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Medieval cademy of merica
Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of ClimateAuthor(s): Marian J. TooleySource: Speculum, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Jan., 1953), pp. 64-83Published by: Medieval Academy of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2847181.
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8/10/2019 Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate
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BODIN AND
THE
MEDIAEVAL
THEORY
OF CLIMATE
BY MARIAN J. TOOLEY
No
ONE
who haswrittenboutRepublics, aysBodin,has considered he funda-
mentalproblem
f
how
the
form f
a
Republic
shouldbe
adapted
to
the
natural
aptitudes
of its
people.
Failure
to
appreciate
his
principle,
nd the
attempt
o
frame
aws
by
absolute tandards
as
onlybrought
reat
tatesto ruin.He
there-
foreproceeds
o the
enquiry
himself.'
A modern
eader, nvestigating
he
theory
of
climate,'
or environments
it
applies
to
politics,
which he proceeds
to
ex-
pound,
mustbe struck y
the fact hat some
ofhis most
mportant
tatements
the
distribution
f the
temperaments,
or nstance
appear
to be made
quite
arbitrarily,
or
no
explanations
re
given.
This in
itself
uggests
hat
his
theory
was not proles inematre,'but thathe was drawing ponsome common tockof
scientific
otionsfamiliar
o
his
contemporaries.
he
suggestion
ecomes
cer-
tainty
when he cuts shorthis illustration
f a
particular oint
with the
remark
that he
need not
go
into
particulars
whichare matters
f commonknowledge,
and
easily
accessible
n
the sourcesfrom
which
he
himself ad
got
them.2
But
what were
those
sources?
He
does
not
say.
He
does,
of
course,frequently
cite authority
or
his
facts.This
authority
s
of
two
sorts,
ither he
writers
fthe
ancient
world
uch as
Aristotle, tolemy,
Galen, Caesar, Tacitus, Livy, or con-
temporary
istorians nd travellers. e uses Commines
nd
Guicciardini
n the
Italians, Sigismund 'Heberstein's istory ftheMuscovites,FrancescoAlvarez
on
Ethiopia,
and
Las
Casas on the American ndians. He also repeatsconversa-
tions
with he
Polish
ambassador rom
ithuania,3
enry I's French mbassador
to
the
English Court,4
nd
reports
f the French
ambassadorswho negotiated
settlement
f
the
talian
questionwith
the EmperorCharlesV.5
But,
although
t
is
clear that he
drew
his
facts
from hese sources,
only sug-
gestions
re to be foand
in
them of the theories
bout environment
hat he
thought
he facts llustrated.t
has in
consequence een verygenerally
ssumed
that
his
theories
were
original,
nd possiblyhis most mportant
ontribution o
political hought, hough ubjectto the qualificationhat he mixed ncongruously
penetrating
bservations n the consequences
f such natural nfluences
s tem-
perature
n
the physical
nd
moralconstitution
f men withmuch
superstitious
1
Six
Livres
e a
RMpublique,,
i
(Paris, 1608), p.
665.
There
are
three ersions f this
chapter.
The
first
raft ppeared n the
Methodus d facilem
historianumognitionem,, published
n
1566;
in
it
all the
generalprinciples re stated,
but not
particularly
elated o
contemporary
olitics.
This
re-
lationwasmade n
the Six
Livres e
a
Rhpublique,, ,
of
1576.
n 1586
Bodin
published
his own
Latin
version,
e
RepublicaLibriSex,which s
a
free ranslation f the
French,
but
with
a
few
ignificant
additions.All references
re
to
the
French
version nless otherwisendicated.
2
Meth., Geneva,1610],p. 189.
8
Rep., p. 668.
4
Rep., p. 669. In the
Latin
version
Frankfort, 609), p. 777,
he
refers
o
a
visit whichhe
himself
had
made to
England,
where
he
noted
the
weather.
Rep.,
p.
676.
84
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Bodin
and
the
Mediaeval
Theory
f
Climate
65
matter
bout the
occult
nfluence
f
the
stars.6
ut
if he was indeed
l'initiateur
de
la theorie
es climats,'7
ne
wouldexpect
him to give
most
attentionwhere
n
fact
he
gives
east,to the
discussion
f
he
grounds
fhis general
tatements
bout
theeffectsf environment.he fact thathe assumes their bviousness, nd de-
votes
all his
energies
o
a wealth
of
llustration,
uggests
hat t
was the
llustra-
tive
matter
hat
was new,
but the
general
principles
oo
familiar
o need
exposi-
tion.
Fortunately
he
activities
f the sixteenth-century
rinters
nd publishers
re
evidence
of
the
taste of
the
reading
public. Judging
y the number f
editions
that appeared,
there
was
a
considerable
nd steady
demand
formediaeval
cos-
mological
writings,
specially
f the
more
popular
encyclopaedic
nd
informative
type.
Twenty-four
ditions
of
Sacrobosco's
De
Sphaera
appeared
before
1500
and manyothersfollowedn the sixteenth entury.t was also the subjectof
numerous ommentaries8
nd
translated
nto
French,
German,
panish,
talian
and English.
Ten editions
of the
Latin
text
of
Bartholomaeus
Anglicus,
De
Proprietatibus
erum,
nd
four
ditions
of
the French
translation
ppeared
be-
fore
1500,
and further
ditions
n
both
tongues
followedduring
he
sixteenth
century.9
here were
six editionsof
the
Cuer de
Philosophie
etween
1507
and
1534,
and
others followed.'0
here were
four
editions
of
Guido
Bonatti's
De
Astronomia
ractatus,
nd at least
four
of Vincent
of Beauvais'
Speculum
Na-
turale.
A man of Bodin's wide reading
ould
hardly
have
been
unfamiliar
with
this
literature.
n fact there
s
incontrovertible
vidence
that
his scientific
hought
was
formed
n
these
traditions.
is Universae
Naturae
Theatrums an
exposition
of
his
system
of
the
world,
and
despite
occasional
divergencies
n particular
points
t
is
fundamentally
ediaeval. That
is to
say,
his
cosmology
s based
on
Ptolemy,
is physics
n Aristotle,
nd
his physiology
n Galen,
nterpreted
n
the
light
of their
great
Arab
commentators
uch as
Haly
and
Avicenna.
From
the
fusion
of
these traditions
odin
inherited
romhis mediaeval
predecessors
he
doctrine
f
a
geocentric
niverse omposed
of
the
four
lements
f
matter,
nd
astrologically
ontrolled.
Moreover,
n
this
work
he
betrays
his
acquaintance
not
only
with hetraditional octrines,ut with he actualwritingsftheSchoolmen,
for he freely
ites among
othersAquinas,
AlbertusMagnus,
Duns
Scotus
and
6
R.
Chauvire,
Jean Bodin,
uteur e
a
Rgpublique
Paris,
1914),
p.
359.
For
opinions
n
his mpor-
tance
and
originality
n thisrespect
ee also
J. W. Allen,
A
History
f
Political
Thought
n the
ixteenth
Century
London,
1928),
pp. 431-438;
P.
Mesnard,
L'Essor
de la
philosophie
olitique
u
XVI8
siecle
(Paris,
1936),
pp. 530-538;
J.
Moreau-Reibel,
Bodin et e droit ublique
ans
ses
rapports
vec
a
phi-
losophie
e
l'histoire
Paris,
1933),
pp.
69-102.
A. Garosci,
JeanBodin, politica
diritto
el
rinasci-
mento rancese
Milan,
1934), pp. 149-153,
draws
attention
o the
currency
f
similar
deas
in the
fifteenth
entury,
ut
without
iscussing
heir
rigins.
7
E. Fournol,Bodin pr4ddcesseureMontesquieuParis, 1896), p. 117.
8
P.
