Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Vol I

stial Globes in the

earth.-The particular attitude of Pope Sylvester II.-The asserted interest of Emperor Frederick II in scientific studies.-Alfonso the Wise and the Alfonsian tables.-Interesting allusions in Alfonso's wo

astronomical science. The theories of the Greeks and the Romans respecting a spherical earth and a spherical firmament encompassing it, in illustration of which they had constructed

owledge, and a sure guide no less in the solution of problems pertaining to the physical sciences than in the solution of problems pertaining to faith and doctrine. What was contained in the Scriptures found a more ready acceptance than what was to be found in pagan writers.72 Isaiah's statement, "It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth," was regarded as one altogether adequate on which to found a theory of the form of the earth, and it was accepted by such biblical interpreters as Lactantius, Cosmas Indicopleu

cording to Cosmas Indico

tion Confuting the Existe

ould not have been thought of as having any practical value. With a rejection of th

pt again the doctrine of a spherical earth. It seems to have come into prominence again with the growing belief in the importance of the place of the earth in the universe. After the eighth centu

eford World

tured as a Sphere by N

ction, there is good reason for thinking these scholars would have inclined to encourage their use. The monastic schools, which, in the methods of instruction, rested upon the plan wrought out by Alcuin for the Palace School of Charles the Great, considered globes

d church rules were fixed.79 The acquisition of such knowledge could best be secured through the use of the celestial globe.80 We learn from Notker Labeo (950-1022), one of the most distinguished teachers of the monastic school of St. Gallen, that he made use of such globes fo

pupils might the better understand the subject, among which instruments were celestial globes and armillary spheres. These were a source of much wonderment to his contemporaries. It is said that one of these instruments was so skilfully constructed that even the untrained by its use, having one constellation pointed out, would be able to locate all others "with the aid of a globe and without the aid of a teacher."84 In a letter to the monastic teacher Constantius, with whom Gerbert stood in the friendliest relations for many years at Rheims, he refers to the construction of a celestial globe, and in a more detailed manner h

ted a learned Arabian, who sojourned at his court, to construct for him a celestial globe of gold on which the stars were to be represented by pearls.86 We are further told that as an outcome of his friendly relations with the rulers of the East, t

ts of gold it could be easily indented and would not long remain a perfect sphere. If it should be made small, that which was represented thereon would not appear distinct. The same thing may be said of silver, although it is a metal stronger than gold, as it is likewise harder, and therefore is not so easily indented. Copper is a metal harder than either silver or gold, but is so dry that it can not be easily fashioned into a globe, which should always be well made. Brass, which is like dark colored copper, may be more easily fashioned, because it is more malleable than copper, and is stronger than either gold or silver. If, however, a globe made of this material should be thin it might easily lose its shape, and if thick it would be very heavy. Of all metals, however, this is the one most suitable for use in making spheres, as it is the one most commonly employed. A globe of iron would be very difficult to make and would be very heavy, and since the rust would have to be removed from it very frequently, there would be much danger of destroying the figures. A globe of tin, if made of a thin sheet, could be easily indented, and would be very heavy if the sheet of which made were thick. Lead, if thin, would offer less resistance to injury than tin, and is a material much heavier. Furthermore, as lead is inclined to turn black, the figures and the stars represented on a globe of this material would soon be

e Constella

rologue to this work, after noting that the number of astronomical instruments which have been constructed is large, he states that in the main they agree in their representation of the movements of the heavens, adding that as the heavens are spherical, spherical instruments are to be preferred. In his first chapter, after alluding to the astronomical instruments described by Ptolemy, he proceeds to treat of the composition of solid spheres, which he says may be made of metal, or better, of wood. He gives rules for making the same by th

, in all probability, was altogether independent of a knowledge of the Alfonsian tables. It is interesting to observe that in the day

ario), and proceeds to a demonstration of the theory, in which he practically follows the arguments of Aristotle, that every particle of the earth away from the center is continually in movement se

ng the title, 'Tractatus de sphaera,' being in part a summary of the 'Almagest' of Ptolemy. In this work the theory of a spherical earth is supported in much the same manner as was done by Campano. The 'Tracta

by Dante (1265-1321),96 and still others of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. It should, however, be stated that nowhere in the works of these authors doe

of the middle ages led most naturally, in time, to much activity in globe c

O

ol. I, chap. vi; Vol. II, chap. vi; Vol. III, chap. vi. Marinelli, G. Die Erdkunde bei den Kirchv?tern. Leipzig, 1884; Kretschmer, K. Die physische Erdkunde im christlichen Mittelalter. Wien, 1889; Cosmas Indicopleustes. Christ

oh, 1877. pp. 122 ff.; White, A. D. A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Ch

el, chap. xxxviii, v. 12; Job, cha

nd citations in K

ions in Krets

n Encyclopedist of the Dark Ages. Isidore of Seville. (In: Studies in History, E

world as expressed by the great majority of the mediaeval writers. One not infr

Giles. London, 1843. See De natura rerum,

ullinger, J. B. The Schools of Charles the Great. New York, 1911; Fellner,

rus, who was a pupil of Alcuin, and who carried to the mo

M. Erd- und Himmelsglobe

Deutschland von den ?ltesten Zeiten bis zur Mitte

y of St. Emeran in the early fifteenth century, and now belonging to the K. K. Hof-

des Kantons St. Gallen.

che Stellung. Marburg, 1851; Werner, K. Gerbert von Aurilla

er, op. c

Vol. 2, p. 23.) The implication in the last named work seems to be that globes were used in many of the schools of this early day. Mabillon,

par J. Havet. Paris, 1889. See especially Nos. 134, 148, 152, 162. Gerbert re

op. cit., Vo

e Zeit. Leipzig, 1878. Vol. III, p. 493. This astron

illa. Compilados, anotados y comentados por Don Manuel Rico y

G. Storia della letteratura italiana. Roma, 1782-1785. Tom. I

gna, in the Ambrosiana of Milan, and in the Library of San Marco in Venice. Fiorini ref

. II 4, c. 9. For a short biography of Albertus

n Unterrichtes, im deutschen Mittelalter bi

useum contains a list of more than fifty editi

liographical list. See Bacon's Opus Magnus, lib. I, 152-153, "necesse est vero mundum extr

hy Nouvelle biographie. Pa

udes sur Vincent de B

4, referring to midday on the Ganges when it is dawn in Jerusalem; see also his