of thirty fixed stars that were used ingenethlialogy, copied by Abramius directly from folio 130v of Vaticanus gr. 208,the manuscript from which the anonymous astronomer derived his knowledgeof Isaac Argyrus' two HTpayIclaeiat vcov KavoviCOvand in which his own treatiseis transcribed (the catalogue is also found on folio 275 of Laurentianus 28,14)."4

45 G. L. Mingarelli, Graeci CodicesManu Scripti apud Nanios Patricios VenetosAsservati (Bologna,1784), 438. It is noteworthy that this manuscript, like that which Demetrius Chlorus is alleged to havewritten, contains excerpts from the Coeranides;see C. O. Zuretti in Cataloguedes manuscrits alchimiquesgrecs, 2 (Brussels, 1927), 263-78.46 Previously published by Mercati, Scritti, 97 note 2.4 See infra, note 54.4s See Appendix II.



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ASTROLOGICAL SCHOOL OF JOHN ABRAMIUS 201The main difference is that the longitudes of the stars in Vaticanus gr. 208 arecomputed for 1329, while John has recomputed them for 1389. His procedureis described in a lengthy marginal note:

'lo-rEov6rTi0l TroiJo7rorrmavEIs~rYpEs S IT6v04$nTosai0p SOKEI iVOUVTrciCI7&TT ipolipaV, yOVVAETr-aAL"SEVrEpaaT'ETOS,KacTO' C ETOSITTopyIaisOKEiKp1PCo-K6i7T rEPiWpl S aIjGOV lVfIaECOS,pl(OiKlVEIoaCIlOV7OUSlV l TlV IoiTpav ~SXp6vousS-,49 CbSKlVE~iaOcIlKCiT' ETOSEKcxaOTOV0ToV AETTr"a BETEpa vs" KaCiTpi ra}ky'" 'yl'Ta.pacy E Kali 00EO, 6TT071'jK ETToyioaio TOrp TICS VKVKKVO"'ECOSa


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202 DAVID PINGREEin A.D. 137 was Libra 180; at the Islamic rate of precession its longitude in 1389would be Scorpio 6;560, very close to Abramius' Scorpio 6;48o.After this examination of Abramius' prowess as an astronomical observer,we must turn to his abilities as an editor of astrological texts. For the manu-scripts copied by him and the other members of his school are of extremeimportance because of their preservation of rareastrological as well as astronom-ical treatises. In Vaticanus gr. 208, folios 133-225v, are found the followingworks: Ptolemy's 'A'roTEXEr~oaTlK,50the pseudo-PtolemaicKap'r6s,51and Ptole-my's TlEplTro~cov -rcvoV ravcovcowv.52The first two works n the sameorderandin the same recensions are found on folios 297-357v of Laurentianus 28,16; allthree works appear in the same order and in the same recensions on folios 156-199v of Marcianusgr. 324, 3 a manuscript apparently belonging to the school ofJohn Abramius, and on folios 279v-334v of Angelicus gr. 29,64 of which thecopying of the first 152 folios was completed in Mitylene on 24 July 1388 byEleutherius Elius, who was evidently John Abramius' associate, and probablyhis pupil. The texts of the 'AroTE-rAEa-rlK and of the Kap'r6sn these manu-scripts represent peculiar recensions in which both the grammar and the logicof the order of the presentation of technical material has been subjected toalteration, and in which some interpolations appear. The editor of these recen-sions appears to be John Abramius himself.Most of the manuscripts of Abramius' school also contain a vast compilationentitled 'EKT-VH'ataioVOS TOOOTl O3aioV rOT-re?oI.axcvrlKvKaciT~p-rpwvaatcv. It isfound in Marcianusgr. 324, fols. 49-147v; in Laurentianus 28,13, fols. 99-240;in Laurentianus 28,14, fols. 34-177v; and in Laurentianus 28,16, fols. 108-255.This work is a compilation, apparently made by Abramius, of excerpts primar-ily derived from the 'Aro-rEXEracricxK&f Hephaestio of Thebes, from the severalworks of Theophilus of Edessa, and from the iatromathematical collectionpreserved, inter alios, in the eleventh-century manuscript, Laurentianus 28,34.55 A comparison of the excerpts from Hephaestio with the original text ofthat author demonstrates that Abramius has felt free to make extensive chang-es, omitting long passages, adding many others, and altering both the ex-pression and sometimes the contents of a large number of passages. Only thefact that the manuscript tradition of the original text of Hephaestio's workis so poor makes Abramius' extracts useful.It is much more dangerous to depend on him when his manuscripts alonepreserve a text. The enormous EioayoyAi Kal0EhlOV ElS"TV -raTpOOyiav in fourbooks, ascribed to Ahmad the Persian, is one such work. The principal copy of