Duhem,
Le
Systeme
u monde, II,
2 (Paris, 1913),
239.
9
Fourteen
rench
ersions
y
1556;
see Cb. V. Langlois,
La
Connaissance
e
a nature
t
du
monde
u
moyen
ge
(Paris,
1911),
p.
123.
10
or
a description
f thiswork
ee E. Renan
Le Livre
des Secrets
ux
Philosophes,
n
llist.
litt.
e
a
France,
xx, 567-595.
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66
Bodin and
the
MediaevalTheory
f
Climate
Hlenry
f
Malines. It
is
in
this work,
hen,that
one
must ook forthe
physical
theories hat
underlay is
theory
f
climate.
Bodin
starts
y repeating
he
doctrine
hat the
physical
niverse
s
constituted
out of
matter nd form, ind theunending rocessofalteration o which t is
subject
is
the
consequenceof
the
perpetual
transmutation
f matterfrom
ne
form
o
another.'2
orim, e
says,
can be
either imple,
s
are
the
rudimentary
forms
fthe
four
lements, r
mixed,'
s
in
the case
of
all
things
nto
whosecom-
positioIn
enter
two or
more
elements.'3
All four
elements re
present
n
living
bodies.
Ilence
the
doctrine,
ssociated
with
Galen, of the four
radical com-
plexions,
ccording s
earth,fire, ir
or
water predominates
n
the
composition.
Bodin
does
not
expoundthis
doctrine n a
work
devoted to
physics,
but he
habitually
assumes it
when
writing
f the
physique of men.
As
a
peripatetic
physicist, owever, e holdsthat,thoughmatter s capable ofreceivingll forms,
it
possesses n
tself o
active
principle
nabling
t to
assumeform
pontaneously.14
An
extrinsic
fficientause
is
required o
accomplish
his process.
Outside and
enveloping he
world of
material
transmutations
re the
heavens,
n
ceaseless
motion. f
naturedoes
nothing n
vain,what is
the
purposeof
this
activity?
To
Bodin, as to
his
mediaeval
predecessors,
he conclusionwas
inescapable;
t
must
be
the
stars n
their ourses
hat
govern
he
mutations f
matter.'5
Moreover,
or
Bodin,
since he
rejected he
doctrine
hat form
s latent
n
matter nd the stars
merely
licit
t,16 he
stars
are
actually the
sourcefrom
which he
multiplicity f
forms
mmediatelyroceeds.'7
In
treating
f the
structure
f the
heavens,he follows
tolemy
n
supposing
seriesof
revolving pheres,
nveloping he
motionless
ore
of the
material
world.
First
are
the
spheres f the
seven
planets,
he
Moon,
Mercury,
Venus,
the
Sun,
Mars,
Jupiter,
aturn,
nd
beyond these the
eighth
phere
f the
fixed
tars,
I
Signs
of
the
Zodiac. What
followedwas a
matterof less
universal
greement.
Bodin
decides for two
more
spheres
o explain
the
double
diurnal and
annual
movement
f the
heavens.'8
The
movement f the
ninth
phere s
the origin f
the
west
to east
circuit f
the
planets on the
poles of the
Zodiac
in
their
everal
periods
of
time.The tenthsphere s the source of the most regular nd most
rapid of all
movements, he
diurnal
revolution f the
whole heaven from ast
to
west.'9 Each
planet
and
star has its
formal
roperties,ong
fixed
by a
tradition
goingback
to
Ptolenmy's rab
followers.
-low
these
properties
re
transmitted
11
Naturale
corpus est
eins
mutabile materia
formaque
coagmentatum,'
UniversaeNalurae
Thea-
trum,
(LyoIns,
596), 13.
12
Pp.
51?-54.
13
P.
74.
14
P.
53.
15
He
constantly
sserts lhis,.g., pp. 15-16,orp. 53, wheni e putsthe caelestiacorpora'first n
the
order
f
efficientauses of
generated
hings.
16
P.
67.
17
Pp.
15-16,
tota niatio
hilosophorumn
ormas mnes
a
prima
causa
fluentes
er
caelestium au-
sarirn
ordines
istribui
radiint;'
ee also
p.
97.
18
Pp.
554-556.
19
The
structure
f he
heavenis
s
the
ubject
of
hewhole fBook
V.
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Bodin and theMediaeval
Theory
f Climate
67
through
paceBodin does
not say, thoughhe arguesthat
a
cause
can
be
remote
froimts
effects,nd instances he
control f the moon over the tides.20 ut the
matterhad been very
fullydiscussed
n the thirteenth
entury,
nd scientific
doctrine nthe subjectfixed. n performingheir evolutions heheavenly odies
communicate
heir
several virtues' by emitting
ays equally in
all directions.
Each
point
on
the earth's surface,
herefore,
s at the center fthe
total radiation
of that
part
of
the
heavens containedwithin ts horizon, nd the ntensity
f
the
influence f each particular
tar dependsupon
the angle
of ncidence t which
ts
raysfallupon the recipient.2'
hus all individuals,
les
creatures ui sont cy aval
soit
herbes,ou arbres,
ou vermines, u bestes,
poissons,oyseaux,
hommes et
femmes,'22
re the productof,
and perpetually
ubjectto an influence
t once
complex nd perpetually
modifying,
s the tempering
nfluence f the stars
upon
one another hangeswith the change n theirrelativepositions. n this way the
almost
infinite
ariety
of individuals
n the
world
of matter and
the
endless
mutability f things
errestrial ere
explainied.
It
willbe seen that n this ystem
f deas
the principles f
astrology ad
to be
assumed to explain the functioning
f the universe.
Moreover, hey
seemed
to
be confirmedy such observations
s the relation
etween he cycle
of ife nd the
circuit f the sun, and between
the movements
f the tides and
the phases
of
themoon. Astrology
as fundamental o all
the natural
ciences.
All
occurrences
from he flora fa
district o the
history f ts nhabitants
mustbe
determined y
the virtueofthe presiding tars,and explainedby referenceo their nfluence.
The astrological
ystem
f the world was
therefore niversally ccepted
n the
later
Middle Ages,23 nd expounded
n literature t all levels
of
scholarship,
whether
he workof constructivehinkers
uch as AlbertusMagnus,24
r
popular
encyclopaedias
n
the vulgar
tongue
such as
the
Image
du
Monde
of Maitre
Goussouin.25
In
Bodin'sday
this
system
was, of course, hallenged.
He
was
aware
of
t,
and
considered
with
some
care
Copernicus'
new
and disruptive ypothesis
f a helio-
centric ystem.He
dismisses t for easons hat anyone
n
the
fourteenthentury
mighthavegiven: t is contraryo theevidence f the senses, o theauthorityf
the
Scriptures,
nd
incompatible
with Aristotelian
hysics.26
ne
could
hardly
20
pp.
152-153.
21
MIost
learly xpounded
by Roger
Bacon, Opus Maius
(ed. Bridges,Oxford,
897),
I,
112-115.
See
also AlbertusMagnus,
De
Natura
Locorum,,
v, or BartholomaeusAnglicus,
e Proprietatibus
Rerum,
iv, i.
Ilereafter n
these
notes these three
works
are cited
merelyby
the names of
the
authors.
22
Cuerde
Philosophie
Paris,1514),
xlvi rO.
23
This
doctrine
f
the
governance
f
the stars
over
matter s not found
n
such
writers
s
Sacro-
bosco
who werenot familiarwithAristotle's
hysical
works. t is expounided
r assumed
by
all
those
whowere, rom he thirteenthentury nwards.
24
'Contrarietas
on
est
ex
materia, uia materia
non
est causa
virtutis
t
formae, portet rgo uod
sit
ex loco
iniformato figuratione
adiorum tellarum,'
e NaturaLocorum,
,
v.
