ASTROLOGICAL FORECASTING AND THE TURKISH MENACE IN THE RENAISSANCE BALKANS
Keywords:
Mathias Corvinus, astrology, Martin Bylica, Antonio Bonfini, Hungary, Steven Lukes, Pierre Bourdieu, habitus, Peter Winch, Stephen Krasner, epistemic regimesAbstract
Astrology played a prominent role at the court of the late-fifteenth-century Hungarian king, Mathias Corvinus (1458-1490). In fact, his chief adviser was the astrologer Martin Bylica. This interest in predictive astrology has sometimes been seen as a singular blemish on the rule of an otherwise exemplary Renaissance monarch. However, understood within the context of his times, King Mathias’ astrological interests reinforce his image as a man of learning. An acceptance of predictive astrology was a core belief within the intellectual worldview of the day, allowing the presence of a court astrologer to function as an anxiety-reduction mechanism in the face of the massive threat represented by the Ottoman Turks.
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