The Latin Pseudo-Aristotle and Medieval Occult ScienceAuthor(s):
Lynn ThorndikeSource: The Journal of English and Germanic
Philology, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Apr., 1922), pp. 229-258Published by:
University of Illinois PressStable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/27702640 .Accessed: 09/10/2014
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to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsTHELATINPSEUDO-ARISTOTLEANDMEDIEVAL
OCCULTSCIENCE TheimmenseinfluenceofAristotle upon medieval learning
has long been recognized, andsometimes undulyemphasized. The
tendency to speak ofitin sweepinggeneralities hasbeen largely
duetoalackofdetailedresearchonthe subject based upon themedieval
manuscripts themselves. Take, for example,
themedievalLatintranslationsoftheworksofAristotle gener ally
receivedas genuine. The onlyinvestigation ofthe problem
asawholeisthatof Jourdain madea centuryago and now quite
inadequate.1 Sincethenthetranslationsoftwoorthreeindivid
ualworkshavebeen separatelyinvestigated,2 buttherecent workof
Grabmann,3 whilemore general in scope, omitsthe twelfth
centuryentirely andisinthemaina disappointing compilation. Ifso
littlerealattentionhasbeen given totrans lationsofthe genuine
worksof Aristotle, stilllesshavethe writings
ofthePseudo-Aristotlebeen satisfactorilyinvestigated and surveyed.4
InthisarticleI propose to give someaccount? based chiefly upon
themedieval manuscriptsthemselves, although
insomecasestheworkshavebeen printed in early
editions?ofthoseworksofthePseudo-Aristotlewhichdeal
withnaturalandmore especially occultscience.Itisthesethat aremost
closely connectedwiththeAlexander legend andfrom
whichthevernacularliterature on Alexanderdoubtlessborrowed 1 Amable
Jourdain, Recherches critiques sur Vage et Vorigine destraductions
latines d'Aristote,Paris,1819; 2nd edition, 1843. 2 SuchasP. Duhem,
"Du temps o?la scolastique latineaconnula physi qued'Aristote," in
Revuede philosophie,(1909)pp.163-78; andC.H. Haskins,
''MedievalVersionsofthePosterior Analytics," in
HarvardStudiesinClassical Philology, XXV (1914) pp. 87-105. 3
Martin Grabmann,Forschungen ?berdielateinischenAristoteles-Ueher
set' zungen desXIII Jahrhunderts,M?nster, 1916.He gives butthree
pages tothe Pseudo-Aristotle. 4 TheworksofV. Rose, Aristoteles
Psendepigraphus andDeor dineetaue toritatelibrorum Aristotelis;
Munk's article, "Aristote"inLaFrance litt?raire;
Schwab,Bibliographied'Aristote,Paris,1896; R. Shute,Historyof
theAris totelian Writings,Oxford,1888; are largely limitedto
antiquity andinsofar as they dealwiththePseudo-Aristotleat
all,scarcely reachthemiddle ages. 229 This content downloaded from
158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and Conditions230Thorndike someofitsstories.5Itisindeed
very difficultto distinguish
worksofoccultscienceascribedtoAlexanderfromthoseattrib
utedtoAristotle orto distinguish thestoriestoldof Alexander
intheworksofthePseudo-Aristotlefromthosefoundelsewhere.
Ishallthereforeincludesomeofbothofthese.Ido not, however,
intendtoincludeherethe early medievalstoriesof
AlexanderandNectanebusinthe Pseudo-Callisthenes,Julius
Valeriusandhis epitomes, theLetterofAlexandertoAristotle
onthemarvelsof India, andsoon.These early medieval
GreekandLatinbasesofthemedievalAlexander legend have
beenmuchstudiedanddiscussed. Mystudy isratheroftwelfth
andthirteenth century Latintreatisesascribedto Aristotleand
Alexanderwhichhavebeen largelyneglected.6 Itis not surprising that
manyspurious workswere attributed toAristotleinthemiddle ages,
whenwerememberthathis writings cametothemforthemost
partindirectlythrough corrupttranslations, andthatsome writing
fromso great a masterwas eagerly lookedfor uponeverysubject in
which they wereinterested.Itseemedtothemthatso encyclopedic a
genius musthavetouched onallfieldsof knowledge and they
oftenfailedtorealizethatin Aristotle'stimethe departments of
learning hadbeensomewhatdifferentfromtheirownandthat
newinterestsanddoctrinehad developed sincethen.There wasalsoa
tendency toascribeto Aristotle any workofunknown oruncertain
authorship. Atthecloseofthetwelfth century AlexanderNeckam7lists
among historicinstancesof envy Aristotle's holding backfrom
posterity certainofhismost subtle writings,
whichheorderedshouldbeburiedwithhim. Atthesametimeheso guarded the
place ofhis sepulcher, whether by someforceofnatureor power ofartor
prodigy of 6 Ch. Gidel, ''La L?gende d'Aristoteau moyen?ge,"
inAssoc.des?tudes grecques,(1874)pp.285-332,except
forthePseudo-Callisthenesuses only the Frenchvernacularliteratureor
popularlegendsconcerning Aristotle.Similar in scope isW. Hertz,
"Aristotelesin den Alexanderdichtungen des Mittelalters,"
inAbhandl.d. philos.-philol. Classed.k. bayr. Akad.d. Wiss., XIX
(1892) pp.1-103; revisedinW. Hertz, Gesammelte
Abhandlungen,1905,pp. 1-155. 6 G.H. Luquet,
whowroteon"Aristoteetl'universit?deParis pendant le XHIesi?cle"in
Bibl.hautes ?tudes, Sciences relig.,XVI,2,1904, announced a general
workonthe knowledge ofAristotle's writings and teachings inthe
middle ages, butitdoesnotseemtohave appeared. 7 Denaturis rerum,II,
189. This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct
2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsTheLatinPs eudo-Aristotle231 magic is uncertain, that
noonehas yet beenableto approachit, although
somethinkthatAntichristwillbeableto inspect these bookswhenhecomes.
Roger Baconinthethirteenth century
believedthatAristotlehadwrittenoverathousandworksand
complainedbitterly becausecertain treatises, whichwere prob
ablyreallyapocryphal, hadnotbeentranslatedintoLatin.8 Indeed,
someoftheworksascribedtoAristotleintheOriental andMohammedanworlds
werenevertranslatedinto Latin, suchasthe astrological De
impressionibus coelestibuswhich Bacon mentions, orthe Syriac
textwhichK.Ahrenseditedin 1892withaGermantranslation as"DasBuchder
Naturgegen st?nde," or first appeared in Latin guise
aftertheinventionof printing, as wasthecasewiththeso-called
Theology of Aristotle,9 aworkwhichwaslittle
morethanaseriesofextractsfromthe
EnneadsofPlotinus.10Someofthetreatisesattributedto
AristotlewhichwerecurrentinmedievalLatindonotbear especiallyupon
our investigation, suchastheGrammarwhich
RobertGrossetesteissaidtohavetranslatedfromtheGreek.11 Forour
purposes thePseudo-Aristotelian writingsmay be
sub-dividedundersevenheads: experiment,alchemy,astrology, spirits,
occultvirtuesofstonesand herbs,chiromancy and physiognomy,
andlastthefamous"SecretsofSecrets."Under thefirstoftheseheads may
be put atreatiseontheconductof waters, whichconsistsofaseriesof
experiments in syphoning andthelikeillustratedinthe manuscriptby
letteredandcolored figures and diagrams.12 InaVatican manuscript
itis perhaps more correctly ascribedtoPhilo?f Byzantium. 8
Compendium Studii Philosophiae, ed. Brewer,(1859)p. 473.
ItwastranslatedintoArabicabout840 A.D.; an interpolated Latin
paraphrase ofit was published atRomein 1519,by
PietroNiccolode'Castel lani,?Sapientissimi Aristotelis
StagiritaeTheologia sivemistica philosophia, secundum Aegyptios
noviter reperta etinlatinam castigatissimeredacta; a Frenchversion
appeared atParisin1572 (Carra de Vaux,Avicenne,p.74).
F.DietericitranslateditfromArabicintoGermanin 1883, after
publishing the Arabictextforthefirsttimein1882.For divergences
betweenthisArabic textandtheLatinoneof 1519, andcitationof
Baumgartner thatthe Theology wasknowninLatintranslationas early as
1200, seeGrabmann (1916),pp. 245-7. 10 IndeedCarrade
Vaux,Avicenne,p. 73 says, "Toutunlivre qui ne contientenr?alit? que
desextraitsdesEnneadesIV? VIdePlotin." 11 SeeArundelMS. 165, 14th
century. "SloaneMS. 2039, fols.110-13. This content downloaded from
158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and Conditions232Thorndike From experiment to alchemy
isan easystep, forthealche mists experimented a good dealinthe
period whichwearenow considering. Thefourthbookofthe Meteorology of
Aristotle, which, if nota genuineportion ofthat work, atleast goes
back tothethird century before Christ,13 hasbeencalledamanual of
chemistry,14 and apparently istheoldestsuchextant.Its
doctrinesarealso-believedtohavebeeninfluentialinthe development of
alchemy; andtherewere passages inthisfourth bookwhichled menlaterto
regard Aristotle as favorabletothe
doctrineofthetransmutationofmetals.GerardofCremona hadtranslated
only thefirstthreebooksofthe Meteorology; thefourthwas supplied
froma translationfromtheGreekmade by Henricus Aristippus whodiedin
1162; tothisfourthbook wereaddedthree chapters translated by
Alfredof England or ofSarchelfromthe Arabic,15apparently
ofAvicenna.16These
additionsofAlfredfromAvicennadiscussedtheformationof 11
Hammer-Jensen, "Das sogennante IVBuchder Meteorologie desAristote
les," in Hermes, vol.50 (1915)pp.113-36,argues thatits teachings
differfrom thoseofAristotleand assigns itto Strato, his
youngercontemporary. Not contentwiththis thesis, whichiseasierto
suggest thanto prove, Hammer Jensen
contendsthatitwasaworkofStrato's youth andthatit profoundly
influencedAristotlehimselfinhislastworks."TheconvenientStrato!"
asheiscalled byLoveday andForsterinthe preface totheirtrans
lationofDecoloribus (1913)
vol.VIofTheWorksofAristotletranslatedinto English underthe
editorship of W.D.Ross. 14 So Hammer-Jensen,p. 113andearlierHeller
(1882)1, 61. 15 N?rnberg Stadtbibliothek (centur.V,59, membr.13th
century)?cited byRose, Hermes 1,385?"Completus
estlibermetheororumcuiustres primos librostranstulit magister
GerardusLumbardussummus philosophus dear?bico inlatinum. Quartum
autemtranstulitHenricus Aristippus de greco inlati num.Triaultima
capitula transtulitAluredus Anglicus sarelensisdear?bico
inlatinum." Steinschneider (1893)pp. 59and 84;(1905)p.7; and
others,including Hammer-Jensen,give
thenameofthetranslatorofthefourthbookfromthe
GreekasHermannandofthelastthree chapters as Aurelius, whomStein
schneideris morecorrectin describing
as"otherwiseunknown."Ontheother hand, weknowthat Aristippus
andAlfredtranslatedotherAristoteliantrea tises. Evidently
SteinschneiderandtheothershavefollowedMSSwherethe copyist has
corrupted the proper names. 16 Steinschneiderand Hammer-Jensenquote
from MSS, "triaveroultima Avicennae capitula
transtulitAureliusdear?bicoinlatinum."Albertus Magnus, Mineral.