25
'Par
li
ciels et les estoilles . . corrompt
t
naist toute riens ui
est
en
cest monde
et
qui
a
fin
t
commencement,'mage du
Monde ed. H.
0. Prior,Paris,
1913),vi, 173. This
is the prose
redaction
of
the aterthirteenthentury.
he
original ersionwas
in verse, nd appeared
n 1246.
26
Univ.Nat.
Theat., p. 580-583.
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68
Bodin and
the
Mediaeval
Theory f
Climate
have better
evidence of
the
deliberateness
with
which
Bodin
adhered to the
mediaeval system.
It
is
obvious
that a doctrine f the
nfluence f environments
implicit
n
this
system f deas. Its situation r
ocus
determines hecelestial nfluencesowhich
the
body
occupying
t is
exposed,
nd
therefore
he
constitution f that
body.
Moreover t was
widely
elieved,
n
Galen's
authority,
hat
physical
onstitution
determinesmoral
aptitudes,
and
moral
aptitudes
determine ehavior.
Bodin
himself ums
up
the
doctrine
n a
couple
of
sentences.
Elementa
vi
coelestium
agitantur.
n
elementa
vero
corpus
humanum
continetur, anguis
n
corpore,
spiritus
n
sanguine,
nima
n
spiritu,
mens
n
anima.'27
What, then,
are
the
fundamental
onstituents
f
place?
Long
before
Bodin
said
so,
it
was established hat
they
re
latitude,
ongitude,
nd
configuration.
f
these atitude s byfarthemost mportant,s it defines lace in relation o the
path
of the
sun. The
property
f the sun
is to radiate
heat,
and
heat is
the
first
principle f
ife.
The
astrological
irtue
f the
sun
therefore
s
to
impart
itality;
'ad
generationem
ensibilium
orporum
ommittitur,
t
ad vitam ea
movet,
nutrit, t
auget, et
perficit,
t
purgat
ac
renovat.'28
odin
emphasizes ts
im-
portance
s
the source
of
lifewhen
he
says it
imparts
heat 'non
causaliter
sed
formaliter.'29t is therefore he
universal
planet
whose virtue
reaches
every-
where.30
But its virtue s not
equally potent
verywhere,or
he
obliquity f
ts
rays s
not everywherehe same.Ptolemy'sdivision f theworld ntoarctic, emperate,
and
tropic ones
suggested
hree
fundamental
ypesof
climate,
rigid,
emperate
and torrid.
t
is
clear,however,
n all
discussions
f
climate,
hat the
ines of de-
marcationwere
notthought
f
as
coinciding
with
the circles.
ndeed,
the Arctic
and
the
Tropics were believed to
be
uninhabitable,
nd
the hot and
cold and
temperate limates
refer
o the
habitable
earth
only,
houghwhere he
dividing
lines
came
was never
defined y
mediaeval
writers.The
only
precise
divisions
they
recognized
were
the seven
climates, ying
between
12?N.
and
50'N.,
into
which
Ptolemy
dividedthe
nhabited
arth
known o
him,
.e.,
the area
between
Scythia nd theAfrican esert, hePillarsofHercules nd India. Regionsbeyond
these limits
were,
he
thought,
opulated by very
primitive nd
savage tribes,
inhabitants
f the
ante-climata
nd
ultra-climata f his
mediaeval successors.3'
As
knowledge fthese
xtremes
ncreased,
he
sevenclimates
ost
their eculiar
importance. his
may be
the reason
why
Bodin never
dividesthe
world n
this
way,
but
considers
nly
the three
undamental
ypesof climate
hot,
cold, and
temperate.
But he
was no
longercontent
with
the old
vagueness
about their
limits, nd
defines hem
precisely orthe
first ime
by dividing
he
hemisphere
27
Meth., .
95.
28
Vincent fBeauvais, SpeculumNaturale,xv, iv. See also Bartholomeaus,
III,
xxviii.
29
Univ.
Nat.
Theat., .
578.
30
Rep., p.
690,and
Meth.,
.
103.
31
The
seven
climates
re
defined
n
Sacrobosco,
op. cit.,
ii,
and
in all
descriptions
f
the
earth's
surface
hereafter.
acon,
p.
297,
adds
three
nte-climata o the
south nd
ultra-climata
etween
he
seventh
limate nd
the
polar
circle.
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Bodin and theMediaeval
Theory f Climate
69
equally,firstnto hree ones of30 degrees
f atitude ach, and then nto ix sub-
divisions f
15
degrees,
fwhichhe believes
only he most outherly nd themost
northerlyo be uninhabitable.32
e does
not, however, bservethese neat divi-
sions n differentiatinghe peoples ofEurope and the Mediterranean asin, for
theydid
not coincidewith he politicaldivisions e wished o
explain.
He
remarks
in
the Methodus
hat what may be classed as hot climates
extend to 40?N.;
the
temperate
s
that which ies between40?N. and 50?N.;
northof 50?N.
the
climate
s cold or very
cold.
Therefore,
e classes
England
and Scotland,
Den-
mark nd North Germany s cold; France,
South Germany,
NorthSpain, Italy,
and Macedonia
as temperate; outh
Spain, Sicily,the Peloponnese, nd North
Africa s hot.33
candinavia beyond he sixtieth arallel,
remote egion n the
fringes
f
the
world, rovides
he
fourth ery old type.
The sun,however, s only one of the planets, and radiationof theirproper
virtues
proceeds
from ll, not only of the planets but
the signs as well. But
though the principle
mightbe universally
greed upon, not so its precise
n-
terpretation.
In what manner
he
signs
nd the planets re to
be
assigned o
the
differentegions
f
the world
s
difficult
o determine, or he authorities o
not
agree,' says
Bacon,
and does
not
make the attempt.34
ut
others, otably
Guido
Bonatti, HenryBate of Malines and
Pierred'Aillydid. They
had two problems
to consider.
n
the first lace
ever since
Ptolemy's day
the signshad
been as-
sociated
withanother ortof division f the earth'ssurface
that
into
the four
quarters f the nhabited arth ndicatedbythe four ardinalpointsof thecom-
pass.
The
signs
were
grouped
n
units of
three o
make the
four
riplicities,
nd
each triplicity
as
associated
not
only
with
one of
the
four
uarters,
ut with
one
of
the
four elementsof
matter;35
heir
astrological ignificance
as
therefore
identifiedwith the
element to which they were attributed
n
each
case. But
which
riplicity elonged
o
which
uarter?
Was for
nstance
he north
r
the
east
under the
hot and
active
triplicity
f
fire?
tolemy
and
Albumazar
disagreed.
D'Ailly
in
his
Tractatus
e concordantia iscordantiumstronomorumuper sig-
nificationibusriplicitatum
iscussed
he
problem
t
length,36
nd
reported
Henry
ofMalines as havingdoneso before im.37ts solution ffectedhe secondprob-
lem
oftheplanets,
for
hey
n
their urnwere
associatedwith he
triplicities.
id
Mars
the
bringer
f
war, conjoined
with
the
triplicity
f
water,
have
dominion
over
the west as
Ptolemy aid,
or
over
the north s Albumazar
aid?
Bodin was not concerned
withthe
problem
f
planetary
nfluence
n
this
par-
ticular
orm. ndeed,
he
rejectedPtolemy's
doctrine hat each of
the
signsreigns
32
Rep., p. 667, and
Meth., . 82.
83
Meth.,
.
89.
34
ViI, iv,
p.
381.
35
he system
s
fully xplained by
Bartholomaeus,
iii, ix-xxi;
or Cuer de Philosophie, .
lxiv-
lxvi v0.
