Petrarch Francesco

HIERONYMI CARDANI - DE EXEMPLIS CENTUM GENITURARUM

I

Francesco Petrarca

(July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374) was an Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy, who was one of the earliest humanists. His rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited with initiating the 14th-century Renaissance. Petrarch is often considered the founder of Humanism. In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch's works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio, and, to a lesser extent, Dante Alighieri Petrarch would be later endorsed as a model for Italian style by the Accademia della Crusca. Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry. He is also known for being the first to develop the concept of the "Dark Ages." This standing back from his time was possible because he straddled two worlds—the classical and his own modern day.

[Cardano, opera omnia t. V, 458 - Junctinus, Speculum astrologiae, 360, Garcaeus, Astrologiae methodus, 62, Gauricus, Tractatus astrologicus, 62]

The lunar position indicated by Gauricus, Junctinus and Garcaeus is 23 ° 36 'PISCES; We note an error (or rather a misprint) in the record of the lunar longitude of Cardano which indicates 3 ° 36 '... Now the lunar longitude is 4 ° PISCES; It seems that Petrarch did not give the right birth date...

Thus we come to the Geniturae, with which we find ourselves back in the old quasi-mythological ambience. We learn from the horoscope of Petrarch that the elegance of his poetry was due to the presence of Jupiter in the house of Mercury, which stood in quadrant (this is odd) with Venus; of Pico, that he was made to have a confused mind (turbidum in gen turn) by the presence of the moon in the eighth house, and that he lacked judgment because the moon was in quartile (quia radiatio quadrata est); of Cardan himself, that he was doomed to be plagued with a weak stomach and brain, plots, enemies, losses of property, abuse, extreme perils, and a bad reputation with the public. We put the book aside at last in a mood of mixed admiration and exasperation, wondering at an intellect which permitted Cardan to correct the ancients freely and yet left him credulous of their most dubious assumptions. Cardan evidently knew of Pico’s attack but may not have bothered to read it. [Occult Sciences in the Renaissance: A Study in Intellectual Patterns, Wayne Shumaker, p. 40, University of California Press, 1979]

To help us in our research, we have a very good article by Dora Bobory, published in 2005: 'An unusual biography: Cardano's horoscop of Petrarch' [in Karl A. E. Enenkel y Jan Papy (edd.), Petrarch and his readers in the Renaissance, Brill, Leiden, 2006, pp. 209-229.]

Gerolamo Cardano was the first to offer a collection of horoscopes ‘of living and recently deceased celebrities [Cardano, De exemplis centum geniturarum, in Opera omnia (note 6) vol. V] in a vivid and even gossipy manner, organising his subjects into logical categories. In the largest collection, containing a hundred gcnitures,” the reader finds horoscopes of political figures, emperors, popes and princes (for example, those of the Medici and Famese families), followed by those of artists (Albert Diirer), literati (George of Trebizond, Francesco Filelfo and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola) and many other well-known personalities of the time preceding or contemporary to his own. Cardano’s horoscope of Francis Petrarch [Fig. 1] appeared in print three times, but the three versions are completely identical. [Cardano, Libelli duo. Unus, de supplemento almanach. Alter, de restitutions temporum et motuum coelestium. Item geniturae LXVII. insignes casibus et fortuna. cum exposition (Nuremberg:1543); Id., Libelli quinque. I. De supplemento almanach, II. De restitutione temporum, III. De iudidis geniturarum, IV. De revolutionibus, V De exemplis centum geniturarum (Nuremberg: 1547) 102-103; and Id., Liber de exemplis centum geniturarum. Opera omnia (note 6) vol. V, 458.] This is in itself a valuable piece of information, since Cardano was in the habit of constantly revising and rewriting or sometimes even annihilating his own works. The fact that Petrarch’s horoscope remained unchanged throughout the decades implies that Cardano was satisfied with this particular chart and its interpretation, and so did not ‘rectify’ the earlier versions.

After describing the positions of the planets in the chart, Cardano lists the main characteristics that he reads in the geniture, one by one, explaining which planet or constellation was responsible for each one of them. He introduces Petrarch saying that ‘there are many distinguishing characteristics in this illustrious person.’ The first of his outstanding qualities is the fine charm of his poems, which made Petrarch famous all around the world, and which otherwise is indicated by the presence of the planet Jupiter in the house of Mercury and in square with Venus. Mercury, as is well known, was traditionally associated with a great sense for languages, while Venus was thought to bring sweetness and delicacy to the way of expression. And, Cardano states, this is the constellation that provided such an elegance for Petrarch’s high literary expression. [Dora Bobory, op. cit., p. 219]

We find in the natal chart the following elements:

• ASC LEO, SU I 
• MC ARIES (MA in CANCER, XII)
• MO VIII (detriment ±)
• MA (CANCER) and JU (VIRGO) detriment +
• opp. JU MO
  

HYLEG : SU
ANAERETE : MA
ALCHOCODEN : SA (?)

