Mortalidad general por grandes causas Ajuste de tasas por edad Ajuste de tasas por edad

First, the chapters in the Adversus A strologiam on celestial and human spirit are so dose to Ficino's thought that it seems highly probable they derive from him. Secondly, we have the testimony of Gian-Francesco Pico, who was certainly not inclined to exagger­ ate his uncle’s belief in astrology, that at the time of Pico’s a· \pologia for his Conclusiones (I.e. 1486-7)1 he still believed in divinatory astrology2. Thirdly, as .1 have already suggested % there may be a connection between Ficino’s magic and some of Pico’s Orphic

Conclusiones; these undoubtedly propose a magical use of (Orphic

hymns, and the only “good”, πΰπ-demonic, use 1 can think of would be an astrological one*

When Tomm iso Buoninsegni, a Dominican professor of theology at the University of Florence, published in 1581 Iris Latin translation of Savonarola’s Italian treatise against divinatory astrologyJ, a popular, compendious version of Pico’s, he prefaced it with a long apologia for Pico's and Savonarola's anti-astrological writings. This apologia is more like a plea for leniency than a defence. Opponents of their works, we are told, claim that they have proved nothing against sober anti prudent astrologers, who axe strictly orthodox, do not pretend to foretell particular events, and are careful to subject all their predictions to the inscrutable will of God. Moreover, these defenders of good astrology have the authority of Thomas Aquinas cm their side, who “ In innumer­ able places” teaches that even man’s mind and will are indirectly influenced by the stars, through theie- effect on his b o d y5.

1 The Cotti lusiones were published in Dee. 1480; rhe Apologia in May 14B7.

a f_j. l·". Pico, Op. Out»., 1573, p. 631 [Ih Rittm Ptuemitone, VII, ii). In the

Idepiaplus (w ritten at Florence 1588-9) Pioj attacks “genethliaci'11, i.e. divinatory astrology [Htpiapha, V, iv, ed, Garin, Florence, 1942, pp. 2%-S), but clearly accepts the influence of particular planets (ibid., Jl, iii, p. 232-6). After ,l warning agalnS-L CKcesslve subjection to the stars ([], vli, pr 242-4; we arc brothers not sL.lvus of

the celestial he writes ''neque stellarum imagines in metal .is, sed illi.ui, idesr

Vetbi I3ei im agined! ill lUtStris anim ii refo rm ertiJi1'. r|"hia might be a reference to l i Lino's talismans,

a V, supra p. 22. Cf. H tptap^st li, vit p. 242, whctc Pico connects the Orphic hymns wirh the intelligences that move the heavens.

* Savonarola, QpW exiwfitw £.d\'trsits duuiiiiricettt astronowiait , r , Inierprefe F.

Fimum ΒοΗΜίΙχηώ . . . . Florendae, 1561.

58 II. FICINO’ S MAGIC

Buoninsegni then, instead of answering these critics, sa y s1:

Indeed, to speak freely my opinion in so grave a matter, I have never been able to convince myself, nor be led to believe that Pico, Savonarola and other excellent men wished to condemn true and legitim ate astrology.

Good astrologers, like Ptolemy himself2, take care to safeguard free-will and providence. It was against the bad astrologers, who subject man’s will entirely to the heavens and who derive religions from planetary conjunctions, that Pico and Savonarola were writing. If sometimes, carried away by their just anger against this bad, superstitious astrology, they went too far and also attacked good astrology, Buoninsegni begs the reader to forgive them; they were merely over-zealous, and perhaps inevitably so, since in correcting an abuse one is almost bound to fall into the opposite error, as one has to bend a curved stick too far the other way in order to straighten it, or as Augustine, when attacking the Manicheans, verged towards Pelagianism.

Not content with this curious apologia for Pico and Savonarola, Buoninsegni does his best to transform the latter’s treatise into a work in favour of astrology by means of copious annotation. The authorities he uses in this are mainly Thomas Aquinas and his pro-astrological commentator, Cardinal Caietano3; but he even goes so far as to quote Pico’s adversary Bellantius in order to defend horoscopes4.

I would not deny that Buoninsegni was distorting Pico’s and

1 Buoninsegni, in Savonarola, op. cit., p. 7 : “ Vcrum, ut quod in rc tam gravi

sentiam, liherc dicam. F.go persuadere mihi nunquam potui, neque in cam cogitatio­ nem adduci, ut credam Picum, Savonarolam, caetcrosquc summos viros veram atque legitimam astrologiam damnare voluisse.”

* Ibid., pp. 8-9. He quotes from the Procmium o f the Tetrabiblos (sec Ptolemy,

De Pratdidionibus Astronomicis cui titulum fecerunt Quadripartitum, Grpce cr Latine, Libri iiii. Philippo Mela ut bone interprete, Basilcae, n.d. (Ded. dated 1553), pp. 21 scq.).

* Cf. infra pp. 214, 222.

1 Savonarola, A dr. A str., cd. Buoninsegni, pp. 104-5; cf. ibid., pp. 58-9, 88.

Bellantius (D e Astrologica veritate Liber Quaestionum. Astrologiae Defensio contra

Ioannem Picum Mirandi/lanum . . ., Basilcac, 1554, p. 171 (first cd. 1502)) wrote on Ficino: “ Marsilius Ficinus Platonicus cuidam amico meo ejus inspecta genitura quaedam futura affirmavit, nihilquc adversus astrologiam scripsisse audivimus, at sepe intentum legimus in libro dc triplici vita quem jam plures sunt anni edidit pro astrologica facultate, ubi non modo de astrologia sed magica, quod majus est, diffuse tractat.” This is a reply to Pico’s statement about Ficino and astrology.

