Anne Lawrence – Mathers: Prediction, Prognostication – or Divination? The Medieval Calendar as a guide to the Future.

Anyone who listens to news broadcasts will be familiar with modern forms of forecasting and predicting. These range from the scientific, like weather forecasts, to the more contentious, like predictions concerning the future state of the economy. Medieval people also had ways of making ‘scientific’ predictions, many of which were rooted in beliefs about time, and its intricate relationships to the planets and the stars.

This lecture will begin with the striking amount of astronomical and astrological information incorporated into medieval calendars, and then demonstrate how this was used in association with texts known as ‘prognostics’ in order to make various sorts of predictions. It will begin with weather forecasts, then as now recognised as important and valuable. From there we shall move on to instructions for timing medical treatments and evaluating a patient’s chances of recovery from illness. The lecture will end with more debatable, but still time-related methods of gaining insight into the future, from judicial astrology to geomancy.

All are welcome, but those wishing to attend should book a free ticket via Eventbrite or email archives@churchofengland.org no later than Tuesday 18 March.

This event is also available to watch online. Please book a separate ticket if you wish to join us online instead of in person for this lecture: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/8a92f845-4c66-425e-9795-c652f4dc87b5@95e2463b-3ab0-47b4-9ac1-587c77ee84f0

Please note that tickets must be booked individually for security purposes.