Note that the opposition Ju-MO does not necessarily fit in the theme in a pejorative way; On the contrary, it indicates a peculiar characteristic which is expressed in the present case by a singular spiritual tone, and in Petrarch this tone will be that of poetry.

On April 6, 1327, after Petrarch gave up his vocation as a priest, the sight of a woman called "Laura" in the church of Sainte-Claire d'Avignon awoke in him a lasting passion, celebrated in the Rime sparse ("Scattered rhymes"). Later, Renaissance poets who copied Petrarch's style named this collection of 366 poems Il Canzoniere.

So that when Petrarch meets Laura, who becomes her muse, her theme then shows a # VE to the JU-MO group. This direction occured when VE has a domitude of 318° ; which correspond at 64.87° in zodiacal campanus. We compute, so, the direction VE con //MO in zodiaco.

- parameters

- results

The numbers in blue correspond to the zodiacal directions without latitude, the mundane directions are with latitude. In order to respect the comparisons, the same was done for the 'fictitious' directions (3rd et 4th tables, named X-1 and X-2).

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Climateric directions

In 1370, Petrarch has a stroke and died in 1374; The following directions must be calculated: JU conj MA, MO opp MA. There is also a Rp SA || MO and a # VE-SA.

All dates are computed by Morinus with key conv. PTO.

1)- JU conj MA

- parameters

- results

We count 7 primary directions against 5 X directions, with a year correction of 1370.05.

2)- MO opp MA

This is a direction which is easier to obtain by the arc between the Moon's opposition (156.625 °, taking into account the Moon's proper motion of 2.525 °).

- parameters

The latitudes of the promissor AND significator must be taken into account in mundane direction. (See The Progressed Horoscop, Alan Leo, Modern Astrology Office, 1906 - the Art and Practice of directing, Heinrich Däath)

- results



This direction is significantly modified by the latitude of the moon (which causes an overall effect of 5.86 ° as it is notified in this table). In any case, this is a major direction since it affects the anaerete (MA) in connection with the moon (in VIII).
Observe that certain primary directions have a similar value: indeed, the latitude rule requires that:

- the latitude of the significator is used only in the zodiacal directions, so :
 

	Dir – Z
C Regio Campa	63,602
D Placidus	68,428
D Regio Campa	70,740
C Placidus	60,02

The two latitudes (significator and promissor) are used in the mundane direction :

	Dir - M
C Regio Campa	64,91
D Placidus	69,058
D Regio Campa	71,75
C Placidus	60,34

 'In Primary Directions proper, we have both mundane and zodiacal arcs, so called, although in reality they are all mundane or formed by the diurnal revolution of the earth on its own axis, as will be shown later. The distinction consists in this, that whereas the former are measured in the world independent of the zodiac and have to do with the angles, cusps and houses of any figure and are taken with latitude, the latter appear to be measured by zodiacal degrees only, the latitude of the promissor not being taken.' [Heinrich Däath, Art of directing, p. 216, in Alan Leo, the Progressed Horoscop]. 

3)- Rapt parallel MO || SA

Rapt parallel are of great importance: it is likely that they will be able to chant events over the long term or at least radical inflections. Observe that the most precise rapt parallel is that given by the method of Placidus (-0.5 °).

4)- Exercise on a counter-parallel: #MO conj MA

  

We have here a counter-parallel of MO (without latitude) at 25.51° ARIES. Compute directions with conjonction MA and determine mean year of direction.

- parameters

Note that there is uniquely latitude of promissor with this kind of direction.

- results

We find 5 primary directions and two fictitious; Note that the use of the latitude of the promissor with the mundane arcs explain the different results between zodiacal and mundane directions. The year is 1370.86 which corresponds roughly to the beginning of the Petrarch disease.

5)- On April 8, 1341, he became the second poet laureate since antiquity and was crowned by Roman Senatori Giordano Orsini and Orso dell'Anguillara on the holy grounds of Rome's Capitol.

This event that consecrates the life of Petrarch is correlated with a major direction in the life of an individual: JU conj SU.

 It is in fact two directions that must be controlled: the graph shows to see the state of the sky directed in converse mundane direction, with the key PTO (1 °, or standard key). We observe JU conj SU.

5- JU conj SU

- parameters

 - results

 In principle, one of the best directions, but it depends on the layout of the receiving planet. The Sun is very well oriented: it is the hyleg. It is something else for JU that is detrimental. Note that in relation to the base year (PTO) indicated by Morinus (1344), it is the year 1341.12 that is computed here.