soEds. F. Boll and E. Boer (Leipzig, 1940); Abramius' recension is family y.51 Ed. E. Boer (Leipzig, 1952); Abramius' recension is family y.52 Ed. I. Heiberg, Claudii Ptolemaei... opera astronomicaminora (Leipzig, 1907), 70-106; Abra-mius' manuscripts are part of family A.3 Described in CCAG, 2;4-16.54Described in CCAG, 5,1;4-57. Two rhetorical manuscripts transcribed by Eleutherius are boundtogether in Vaticanus gr. 899. Folios 1-60v were copied on Rhodes and completed 8 August 1393;folios 98-118 were copied on Euripus (Euboea) and completed 15 February 1382. See A. Turyn, CodicesGraeci Vaticani Saeculis XIII et XIV (Vatican City, 1964), 171-72.55 Described in CCAG, 1;60-72. The excerpts from Hephaestio are edited as Epitoma IV in vol. 2of our forthcoming edition of Hephaestio.



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ASTROLOGICAL SCHOOL OF JOHN ABRAMIUS 203it that we have is Marcianusgr. 324, fols. 202-280, though fortunately a largeportion of it is also found in the sixteenth-century Ambrosianus C 37 sup.,fols. 18-136v, and much of the original Arabic survives. On folios 152v-279 ofAngelicus gr. 29, which, as we have seen, was written by Abramius' pupilEleutherius Elius, is found another compilation put together fromthree sources:the 'EKTcv 'HyariovosTOi0 paloud~WTErEoTK~C V Ka TCPO-rpVrwaXai(CvromMarcianus gr. 324, fols. 49-147v; the Etfaycoyi of Ahmad from folios 202-280of the same manuscript; and a collectaneum of the eleventh century which is atleast partially found in Laurentianus 28,14, fols. 170-315. In connection withthis last source it is noteworthy that it was apparently Laurentianus 28,14, fols.34-212 that Eleutherius copied in TaurinensisCVII 10, fols. 7-73v, a task whichhe finished in Mitylene on 28 March 1389. From these facts we can concludethat Abramius and his pupil Eleutherius were in Mitylene in 1388/9; one sus-pects that they were there during much of the time that Constantinople wascontrolled by the enemies of Andronicus IV and John VII.Eleutherius' manuscript Angelicus gr. 29, in its first 152 folios, containsthree importanttexts. On folios 1-9 is the 'ETrrlooXE'K8oEdaaTorapa TOO0oou8i0ouKCai yiou PacmMocSootTooppupoyEvvirov Kupoi MavouMATo0 Kolv voQ,56 n which theEmperor defends the practice of astrology. This was a treatise that should haveinterested John Abramius as an astrological advisor to Andronicus IV; andindeed we find it on folios 312-315v of Marcianus gr. 324 as well as on folios19-21v of John Chortasmenus' Vaticanus gr. 1059, which we know to haveclose connections with Abramius' Vaticanus gr. 208.Folios 10-91 of Angelicus gr. 29 contain the unique exemplar (save for someapographs57)of the 'Arwo-rTEatoxt1Khios rajvvUa-rrpicovof Abfi Macshar, a workto which Abramius frequently refers in his marginal scholia in Laurentianus28,16. The Mva-ripta consists of three books: the first is collected from various ofAbfi Macshar's works, the second is a Greek version of the Mudhakaratof hispupil Shadhan, and the third is a shortened recension of his Madkhal al-kabir.Fortunately the Arabic originals of these works survive and provide a check onEleutherius' text.We are not so fortunate with regard to the next work, on folios 91-152 ofAngelicusgr. 29. This is inscribed:'ATroT-rEXEaprtK1fiphosro0 lTT&Xou,nd con-tains a number of fragments of Hellenistic astrological texts mixed in with