Ill,i,9, alsoascribedthe passage to Avicenna; othershave suggested
thatitis bydisciples ofAvicenna.See J. WoodBrown (1897) pp.72-3,
forasimilar passage fromAvicenna'sSermode generationelapidum. This
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PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsTheLatinPs
eudo-Aristotle233
metalsbutattackedthealchemists.17VincentofBeauvais18 andAlbertus
Magnus19 wereboth aware,however, thatthis attack upon
thealchemistswas probably not by Aristotle.The
shorttreatiseOncolorswhichisincludedinso many medieval manuscript
collectionsoftheworksofAristotlein Latin,21by its very titlewould
suggest to medievalreadersthathehadbeen interestedintheartof
alchemy,although itsactualcontents deal only insmall part with dyes
andtinctures.Itsformand contentsarenot regarded asAristotle'sbutit
was perhapsby someoneofthe Peripatetic school.Thusworks which,
ifnot by Aristotle himself, atleasthadbeenwritteninGreek long
beforethemedieval period,gave medievalreadersthe impres
sionthatAristotlewasfavorableto alchemy. Itisthereforenot
surprising thatworksof alchemyappeared in
medievalLatinunderAristotle'sname.ThenamesofPlato
andAristotlehadheadedthelistsofalchemistsinGreek
manuscriptsalthough noworksascribedtoAristotlehavebeen preserved
inthesame. Berthelot,however,speaks ofa pseudo Aristotlein
Arabic,23 andinanOxford manuscript ofthethir teeth century
underthenameofAristotle appears a treatise Onthetwelvewaters of
thesecretriversaidtobe"translated 17 They were printed at
Bologna,1501, asLiberdemineralibusAristotelis andalso published,
sometimesasGeber'ssometimes as Avicenna's, underthe title, Liberde
congelatione. BN16142contains a Latintranslationofthefourbooksofthe
Meteorology withanaddition dealing withmineralsand geology
whichisbrieferthanthe printed Liberdemineralibus
Aristotelis,omitting the passageagainst thealche mists: publishedby
F.de M?ly, Rev.desEludes grecques,(1894)p. 185et
seq.(citedHammer-Jensen,131). 18 Speculumnaturale,VIII, 85. 19
Seenote16above. 20 Greektext byPrantl,Teubner,1881;English
translation byLoveday and Forster, 1913.Seealso Prantl,
Aristoteles?berdie Farben, 1849. 21 Just afew examples
are:Mazarine3458and 2459, 13th century; 3460 and 3461, 14th
century; Arsenal 748A, 15th century, fol. 185; BN 6325, 14th
century, No. 1; BN 14719, 14-15th century, fol. 38-; BN 14717,
end13th century; BN 16633, 13th century, fol. 102-; S. Marco, 13th
century,beautifully illuminated, fols. 312-17; Assisi 283, 14th
century, fol. 289-; Volterra 19, 14th century, fol.196-. 22
Berthelot (1885)p.143, "PlatonetAristotesontmisent?tedelalistedes
alchimistes cum?niques sans qu'aucunouvrage leursoit assign?." 23
Berthelot (1888)I,76;citingManget, Bibl. Chemica,I, 622. This
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PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions234Thorndike
fromArabicintoLatin."24Inthe preface theauthor promises
thatwhoeverbecomes skilled,adept, and expert inthese
twelvewaterswillneverlose hope nor be depressedby want. He regards
thistreatiseasthechief among his works, since
hehaslearnedthesewaters byexperiment.They areall chemicalratherthan
medical; abrief "chapter" or paragraph isdevoted toeach.Inanother
manuscript attheBodleian twobrieftractsareascribedto Aristotle; one
describesthe seven metals, theotherdealswithtransmutation.25Ina
single manuscript atMunichbothatheoreticaltreatisein medicine and
alchemy andaPracticaareattributedto Aristotle, and intwoother
manuscripts heiscreditedwiththeBook of SeventyPrecepts
whichsometimesisascribedtoGeber.26 Thomasof Cantimpr?
citesAristotleintheLumenlumi numas saying thatthebest gold is
madefrom yellowcopper oreandtheurineofa boy,
butThomashastenstoaddthat such gold
isbestincolorratherthaninsubstance.27The
translationoftheLumenluminumisascribedbothto Michael
ScotandbrotherElias.28Aristotleis quoted severaltimes inDe
alchimia, ascribedtoAlbertus Magnus, but only in MDigby162, 13th
century, fols. lOv-llv,"Incipit liberAristotelisde aquis
secretifluministranslatusabar?bicoinlatinum."Inthe margin the
twelvewatersare brieflydesignated: 1 rubicunda, 2 penetrativa, 3
mollificativa, et ingrediente, 4de aqua eiusdem ponderis et
magnitudinis, 5 ignita, 6sul phurea, 7 aquacineris, 8 aurea,
etc.Inoneortwo cases,however, theseheads donot quiteapply tothe
correspondingchapters. 25 Ashmole 1448, 15th century,pp.200-202, de
"altitudinibus,profundis, lateribusque,"
metallorumsecundumAristotelem (name, inthe margin). It opens,
"Plumbumestinaltitudinesuaar. nigrum." Ittakes up inturn
thealtitudoofeachmetalandthendiscussesthenext quality inthesame
way. Ibid.,pp.239-44,opens,"Arestotilus, Cumstudiietc.Scias
preterea quodpropterlongitudines"; at p. 241ittreats"de
purificatione solisetlune" (i. e. gold and silver), at p.243, "de
separatione solisetlune."Itendswitha paragraph aboutthe composition
ofa golden seal. 26 CLM 12026, 15th century, fol. 46-,"Alchymia
estarsdocens. ..... Explicit dictolibri {sic)
Aristotelisdetheoricainrebus naturalibus; fol. 78,
LiberAristotelisde practica summae philosophiae, "Primode
separatione salis communis. .. ." CLM 25110, 15th century, fols.
211-45, LiberAristotelisde70 preceptis. CLM 25113, 16th century,
fols. 10-28, A.dealchimia?ber qui diciturde 70 preceptis. 27
Egerton1984, fol.141 v; inthe Denaturarerum. 28 RiccardianMS. 119,
fols.35vand166r. This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on
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ConditionsTheLatinPs eudo-Aristotle235 thelater"Additions"to it,
where Roger Baconalsois cited, isthe specific titleLiberde
perfectomagisteriogiven asAri stotle's.29Sometimesworksof alchemy
were very carelessly ascribedto Aristotle, whenitis perfectly
evidentfromthe works themselvesthat they couldnothavebeenwritten by
him.30 Thealchemicaldiscoveriesand writings ascribedto Aristotle
areoftenassociatedinsome way withAlexandertheGreatas well.Inone
manuscriptJohn of Spain's translationofthe Secret of
Secretsisfollowed by a description ofthevirtuesand compositions
offourstones"whichAristotlesenttoAlexander
theGreat."31Itseemsobviousthattheseare philosopher's
stonesandnotnatural gems. TheLiber ignium ofMarcus Grecus,composed
inthethirteenth or early fourteenth century, ascribesto
Aristotlethe discovery oftwo marvelouskindsof fires. One,
whichhediscoveredwhile traveling withAlexanderthe king,
willburnfora year withoutcessation.The other, inthe compo sitionof
whichobservanceofthe dog-days is requisite, "Aristotle
assertswilllastfornine years."32 Acollectionofchemical
experimentsby a Nicholas,perhaps de Bodlys andofPoland and
Montpellier,gives "afirewhichAristotlediscoveredwith
Alexanderforobscure places."33 AletterofAristotletoAlex anderin
acollectionofalchemicaltractsis hardly worth noting, asitis only
sevenlines long, butitis interesting toobservethat
itcitesAristotle's Meteorology.Perhapsby a mistakeoneor 29 Caps.
22and57.Itwas printed withfurther"Additions"ofitsown
in1561inVeraealchemiae artisque metallicaecitra
aenigmata,Basel,1561, 11, 188-225. 30 Thusin Auriferae artis quam
chemiamvocant antiquissimi author es, Basel,1572,pp.387-99,
atreatisewhichcites Morienus,Rasis, andAvicenna is printed
asTractatulusAristotelisdePractica lapidisphilosophici.Appar ently
the only reasonfor ascribing itto Aristotleisthatitcites"the
philosopher" inits openingsentence, "Cumomne corpus secundum
philosophum autest elementumautabdementis generatum." 31 LaudMisc.
708, 15th century, fol.54. 32 Berthelot (1893)1,105 and107. 33
Ashmole 1448, 15th century,p. 123. 34 Ashmole 1450, 15th century,
fol. 8,"Epistola adAlexandrum.OAlex
anderrectorhominum.etaudientesnon intelligant." Harleian 3703, 14th
century, fols. 41r-42r, Aristotelesadalexandrum. "In primo o
elaxandortraderetibivolosecretorummaximumsecretum. . .,"
isasimilartreatise. This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on
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Conditions236Thorndike
twoalchemicaltreatisesareascribedtoAlexanderratherthan Aristotle.35
Aristotle's genuine works give evenmore encouragement to the
pretensions of astrology thantothoseof alchemy. His opinion
thatthefourelementswere insufficientto explain natural phenomena
andhis theory ofafifthessencewere
favorabletothebeliefinoccultvirtueandtheinfluenceofthe stars upon
inferior objects. Inhisworkon generation36 heheld
thattheelementsaloneweremere toolswithouta workman; the
missingagent is suppliedby therevolutionoftheheavens.