GIOVANNI PICO 59

Savonarola’s intentions. Nevertheless, his example shows us that it was possible to take their treatises as attacks only on “ had.” , irreligious astrology; and if, like Ficino, one knew one was a “ good” astrologer, one could applaud their attacks whilst still believing in one’s own astrology.

CHAPTER TIT, PLETHO, LAZAR F.LLI AND FICINO

(1) Pletho

There are reasons for thinking that Gemistus Pletho practised a kind of hymn-singing similar to Ficino’s and even for conjectur­ ing that Ficino’s Orphic singing derives in some measure from Pletho. Although Pletho does not in his surviving works quote any Orphica, his religious ideas and interpretation of Plato were largely founded on the prisca theologia, particularly the Oracula

C h a l d a i c a and he wrote out a copy of fourteen of the Orphic

Hymns 2. It seems likely that these have some connexion with the hymns that figure so prominently in the surviving fragments of his N omoi, with the elaborate directions for singing them, for musical modes, postures, days and times of day T Like the Orphic Hymns they are written in dactylic hexameters; their music seems to have been a combination of what Pletho knew about ancient Greek m usic4 with Byzantine liturgical m usic5. They were addressed to Pletho’s numerous gods, who bear the names of Greek pagan deities; the higher classes of gods are, as Pletho explicitly says 6, metaphysical or natural principles; the lower ones are planetary and stellar deities. Among the latter Pletho*s devotion was given chiefly to the su n 7; George of Trebizond wrote of him indignantly ft:

1 See Milton V. Anastas, “ Pietho’s Calendar and Liturgy” , Dumbarton Oaks

Papers, No. 4, Harvard U.P., 1948, pp. 279 scq.; Walker, “Orpheus” , pp. 107-9. * Sl-c J. Motellius, Biblhtfjecae regiae Divi AI arti 1 'enettat am . . . Bibliotheca rnartu- feripta Graeca ei Laiino, J, liaasani, 1802, p, 269.

a Plctho, Traiti des Loi.x, ed, C. Alexandre, tr. A, Pcllisicr, Paris, 1858, pp. 202scq,r

230 seq.; cf. Anastos, op. cit., pp. 255, 267 (“ In bath matter and style, Plctho’s hymns , . . closely resemble the pedantic hymns of Proclus and the pseudo-Orpheus"), 268.

4 See Anastos, op. cit., p. 268; Plctht/s short treatise on music, printed in his

Loix, ud. cit.T p. 458,

1 Sec Anastos, op. cit., p, 268.

Pletho, op. cit., ed, cit., pp. 2, 130, 202; cf. ibid., No/itt Prilimbiaire, p. lix, T Cf. Francois Masai, Pttibon et k Platonism? tie Mit/ra, Paris, 1956, pp. 222 scq., 305. 6 George of Trebizond, Comparaihfttt PbyJosopbortm Aristotelis ti Platonic,

PLETKO 61

T have. seen, I myself have seen, I have seen and [ have read prayers of Ms to the sun, hymns in which he extolled and adored the sun as creator of ad things . . ,

All that survive of these solar hymns are an altered version of Produs* Hymn to the Sun h and the 9th hymn in the N owoi, which begins2:

iTi tolls' ούρανοΐ) ΗΉλ«, ΐλβος &£ττ,ς,

—the Sun is ruler of the other planets, acid with them governs all terrestrial things. The latter hymn is quoted on a manuscript of Juli&tTs 0 ru th ad Sokm written by Demetrius Rhailes, who collected together the fragments of Pletho’s N omoi ;s, The theory of prayer with which Pletho introduces his hymns is remarkably like the theory' of magic behind Ticino's astrological music; Pletho addresses his gods thus * i

May we carry out these rites in your honour in the most fitting manner, knowing that you have no need of anything whatever from u s.

but we are moulding and stamping oar own imagination and that part □f us which is most akin to the divine, allowing it both to enjoy the godly and rhe beautiful and making our imagination tractable and obedient to that which is divine :n us.

Pletho's hymns and rites, iike Fidno’s do not aim at any objective effect on the deity addressed, but only at a subjective transformation of the worshipper, particulari1; his imagination·

What historical connexion might there be between Pletho and Ficino? Pletho died in 1452, and the only time he was in Italy was for the Council of Florence in 143S-9; mosL of his N omoi w^as

Venice, 1523, quoted by Anaslos, op. cit., p. 211: “Vidi, T'idi ego, vidi et kgi preces

in sf'Ictn e i l. s [sc. Plcthuuis]h quibus, si::·.it creatorem tuiius, hymnis cxtuJLit stquc

ndorat - -

1 V . supra p. 23, ποιο ( i) .

1 dleihu, up. cit., ud. cit., p. 21U; cf, iL^id. p, 2Ίl·! {Hymn XIX), rind pp.

1'4-S, on the prtdnmjnguit pl^ce of i be ti.j:i, ;| See Aiiflstos, ·>ρ. cit., p. 211.

J lslctho, ed, tit., p, 15ΰ : “ ^γ^οτείκις t i c ιτρος ώ : χρή te x a l ;ιάλ.ί- πτϊ ίύς fyriE μίν *>ύβέν ΤΟ'>των Xt&V “ftp" ήμΰν ΒίΟμέ^Ουί it&^xc;. -ημών

ί'ϊ.'ιτήι'ί τό φΛντ·ίίΟ*7(·Κ0ν τί Μ·ϊί τΐι —ρ'ίσΐ^ίσταττίΎ τΐΑττ&ντϊς te v.xi

tijTt'VxVtec, y.ai ά\ι λ μέ·γ ail tl amJj&S ί,π-Γίλίιύίΐν ρίιιΐ 3’ ijfifflv

τφ Oeo^dtxx^ efofpiiiv τ? Trapturasiaicmfg κ*ι εΰττίΐΟές1'. Cf. :bid., p. 186.