36
Published n a collection f textsof which ixteen
re by d'Ailly nd fivebyJean Gerson.
There
is no date, title,place
of
publication
r
pagination.
But it is known o have come
from
he
press
of
John
f
Westphalia
t
Louvain,
n
1480.
37
This
work
of
Henry
of Malines
is
only
known
through 'Ailly's report
f
it;
see
Walleraiid,
Henri
Bate de
Malines (in
Les
Philosophes elges,
i
[19311, 8).
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70 Bodin and theMediaeval Theory f Climate
over a particular ocality.38n any case, Bodin was not so much nterested
n
this
divisionof the earth nto quarters s
in
the division nto zones, because
he
at-
tached a muchgreater mportance o latitude han to longitude s a determinant
of the natureofplace. In considering lanetary adiation, herefore, hat was
useful o
him
was the tradition hat the planets
were
independentlyssociated
with the divisions f latitude.The almost universal ule was to follow tolemy
in assigning he sevenplanets o the sevenclimates
n
order, s does,for nstance,
the
author
of
the Cuer de
Philosophie,39
r
d'Ailly,40
r Bonatti.41
owever,
his
method fdistributionid not suitBodin,for hatpartofthe nhabited arth hat
interested
imdid
not
fall
xclusively
ithin
he framework
f
the
sevenclimates.
Instead
he
adopted
the muchrarer
ractice
f
assigning
he
planets
to
the zones.
One writer t any
rate in
the thirteenth enturyhad
done so. Guido Bonatti
ascribed ne ofthethree uterplanets, nd one ofthethreenner o each
zone-
Saturn nd
Luna to
the
frigid, upiter
nd
Mercury
o
the
temperate,
nd
Mars
and Venus to the torrid.42
odin
follows he principle ut changes he
order.He
transposes
Mars and
Saturn, hus placing he frigid one underMars
and
Luna,
and
the
torrid nder
Venus and
Saturn.43
his is
extremelyrbitrary
f
him,
for
it involves he inking f a hot with cold planet n each case, and sacrifices he
principle
f
similarity etween a climate and its planets. The only reason he
givesfor hisdistributions not ts ogic,but its conformity ithobserved ffects
(d'Ailly
had
already
observed
hat this must be
the final est44),
nd
he
thought
he observed
he warlike nfluence f Mars in the north, nd the contemplative
virtue fSaturn nthe south.45
For
Bodin, therefore, ifferencesf latitude subject the human organism o
morecomplex nfluenceshan merely he effects f heat. The occult nfluences f
the
planetsproper
o each zone
emphasizedivergencies,nd environmentn one
zone
is
highly ifferentiated
rom
hat
in another.
Bodin's second constituent f place, longitude, veryonewas agreed was far
less important. ast is east and west s west,for he sun s in the ascendant nd
therefore
ore
potent
over
the one, and
in
declension nd thereforeeebler ver
the other.46
ut the distinction
s less
marked, ccultior. either he dividing ine,
northe principle f differentiationad everbeen defined.47odin agrees hat t is
38
Meth., p. 135-138. See also Univ. Nat. Theat.,
pp. 621-624.
39
Cvii.
vO.
40
Ymago
Mundi, x. Bodin treats fhis various
works n astrology t some ength n Rep., v, ii.
41
De Astronomia ractatus,
v, viii.
42
op. cit., V, Vii. I
have not foundthat
anyone
else did this,but Bonatti attracted ttention
n
France and Charles V commissioned translation
C. Jourdain,Nicholas Oresme t les astrologues
de
la
Cour
de
Charles V,'
in
Revue
des
Questions
istoriques,
viii
[1875]).
43
Rep., pp. 691-692, and Meth., p. 102-103.
44
De Concordantia iscordantium stronomorum.
40
I have not been able to find hathehad any precedent or hisarrangement.ut thespheres f
influence
f the planets seem to have been a matter
f some uncertainty. odin's contemporary,
AugerFerrier,
whomhe
cites
on
occasion,gives
a
quite
differentistribution
ccording
o the
points
of the compass n his Des
jugements
stronomiquesur es nativitez.
46
Pierre
d'Ailly,
De
Concordantia iscordantium
stronomorum.
47
Bacon, p. 250,
and
Pierre
d'Ailly,
Ymago
Mundi, xii.
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Bodin
and theMediaeval
Theory f
Climate
71
impossible o say in
thiscasewhere he
division omes,
nd does not
attempt hat
precision e achieved
n the case of
atitude.But he
is sure about the
extremes,
whichhe
shifts astwards o the
Moluccas
and westwards o
the
Canaries. Cir-
cumnavigation f theworldhas notdestroyed orhimthe notionof an eastern
and western
uarterofthe globe,
each with
ts fixed ite, and
specific
uality.
But there
was
somethingmore n the
determinationf the
natureofplace
than
the stellar
radiation
to
which t was exposed.
It was an axiom of
Aristotelian
physicsthat
the
communication f form
s
conditioned y the aptness
of the
material o receive t.
As
AlbertusMagnus expressed
t, the
nature of all gen-
erated things
depends first n
radiation
radius) and second on
site (locuscon-
tinens),48
or
from he one
proceeds
heat, which s the
first
rinciple
f
life nd,
within he
other
s
contained
moisture,which s the
first
rinciple f growth.49
In otherwords hecounterpartfstellarradiation s regionalgeography,which
Vincent
of
Beauvais
analyses
as
altitude,
humidity,
he
proximity
f
mountains
and the
sea, the
quality of the
soil;50
or
t is
all
these
things
hat
determine he
balance betweenheat
and
moisture.
n
high ltitudes
he
atmosphere
s
cool,
thin
and
dry,
nd
in
ow-lying laces,
especiallynear the
sea, damp,
warm,
nd
heavy.
It
follows hat
mountainous
istricts re more
northerlyn their limate
han the
latitude ndicates, nd
sheltered alleys
more
southerly.Great
importancewas
also attached
to theprevailing
inds, or
tolemyhad said bodies
are
conditioned
by the air
which ontains hem.
The number
was fixed t twelve
nd their
everal
qualitiesdetermined.5'or this reason twas agreedthatthesituation fmoun-
tains
matters
s much
as their ltitude; t
affects ot only he
temperature
f the
adjacent territories
y exposing hem
n
one
direction nd
protecting
hem n
another,
but determines he
prevailing
winds. These
were the considerations
which nformed
quinas's discussion
of
a
suitable site for a
city.52
t was not
merely questionof
health
either, orhealth and
energy
rofoundlyffect e-
havior.Aquinas
remarked n
the
demoralizing
ffect f too fertile soil and
too
soft n
air,
for here
pleasure
omes
asily
and exertion s
not
necessary.53
n the
other
hand,
t was
generally greed that
places
liable to
great
winds and storms
were
especially noxious,
because
the
agitation
of
the
atmosphere
isturbs
he
mind and
distorts he
udgment.54
WhenBodin
discusses
onfiguration
s
the
third
onstituent
f
nvironment,
e
selects
the same features
s
important,
mountains
especially
heir
aspect
marshes
nd
tempestuous
inds;55
and he finds herein he
explanation
f
many
of
the
differencesetween he
people
of one
province
nd another.
The
Pyrenees
48
Albertus,i, i.
49
Albertus,
i, ii.
50
iv,
Cxii. What follows s
common
orm,
nd can
be
found,
or
nstance,
n
Albertus,,
xiii,
and
Bartholomaeus,
iv,
i
and ii.
51
For thenumber nd qualityofthe
winds ee Bartholomaeus, ,
iii,
and
d'Ailly,
Ymago
Mundi,
lx.
52
De
Regimine rincipum,
i,
ii.