Inthetwelfthbookofthe Metaphysics hedescribesthestars and planets
aseternaland acting as intermediariesbetweenth? prime
Moverandinferior beings. Thus they arethedirect
causesofalllifeandactioninourworld.Charles Jourdain regarded
theintroductionofthe Metaphysics intowestern Europe atthe opening
ofthethirteenth century asa prin cipal causeforthe greatprevalence
of astrology fromthat time on, theothermaincause being
thetranslationofArabian 36 Ashmole 1384, mid14th century, fols.
91v-93r,"IncipitEpistola Allex andri.Dicunt philosophiquod
arsdirivatasitexcreationehominiscuiomnia insunt .../... exomni
specie etcolorenomine. Explicitepistola Alexan dra"Inthetext
itself, whichis writteninthemannerofa mastertoadis ciple, thereis
nothing toshowthattheworkis by Alexanderratherthan Aristotle. The
following is apparently thesametreatisebutthe closing wordsaredif
ferent. Riccard. 1165, 15th century, fols. 161-3,
LiberAlexandriinscientiasecre torumnature."Dicitur quod
hecarsderivatasitexcreacionehominiscui omniainsunt .../...
etdeoannuentead optatum finem pervenies."
Thenextwouldseemtobeanothertreatisethanthe foregoing. Arezzo 232,
15th century, fols. 1-14, "LibertransmissusabAlexandro rege ex
libro Hermogenis." Hermogenes, whoiscitedonthe subject ofthe
philosopher's stoneinat leastoneMSoftheSecretofSecrets (Bodleian67,
fol. 33v, "Et pater noster Hermogenesquitriplex estin
philosophiaoptimephilosophandodixit"), is apparently
noneotherthanHermes Trismegistus. Heisalsomentionedina
briefworkofAristotleto Alexander; Harleian 3703, 14th century,
fols. 41r-42r, "... hermogenesquod(sic)egypti
multumcommenduntetlaudantetsibi
attribuantomnemscientiamsecretametcelerem (?)." Theuseofthere
flexive pronoun inthissentencetoreferto Hermogenes Iwouldhavethe
reader note, asit appears toillustratea fairly commonmedieval
usage. 36II, 9. This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on
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ConditionsTheLatinPseudo-Aristotle237 astrological treatises.37
Jourdain didnot dulyappreciate the great holdwhich astrologyalready
hadinthetwelfth century, butitisneverthelesstruethatinthenew
Aristotle astrology foundfurther support. Astrologycrops
outhereandtherein mostofthe spurious worksextantunderAristotle's
name, just asitdoesinthe medieval learningeverywhere.
Onesectionofadozen pages in the Theology
discussestheinfluenceofthestars upon nature andthe working of
magicbymaking useofthesecelestialforces
andthenaturalattractionwhich things haveforone another.It regards
artificial magic asa fraud, butnaturaland astrological magic asa
reality.However, itis only theanimalsoulwhichis affected bymagic
andthe manof impulse whois moved thereby; the thinking
mancanfreehimselffromitsinfluence by useof therationalsoul.Inthe
treatise, De pomo,*8 whichseemsnotto
havebeentranslatedintoLatinuntilthethirteeth century under
Manfred,39 Aristotle onhisdeath bed,holding in hishand an apple
fromwhichthetreatisetakesits title, is represented as telling his
discipleswhy a philosopher neednotfeardeathand repudiating
thedoctrinesofthe mortality ofthesoulandeter nity
oftheuniverse.HealsotellshowtheCreatormadethe spheres and placed
lucidstarsineachand gave themthevirtue of ruling over
thisinferiorworldand causinggood andeviland lifeor death. They do
not,however, dothisof themselves, but menatfirst thought soand
erroneouslyworshiped thestars untilthetimeof Noahwhowasthefirstto
recognize theCreator ofthe spheres.40 37 Excursions
historiques,etc.,p. 562. 381havereaditinan
incunabulumeditionnumberedIA.49867inthe BritishMuseum. 39 Ibid.,
fols. 21v-23r, "NosManfredusdivi augustiimperatoris frederici
filiusdei gratiaprinceps tharentinushonorismontissancti angeli
dominuset illustris r?gis conradiserviin regno siciliebaiulus ...
quern librumcum non invenireturinter cristianos,quoniam eumin
ebraycolegimus translatumde ar?bicoin hebreum,
sanitaterehabitaaderuditionemmultorumetdehebrea lingua
transtulimusinlatinamin quo a compilatorequedam recitabiliainser
untur.Namdictumlibrumaristotilesnonnotavitsednotatusabaliisextitit
qui causam hylaritatis
seumortisdiscerevolueruntsicutinlibriseriecontine tur." 40
EditionNo.IA.49867intheBritish Museum, fols.25v-26r. This content
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use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions238Thorndike
TherearealsoattributedtoAristotletreatises primarily astrological.
A"Bookonthe Properties oftheElementsandof
thePlanets"iscitedunderhisname by PeterofAbanoatthe
endofthethirteenth century inhisworkon poisons,41by Peter d'Ailly
in his Vigintiloquium42 writtenin 1414, and by Picodella Mir?ndola,
whodeclaresit spurious, inhiswork against astrol ogy
writtenatthecloseofthefifteenth century.D'Ailly and Picociteitin
regard tothe theory of greatconjunctions;Abano,
forataleofSocratesandtwo dragons whichweshall repeat later.Itis
probable thatallthesecitationswerefromthe para phrase ofand
commentary onthework by Albertus Magnus43 who accepted itasa
genuinewriting ofAristotle. Ina manuscript
oftheCottoncollectionintheBritish Museumisaworkofsome lengthupon
astrology ascribedto Aristotle.44Afteradiscussionof
generalprinciples in whichthe planets,signs, andhousesare treated,
thereare separate books upon the subjects of nativities,45
andofelectionsand interroga tions.46InaParis manuscript atreatiseon
interrogations is ascribedina marginalheading to"Aristoteles
Milesius, a Peripateticphysician."47 IntheCotton Manuscript
incommen tarieswhichthen follow, andwhicharelabelledascommentaries
"upon the preceding treatise" Ptolemy ismentionedrather
thanAristotle.48Inan astrologicalmanuscript ofthefifteenth century
atGrenoblewrittenin French, worksofMessahalaand 41 Cap. 4. 42
Verbum4. 43 Decausiset proprietatibiiselementorum,IX, 585-653in
Borgnet's editionofAlbert's works;
AlberthimselfinhistreatiseonMineralscitesthe titleas"Liberdecausis
proprietatum elementorumet planetarum." 44 Cotton AppendixVI, fol.
8r, "liberisteestaristotelisinscientia ipsius astronomic" 45 fol.
llv, "Aliusliberde nativitatibus";opens,"Superiusproutpotuimus
promissorumpartemexplevimus." 48 fol. 13r, "Deelectionibusalius
liber;"opens, "Undeconstellationibus egyptios
imitantesnativitatessatisdilucidedixerimus."Thisbookintermin gles
the subjects of interrogations and elections, andendsatfol. 20v,
"Finit liberde interrogationibus." 47 BN 16208, fol. 76r?, "liber
arystotelis milesiimedici perypathetici in principiis
iudiciorumastronomorumin interrogationibus." 48 Cotton AppendixVI,
fol. 20v,"Incipit commentum superpraemissa scilicet praedictum
librum"fol. 23v,"Expositio adlitteram superioris tractatus.
Ptolomaeus summus philosophus etexcellentissimus egyptiorum rex...
." This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014
12:23:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsTheLatinPseudo-Aristotle239 Za?translatedfor
CharlesVofFranceare precededby "abook of judicialastrologyaccording
to Aristotle," which opens with "the preface ofthelast translator,"
andisinfour parts.49 Perhaps boththeabove-mentioned
manuscriptscontain, likea third manuscript at Munich, "Thebookof
judgments whichis said by Albertinhis Speculum
tobeAristotle's."50Thiswork alsooccursina manuscript atErfurt.51
Roger Baconwasmuch impressedby an astrological
treatiseascribedtoAristotle entitledDe impressionibuscoelestibus,
andtold Pope ClementIV thatit was "superior totheentire philosophy
oftheLatinsand canbetranslated byyour order."52 Atreatisefoundintwo
manuscripts oftheBodleian Library bearsthe titles,Commentaryof
Aristotleon Astrology andThe book of Aristotle from twohundredand
fifty-five volumes of the Indians,containing a digestof all
problems, whether pertaining to the sphere orto genethlialogy.
Fromthetextitselfandthe preface of HughSanctellensis, thetwelfth
century translator fromArabicinto Latin, addressedtohis
lord,Michael,bishop of Tarazona, weseethatthe workis neither
entirelyby Aristotle norfromthebooksoftheIndiansbutis a
compilationby some onewhodraws or pretends
todrawfromsome250or255books54 ofthe philosophers,including
inadditiontotreatises by both Aristotleandthe Indians, 13books
byHermes, 13 by Doronius (Dorotheus?), 4 byPtolemy, one
byDemocritus, two byPlato, 44 by the Babylonians, 7 byAntiochus,
andothers by authors whosenamesareunfamiliarto meand
probablymisspelled in 49 Grenoble 814, fols.1-24. "Cy
commencelelivrede jugemens d'astrolo gie selonAristote.Le prologue
duderreniertranslateur.Aristotefistun livrede jugemens. .. ." 60
CLM 25010, 15-16th century, fols. 1-12, "liberdeiudiciis qui
abAlberto in Speculo suodicituresseAristotelis." 61
Amplon.Quarto377, 14th century, fols. 25-36, deiudiciisastrorum.
Schumidentifiesit withtheworkascribedtoAristotle by Albertinthe
Specu lumastronomiae. 62 Bridges(1897) I,381, 389-90; Brewer (1859)
p. 473. 63 Digby,159, 14th century, fols. 87,
mutilatedattheend."LiberAristo tilisdeducentis lvque Indorum
voluminibus, universalium questionum tam genecialiumquam
circulariumsummamcontinens."Atfol. 5v,"Explicit prologus.Incipit
Aristoteliscommentumin astrologiam." ThisistheMS whichIhave chiefly
followed. SavileLatin15 (Bernard6561), 15th century, fols.
