The course consists of two compulsory modules: A) General introduction, providing the necessary tools and proper language to address our topic, along with a historical framework; B) Approaching the topic and its entanglements through the selected relevant texts from the Latin milieu.

Module A. Sources for Medieval Cosmology

Week I, Introduction
Week: II-III Aristotle’s cosmology
Week IV, Astrology in the lands of Islam: Al-Kindi's circle and Abu Ma'shar
Week V, Al-Fārābī and Ibn Sinā: metaphysical and ontological models

Module B. Knowledge and Stars: astrology, theology and science in the Latin Middle Ages

Week VI-VII, Augustine, why we should not rely on the stars. Signa, heresy and free will
Week VIII-X, Albert the Great, theology and freedom: Speculum Astronomiae, The Mirror of Astronomy
Week XI-XII, Aquinas on astrological determinism: divination and superstition in the Summa Theologiae
Week XIII, Summary and Conclusions