53De
Regimine
rincipum,
i,
iv.
54
Vincent f Beauvais, op.
cit., v, ix.
55Rep., p. 668,
and Meth., . 131.
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792 Bodin and the
Mediaeval
Theory f
Climate
exaggerate he differencesn
latitude betweenFrance and Spain, by exposing
Frenchmen
o
northerly
nfluences
nly,
and
Spaniards
to
southerly;
nd
the
Appennines ave the same effect
n emphasizing he distinction
etweenTuscan
and Lombard.58 ough prevailingwinds make the people ofBritain,Portugal,
Thrace, and Persia turbulent,
whereas he Italians
and the inhabitants
f Asia
Minor, iving
n
approximately
he same latitudes re humaneby reason of the
soft irs that blow over them;
and it is the wind that makes Gascons more
n-
tractable han Belgians,despite
their
more
southerly ituation.57
lorence,
built
in mountainous ountry,s an
energetic
nd
turbulent ity,
nd its citizens,
ike
those of
the Swiss
Cantons,
mpatient
f
government; enice,
being city
of the
plain, is stable because is inhabitants re more pacific
nd amenable
to
good
counsel.58 e
ascribes
he
prosperity
f
Genoa
or Ghent
o
the
opportunities
f
a
maritime ituation,but the prosperity fNuremberghe thinks s due to the
infertilityf the soil,which
had compelled ts inhabitants o
exert hemselves
n
other ways
to assure
their
subsistence.59
or
the
same
reason
Attica
was
the
mother f all the
arts.A0
Environment
eacts
on
men through
heir
bodies in
the first
nstance;
for
temperature
nd
humidity,
which
are
the
fundamental roperties
f
place,
are
also the fundamental
roperties
f
the
four
lements
f
whichbody
s
composed.
Hence
the
four
radical complexions
n
men are
characterized y the physical
properties f the predominating
lement; he phlegmatic,ike
water, s cold and
moist;
the
sanguine,
ike
air,
hot and moist; the choleric, ike fire, ot
and
dry;
the
melancholic,
ike
earth,
cold and dry. A causal connectionwas therefore
traced betweenplace and radical complexion. ut, as d'Ailly
pointed out, this
is
the result fa processnot of ssimilation, ut ofreaction; old
climates roduce
men ofhot temperaments,nd hot climates, old temperaments.6'
xternalheat,
it
was believed,draws out the
moisture f the body, and withthat the spiritus'
or
breathof ife hat courseswith he blood through he veins;
nternal eat and
moisture s thereby ost, the temperature f the body reduced
and vitality
lowered.External cold and
drought, n the otherhand, conserve nternalheat
and
moisture y closing he
pores of the skinand so checking vaporation.Ex-
treme cold or drought, owever,have the opposite effect; y preventing ny
evaporation
t all
they ower
hetemperaturef he bodyby conserving
oo much
moisture, nd so diminish ts vitality.62
56
Rep.,p.
692.
57
Rep.,
p. 696.
The
reference
o the Gascons and
the
Belgians
appears
only
n
the Latin
version,
p. 808.
58
Rep., .
664.
59
Rep.,
p. 697.
60
Meth., .
130.
61
De Concordantiaiscordantium stronomorum.ee alsoAquinas, n LibrisPoliticorum,ii, lect.
V.
(This
section of the
Commentary
n the
Politics
s
probably
not
Aquinas'
own work
see
M.
Grabmann, WelchenTeil der
aristotelischen olitik hat der hl.
Thomas
von
Aquin
selbst
com-
mentiert,'
hilosophisches
alhrbuch
er
Gorres-Gesellscehaft,
xviii,
3
(Fulda, 1915).
I
have
used
Aquinas'
name
for he sake of
brevity.)
62
These doctrines
re
fully
xpounded
by
Bartholomaeus,v,
i-xi.
They
are
in
part
stated,
or
im-
plied,
n
any
discussion f
complexion,.g.,
Albertus,i, ii,
or
Vincent
f
Beauvais,
op.
cit., V,
cix-Cxi.
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Bodin and the
MediaevalTheory f
Climate
73
These
physiological
otionswere used to
explainwhatPtolemy nd
Avicenna
had said about the
physique
both of northern aces and
negroes. n the north,
where
he air
s
cold and dry, he
natives re
physically igorous; hey
re strong,
tall, broad and long-lived;moreover, nternalheat means a largeappetite and
rapid
digestion.Those
who
live
in
a hot
climate,from he dissipation
f their
vital
forces,
re small and
feeble, f weak
digestion nd
small appetite. Certain
characteristic
ppearances
were also
observed with
great regularity. n cold
climates
he
coloring
s fair nd
the texture f
the skin and
hair fine;
voices are
soft
nd
deep
in
tone,
the
effect f damp on
the throat. n
hot countries he sun
draws
the
blood to the
surface nd darkens
he skin
in
extreme eat blackens
and coarsens
t
dries nd
frizzles he hair.
Drought
makes voices
high-pitched
and harsh.',
The distributionfthe temperamentsccording o climatewas therefore b-
vious.
t
was
generally greed
hat the
peculiarities f
the
cold
dry emperament,
the
melancholic,
were to be
observed
n
the dark and
puny inhabitants f the
extreme outh.
t was also
agreed
that the
races
of the far
north
xhibited he
characteristics
f
the
phlegmatic
omplexion,
he
cold
and
damp, forthe men
there
re arge,
air
nd
slow-moving.
n the
ess rigorous
limate
f
the
temperate
regions,
where
the
temperature
was
such
as
to conserve he
heat
of the body
without
preventing
he
evaporation
of
surplus moisture,
ccurred he better-
balanced, choleric,
nd
sanguine
ypes.
These
physiological heorieswere
not,
however,
he
only principle
n
which
the
distribution
f
the
temperaments
as determined. here was also
the
tradi-
tion
associating
the
complexions
with the
triplicities residing
ver
the
four
quarters
of the
inhabited
arth. But this was a
matter
of much
greater
uncer-
tainty
than the
agreed
effects f
temperature;
he
authorities,
s has
been ob-
served,
differeds to
their
distribution,
hus
presenting
heirmediaeval
disciples
with
problem
f
reconciliation
hat exercised
ll their
ngenuity.
he tradition
that
apparently
ecame
current
n
France
-
for
t is
found
n
that
repository
f
commonplaces,
he Cuer
de
Philosophie
was
Albumazar's;
the
phlegmatic
complexion,
nder he
triplicity
f
water,
s
assigned
o the
north,
hemelancholic
underthat of earth to thesouth, hecholeric nderthat of fire o theeast; and
the
sanguine
nder
that
of
air to
the
west.64
It is thistraditionwhich
xplainsBodin's
apparently rbitraryrrangement
f
the
temperaments
n
orderfromnorth o
south,phlegmatic, anguine,
holeric
and melancholic
though
his
s
a
distribution
ccording
o
latitude,
ather han
to
quarters.
But the two
methods re
not unrelated.
The
northern
uarter
falls
in the
frigid egions
nd
the southernn the torrid.
he extremes feast and
west
are both included n
the
temperate
one,
as
d'Ailly
had
already
observed;65 ut
the cold
damp
of
the west causes that
quarter
o have
affinities
iththe
north,
whereasthe warmth f the east relates t morenearlyto the south.So Bodin
could assume the
obviousnessof the
arrangement
when
he
said
that Scandi-
63
See
Albertus,
i,
iii;
Bartholomaeus,
v,
i-iv;
Vincent
of
Beauvais,
op.
cit., v,
cix-Cxi.
64
P.
lXVi. VO.
65
Ymago
Mundi,xii.