185-204v, issimilar. 64 Inthetextthenumberis given as ccl; see
Digby159, fol.2r. This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on
Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
Conditions240 Thorndike the manuscripts. In one
oftheworksofAristotleofwhichthe present workis supposed to make
use, therearesaidtohave beendescribed thenativitiesoftwelvethousand
men, collected inaneffort toestablishan experimental basisfor
astrology.55 Itisnot so surprising thatthe present
workbearsAristotle's name, since Hugh had promised his
patronMichael, inthe pro logue tohistranslationofthe Geometry of
Hanusben Hanne,56 thatiflifeenduredand opportunity was given
hewouldnext settoworkasordered by his patron, not onlyuponHaly's
commentaries onthe Quadripartite and Almagest of Ptolemy, butalso
upon acertain generalcommentaryby Aristotleonthe entireartof
astrology. TheSecret of Secretsofthe pseudo-Aristotle is
immediately followedinone manuscriptbychapters or
treatisesaddressedto Alexanderand entitled,Of ideasand forms,Of the
impressionof forms, and Ofimages and ringst The theory,very
likethatof Alkindi, ismaintainedthat"allformsareruled
bysupercelestial forms through the spirits ofthe spheres"
andthatincantations and images receivetheirforcefromthe spheres.
Theseven planets pass onthese supercelestial ideasandformstoour
inferiorworld. Byselectingproper timesfor operating one canwork
good orill by meansofthe rays and impressions ofthe planets.
Thescientific investigator who properly concentrates andfixes
intent,desire, and appetite upon thedesired goal can penetrate
hiddensecretsofsecretsandoccultscienceboth universal and
particular. Thewriter goes onto emphasize the importance of
understanding allthedifferent positions andrela tionships ofthe
heavenly bodiesandalsothedistributionof terrestrial objects
underthe planets. Hethendescribesan astrologicalimage
whichwillcausementoreverenceand obey you, will repelyour enemiesin
terror, afflictthe envious, send visions, and perform
othermarvelousand stupefying featstoo numeroustomention. ?
Digby159, fol.2r. M Savile 15, fol.205r. 67 Bodleian67
(Bernard2136), 14th century, fol. 54r, De ydeis et formis; fol.
54v, De impressioneformarum; fol. 56v, De ymaginibus etannulis.This
last item,though notedin Bernard, isorwasomittedinthe proof
sheetsofthe new SummaryCatalogue ofBodleianMSS nowin preparation.
This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014
12:23:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsTheLatinPs
eudo-Aristotle241 Asthe Speculum astronomiaeofAlbertus Magnus
listeda Book ofJudgmentsby Aristotle amongdeserving worksof
astronomy and astrology, soinitslistofevilbooks dealing with
necromantic imagesappear atreatise by Hermesaddressedto
Aristotleand opening, "Aristotle said, 'Youhaveseen me, O Hermes,'
" anda treatiseascribedto Aristotlewiththesinister title, Death of
the Soul,opening, "SaidAristotleto King Alex ander, 'If you wantto
perceive.' " Thistreatisethe Speculum
calls"theworstofall"theevilbookson images.RogerBacon, too,
alludestoit by titleasfilledwith figments ofthe Magicians,
butdoesnotnameAristotleasauthor.58PeterofAbanoin his
Lucidatorfollowsthe Speculum astronomiaein listing it among
depraved,obscene, anddetestableworks.59 Alexander himself, aswellas
Aristotle, hadsomemedieval reputation asan astrologer.
Inthetenthandeleventh century manuscripts oftheMathematicaof
Alhandreus,supreme astrolo ger,
"AlexanderofMaced?n"wasmorethanoncecitedasan authority,
andtherewere also given"Excerpts fromthebooks of
Alexander,astrologer,king," anda"Letterof Argafalan to
Alexander."Differentfrom this,moreover, wastheMathe maticaof
Alexander,supreme astrologer, foundinathirteenth centurymanuscript,
inwhichfromthemovementsofthe planetsthrough the signs
oneisinstructedhowtoforetell pros perous andadverse journeys,
abundanceand poverty, misfor tuneordeathofa friend, orto
discoverstolen articles,sorceries,
buriedtreasureandsoforth.60Atreatiseonsevenherbs relatedtotheseven
planets issometimesascribedto Alexander,61 68 Brewer (1859)p.532,
De secretis,cap. 3. 69 BN 2598, fol. lOlr, "liber quern
AristotelesattribuitAlexandreet quern
nonnullimortisintitulentanime." 80 Ashmole 369, late13th century,
fols. 77-84v, "MathematicaAlexandri summi astrologi.
Inexordioomniscreatureherushuranicusintercuneta sideraxii maluit
signa fore / nam quod lineam d?sign?t eandemstellam occup?t
Explicit."Cap. x, deinveniendode prospero autadverso itinere;xi, de
copia et paupertate;xiv, deneceautcasu amici;xvi, delatrocinio
inveniendo;xxiv, de pecunia interra defossa;xxxviii,
denoscendismaleficiis. 61 Inthe preface totheKir anides; in
Montpellier277, 15 th century; andin Ashmole 1448, 15th
century,pp.44-45, "Virtutes7herbaruma septem planetis
secundumAlexandrum Imperatorem." Itisalsoembodiedinsome
editionsandMSSoftheLiber aggregationis or Experimenta attributedto
Albertus Magnus, whereitis entitled, "Virtutesherbarum septem
secundum Alexandrum Imperatorem." This content downloaded from
158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and Conditions242Thorndike but perhaps
moreoftentoFlaccus Africanus, andatleastonce toAristotle.62
Theassociationof astrologicalimages with spirits ofthe spheres
inoneoftheabove-mentioned worksascribedtoAri stotlehas
alreadybrought ustotheborder-lineofournext topic, Aristotleand
spirits. Underthis captionmay be placed a workfoundin a fifteenth
century manuscript.63 Italsoisin part astrological
andisassociatedwiththenameofHermesaswell asofAristotle.Itstitle
runs, Thebook of the spiritual works of Aristotle, orthebook
Anttmaquis, whichisthebook of thesecrets of Hermes: wonderfulthings
canbe accomplishedby means of this bookand'tistheancientbook of
theseven planets. Thetreatise opens, "To everypeople andclime
pertains a group of spirits." I.t then maps outthese regions
ofdifferent spirits in accordance withthe planets and signs
ofthezodiac. Apparently thisisthe
sameworkasthatwhichHunainibnIshaktranslatedinto Arabicandofwhichhe
says,"Among theworksofAristotle
whichwehavefoundandtranslatedfromGreekintoArabicwas Thebook of
theCauses ofSpirituals whichhasHermesfor author. ...
ItisthebookinwhichAristotletreatsofthe causesof
spirituals,talismans, theartoftheir operation, and howtohinder it,
orderedafterthesevenclimates."64Itwas probably somesuch spurious
workthat Williamof Auvergne had in mindwhenhe spoke
ofAristotle'sboastthata spirit had descendeduntohimfromthe sphere
ofVenus.65 No genuine workofAristotleon vegetables or mineralshas
comedowntousto accompany hiscelebrated Historyof Ani mais, but
supposititiouswritings weresoonfound by theArabsto fillthis gap. On
plants abrieftreatise by NicolausDamascenus passed
forAristotle's.AlfredofSarcheltranslateditfrom Arabicinto
Latin,66presumably beforethecloseofthetwelfth 82 Ashmole,1741,
late14th century, fol. 143,"Incipiunt virtutes septem
herbarumAristotilis.Ethas quidam virtuteshabent ipseseptem herbeab
abinfluentia7 planetarum. Nam contingitunamquamquerecipere virtutem
suama superioribus naturaliter.NamdicitAristotelis quodcorpora
inferiora regunturpersuperiora. 63 Sloane 3854, 15th century,
fols.105v-110. M E. Blochet, "?tudessurle Gnosticisme musulman," in
Rivista degli studi orientali,IV, 76. 65 De universo,II,ii, 39and
98;II,iii, 6. M OneMSis Harleian 3487, 14th century, No.11 This
content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47
PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsTheLatinPseudo-Aristotle243 century, sincehededicateditto
Roger of Hereford, andAlbertus Magnusexpanded
itstwoshortbooksintoseven long onesin hisDe vegetabilibus et
plantis. TherealsoexistedinArabica Lapidary ascribedto Aristotle,67
whichwascitedas early as theninth centuryby
CostabenLuca.Ruskabelievesthework tobeof Syrian andPersian
origin,68although oneLatintext professes tohavebeen originally
translatedfromGreekinto Syriac.69 ValentinRose regarded
itasthebasisofallsubse quent Arabic mineralogy, butfound only
twoLatin manuscripts ofit.70Albertus Magnus in his
Mineralsconfesses that,although hehad soughtdiligently indivers
regions ofthe world, hehad seen onlyexcerpts
fromAristotle'swork.Butanotherwriter ofthethirteenth century,
Arnoldof Saxony, citestranslations ofAristotleonstonesboth
by"Diascorides," whichwouldseem sheer nonsense, and
byGerard,presumably .ofCremona.
Gerard'stranslationoccursinoneofRose's manuscripts; the
otherseemsto give aversiontranslatedfromtheHebrew. InGerard's
translation, aworkmarked bypuerile Latin style, the Lapidary
ofAristotleisabout equally devotedto marvelous properties
ofstonesandtalesofAlexanderthe Great.After some general
discussionofstonesandtheirwon derful properties,particulargems
aretaken up. The gesha brings misfortune.Itswearer sleepspoorly,
has manyworries, many altercationsandlaw-suits.Ifitis hung abouta
boy's 67 V. Rose, "Aristotelesde lapidibus undArnoldus Saxo," in
Zeitschriftf?r deutsches Alterthum, XVIII (1875) 321et seq. More
recently the Lapidary ofAristotlehasbeenedited byJ.Ruska,
DasSteinbuchdes Aristoteles, nach derarabische
Handschrift,Heidelberg,1912, who gives boththeLatinofthe Li?ge
MSandthetextofthetranslationintoArabic by Lucaben Serapion fromBN
2772, witha Germantranslationofit. 68 Ruska (1912)p. 43. 69 Ibid.
p.183, "Et ego transfero ipsum ex greco sermonein ydyomasu(r)
orumvel Syrorum." 70 Li?ge77, 14th century;printedby Rose (1875)pp.
