Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook

0542284 - FLÚ 2022 RIV DE eng M - Monography Chapter
Kocánová, Barbora
Weather Forecasting: Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Western Christian World.
Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook. Vol. 1. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021 - (Heiduk, M.; Herbers, K.; Lehner, H.), s. 651-664. ISBN 978-3-11-050120-9
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA19-03834S
Institutional support: RVO:67985955
Keywords : Weather Forecasting * Prognostication * History of Meteorology * Astrometeorology
OECD category: History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110499773-037

The paper presents various ways that, according to medieval authors from the Western Christian world, could be used to predict the weather. Thanks to its vital importance for humankind, weather forecasting has always enjoyed a privileged position within future telling, although it has never reached the desired level of dependability. We can presume that the oral tradition mainly concerned generally-accepted weather signs deduced from natural observations (from clouds, fog, animal behavior, the appearance of plants, etc.). The majority of the written evidence from the medieval western Christian tradition relates to forecasts based on astrological principles and calculations, which are today labelled astrometeorology. However, judging from the number of extant texts, the most popular type of weather forecasting literature was “bare” lists of rules, a prominent position in the manuscripts was granted to texts regarding the long-term prediction of weather conditions and related phenomena based on the month in which thunder occurred and the day on which the January kalends fall. Various other medieval texts were composed as lists, including literary parapegmata recording the risings and settings of certain constellations during the year and their effect on the sublunary world. Rarely we find the divinatory forecasting methods: the study of marks (depressions, lines, discolorations, etc.) on various parts of the right shoulder-blade of a sheep, today called scapulimancy, or identifying the rainiest month of the year from the reaction of salt with moisture on the first night of January, while the names of all months were recited. The study focuses on written sources and documented techniques, on historical and social contexts of weather forecasting, as well as on medieval discussions about this topic.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0319730