s6Edited by F. Cumont in CCAG, 5,1;106-25.57 Folios 1-152 of Angelicus gr. 29 were copied twice in the fifteenth century; the manuscripts areLaurentianus 28, 36 (102 fols.) and Ambrosianus B 38 sup. (146 fols.). Moreover, Leningrad Bibl. Acad.Sci. XX. Aa-II, fols. 194-201v (a manuscript once at Iviron on Mt. Athos) was copied from it in 1448,and Bononiensis Bibl. Univ. 3632, fols. 272-73 and 280-81 and Oxoniensis Barocci 94, fols. 68-75vwere also transcribed from it in the fifteenth century. From this last manuscript were copied Vindo-bonensis hist. gr. 122, fols. 33-43v in the sixteenth century and Leiden Voss. gr. F 9, fols. 1-8v in thesixteenth or seventeenth century. In the early sixteenth century Angelicus gr. 29 belonged to George,Count of Corinth, in Venice, where it was three times copied by Nicolaus Murmuris, a scribe from

Nauplia, in the Morea, in the employ of Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza from 1541 to 1543 (see C.Graux, Essai sur les origines du fonds grec de l'Escurial [Paris, 1880], 190 and 266-67). The threemanuscripts are:1. Laurentianus 28, 33 (314 fols.). The copying was finished on Friday 16 February 1543.2. Vaticanus gr. 1057 (170 fols.). The copying was finished on Tuesday 20 February 1543.3. Scorialensis (Q.I. 5, fols. 210-382. The copying was finished on Friday 23 March 1543.



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204 DAVID PINGREEmaterial derived from Arabic. The name Palchus also raises a question aboutthe alleged authorship, as it occurs in only one other place: in a catalogue ofbooks included in the Mudhakarat of Shadhan, and therefore in the second bookof Abfi Macshar's MuTripta. In the original Arabic he is called simply tarjumanal-Balkhi-the translator from Balkh. Palchus, then, is not a nomenpersonae,but a nomen ethnicum indicating the city from which the unnamed author isalleged to have come.But the compendium ascribed to Palchus, as noted before, is a mixture ofHellenistic and early Byzantine texts with Greek translations from the Arabic;it could not be due to anyone from Balkh, but only to a man, such as Eleutheri-us, who had access to both genuine early Greek texts and Byzantine trans-lations of Arabic texts. That Eleutherius did indeed compile the work anddeliberately attribute it to the non-existent Palchus is demonstrated by thefact that some of the chapters which appear in this compilation ascribed toPalchus are taken directly from the eleventh-century compendium which hehad also used in compiling the material on folios 152v-279 of Angelicus gr. 29.The pseudo-Palchus has been regarded as one of our most important sourcesfor the history of Greek astrology under the Roman Empire; it is now apparentthat its information must be treated with extreme scepticism until Eleutherius'sources and methods of editing can be fully studied.Now we must turn to the final member of Abramius' school, a man knownonly as Dionysius, who evidently studied under Eleutherius. On folio 26 ofLaurentianus28,16 is founda TirtToJoS Oo80SowEpiTro E0pIlKEI(VTOV Hhtov V Trolycpco Kal v wToi( IoipgoKcaiAETI-rO'nPXEt"i0eo80s'EAeuOEplouO1 Io0i 8is8atoK&VoVAtovvciov.There follow on folios 26-26v, written by the same hand, chapters onfinding the longitudes of the Moon, the five planets and the ascending node; allpresuppose the use of the so-called "Persian Tables" of George Chrysococces.The same hand is observed again writing various parts of Berolinensis gr.173.58 Dionysius has copied many chapters of Chrysococces' 'Ei'ynoason folios75-80v, 122-122v, and 127-129v. On folio 121 he has copied the horoscope castat the beginning, evidently, of a journey on 12 April 1396.59 On folio 123 is a

58 Described in CCAG, 7;48-63.59 Above the diagram is written: ETrouV58A Iv51KT1ovos 8' 'ArplhXiou 1p'pcT'rot1S T EPI -ra?EtSiou.Theplanetary positions confirm the date:

ComputationforText 12 April 1396Saturn Scorpio 19;320 Scorpio 200Jupiter Gemini 3;47 Gemini 3Mars Aries 16;32 Aries 17Sun Taurus 0;51 Taurus 1Venus Taurus 16;38 Taurus 17Mercury Taurus 11;5 Taurus 7Moon Gemini 19 Gemini 19Lunar node Capricorn 11;31 Capricorn 11Ascendent Gemini 5 ca. 8 A.M.Lot of Fortune Cancer 24Lot of Travel Pisces 9Second Lot of Travel Aries 16