349-82. Montpellier277,15thcentury, fol. 127-;printedby Rose
(1875)pp. 384-97. The followingtreatises, alsoascribedto Aristotle,
Ihavenotexamined: Sloane 2459, 15th century, fols. 9v-16, de
proprietatibus herbarumet lapidum; Vienna 2301, 15th century, fols.
81-2, "Istisunt lapides quorum virtutesmisit Aristotilesin scriptis
m?ximo imperatori Alexandra." Perhaps thelast may havereferenceto
philosopher'sstones, likethesimilartreatiseofAristotleto
Alexandernotedaboveinourdiscussionofthe pseudo-Aristotelian
alchemical treatises. This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134
on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
Conditions244Thorndike neck, it makeshimdrivel."Thereis great
occultforce"inthe magnet, andinstructionsare given
howtosetwateronfirewith it.Severalstones possess the property of
neutralizingspells and counteracting
theworkofdemons.Withanotherstonethe Indiansmake many
incantations.Vultureswerethefirstto discoverthevirtueofthestone
filcrum coartonin hastening delivery.
Whenafemalevulturewasneardeathfromthe eggs hardening inher body,
themaleflewofftoIndiaand brought
backthisstonewhichaffordedinstantrelief.Anotherstoneis so soporific
that suspended abouttheneckitinducesasleen lasting three days and
nights, andtheeffectsofwhichare thrownoffwith difficulty
evenonthefourth day, whenthe sleeper
willawakebutactasifintoxicatedandstillseem sleepier than anyone
else.Anotherstone prevents a horsefrom whinny ing, if suspended
fromhisneck. Other gemssuggest storiesofAlexander.Nearthefrontier
ofIndiaina valleyguardedbydeadlyserpents whosemere glance
wasfatalwere many preciousgems. Alexander disposed ofthe
serpentsbyerecting mirrorsinwhich theymight stare themselvesto
death, andhethensecuredthe gemsbyemploying thecarcassesof sheep
inamanner already described byEpi phanius.
AsomewhatsimilartaleistoldofSocrates by Albertus Magnus in his
commentary onthe pseudo-Aristotelian workon the properties
oftheelementsand planets.71 Inthe reign of Philip of Maced?n,
whoishimselfdescribedasa philosopher and astronomer,
theroadbetweentwomountainsinArmenia becameso poisoned
thatnoonecould pass.Philipvainly inquired thecausefromhis sages
untilSocratescametothe rescue and,byerecting atoweras high asthe
mountainswitha steelmirroron top of it, sawtwo dragonspolluting
theair.The mere glance ofthese dragons was apparently not deadly,
for menin air-tight armorwentin andkilledthem.Thesame story istold
by WilliamofSt. Cloud, who composed astronomical tablesbased upon
hisownobservationsfromabout1285to 1321, in
whichhedetectederrorsintheearliertablesof Thebit, Toulouse,
andToledo.72InPeterofAbano'streatise on poi 71 Decausis
elementorum,etc.,II,ii, 1 (Borgnet,IX,643). 72
HistoireLitt?rairedela France,XXV, 65. This content downloaded from
158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and ConditionsTheLatinPs eudo-Aristotle245
sons,73however,although hetoocitesthe pseudo-Aristotle on the
causesofthe elements, the mirrorhasbecomea glass cavein
whichSocratesensconceshimselftoobservethe serpents. A Lapidary
dedicatedto King WenzelIIofBohemiatellsof Socrates' killing a
dragonby useof quicksilver.74 ThatSocrates alsosharedthemedieval
reputation ofAristotleandPlatofor astrology
anddivinationisseenfromthePrenosticaSocratis Basilei, a
modeofdivinationfoundinthe manuscripts.
SimilartoAbano'staleofSocratesinthe glass caveisthe story tolda
century earlier by AlexanderNeckamofAlexander himself.Sosedulousan
investigator ofnaturewastheMace donian,saysNeckam,
thathewentdownina glass vesselto
observethenaturesandcustomsofthefishes.Hewouldseem tohaveremained
submerged forsome time, sinceNeckam informsus
thathetookacockwithhiminordertotellwhenit wasdawn by thebird's
crowing. This primitive submarinehad atleasta suggestion ofwarabout
it, sinceNeckam goes onto say thatAlexanderlearnedhowto lay
ambushes against the foe byobserving one army
offishesattackanother.Unfor tunately,however,
Alexanderfailedtocommitto writing his observations, whether
military or scientific, of deep-sealife; andNeckam grieves that
very fewdataonthenaturesoffishes havecometohisattention.75
Neckam'saccountdiffersa good dealfromthe story as told by
theArabian historian,Mas'?d?, inthetenth century. Thereweread that,
whenAlexanderwas building the city of Alexandria,
monsterscamefromthesea everynight andover
threwthewallsthathadbeenbuilt during the day.Night watchmen proved
ofno avail, so Alexanderhadaboxmadeten 73 De venenis, ca.
5;probably writtenin1316. 74 Aristotle,Lapidarius et Liberde
physionomia,Merszborg,1473,p. 8. 75 Denaturis rerum,II, 21.Inan
illustrated13th century MSofthe vernacularRomanceofAlexanderthree
pictures aredevotedtohissubmarine. CU Trinity1446, 1250A. D., fol.
27r, "CommentAlisandre vesqui suzles ewes; acovered ship
withwindowsunder greenwater, Alexanderandthree menin it; fol. 27v,
Desnefskesont apeleescolifas; asimilar ship inthe water,
noonevisiblein it; CornentAlisandreencerchalanaturede pessons;
Alexan derandtwomeninthe ship, fishandmermaidbelow."Ihave
quotedJames' description ofthe MS (III,4$8).
SeealsothevolumeofLacroixonScience andLiteratureintheMiddle
Ages,fig.87, foraviewofAlexander descending tothebottomoftheseaina
glasscask, froma13th century MS. This content downloaded from
158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and Conditions246Thorndike cubits long andfive wide,
with glass sidesfastenedintothe framework by meansof pitch
andresin.Hethenenteredthe boxwithtwo draughtsmen,who,
afterithadbeenletdownto thebottomofthe sea, madeexact drawings
ofthe monsters, who
hadhumanbodiesbuttheheadsofbeasts.Fromthesesketches Alexanderhad
images constructedand placed on pillars, and these magicfigur?s
servedto keep offthe monstersuntilthe city was completed.
Buttheeffect apparentlybegan towearoff
andtalismanshadtobeaddedonthe pillars to prevent the mon stersfrom
coming and devouring the inhabitants, as they had begun todo
again.76 Another Arab,Abu-Shaker, ofthethir teenth century,repeats
acurrenttraditionthatAristotle gave Alexanderaboxof wax
soldierswhichwere nailed, withinverted spears andswordsandsevered
bow-strings, face-downwardsin the box, whichinitsturnwasfastened by
achain.As long as theboxremainedin Alexander's possession andhe
repeated the formulaewhichAristotle taught himwheneverhetookthebox
up or put it down, hewould triumph overhisfoesin war.77
Thisremindsoneofthe methodsofwarfare employedby Alex
ander'sfablednatural father, Nectanebus. Whileweare speaking of
militarymatters, it may benoted thatina manuscript ofthethirteenth
century whichonce belonged toan AlbertusBohemusor Beham,
deanofthechurch atPaduaandseemstohavebeenhis note-book, we
findbetween theSecret of Secretsofthe pseudo-Aristotle
andatreatiseonthe significations ofthe mooninthe signs
"adelineationofabrazen hornmadewithmarvelousart by
whichAlexanderintimeof war summonedhis army fromadistanceof sixty
miles."78 ButtoreturntoothertalesofAlexanderinthe Lapidary.
Oncehesawafarenchantersandenchantresseswhoslewand
woundedthemenofhis armyby theirdiabolical power until Alexander
prayed toGodwhorevealedtwostoneswhichcoun ter-actedthe sorcery.
Onanotheroccasionwhen by Alexander's
orderhisbaronshadcarriedoffcertain gems,during the night
followingthey sufferedmuchinsultfromdemonsandweresore afraid,
sincesticksandstoneswerethrownaboutthe campby 76
Budge,EgyptianMagic,1899,pp.152-6;Mas'?d?, LesPrairies d'Or, ed.
B.de Maynard andPavetde Courteille,1861,II, 425ff. 77
Budge(1899)pp. 95-6. 78 CLM 2574b,bombyc. 13th century, fol.69v.
This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014
12:23:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsTheLatinPseudo-Aristotle247 unseenhandsand
menwerebeatenwithout knowing whence theblowscame.Itthusbecame
apparent thatthedemons cherishedthose gems astheir especialproperty
andwereaccus tomedto perform occult operations withthemof which
they did notwishmentolearnthesecret.Alexanderfoundthatthese gems
would protect himfrom anybeast,serpent, or demon, although
thenocturnal experience ofhisbaronswould scarcely seemto support
thislast point. Onathirdoccasionhis army wereheldmotionlessand
gazedopen-mouthed atcertain stones,
untilabirdfluttereddownandcoveredthe gems withitsout stretched
wings. ThenAlexanderhadhisfollowersclosetheir eyes and carry
thestones away undercoverand place themon top
ofthewallofoneofhiscitiessothatnoone might scalethe wallto spyupon
thetown. Yetanothercurious story ofAlexanderandastoneis repeatedby
Peterof Abanoin hisworkon poisons fromatreatise "OntheNatureof
Serpents" whichheascribestoAristotle. Alexander always
woreacertainstoneinhisbeltto give him good luckinhis battles,
butonhisreturnfrom India, while bathing inthe Euphrates,
heremovedthe belt,whereupon a serpentsuddenlyappeared,
bitthestoneoutofthe belt, and vomiteditintotheriver. Deprived ofhis
talisman, Alexander presently methisdeath.79 Another
Lapidary,printed as Aristotle's at Merseburg in 1473, is really a
compilation of previous medievalworksonthe subject
withtheadditionofsomeitemsderivedfromthe per sonal knowledge or
experience oftheauthor.Itwas composed "tothehonorof almighty
Godandthe glory and perpetual memory ofthatvirtuousandmost
gloriousprince, Wenzel II, King ofBohemia" (1278-1305).
