Medieval Astrology and The Buke of the Sevyne Sagis

• Published in: Forum for modern language studies 2002-10, Vol.38 (4), p.420-434
• Main Author: Robbins, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0015-8518; 1471-6860
• DOI: 10.1093/fmls/38.4.420

The oldest Latin prose text of the story of the seven sages, Historia Septem Sapientum, appears in the Innsbruck MS v.J., dated 1342. Catherine Van Buuren, editor of the Middle Scots version of the tale, The Buke of the Sevyne Sagis, offers this Latin text as the most probable source for the Scottish poem and agrees with Killis Campbell and Karl Brunner that the Middle Scots text is not connected with the Middle English versions. Although various accounts of the seven wise men have generally similar plots, they vary greatly in detail. Two details that appear only in the Middle Scots poem are the poet's insistent use of the word “science” and his emphasis on astronomy. This essay compares these texts and offers an overview of the attitudes in Scotland toward astronomy and its cousin astrology during the Middle Ages. The assertion here is that the Scottish poet's insistence on portraying astronomy as a proper and useful field of scholarly endeavor represents his personal stand on an issue that was of both popular interest and some controversy at the time. More importantly, he portrays this science in a favourable light to appeal to the politics of James III, during whose reign the poem was written and whose interest in this subject is well known.