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ASTROLOGICAL SCHOOL OF JOHN ABRAMIUS 205text which begins: ~prjpopopiOresic!) rrap&Tro tSaoxK6ou ovUKupoG EXEueEpiourrapeAXovoCaaXEIIS 'HHXou i~jykyovEv v ETE(,Isco>)q, KaTa8XE "TT'pcaS , EXcov (sic!)6 TppacsxKrj KCaT'aTxpCca, KCaTx8 "EAAvaSc'AswpiANtos e'.1 The date of this solareclipse is in fact 5 April 1391, an eclipse which we have seen previously at thehead of the list on folio 9 of Laurentianus 28,14. But the details of the twonotices do not strictly coincide, a circumstance most probably due to the factthat one is computed with Ptolemaic parameters, the other with Islamic. Onfolio 123v of Berolinensis gr. 173 Dionysius has computed the latitudes of theplanets on 28 April 1396.But Dionysius' most interesting statement in this manuscript is found onfolio 138 as an addendum to what Loenertz has called the Chronicon breveThessalonicense:60VET1' , t Vi0lou'IcpK1(T'lpq S"EViKBrpEVTovivpXa'5-r AVu-pav KaT Kp&TO, KaEiTIhEVr5 arov rr6htEIS aCXC'opa?li Ah trlo'Ev 0 rT5, TrEKa ydo6 AIovio'too EipirIv TrrlvTIKca-rav KcovOcrav-rtvovurr6AEL'atiESov 0calaa ?vov, wncoS rrcavyovo KaiEvoSKia ocrcraE aev qVy&SvKcovarTaVT1vovur6AE1.r6OrEdp KaiyEyoVEvCatE6s6KE'CSCsyaCS,atKXpauV5TEaEvv TiTEp(IOV TTS11EPIPTIATO,iciKau~EVaiMEEiK6VaSCirroaSx6ai &&Aa Trv, Kal TrxyVvavXv trreplKqcpaXaia;ayouv 1K


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206 DAVID PINGREEAPPENDIX

The heading of the horoscope on folios 290-91 of Laur. 28,14 is simply: VUKTrEpIVWV~ls,but to the side is written: rlyoqoopia yEyovuia rri'T rooi8ai Buvavwriou rapaAA?ov -rC ,S'oA)rstiAv&vli clvvovapiw iL' pp~paEr oprupiav la'.n The positions of the planets in the horo-scopic diagram confirm this date.Below the horoscopicdiagram (in which the longitudes are given only to the nearest minuteand the latitudes areomitted) the positions of the planets are repeated: 'HAov rroXilYSpoX6oupolpa ~ E' " vy"' KS).* ?: hiTVoXl i 'YSpoX6o0 poTpal EK' 4p" VS"') , TrCrOS8elvo-rias Kac-rap'aEWosAvaopdipovwrosEtrroXiTcapov voTpal KE W'-KacraPlpd(Lovro~;1noXilXKOpiTiOUoipal62Ki~ ' Kp6vou ~TroXiTacpov loipat y L' KO",TXA&roS6-rov P K ' Iln""A~6s~roXi TTapOevouvoipat Ka U V",TArXa'rS pOVpo ' KS"""ApeasTrroXhZuyoGplotpatK Aull'VS",TArXTOS 6pEIov p ' va"" 'AqpoSi'rrls TroX1'IXc0 poloipaQm tl' Ay", "rr7XdroSp6peiov a AS'K4"" cEppCo Xrroyx AiyoKxpcOroSpoipci vaIV', TrX'CoSP6pIov p 1K' K ".0The positions of the planets are:Computation orText 17January 1352

Saturn Taurus 3;37,290 2;22,480S. Taurus 30 2;210 S.Jupiter Virgo 21;7,50 1;44,24 N. Virgo 20 1;27 N.Mars Libra 23;38,56 1;42,51 N. Libra 24 2;14 N.Sun Aquarius 5;35,0,53,26 Aquarius 5Venus Pisces 15;47,33 1;34,22 N. Pisces 14 3;16 N.Mercury Capricorn10;51 2;25,28 N. Capricorn10 1;8 N.Moon Aquarius 5;28,42,56,16 4;39 S. Aquarius 5 3;43 S.Lunar node Taurus 27;9 Taurus 27Ascendent Libra 18 ca. 11 P.M.Lot of Fortune Libra 17;54