Asthetreatiseitself states, 79 Very similaristhe story inthe
Gilgameshepic, a work"farmoreancient than Genesis," ofa
serpentstealing a life-givingplant from Gilgamesh whilehe was
bathing inawellorbrook.The plant, whichhadbeenrevealedto Gilga mesh
by thedeified Ut-napishtim, "hadthe miraculous power of
renewingyouth andborethename'theoldmanbecomes young.' " Sir James
Frazer (Folk-Lore inthe Old Testament,1918,I,50-51) followsRabbi
JulianMorgenstern("On Gilgamesh-Epic,XI,274-320," in
Zeitschriftf.Assyriologie,XXIX,1915,p. 284 ff.) in connecting
thisincidentwiththe serpent andtreeoflifeinthe
Biblicalaccountofthefallof man, and gives further examples
fromthefolk loreof primitivepeoples ofother jealousanimals,
suchasthe dog,frog,duck, and lizard,perverting divine goodtidings
or gifts to mantotheirown profit. This content downloaded from
158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and Conditions248Thorndike "the Lapidary
ofAristotleintherecenttranslationfrom theGreek"is only
oneofitssources along with Avicenna, Constantinus Africanus,
Albertus Magnus, andothers. AnotherworkwhichclaimsAristotelian
authorshiponly in itstitleisthe Chiromancyof Aristotle,printed
atUlmin 1490, which quotesfreely fromAlbertus Magnus andAvicenna.
Therearealsobrieftractson chiromancy ascribedtoAristotle in
manuscripts ofthethirteenthorfourteenth century,80
ForsterhasidentifiedPolemonastheauthoroftheGreektreatise on
physiognomy ascribedto Aristotle.81Theartof physignomy ofcourse
professed toreadcharacterfromthefaceorother parts ofthe body, and
chiromancy whichwe have just mentioned is really
abranchofit.InLatintranslationthetreatisewas accepted asAristotle's
by suchmedievalschoolmenasAlbertus Magnus andDunsScotus.Thereare
manymanuscripts ofit intheBritish Museum,including onewhich perhaps
dates backtothetwelfth century.82 Its popularity continued long
aftertheinventionof printing, asisshown byseparate editions ofit
brought outatParisin1535andat Wittenberg in 1538, and by
commentaries upon it83 published atParisin 1611, at Bologna in
1621, andat Toulousein1636.Besidessuch separate manuscripts
andeditionsof it, itwasalso regularly embodied inthenumerous copies
ofthe pseudo-Aristotelian workto whichwenextturn. Most widely
influential upon themedievalmindofallthe spurious
worksattributedtoAristotlewastheSecret of Secrets.
F?rsterenumeratedtwohundredandsevenLatin manuscripts
ofitandhislistis probably farfrom complete.84 Gastercallsit 80
Sloane 2030, fols. 125-26; Additional 15236, fols.154-60: BN, 7420A
(14thcentury) No.16. 81 Richard F?rster, DeAristotelis
quaeferunturphysiognomonicis recen cendis,Kiliae,1882;
Detranslat.latin, physiognom.,Kiliae,1884;Scriptores
PhysiognomiciLipsiae, 1893-1894. 82 Cotton JuliusD-viii, fol.126
ff.; Harleian 3969;Egerton847; Sloane 2030, fol. 95-103; Additional
15236, fol.160 (in abbreviated form); Sloane 3281, fols. 19-23;
Sloane 3584;Egerton2852, fol.115v.et seq. 83 Thereis a
manuscriptcopy ofa commentary onitofthefourteenth cen tury at
Erfurt,Amplon.Quarto 186.SeeSchum's catalog forMSS.ofthe
Physiognomia itselfinthe Amplonian collection. 84 R. F?rster,
DeAristotelis quaeferuntur secretasecretorum Commentatio,
Kiliae,1888; Handschriftenund Ausgaben des pseudo-Aristotelischen
Secre tum secretorum, inCentralblatt f.Bibliothekswesen, VI
(1889)1-22, 57-76. This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on
Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsTheLatinPseudo-Aristotle249 "Themost popular
bookofthemiddle ages.85 Thisisnot surprising sinceit purports tosum
up inconciseformwhatthe greatest ofancient philosophers
deemeditessentialforthe greatest ofancientrulersto know,
andsinceunderthe alluring pretense of revealinggreat secretsin
parable andriddleit really masses together
anumberofthebest-testedandmostoften repeated maximsof
personalhygiene and practicalphilosophy, and someofthe
superstitious towhichmenhaveshownthem selvesmostinclined.
EveryEuropeanlibrary of consequence containsanumberof copies
ofit.Itwastranslatedintoalmost everyEuropeanlanguage andwasoften
versified, asin Lyd gate's and Burgh's Seerees of old Philis
offres.86 Albertus Magnus citeditas Aristotle's;87Roger
Baconwrotearather jejune commentaryupon it.88Itwas printed
anumberoftimesbefore 1500.89 86 M. Gaster,
inhisIntroductiontoaHebrewversionoftheSecretof Secrets,
intheJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society,(1908,part2),pp. 1065 84;
fortheHebrewtextandan Englishtranslation, Ibid. (1907)pp. 879-913
and (1908,part1)pp. 111-62. 86 Ed.Robert Steele, EETS LXVI,London,
1894.VolumeLXXIVcon tainsthreeearlier English
versions.TherearenumerousMSSofitinItalian
intheRiccardianandPalatinicollectionsatFlorence. 87 Desomnoet
vigilia,1,ii, 7. 88 Tanner 116, 13th century;Corpus Christi 149,
15th century.Recently edited,together withBacon's
peculiararrangement ofthe text,by Robert Steele, 1902,
asFase.Vofhis Opera hactenusin?dita Rogeri Baconi. 89
Thereareconsiderable discrepancies betweenthedifferent earlyprinted
editions, whichdifferin length, orderof arrangement, tablesof
contents, and numberof chapters. Andinthesameeditionthe
chapterheadingsgiven inthe courseofthetext may not agree
withthoseinthetableof contents, whichasa rule, eveninthe MSS,
doesnot fully coverthe subject-matter ofthetext. Thedifferent
printers have probably useddifferent manuscripts fortheiredi
tionsratherthanmade any newadditionsoftheirown.The following
editionsarethoseto whichreferenceswillbe madeinthe followingpages.
Anedition printed at Cologne about 1480, whichIexaminedattheHar
vard UniversityLibrary, dividesthetextinto onlythirtychapters
andseems imperfect. Aneditionofabout 1485,
whichIexaminedattheBritish Museum, where itwasnumberedIA. 10756,
has74 chapters, andthe headings ofits25thand 30th chapters, for
instance,agree withthoseofthe11thand13th chapters in theHarvard
copy. Athirdeditionof Paris, 1520hasnonumbered chapters andcontains
passages notfoundinthetwoearliereditions. Asacheck upon these
printed textsIhaveexaminedthethree following MSS, twoofthe 13th,
andoneofthe14th century. Ofthese Egerton 2676 This content
downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll
use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions250Thorndike TheSecret of
Secretsisbelievedtobetheoutcomeofa gradual process of compilation
from very varied sources, andto havereached something likeits
present form by theseventhor eighthcentury ofourera.Butits chapters
on physiognomy, aswehave seen,go backtoPolemon's treatise, and part
ofits medicaldiscussionissaidtobeborrowedfromDiodesCaristes
whowroteabout320b.c. SomeGraeco-Persiantreatiseis thought
tobethebasisofitsdiscussionof kingship. Itisalso believedtohave
appropriated bitsfrom popular literatureto
itsownuses.InArabicthereisextantbotha longer anda shorter version,
andGasterhasediteda Hebrewtextwhichis apparently
derivedfromadifferentArabic original than any Latintext.The process
ofsuccessive compilation, orat least, re-editing and repeated
translationwhichtheworkunderwent is suggestedby aseriesof prologues
whichoccuratthe begin ning.Following the preface
oftheLatintranslatorandthe tableofcontentscomeswhatiscalled"the
prologue ofacertain doctorincommendationof Aristotle,"90 inwhich
omnipotent Godis prayed to guard the king andsome anonymous editor
statesthathehasexecutedthemandate enjoinedupon himto procure
themoralwork on royal conductcalledTheSecret of Secrets, which
Aristotle, chiefof philosophers,composed. After
sometalkaboutAristotleandAlexanderasecond prologue begins withthe
sentence,"John whotranslatedthis book, son ofa patrician,
mostskilfulandfaithful interpreter of languages, says." This
Johnappears tohavebeenYuhannaibnel Batriq andwhathe says
isthathesearchedtheworldover untilhecametoanoracleofthe sun which
Esculapides hadcon structed.Therehefounda solitary abstemious sage
who correspondsfairlycloselythroughout
totheeditionnumberedIA.10756inthe BritishMuseum. Egerton2676, 13th
century, fols.3-52 BN 6584, 13th century, fols.lr-32v Bodleian 67,
14th century, fols. l-53v, is muchlikethe preceding MS. 90 BN 6584,
fol. lv, "De prologo cuiusdamdoctorisincommendatione
aristotelis."Seealso Digby228, 14th century, fol. 27,
whereascribehas writteninthe uppermargin, "Inistolibello
primoponiturprologus, deinde tabulacontentorumin libro, deinde
prologus cuiusdamdoctorisincommenda cionem Aristotilis, deinde
prologus Iohannis qui transtulitlibrumistum. .. ." In Egerton2676,
fol. 6r, "Deus omnipotens custodiat regem. .. ." This content
downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll
use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsTheLatinPseudo-Aristotle251 presented
himwiththisbookwhichhetranslatedfromGreek
intoChaldaicandthenceintoArabic.This passage reminds oneof
Harpocration'sprefatory remarkstohis daughter inthe Kir
anides;indeed, itis quite intheusual style of apocryphal writings.
InthematteroftheLatintranslationweareon somewhat morecertain
ground.John of Spain inthefirsthalfofthe twelfth century
seemstohavetranslated only themedical portion.91Manuscripts ofthis
partial translationare relatively few,92 andit was
presentlysupersededby the complete transla
tionmadeeitherinthetwelfthor early thirteenth century93 byPhilip,
"theleastofhisclerics"for"hismostexcellent lord,
moststrenuousinthecultoftheChristian religion, Guidoof
Valencia,gloriouspontiff ofthe city of Tripoli."Philipgoes onto say
in his dedicatorypreface thatit waswhenhewaswith Guidoin
Antiochthat they found"this pearl of philosophy, ...
thisbookwhichcontains something usefulaboutalmost every science,"
andwhichit pleased Guidotohavetranslatedfrom ArabicintoLatin.
