A Fourteenth-Century Chronologer and Critic of Astrology: Heinrich Selder’s Treatise on the Time of the Lord’s Annunciation, Nativity, and Passion

This volume makes available a newly discovered work by the Swabian astronomer Heinrich Selder (fl.1365-79), a hitherto overlooked figure in fourteenth-century intellectual history. Composed from 1371 to at least 1379, this ‘Treatise on the Time of the Lord’s Annunciation, Nativity and Passion’ (Tractatus de tempore dominice annunciationis, nativitatis et passionis), records Selder’s surprising views on two seemingly unrelated questions: the dimensions of history and the folly of astrology. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, from ancient Roman poets to the writings of a twelfth-century mystic nun, his ‘Treatise’ documents a sophisticated and prescient attempt to reconstruct the chronology of early human history, from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ, in a scientifically sound manner. Woven into these discussions is a fierce attack on the rationality and legitimacy of judicial astrology, which spotlights Selder as one of the most radical critics of this art and its practitioners in fourteenth-century Europe.A Fourteenth-Century Chronologer and Critic of Astrology: presents the ‘Treatise’ in a critical edition with facing English translation. It is prefaced by a detailed investigation into its authorship and context as well as by in-depth analyses of its specific contributions in the areas of medieval astronomy, chronology, and anti-astrological thought.