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8/10/2019 Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate
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74 Bodin
and
theMediaeval
Theory f
Climate
navians
are
phlegmatic,
Germans
anguine,
renchmen
holeric,
nd
Spaniards
melancholic.6t
followed
he
accepted
order
f
the
triplicities,
nd was
consistent
with the agreed
effects
f
temperature;
or
the
sanguine temperament, eing
moist, s proper o a morenorthern limate hanthecholeric,which s dry.
But
-
and this was the
crux of
the
matterforBodin it was an
accepted
doctrinethat, as Bacon
says, 'upon
their radical
complexions epend
men's
dispositions
n
respect
f
morals,
f
earning
nd
languages,
f
all crafts nd oc-
cupations.'67
he conclusionwas based
upon
the account
of
the
functioning
f
an
animal organism
n
the
De
Motibus
Animalium ttributed o
Aristotle,
nd his
analysis of intellectual
processes
n
the
De Anima. All
spontaneousactivity
springs rom mpulseswhich are
organic
n
origin,
because such
activity
s a
consequence
f
appetite,
nd
appetite
follows
he
excitement f some sense
lo-
cated in an organof thebody.Therefore heinvoluntaryctivities fanyliving
creature
re
conditioned
bsolutely y
its
physical
onstitution.68
nimals,
ays
William
of
Auvergne,
f
necessity
ollow
heir
adical
complexions. 9
he
vegeta-
tive and the sensitive
oul
-
i.e.,
the
principles
f
growth
nd of sensation is
each, says Vincent
f
Beauvais, 'obligata materiae.'70Moreover
those activities
ofmen
which re
deliberate
re
also, though ndirectly,
ffected
y temperament.
Even the ntellective
oul,
Vincent
f
Beauvais
adds
-
and
Aquinas agreeswith
him is
conditioned
y the body
t inhabits
secundum
uid.' Aquinas explains
by paraphrasing he
third ook
of
the De
Anima;
all
knowledge
s
begotten pon
the organsof sense,forthe subjectsofthought re the fantasmata r sensible
species
abstracted rom he multitude f
primary
ense
mpressions.71rom this
it
was
argued that
the
more
acute
the
sense
impressions he morepenetrating
the
consequent rocesses
f
thought.
ut
the acuteness
r
otherwise f
sensatory
experience epends
on
physical onstitution; or
ense mpressions re
conveyed
to the brain
by
'spirit'
which
circulates,with the blood, through he veins;
hot
blood
is
thick
nd
impedes
he
operation f spirit nd so only permits ull
per-
ceptions;
but thin blood facilitates
ineness f
perception y allowing spirit'
to
course
reely.72
These premises ccepted,therewas very generalagreement s to theirpar-
ticular
consequences.
The
primaryphysical
bases
of
character re blood and
spirit.
Hot
blood
means
energy
nd
animositas
the quality that makes
men
confident nd assertive, mpatient,
magnanimous, reedyof honor and
power.
The
'hot-tempered' ortherner
herefores a
great fighter, rave because con-
66
Rep., p. 677.
67
Bacon, p. 138.
68
'Organicas
partes
uoque
preparant
doneepassiones
ut
cito moveantur
d
dilectabilem onsecu-
tionem'
d'Ailly,
De
Concordantia
iscordantium
stronomorum).
69
De
Universo,,
xlvi.
70
Op.
cit.,
II, xXXiV.
71
Aquinas,
n
Libris
Politicorum,ii,
lect.
v.
72
The doctrine
f
the
processes
f
sensation
came from
he
De
differentia
piritus
t
animae
at-
tributed o
Constabulinlus,or
Costa ben
Luca).
It was
included
n
the
collected
works
f
Constan-
tine
Africanus
ublished
n
Basel
in
1536.
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8/10/2019 Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate
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Bodin
and the
Mediaeval Theory
f Climate
75
temptuous
f
wounds
he does not fear
oss of blood
because
he can well
spare
it.
But as a
necessary efect
f thesevirtues
he
is intellectually
ull.
Southerners
on
the
otherhand,
beingthin-blooded,
re timid,
nd
vengeful
nd cruel n
con-
sequence.But their spirit'being unimpeded n its operation, hey are charac-
terizedby subtilitas
r fine mpressions
nd speculative
cuteness. They
excel,
therefore,
n
the sciences,
specially
he occult,
n
religion
nd the iberal
rts. n
extreme
ases
the vividness of their maginations
eads the melancholic
nto
delusions
nd
madness.
n
practical
ffairs hey
compass
their nds by guile
and
not by
force; heir
ruelty
s
the
cruelty
f artistsnot
of brutes.73
WhenBodin particularizes
bout
la diversite
es
hommes,'
e selects
precisely
the same characteristics
ordiscussion.
He too
comparesmen
in respect
f size,
the
type
of
energy
n which
hey
xcel, heir oloring,
he quality
of
theirvoices,
the natureof theircruelty, nd their characteristicorms fmadness; and he
finds
ll
the
old generalizations
ubstantially rue.74
rom the ambassador
from
Lithuania
he
learned
that the
Muscovites
of the far
north
were veryfair,
ike
Ptolemy's
lbinos;75
nd
on
the testimony
f Las Casas
he noticed hat
Magellan
had found
the
Patagonians of
the southern
hemisphere
ery large
and
very
simple;76
and the
West Indians, especially
the Brazilians,
ike other southern
races,
he ascertained
were extremely
ruel.7 Moreover
he found n mediaeval
medicine
he
answer
s
to
why
all
these
things
houldbe
so;
it
is
always
radical
complexion '
t
is the black
bile of the melancholic emperament
hat predisposes
southernerso contemplation,eligionnd the occultsciences. uchmen are re-
poseful
nd
docile,
nd whereasdivine
llumination
s
given
o
all,
it is most
fully
effective
n the
quiet
mind, ust
as
light
s mirrored
ost
brightly
n stillwaters.78
The yellow
bile
of the
choleric
emperament
makes
men
energetic,
ractical
n
their ctivities, pt
to undertake
reatenterprises.
uch
is
the
disposition
f
the
French.
The
Germans,
on
the otherhand,
though ctive,
are unstable;
t
is a
consequence
f the
sanguine
omplexion,
f
the hot
blood that
makes
men robust
and
gay,
but
unreliable
nd
at the mercy
f
mpulse
because too thickwitted
o
plan
and
keep
to
a courseof action.He
remarks
n parentheses
hat
tyrants
ave
alwaysdrawntheirbodyguards rom orthernaces,notonlyfor heir trengtb
and
courage,
ut also
because of
their
naptitude
or
ntrigue.79
hensuch
people
become
deranged,
heir
madness
s
not the
self-tormenting
renzy
f the
melan-
choly,
ut
a
mere
folly
f
dancing
nd
singing.
he
phlegmatics
f the far
north,
73Albertus,i, iii, Aquinas,
n Libris
Politicorum,II,
v. and
De Regimine
rincipum,i, i;
Vin-
centofBeauvais, op. cit., v,
cX
and
cxi;
Bartholomaeus, v, 1;
Cuer de
Philosophie, p.
Cxi,
V?-CXii,
r?; d'AillyDe Concordantia iscordantium stronomorum.
here
s
more etail
n
some
than
n
others,
but no
disagreements,
or here s a common
iterary arentage, hiefly tolemy,Haly
and
Avicenna.
D'Ailly's
discussion
s the
fullest.
74
Rep., p. 678, and Meth., . 90.
75
Rep.,
p.
688.
76
Rep., p.
671.
77
Rep., .
680.
78
Rep., p. 687, and Meth.,p. 105.
79Rep., p. 678, and Meth.,p. 92.