On folios 290v-291 the following interpretation is given:'O Kp6vosK~iprrai~vrau8a a qrTlS 1rESil6 (PcPETIK8 AOT'TT"rncrp, Ct) SUVTKr.KvTpCrp,Kac TI Trpb V V1~oTr1oiv V' 6yOvXEo OtKOSECoTTroTfaS6 rEy&p 'Y8poX60ooTK6Sa-ri 7-ro Kp6vou Kai TpiyCovov,xKai t 1 goipal TriS~TroXiisafj-ris 6pa8 slat -ro Kp6vov),6p.oioosSi K~aiTnpObSVy~-yOVUiV 1'cVoav)1VOVTTS )4yOVSV ~V4TOAIyoKpco-rToTKos pKp6vouKai6 AIy6KEPCOS).vcaipiTi 8 orTiV v-rTaiOa-rUTKS6v KVwrpov"rMEliS1&9~Ts &V- rUTIKrE-rap'rrlLMopplpcS/pKT6aI. xai rTli'TiB 1rinTOG KpioI bv ri7-Vb6UTIK6VKiVTpovtrapKn


20/28

ASTROLOGICAL SCHOOL OF JOHN ABRAMIUS 207Kai yfvov-rat 61o0ioXp6vot v0 ItCa'.KaCiKa-rcaoyifovTQal Picbatia ~ v- Kal I.fVES i KKai l-pa 5s.64arT7r6v Hqclawrikova,65 I.&xRov8~ &o05v pXato'r&drovurv Atyurrric v) ETr 6 Cbpoo-K6wTos s w1apop0ols yEVEECo&v 70 pi' 8EKav0p piratl 0ro Zvyo0, Xapwp6s Kai WToo'IOKai &pXOVTIKrixTrI-Ovl 0 MV yEVGEITcxOTI),CI KiYo Sra-rpiTiiOS 'T'o XPAT-oraTsAlYlCpaxripEsU CoroEaV l' Aver00' i~EI' v 7r0'p' v r6O8'i' rv-r0Xy'?vrC vO'.

OiKoSEGorr6-riTSroU pooxK6wou~i'Aqpo8ir'"rsnAirvns 8' oiKo8Eo-r6TTs 6 Kp6voS'Kai cratvEv "ro cbpooK6rrcA "Apns, oiKoSW-rroTSt8E c0roii0r 'Appo8iT'-r Kai EUTcav "Aprns v "rc~Zuyvy, i 8' 'Aqpo8i'-rl v 'lX0m 0-roC 8BApoOKOWrrToIK~ESiouTo0Zuyoc -ra' ItocaKpaEscbsEcrt t-ro Kp6vou Kci -ro "ApecoS.66 acKrovrTcovTarVov 8TiKv-rr V ESKpTo EXEtVovYEVVCI)PSEVOVCaa TflY O coO E'lYaCi'Tl"V lhKioV OaIL'EEpOVKxciEppvOptov Elvatt iar6 cbpoo'Ko-rr'KiV6ov o rv Zvy6v.'O KAXipos ils -n'XlS v Zuy'o, 9v Eo-rtKCai "ApIs"&AXX'pv Zuy6SoTIK6&-rt ri-'Aqpo8ir'rs, ?i 86 cbpooKrr1K ioTpoipa8pIaA165. 8~1 roOTOKai "rroXXolSEl qI'IovU. TwEKati6 'Eplis o-XiclarIl .tv -r6vKxAipov"rij5 rXs -rarpaypovIK, "rilv8 'Aqpo8i'rrv iayo-VIKCA,8 hoT +ltprropias 7EptEoaEO0uat aCr TpIV KT1TIK'1VrX)11v.Kai 6 Kp6vos8i0tla0'rp&v r6vKAijpovT"ris IOX5lKXpovopiasldoraT av-rU"TrEpITrOtiTItK65.KaiTrrlEilcVE "AprnsbpOO'KOrsi,Bi8&Aqpoi'rrT1uVPIEEI OToi, KaCi tqp&r6EpoiTESVVKTEpIvoioxai i~rTCsa "riv yiveaivalpiEoes, n


