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Guido Bonatti (died between 1296 and 1300) was anItalianmathematician,astronomer andastrologer, who was the most celebratedastrologer of the 13th century.[1]Bonatti was advisor ofFrederick II, Holy Roman Emperor,Ezzelino da Romano III,Guido Novello da Polenta andGuido I da Montefeltro. He also served the communal governments ofFlorence,Siena andForlì. His employers were allGhibellines (supporters of theHoly Roman Emperor), who were in conflict with theGuelphs (supporters of thePope), and all were excommunicated at some time or another.[2] Bonatti's astrological reputation was also criticised inDante'sDivine Comedy, where he is depicted as residing inhell as punishment for his astrology.[3]
His most famous work was hisLiber Astronomiae or 'Book of Astronomy', written around 1277. This remained a classic astrology textbook for two centuries.[2][4]
Bonatti's dates of birth and death are unknown, the latter probably occurring between 1296 and 1300. In 1233 he is known as the winner of a dispute inBologna with the friar Giovanni Schio fromVicenza, who maintained the non-scientific basis of astrology.[1]
He is probably the firstastrologer to have used themidpoints in astrology. He used it to refine the timing for the military campaigns for the Count ofMontefeltro[5] Bonati announced to the count that he would repulse the enemy but would be wounded in the fray. The event transpired as Bonati had predicted, and the count, who had taken with him the necessary materials to staunch his wound in case the prophecy came true, became a devout adherent of astrology.[6]
There is a tradition that Bonatti, towards the end of his life, took the friar's habit of theFranciscan Order. This has been contested, as Bonatti expressed great disdain for Franciscans in his early period. However, the Franciscan Order, in the 1924 inaugural issue of its annual publication,Franciscan Studies, lays claim to Fra Guido Bonatti:
The celebrated physicist, astronomer and astrologer, Guido Bonatti (d. 1296), a Friar Minor, drew scholars to his professional chair from all parts of Europe. He wroteTheoria Planetarum (printed at Venice, 1506) andLiber Astronomicus.[7]
According to the uncorroborated account of the Italian historianLudovico Antonio Muratori, Bonatti was murdered by robbers whilst returning from a study trip to Paris and other Italian cities, being set upon in or near Casena, with his body left upon the road. Evidence from various accounts establishes that Bonatti was in his eighties when he died.[2]: xliv
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