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8/10/2019 Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate
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76
Bodin and the
Mediaeval Theory f
Climate
condemned y
nature
o be
chiefly
emarkable or heir
tupidity,
o not
nterest
him verymuch,
nd have
only
a small
place
in the discussion.Mental disorder
withthemtakes
the form f
senile
obliviousness.80
Other nfluences,o hismind, nhanced hesecharacteristics.n the first lace,
the
four adical
complexions
ere
habitually
ssociated
with he four
ges
of
man,
thesanguine omplexion
ith
hildhood,
he cholericwith
dolescence,
hemelan-
cholic
with
maturity
nd the
phlegmatic
with
old
age.81
This
means,
he
thought,
'that the first ype
is
eager
but
erratic,
he
second
adventurous,
he
third
on-
servative
nd
reflective,
nd
the
fourth
hysically
nd
mentally ethargic.82
In the second place therewas the influence f the presiding
lanets.83 aturn
predisposes o contemplation
nd Venus
to
idleness nd licentiousness,nd
as
they are, according
o Bodin, the planets
of the
southern
egions, hey
confirm
thepredispositionf the
melancholic o
religious
ervor
nd loose
morals,
nd
explain why genius
is so
often allied to wickedness.
He
illustrates y citing
Alvarez on the Ethiopians
and Livy
on
the Carthaginians.
he temperate one
is underthe beneficent lanet
Jupiter,
hose
subjects
are of good physique nd
good morals,
nd concernedwith he
operations
f
the
practical
ntellect,
uch
as
law and
jurisprudence; is
associate,Mercury,
lso
disposes
to
useful
ctivities,
rhetoric, usiness nd
commerce.Here as
well, therefore,
he
tendencies
f
the
dominant
emperament,
he
choleric,
re
confirmed.
he
sanguine
north
s
under
Mars, who not onlymakes
menwarlike, ut apt at all crafts, specially hose hat
have to do
with
metal and
fire.His partner, he Moon,
makes
men chaste, nd
also greathunters.84
Bodin emphasizes
his
thesis
by considering hat happens
when men migrate.
Albertushad noticedthat
plants and
animals n
general
grow argeror smaller
as
they
are moved
from ne
climate
o
another,85
nd he
thought hat
if
Ethio-
pians settled
n the norththeir
kins
would become
fair
n
a fewgenerations.86
Here
again,
Bodin
accepts
the mediaeval doctrine s substantially ruebecause
he
thought
t
explained
what
had occurred
n his
own
times.
He ascribed the
conquestof Spain by the Moors,
and
the
victories f the Spanishtroops aken to
Germany y
Charles
V,
to
the
improvement
n
their
military nergywhen they
removed o a morenortherly ountry.On the otherhand, the GermanLanz-
knechts howent south
to
Italy under he
Constable
of
Bourbonand Fronsberg
suffered
corresponding
ecline;
and the
French armies
under Philibert of
Orange
failed before
Naples
as
the Cimbrians
nd
the Gauls had
failed
before
Rome.87
But, though
he
thought
climate
operated
immediately pon men's
80
Rep.,
pp.
677-682
and
698-699;
Meth.,pp.
95,
114.
81
By
analogy
with he association
f
the four easons with
he
four
lements
f
matter.The table
of
correspondencies
ppeared
n Sacrobosco
De
Computo
cclesiastico.
82
Rep.,p.
686.
83
For thequalitiesoftheplanets ee Bartholomaeus,
iII,
xxiii-xxx;Guido Bonatti,op. cit.,
II,
i-vii; Cuer
de
Philosophie, .
lxvii,vO.
84
Rep.,
p.
690-691.
85
Albertus,i,
i.
88
Albertus,I, iii.
87
Rep.,
p. 670.
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Bodin and theMediaeval Theory f Climate
77
energies, t takes time for heirdispositions o be permanentlyltered,for
men
do not
respond
o
environments
quickly
s do
plants
which uck
theirnourish-
ment directlyfromthe soil. But given time, men will, he thought,
become
acclimatized,mentally nd morally s well as physically, s happened to the
Saxons
Charlemagne ransplanted
o the Low Countries.88
What probablyfirst uggested he applicationof these physiological deas
to
the
study
of
politics
was that
chapter
n
the Politics89n which
Aristotle bserved
that northern aces are
naturally ndependent
ut
undisciplined; outhern aces
intelligent ut slothful,nd thus the predestined ubjectsof tyrants;while
hose
occupying
middle situation
have energy nough
for
independence nd in-
telligence nough
o rule not
only themselves ut others.Mediaeval commenta-
tors
saw quite clearly hat
this
passage
was
explainedby referenceo the effects
of climateon men's capacities. t was glossed n this way, for nstance, n the
commentary
n
the Politics
ttributed o
Aquinas.90
As one would expect,Bodin kept to
this
traditional ramework
n
distinguish-
ing political ypes.But he verymuch enlarged ts positivecontent y consider-
ing the effects ot only of temperature n the human constitution, ut of total
stellarradiation.This enables
him to
draw conclusions bout laws,
occupations,
forms f
government,
nd the tendencies f nternational
elationships.
ecause
cold makes men
physically igorous
nd
brave, the
best soldiers re
produced
in
the north.Therefore,ll the great nvasionshave come from hatdirection-
of the Goths, Vandals, Franks, Normans,Tartars. For this reasonthe more
northern
ace
will always
overcome he
more
southerly
n
war;
Rome had her
greatest riumphs
n
the
Levant and North
Africa,
ut even
n her
best
days could
not penetrate
northwards
eyond
the Danube.91
The
English
had
never
con-
queredthe Scots,
but
habitually
efeated
he
French.92 ecause Mars
disposes
o
manual skill as well as war, from he north
ome the best
craftsmen,
lemings,
Germans
nd
English.93
ut because
none
of
these
nfluencesre evocativeof n-
telligence,
orthernersre inaccessible o
all
appeal
save that
of the
senses,
nd
all
arguments
ave those of force.
He uses
Caesar, Tacitus,
and
Solinus
to
show
that amongthemtheruler s powerlesswho is not armed withthe sword, nd
he
collects
vidence
bout the
brutality
f their
punishments.94
or
this
reason,
too, though onquerors
ome from
he
north,
uch
have
not founded
ermanent
empires,
or
hey
ack both
the
intelligence
nd
perseverance
o hold what
they
overrun.95
The
proper
irtue
fthose
who
live
in
the
temperate
one
is
prudence,
r
the
88
Rep.,
p.
698.
89
VI,
vii.
90
In Libris
Politicorum,
II,
v.
Pierre
d'Ailly
also
interprets
he
passage
n
this
way
n
his De
Con-
cordantia iscordantium stronomorum.
91
Rep.,
p.
672,
and
Meth.,
.
91.
92
Rep., p.
676.
9
Rep., p.
690,
and
Meth.,
.
108.
94
Rep.,
. 679.
95
Meth.,
.
91.
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8/10/2019 Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate
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78
Bodinand the
Mediaeval Theory
f Climate
right
unctioningf the practical
ntellect,whichresultsfrom
hatunion of in-
telligence
nd
skill
hat a moderate
limate, nd the
beneficent lanets of Jupiter
and
Mercury nduce. Such
people excel in business
nd politics.
Hence all the
great ystems f aw
-
Greek,Roman,and French have beenevolved nthese
regions.Here also have
arisen ll the great mpires he
worldhas ever
known
Assyrian,
Median,
Persian, Parthian, Greek,
Roman, and Celtic. The great
historians, rators, nd
poets have
come fromthese regions.
