MINIATURIST, French
(active 1sr quarter of 13th century in Paris)

Latin Psalter of Louis IX and Blanche of Castile

1200-25
Manuscript (Ms. lat. 1186)
Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Paris

It is not easy to disentangle medieval astronomy from astrology, since the former was pursued largely for the sake of the latter. There were, however, some serious advances, one of them the invention (or adoption) of the astrolabe: a very ancient astronomical computer for solving problems relating to time and the position of the Sun and stars in the sky.

This Psalter, a Latin parchment codex of 192 folios, was owned by Blanche of Castile, Queen of France (1188-1252). Folio IV shows an astronomer in the centre, with a clerk and mathematician, using an astrolabe.