Although thevarious printed editionsand manuscripts oftheSecret of
Secretsin Latin varyconsiderably, theyregularly are precededby this
ascription oftheLatin translationto Philip, and usuallyby theother
prologues afore mentioned.Whothis Philip was, otherthanaclericof
Tripoli, isstillundetermined.Ifhewasthesameasthe papalphysician
whomAlexanderIIIin1177 proposed tosendona missionto Pr?ster John,
hehad probably madehistranslationbeforethat date. J. WoodBrownwould
identify himwith Philip of Salerno, 91 Steinschneider (1905)p.42,
itis true,says, "Ob Joh. selbstdas ganze Secretum?bersetzt habe,
istnochnicht ermittelt;" butthe followingpassage, cited by Giacosa
(1901)p. 386fromBibl. AngelicaRome, Cod. 1481, 12th century, fols.
144-146v, indicatesthathetranslated only themedical part.
"Cumdeutilitate corporis olimtractarimetame quasi essemmedi?is
vestranobilitas quereret utbrevemlibellumetdeobservationedi?teetde
continentiacordisin qualibus sedebentcontineri qui sanitatem
corporis cupiunt servareacciditutdum cogitarem
vestreiussioniobedirehuiusreiexem pliar aristotelis philosophi
Alexandrodictum repente inmenteoccurreret quodexcerpi delibro qui
arabicevocaturciralaceraridestsecretumsecre torum que fecitfieri
predictus Aristotelis philosophus Alexandro regimagno de
dispositioneregni in quo continenturmulta regibus utilia. .. ." 92
Ed.H. Souchier, Denkm?ler provenzalLit.,Halle,1883,1, 473et seq. 93
Thirteenth century MSSof Philip's translationarenumerous:Ihave
notnoteda12th century one. This content downloaded from
158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and Conditions252Thorndike a royalnotary whosename
appears in1200ondeedsinthe kingdom of Sicily.94 Returning to
Philip'spreface to Guido, it may benotedthat
hestatesthatLatinsdonothavetheworkanditisrare among
theArabs.95Histranslationis afreeonesincetheArabicidiom is
differentfromtheLatin.Aristotlewrotethisbookin response tothe
petition of King Alexanderhis disciple whodemanded
thatAristotleshouldeithercometohimor faithfully revealthe
secretsofcertain arts,namely, the motion,operation, and power
ofthestarsin astronomy, theartof alchemy, theartof knowing
naturesand workingenchantments, andtheartof geomancy. Aristotle
wastoooldtocomein person, and although ithad
beenhisintentiontoconcealin everyway thesecretsofthe said
sciences,yet hedidnotventuretocontradictthewilland commandof so
great alord.Hehidsome matters,however, under enigmas and figurative
locutions.ForAlexander's conveniencehedividedtheworkintoten books,
eachofwhich isdividedinto chapters and headings.Philip
addsthatforhis readers'conveniencehehascollectedthese headings
atthe beginning oftheworkandatableofcontentsfollows.95aThen
comethetwoolder prologues whichwe have alreadydescribed,
nextaletterof Aristotleto Alexanderontheextrinsicandintrin 94 Brown
(1897)pp.19-20, 36-7.Butnotmuchreliancecanbe placed on
theinclusionofthisname"Master Philip of Tripoli" inatitlewhichBrown
(p.20)quotes fromaDeRossi MS, "TheBookofthe Inspections ofUrine
according tothe opinion ofthe Masters, Peterof Berenico,
ConstantineDamas cenus, and Julius of Salerno; whichwas composedby
commandofthe Emperor Frederick, AnnoDomini 1212, inthemonthof
February, andwasrevised by Master Philip of Tripoli
andMasterGerardofCremonaattheordersofthe King of Spain"etc.,
sinceGerardofCremonaatleasthaddiedin1187and therewasno "king of
Spain" unt?1479. Browndoesnot give theLatinforthe passage,
butifthedate1212could be regarded as Spanish eraandturnedinto1174
A.D., GerardofCremona wouldstillbe living, the emperor
wouldbeFrederickBarbarossainsteadof Frederick II, andMaster Philip
of Tripolimight bethesame Philip whom Pope AlexanderIII proposed
tosendtoPr?ster John in1177. 95 BN 6584, fol. Ir, "Hunclibrum quo
carebantlatinieo quodapudpaucis simosarabies reperitur transtulicum
magno labore...."Aconsiderable portion of Philip'spreface
isomittedintheHarvardedition. 960 The preliminary tableof
contents,however,givesonlychapter headings, whichinBN6584are82in
number, butthe beginnings ofthetenbooksare
indicatedinthetextinBN6584asfollows.Thenumbersin parentheses This
content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47
PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsTheLatinPseudo-Aristotle253 siccausesofhis work,96
andthenwitha chapter whichis usually headedDistinctio regum or
Reges sunt quatuorbegins thedis cussionof kingship
whichisthebackboneofthework. Itisevidentfrom Philip'spreface
thatoccultsciencealso formsa leading featureintheworkaslrnowntohim.
Gaster, whocontendedthattheHebrewtranslationfromtheArabic
whichheeditedwasasoldaseither John of Spain's or Philip's Latin
translations,although theoldestofthefour manuscripts
whichhecollatedforhistextisdated only in1382 A.D., madea rather
misleading statementwhenhe affirmed, "Ofthe astrology looming so
largely inthelater European recensionsthe Hebrew has only
afainttrace."97Asa matteroffactsomeofthe printed
editionscontainless astrology thanthethirteenth century
manuscripts, whileGaster'sHebrewversionhasmuchmore
than"afainttrace"of astrology. Butmoreofthislater. Ontheother hand,
Icannot fully subscribetoSteinschnei
derncharacterizationofTheSecret of Secretsas"awretched compilation
of philosophicalmysticism andvaried supersti tion."98Of
superstition thereisa greatdeal, butof philosophi cal mysticism
thereis practically none. Despite thetitleand the promise in
Philip'spreface of enigmatic and figurative language,
thetoneofthetextisseldom mystical, andits philoso phy isofa
verypractical sort. arethe corresponding leavesinBodleian67
which,however, omitsmentionof thebookanditsnumber except
inthecaseofthefourthbook, fol. 3v(5r),Incipit liber primus.Epistola
adAlexandrum fol. 6r, Secundusliberde dispositioneRegali
etreverenda Regis Fol.12r (18v),Incipit libertertius.Cumhoc
corpuscorruptible sit eique accidit corruptio. ... fol.22r
(36r),Incipit liber quartus. transtulit magisterphilippustripo
iitanusdeformaiusticie fol.28r (44v), Liber Quintus describiset
scriptoribus secretorum fol.28r (45r),
LiberSextusdenuntiisetinformationibus ipsorum fol.28v (46v), Liber
Septimus dehiis qui sr'intenduntethabentcuram subditorum fol.29r
(47r), LiberOctavusde dispositione ductorissuietdeelectionebel
atoriumet procerum inferiores. fol.29v (48r), LiberNonusde regimine
bellatorumetforma aggrediendi bellumet pronatationibus eorundem
fol.30v (50v), Sermode phisionomia cuiuslibethominis. 96
Itisomittedinsome printed editionsbutoccursinboth13th century
MSSwhichIexamined. 97 Gaster (1908)p. 1076. 95 Steinschneider
(1905)p. 60. This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9
Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
Conditions254Thorndike NorcanTheSecret of Secretsbedismissedas
merely "a wretched compilation." Those portions whichdealwith king
craftand governmentdisplay shrewdnessandcommon sense, worldly
wisdomand knowledge ofhuman nature, arenot restricted bybeing
writtenfrom any one premise or view-point, andoftenevincereal
enlightenment. Thosehistorianswhohave declaredtheloveoffameanew
product oftheItalianRenais sanceshouldhavereadthe chapter
onfameinthis most popular bookofthemiddle ages,
wherewefindsuchstatementsasthat royalpowerought
nottobedesiredforitsownsakebutforthe sole purpose of achieving
fame.Other noteworthy utterances indicativeofthetoneand thought
ofthebookarethat"the intellect ... istherootofall
thingspraiseworthy"; that kings shouldcultivatethe sciences; that
liberality involves respect forother's property; that"war destroys
orderanddevastates thelandsandturns everything to chaos"; thatno
earthly ruler shouldshed blood, whichisreservedforGod alone,
butlimit his punishments to imprisonment,flogging, and torture;
that the king, asChief Justice Cokelatertold JamesI, isunderthe
law; thattaxes upon merchantsshouldbe light sothat they
willremaininthe country andcontributetoits prosperity; that his
people area king's true treasury andthatheshould acquaint
himselfwiththeirneedsandwatchovertheirinterests. Fromthemedical
passages ofthebookonewouldinferthat theartof healing atfirst
developed more slowly thanthe artof ruling intheworld's history.
Themedical theory ofthe Secret of Secretsisnotofanadvancedor
complexsort, butisa combinationofcuriousnotionssuchasthat vomiting
oncea monthis beneficialandsensibleideassuchasthatlifeconsistsof
naturalheatandthatitis veryimportant to keep theabdomen
warmandthebowels movingregularly. Thewell-known apothegm of
Hippocrates is quoted, "Iwouldrathereattolive thanlivetoeat."
MuchoftheadviceofferedtoAlexander by Aristotlein The Secret of
Secretsis astrological.Among thosestudieswhichthe king should
promote the only one specifically mentionedis astrology,
whichconsidered"thecourseofthe year andofthe stars, the coming
festivalsandsolemnitiesofthe month, the courseofthe planets,
thecauseofthe shortening and lengthening of days and nights, the
signs ofthestarswhichdeterminethe futureand many other things which
pertain to prediction of This content downloaded from
158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and ConditionsTheLatin-PseudoAristotle255
thefuture.99Alexanderis adjured "notto rise up orsitdownor
eatordrink ordo anything without consulting a man skilledin
theartof astronomy."100 Laterthetwo parts of astronomy are
distinguished, thatis astronomy and astrology inoursense
ofthewords.Alexanderisfurtherwarnedto put nofaithinthe
utterancesofthose stupidpersons whodeclarethatthescience
ofthestarsistoodifficultto master.Noless stupid isthe argu
mentofotherswhoaffirmthatGodhasforeseenandforeor dained everything
from eternity andthat consequently all thingshappen of necessity
anditisthereforeofno advantage to predict
eventswhichcannotbeavoided.Forevenif things happened of necessity,
itwouldbeeasiertobearthem by foreknowing and preparing forthem
beforehand,just asmen make preparationsagainst the coming
ofacoldwinter?the familiarcontentionof Ptolemy. ButTheSecret of
Secretsalso believesthatoneshould pray Godinhis mercy toavertfuture
evilsandordain otherwise, "ForHehasnotsoordained things
thattoordainotherwise derogates in anyrespect fromhis
Providence"Butthisis notso approved an astrological doctrine.
