Celestial Divination and Arabic Science in Twelfth-Century England: The History of Gerbert of Aurillac’s Talking Head
E. R. Truitt
The legend of Gerbert Aurillac’s oracular head reveals significant information about contemporary medieval attitudes toward foreign knowledge from outside the Latin Christian West, and in particular quadrivium, astral science, celestial divination. In particular, William Malmesbury’s account—the most well-known period—demonstrates extent to which scientific Arabic tradition had penetrated intellectual climate England early twelfth century.
Journal of the History of Ideas|Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr College)