Weather Forecasting: Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Western Christian World

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985955%3A_____%2F21%3A00542284" target="_blank" >RIV/67985955:_____/21:00542284 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110499773-037" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110499773-037</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110499773-037" target="_blank" >10.1515/9783110499773-037</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Weather Forecasting: Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Western Christian World

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

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.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Weather Forecasting: Traditions and Practices in the Medieval Western Christian World

Popis výsledku anglicky

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.

Druh

C - Kapitola v odborné knize

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

60101 - History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)

Projekt

<a href="/cs/project/GA19-03834S" target="_blank" >GA19-03834S: Historický vývoj meteorologických teorií a terminologie v českých zemích</a><br>

Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2021

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název knihy nebo sborníku

Prognostication in the Medieval World: A Handbook

ISBN

978-3-11-050120-9

Počet stran výsledku

14

Strana od-do

651-664

Počet stran knihy

710

Název nakladatele

De Gruyter

Místo vydání

Berlin

Kód UT WoS kapitoly

—