Here men are
governednot
by
force
but reason;
they reach their
conclusions y discussion,
and
prefer
he method
f
negotiation
o
war.96
The
children f
Saturn,
he visionaries f the south, re
preoccupiedwith the
problems fabstract ruth ather
han good
conduct,
nd
all
the
great
ystems
f
religion ave arisenfirst n
these parts.
t
is
not reasonbut faithby which
hey
are ruled, and they appeal to oraclesratherthan arguments. he enervating
effects f a
hot
climate
make
them
wretched oldiers,
ut
they
prevail,
neverthe-
less, in
virtue of their
superior unning.9 he more
southerly ace, therefore,
has always excelledover
its northern eighborsn
matters f
diplomacy.Bodin
quotes with
approval Commines'
remark hat though he
French have usually
been
defeated
y
the
English, heyhave always secured
dvantageous
erms
by
the
peace settlementshat
have followed
war; though hey, n their
urn, ightly
complain hat they are
habituallybeaten at the
diplomaticgame
by the Span-
iards,who
have got the
betterof them n every
ettlement or helast hundred
yearsor more.98
And the
moral?Bodin concluded
oldly hat certain
modes of conduct re not
altogether
ithin he
province f humanvolition; f
Leo Africanus
nd Francisco
Alvarez
had realized
this,he
says, they
would not so have praised
Africans
or
their
bstemiousness
it is
the
simple consequenceof
a feebleappetite.
Simi-
larly, he chastity f
northernerss not
to be particularly dmired,
or t comes
of the
weakness
of the
sexual impulse n those of a
phlegmatic
emperament;
nor s the
licentiousness f
the south to
be blamed,for t is
equally the
mark of
the melancholic
omplexion.99he
apparentvirtuousness
f
the Germans
omes
from heir ack of magination; t takes spirit' o makemen eithergreatly ood
or
greatlybad, and Livy
should not, therefore, ave
blamed Hannibal
forhis
vices,
for
hey
were
nseparable rom is
genius.100
ut more
mportant
o Bodin
than these
criticisms f
other
writers
s
the
practical
onclusion e
draws.
States-
men must
frame heirpolicy n
accordancewith
these
unalterablefacts
of
the
situation;to tryand
subject southerners o
the laws proper
to
the
temperate
regions,
r
accustom
northernerso legal
processes
will
only bring
ll to ruin.10'
He
ascribes
he failure
f the Spaniards
n
the Low
Countries
n
his
own
day
to
96
Rep.,p. 687,and Meth., . 105.
97
Rep., p.
690,
and
Meth.,
.
105.
98
Rep.,
.
676.
99
Rep.,
p.
671,
and
Meth.,
.
113.
'0I
Rep.,
p.
685;
and
Meth.,
.
102.
101
Rep.,
.
689.
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8/10/2019 Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate
17/21
Bodin
and the
Mediaeval
Theory f
Climate
79
their ttempt
o
imposeregulations
uitable
to Spain on a
people living 12 de-
grees
of
atitudefurther orth.'02
t
least one of
Bodin'smediaeval
predecessors
had
anticipated
im n
thinking hat the
relativity f
tandards
fconduct
mong
menwas a governing actor n practicalpolitics. n the first ears of the four-
teenth
century
nother
Frenchman,John
of
Paris, rejected on
these
grounds
the
possibility
f
creating
universal
emporal tate.
Diverse
modes
of ife
nd
diverse orms
f
policy
occur n
those
regions
where
he climate
nd thecharacter
of the people are
different,nd what one
community f men
esteem as
highly
virtuous, nother
does not
consider irtuous t
all. 03
Such
thoughtswere
dangerous.
By
seeming o call
in
questionthe moral re-
sponsibility
f the
individual, hey struck
t
the root of the
Christian
thic.'04
Whenthereforen
19277
he Bishop of
Paris heldan
enquiry nto
heterodox each-
ing ntheuniversity,mongthe9217 ropositionsnathematizedwerethosethat
embodied he views of
the
extremists,r
Averroists,
mongnatural
philosophers
on
this
subject
of
environment
that
the
world s
subject
n
all its
occurrences
to
the order of
necessity
that
diversity
f
place
determines
bsolutelythe
course
of
events
that the
will
of the individual s
under hecompulsion f
the
stars, nd
is
as
much
necessitated y
cognition s is the
appetiteofbrutes
that
diversity
n
men
n
respectnot onlyof
temporal ut
spiritual
ualities
s
the con-
sequence
of
the
diverse
igure
f
the
heavens.'05
But
even the most
orthodox ould
not
entirely eject the
implied
ystem
of
ideas. To believe nthevalidity f thereasonat all was to accept thecosmology
of
the
astrologers;
nd
those who could
not,
as did
the
Averroists, ostulate
a
conflict
etween he
truths f
faith nd
the
truths
f
reason,
were
concerned
o
find
meansof
reconciling
eligion nd science.The
position
akenup was
always
the same. As
Aquinas
saw
very clearly,
he
theory
f
the influence
f
the
stars
was a
theory
xplaining he
transmutations
f
matter.
n
so far as
they have
bodies,
men
are,
like all
things
compounded
f
matter,
fashioned
by
that
in-
fluence.
Physically
they are the
product of
environment, nd
those impulses
which
come from
ensuous
xperience
re
spontaneous
ecause
the senses are a
property fbody. But their mmaterialouls cannotbe directlyubjectto these
forces
which
move
matter,
hough
they may be
indirectly
hrough
he
desires
of
the
flesh. he
uncompromisingverroist eld that
this
ndirect
nfluence
s as
absolute
as
the
direct
one
because conduct
is
determined
y appetite.
But
Albertus nd
Aquinas, and all
who
adopted their
views,
were
emphatic
hat the
will
s
not, ike
sense, nherent
n
any
organ
of
body
and therefore emains
ree;
a rushof
blood
to the
heart xcites
nger,
ut the soul
s
not
thereby
nder om-
pulsion to
violence.'06n
the last
analysis men
can and
on
occasions
do,
resist
102
De Republica
ibri Sex, p. 770.
This passage
does not appear
in the
French.
103
De Potestate egalietPapali, cap. iii, n Goldast,Monarchia . ImperiiRomani.
104
Alexander
Neckham,De Naturis
Rerum,,
vii
(ed. T. Wright,
erumBrittanicarum edii
Aevi
Scriptores,
ondon,
1868) already
put this quite clearly
p. 89). See
also Aquinas, Ad Fratrem
ey-
naldumde
JudiciisAstrorum.
105
Denifle-Chatelain
lhartularium
niversitatis
arisiensis, , No. 478,
pp. 543
ff.Arts:21, 142,
162,
159, 148.
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8/10/2019 Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate
18/21
80 Bodin
and theMediaeval
Theory fClimate
natural
mpulses in other
words
scape
the
empire
f
the stars.
One can
never,
then,
predict
of any
individualhow
he will act on any given
occasion,
and
horoscopes
nd particular
rognosticationshereby
tand
condemned.Neverthe-
less, because
most men
most of the
time follow heir
natural
mpulses, ne can
arrive t tolerably ccurate
conclusions s to
how different
ypes
of men n
the
mass
will behave
in
certain
situations.Bacon, for
nstance,
sserted that
the
astrologer an confidently
ake
general udgments
bout
communities f
men,
and
useful
observations
n their mannersand customs, religions
nd wars,
whereas
e has
far ess
certainty
n
pronouncing
n the activities
f
ndividuals.'07
Those
who held such
views saw in the actual
variety
f
law
and
custom he
record
of the
deliberate ffort
f men to correct hose
natural
imperfections
peculiar
to their
everal situations.Dante,
while ustifying
niversal emporal
monarchy,
ejected
hedesirability
f a universal ystem
f aw,
on the grounds
that men livingunderdifferentonditionsneed differentinds of discipline.
'Nations, kingdoms
nd cities have their special
conditionswhich ought
to be
regulated
by different
aws. For law
is a rule
to direct ife, nd
naturally