21/28

208 DAVID PINGREE"n'OoXaporrotois.69Ti lEXIlvn E -i TOV pOO-KOT1KO'UCpSiouTuXOoaa O1.ippESTpovjiltKIqKaiTiK p&aeTyp6-Epov ETeMT8r1aCvyc0poTEl.'Evrrc-aa 6 "HXtosKkKpiTal&a(pTIhs TE O'6 v "yEvEaIv JIEplwIVIvalCCaI rv e"HXOVv

yeI'K T61rrcTUVXEV "T lOPECTOVpavIll.aTi.CaEITEl PMETcaTrij;p'EoupavoOalrS lpoIpas,T1-rSToriv? a'701o 'Y8poX6ou,Kci T' cbpooKoOirro0 a%TiV& prrS,yivE-rat" &q(is EISr&gn6oEva KaTa &KTriVOpoMdav.ici TrawrCViv 6 Kp6vosacopaTiKcos'Hric4v v roistnolvots Av -&HI0rooaTroi Lc~8iouvc~ 'HicpH&aX' V yivETatl avaclp~rl ElKcl KKorOn0ot6OSEO-rTvbTnEt81EV OlKC)TE5itcA) 0oTi KCi TplycVCv KiKx pio'i. 866LT'yricvaaTrSvapTkrrlv AovoVXEOpop~EVIp~lTV TO o SpoVKE8','TTpaCycVOV8iao'raoiv rpp6s6v"HXiovKCiKEKa-KCOI.LPVlvreI1i A 6pioIs KCKOTroloVI Tov Kp6voVKaliWO"T'B0EV6STrV &yaIeoW~lToIOeopEiTOra. KalIrrEi ' T pvivToe CHXioupoipa -rrapdKev-ral rrirTOKavovioU T'iHpvOfS o'pai-pas Xp6vol IoTtlpPevol iZ Xy', 'Tij8i &valpETIKi; LOIpc TOOia0apoV Xp6volp p Pe', &(papou-AvCvov ~aTcirv 'TcrvA)y',70 hornoi Xp6VO1 rE SI,OTI'VESKai cS Tr Piclcltta KaTcaoyi-LovrTal7E Ka I.VES y Ki Pl1ppal .'H cbpoO'KOTlmKOTIpa'V-rj y' BSKavcpoiio' TOi Ta'poU 810STj'a)(Xov Kal%ytaXh6-IuXov Ka aEVEKa 1POaiCVBOVXEIV AVTwTO8fjiPtatSvcoa)V EOEOal KA~ltaKT1rpES ? a roiOEIaY v7TvE1 a' Ka} 0 Kal 1a'K aKya KaiaS KS'1pa (KaiV KaliW' Kal O '.71'O Zeos v T-r 8' T6-rTrcpt nrrr'oyeficpipEIiS KbVTpCOis pa0c%ijpas &XE~o'0atlT-r yEv-vwlebraarlplaivElKal 0rnr6-rCv OiKEiCV&0o( oa?aqs Kai n"T TVKai Orra-rvT glpovoprleil-aoeaoat.E 8 Kal 6 Kp6vos tlape-TpeiTO TO1OUjTOV6n'rov, &X' o0iKaKOTnolIE--TrpCrTOYiV iV TIXaipEl TroTrcpTcr T6rcp 6 Kp6vos,P' 56T-rKai eVa89iC OlKcp) v 6 Kp6vosKai TprlycvcpKal6piols dcyaeoooteolv &8vaTal Kai Oc0 KaKOTn'oldi, Kai p&XlaloTa rT Kai Kae' aTpEoiv O-TI TiyEvcaEscS ~IPEPv6sO&p.T&raeplBXov-ra T-rv'Eppiiv Kai T-rVZXIXivrVLcji& saiOv -rETTapos Kai 6 'YspoX60osxKptol & arc~av IEvrnyp?v ~ 'A(ppoSTrl,Eppo8B E6 Kp6vos"KaiEoalKai apC0o T

-.Lctiao-rpea, &XXa&%Kai 6 'YBpoX60sv 4'6 Kp6vos. Kai 8r"hovapTi orEpEa LC8bta iKClov Eae-o-ealKaTpUvX)Iv, KOX&KuEVrov,lTipOVOV,13E3xiov,VVETO6v,"rroTpOVfl'lK6V,p~XTrovov,~yKpcTiT n r-rTOlKiXov KaiXI1PTraoXov Kai EArr6plaTov6&Tro0s IX0iXaS iacopov6v'ras

Lc.8tovAv

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Byz Astrology 14th

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