LaterintheworkAlexanderisoncemore urged nevertotake medicineor open
avein except withthe approval ofhisastrono mers,101
anddirectionsare given astotheconstellationsunder which bleeding
shouldbe performed andalso concerning the taking
oflaxativeswithreferencetothe position ofthemoon inthe signs
ofthezodiac.102Latertheworkdiscussestherela
tionsofthefourelementsandofvariousherbstotheseven planets,103
andinthenexttolast chapter Alexanderisadvised
toconducthiswarsunderthe guidance of astrology.104 99 Cap. 11
(Harvardcopy); cap. 25 (BM.IA.10756);Egerton2676, fol. 12r; BN
6584, fol.9v. 100 Cap. 13 (Harvardcopy);cap. 30
(BM.IA.10756);Egerton2676, fol. 13r; BN 6584, fol. lOr; alsoin
Gaster'sHebrewtext. 101 Egerton2676, fol. 32r.;cap. 62
(BM.IA.10756); fol.xxxiiir. (Paris, 1520). BN 6584, fol.19v. 102
The Paris, 1520editionthen goes onto explain
theeffectsofincantations and imagesuponastrologicalgrounds, butthis
passage seemestobe missing from theearlier printed
editionsandthethirteenth centurymanuscripts.Roger
Bacon,however,implies thatincantationswere present in
Ph?ip'soriginal translation:Steele (1920) 258-9. 103 This passage
isfoundbothin Egerton MS.2676andinBM.IA.10756. BN 6584,
fol.21r-v.Bodl. 67, fol.32v-35v. 104 Cap. 73 (BM.IA.10756);
fols.44v-45r. (Paris,1520). BN 6584, fol.30v. This content
downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll
use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions256Thorndike Thereis much
indulging in astrologicaltheory inthemidst ofthe chapter on
Justice, andtheconstitutionoftheuniverse issetforthfromthefirstand
highestsimplespiritual substance down through thenineheavensand
spheres tothelowest inferiors.Toillustratethe power ofthestarsthe
story is presently toldoftwo boys,105 onea weaver's son, theothera
royalprince ofIndia. Sages whowerechance guests inthe
weaver'shouseatthetimeofthechild'sbirthnotedthathis horoscope
wasthatofacourtier high in royal councilsbut kept their discovery
tothemselves.The boy'sparentsvainly tried tomakeaweaverof him,
buteven beatings werein vain; he was finally
allowedtofollowhisnatural inclination, securedan education,
andbecameintimea royalgovernor. The king's son, onthe
contrary,despite his royal birthandthefactthat hisfathersenthim
through allhis provinces tolearnthe sciences, wouldtakenointerestin
anythingexcept mechanicscomforma bly tohis horoscope. InTheSecret
of Secretsthe pseudo-Aristotle refersAlexander forthevirtuesof gems
andherbstohistreatisesonstonesand plants,presumably thosewhichwe
have already described. Hedoesnot entirely
refrainfromdiscussionofsuchmarvelous properties inthe
presentwork,however,mentioning theuseof
thevirtuesofstonesinconnectionwithincantations.Wealso again
hearofstoneswhichwill preventanyarmy fromwith standing Alexanderor
whichwillcausehorsesto whinny or keep themfrom doing so;
andofherbswhich bring trueorfalse dreams orcause
joy,love,hate,honor,reverence,courage, and inertia.106One
recipereads, "If you takeinthenameofsomeone seven grains
oftheseedsoftheherbcalled androsimon, andhold
theminhisnamewhenLuciferandVenusare rising sothat their rays
touchhim (orthem?), andif yougive himthose seven grains toeator
pulverized in drink, fearof you willever abidein hisheartandhewill
obeyyou fortherestofhislife."107 Astrologicalimages
arediscussedatleastinsomeversions.108 Theextreme powers
attributedtoherbsandstonesinThe Secret of Secretsarousedsome
skepticismamong itsLatinreaders 106 BN 6584, fol. 21r;
alsoinGaster'sHebrew version;cap. 26inthe Harvard copy. 106
Gaster,pp.116,160-62;Egerton2676, fols. 34r-35r;cap. 66 (BM.
IA.10756); fol.37v. (Paris,1520). BN 6584, fol.20r-22r. 107
Egerton2676, fol. 36v; BN 6584, fol.22r. 108 Paris (1520) fol. 37;
Steele (1920)lxii,157-63,252-61;Gaster,p. 159. This content
downloaded from 158.251.134.134 on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll
use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsTheLatinPseudo-Aristotle257 ofthethirteenth
century.109Geoffrey of Waterford, a Domini
canfromIrelandwhodiedabout 1300, translatedTheSecret of
SecretsintoFrench.He criticized,however, itsassertions concerning
thevirtuesofstonesandherbsasmoreakinto fablesthanto philosophy,
afactof which, he adds, allclerks
whoknowLatinwellareaware.Hewonders why Alexander hadto
winhisbattles by hard fighting whenAristotleis supposed
toinformhiminthisbookofastonewhichwill always routthe
enemy.Geoffrey decidesthatsuchfalsestatementsarethe
workofthetranslatorsandthatAristotleistheauthor only of whatis
wellsaidor reasonableinthework. Something issaidin TheSecret of
Secretsoftheoccult prop ertiesandrelative perfection of numbers,
andasusualthe preference isforthe numbers,three,four,seven,
andten.110 TheHebrewversionaddsa puerile methodof divining whowill
bevictorinabattle by anumericalcalculationbased upon the
lettersinthenamesofthe generals. Thetreatmentof alchemy is
rather,confusing andinconsistent.A recipe forthePhiloso pher's
stoneis given, butinsomeversionsAlexanderis warned thatChimiaor
Kimiais notatruescience.111 We may conclude our picture
ofthework'scontentswith twoofits stories,namely,concerning the
poisonous maidenand the Jew andthe Magus.
Abeautifulmaidenwassentfrom Indiato Alexanderwithotherrich gifts.
Butshehadbeenfed upon poison from infancy
"untilshewasofthenatureofa snake.AndhadInot perceivedit,"
continuesAristotleinthe Hebrew version, "forI suspected
theclevermenofthosecoun triesandtheir craft, andhadI notfound by
teststhatshewould killthee by herembraceand by her perspiration,
she surely wouldhavekilledthee."112Thisvenomousmaidenis alsoalluded
109 HL. XXI, 216ff. 110 Caps. 68and72 (BM.IA.10756);cap. 68 appears
in Egerton2676; cap. 72inGaster'stextandintheParis (1520)
edition.Icouldnotfindthe passage inBN6584. 111 BN 6584, fol.
20r-v;Egerton2676, fol. 33v.-34r.;cap. 65 (BM. IA. 10756); fols.
36v.-37r., andfol.38r. (Paris,1520);Gaster, 159-60.The warning
againstalchemy doesnot appear inthetwo13th century MSSbut only the
printed editionof1520andGaster'sHebrewversion. 112
Gaster,p.127;cap. 12 (Harvardcopy); alsoin BM. IA.10756, andBN
6584, fol. lOr, whereAristotleseemstodetectthevenomousnatureofthe
maiden bymagic art?"Etnisi ego illahora sagaciterinspexissem in
ipsam et arte m?gica iudicassem. . ."; whileitis
hermerebitethatkillsmen.as Alexander afterwards
provedexperimentally. This content downloaded from 158.251.134.134
on Thu, 9 Oct 2014 12:23:47 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
Conditions258Thorndike toinvariousmedievaldiscussionsof poisons.
PeterofAbano mentionsherin hisDevenenis.113Gilbertof
England,following nodoubtGerardofCremona'stranslationof Avicenna,
cites RuffusratherthanthePseudo-Aristotle concerning herand
saysnothing ofherrelationsto Alexander, butadds thatanimalswho
approached her spittle werekilled by it.114In"LeSecretaux
philosophes," aFrenchworkofthe closing thirteenth century, wherethe
story istoldatconsiderable length,
SocratesratherthanAristotlesavesAlexanderfromthe poisonous maid.115
Intheother story a Magus is represented inamuchmore favorable light
than magiciansgenerally were; heseemsto represent
ratheroneofthePersian sages. Hewas traveling on a mulewith
provisions andmeta Jewtraveling onfoot.Their talksoonturnedtotheir
respectivereligions andmoralstand ards.The Magusprofessedaltruism;
the Jew wasinclinedto get thebetterofall men exceptJews. Whenthese
principles hadbeen stated, the Jewrequested the Magus, sincehe pro
fessedtoobservethelawof love, todismountandlethimride
themule.Nosoonerhadthisbeendonethanthe Jew, trueto
hislawofselfishnessand hate, madeoffwithbothmuleand provisions.
Thismisfortunedidnotleadthe Magus tolosehis faithin God,however,
and ashe ploddedalong he by and by came againupon the Jew
whohadfallenoffthe muleandbroken hisneck.The Magus then
mercifullybrought the Jew tothe nearesttownwherehe died, whilethe
king ofthe country made the Magus
oneofhistrustedministersofstate.115 LynnThorndike WesternReserve
University 113 Cap. 3. 114 Gilbertus
Anglicus,Compendiummedicinae,Lyons,1510, foi.348v. 116 HL. XXX,
569ff.uDie Sage vom Giftm?dchen" isthethemeofa long monographby W.
Hertz, Gesammelte Abhandlungen(1905)pp. 156-277. 116 BN 6584, fol.
27; IA. 10756,cap.68; alsoin Paris, 1520 edition, etc.
Thevariouswritersofthetwelfthandthirteenthcenturieswhohavebeencited
inthis article, andthewhole subject of medievaloccult science,
willbetreatedof more fully in myHistoryof Magic and Experimental
ScienceandtheirRelation to Christian Thoughtduring the first
thirteencenturies of our era, whichisnowin press. This content
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