GALEAZZO SFORZA

HIERONYMI CARDANI - DE EXEMPLIS CENTUM GENITURARUM

XLIV

[[Junctinus, 428b ; Cardano 482 ; Garcaeus 383b]

GALEAZ SFORCIAE (1444-1476)

1)- introduction

Horoscopes could also be found in miscellaneous manuscripts, and much more rarely, they could constitute the core of a single manuscript containing a detailed interpretation. This is the case of Ms Trivulzianus 1329, a beautifully illuminated presentation copy of a indicium, namely a lengthy interpretation ofGaleazzo Maria Sforza’s own geniture. With its sixty-three folios, this parchment manuscript is possibly the single lengthiest astrological interpretation of a fifteenth-century horoscope still preserved. It is certainly one of the most remarkable examples of the fine intricacies and the sheer complexity of Renaissance astrology. Like many other prominent rulers of this time, Galeazzo Maria Morza had his own natal horoscope cast by an astrologer looking for permanent employment. Its author was the physician-astrologer Raffaele Vimercati, who probably studied medicine and astrology at the local university of Pavia. The work was composed sometime before the summer of 1461. The text contained a wealth of information that was deemed relevant to the life of the young duke and could help him foresee and prevent future difficulties and dangers, both personal and political.

Raffaele Vimercati donating his iudicium to Francesco Sforza, first duke of Milan. In MS Triv. 1329, Liber ludiciorum in Nativitate Comitis GaleazMarie Vicecomitis Lugurum futuri ducis. 1461, fol. 2r.

Writing such a lengthy iudicium was no trivial matter. It required a high level of competence in astronomical computation and astrological interpretation, and it would take days to be produced. The first step in casting a geniture was to produce an accurate chart (Fig. 3). Vimercati did this admirably, going through a series of very intricate calculations in order to rectify the chart and obtain the most accurate celestial figure. He did so by applying the Arabic theory of animodar, a complex series of calculations to gain higher precision as to the time of birth. Aware that an incorrect chart would lead to erroneous or questionable interpretations, he took pains to provide accurate calculations. [The Politics of Prognostication: Astrology, Political Conspiracy and Murder in Fifteenth-Century Milan, Monica Azzolini, pp. 10-13, excerpts, in History of Universities: Volume XXIII/2, Mordechai Feingold 2008]

Garcaeus, center of Sforzia genitura, Astrologiae methodus, 383

There were three principal assassins involved in Sforza's death: Carlo Visconti, Gerolamo Olgiati and Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani, all fairly high-ranking officials at the Milanese court.
Lampugnani, descended from Milanese nobility, is recognized as the leader of the conspiracy. His motives were based primarily on a land dispute, in which Galeazzo had failed to intervene in a matter which saw the Lampugnani family lose considerable properties. Visconti and Olgiati also bore the duke enmity - Olgiati was a Republican idealist, whereas Visconti believed Sforza to have taken his sister's virginity.
After carefully studying Sforza's movements, the conspirators made their move on the day after Christmas, 1476, the official day of Santo Stefano, the namesake of the church where the deed was to be committed. Supported by about thirty friends, the three men waited in the church for the duke to arrive for mass. When Galeazzo Sforza arrived, Lampugnani knelt before him; after some words were exchanged, Lampugnani rose suddenly and stabbed Sforza in the groin and breast. Olgiati and Visconti soon joined in, as did a servant of Lampugnani's.
Sforza was dead within a matter of seconds. All the assassins quickly escaped in the ensuing mayhem save for Lampugnani, who became entangled in some of the church's cloth and was killed by a guard. His body soon fell into the hands of a mob, which dragged the corpse through the streets, slashing and beating at it; finally, they hung the body upside-down outside Lampugnani's house. The beheaded corpse was cut down the next day and, in an act of symbolism, the "sinning" right hand was removed, burnt and put on display.

2)- natal chart

Unlike Vicomercati, I did not correct the time of birth and I took that given by Garcaeus, 3:15, which corresponds approximately to that indicated by Cardano (9h 10 horologia).

• ASC SAGIT, ruler JU (VII, exil) - MO (I)
• MC  SCORPIO, ruler MA  (IX)

- HYLEG : MO
- ALCOCODEN : VE (sextil ASC, MO)
- ANAERETA : SA, MA

Morinus gaves JU as ALMUTEN... It seems that both SU and JU are detrimental. And we have a conjunction SU-VE. We have also an opposition MO-JU and a quadrat MA-JU.

3)- primary directions

 We see 3 directions : #MO conj SA ; SA conj #MO and #MA conj VE. So, at the time of the assassination, three prominent directions were in orb: they involved both hyleg and alcocoden.

a)- #MO conj SA 

1 Regio-Campa.

b)- SA conj #MO

2 directions Placidus and Regio for this ray.

c)- #MA conj VE

We find 2 Regio-Campa and 3 Placidus directions.

conclusion

The length of life could be calculated from the natal horoscope following a complex series of calculations and manipulations. This practice conformed to a specialized technique called prorogation, which had been codified by Ptolemy in classical antiquity and further developed by Arabic astrologers in the Middle Ages. In Tetrabiblos III. 10, Ptolemy had likened the lifespan of man to an arc of the celestial ecliptic. The arc would start at a particular point on the ecliptic, the hyleg (the planet or point considered to be the ‘giver of life’ in the chart). From there the life would be cast forward with a greater or lesser force, depending on the strength of the alchochoden (the planet that was deemed to be ‘the giver of the years’). This trajectory could be arrested or reduced in length by encountering one or more destructive points or planets met in its trajectory. All these factors, considered together, would determine the actual lifespan of a person. Having established that Jupiter, the alchochoden in Galeazzo’s chart, was in a particularly favourable position, Vimercati concluded optimistically that, ‘unless the misfortunes of the hyleg make them shorter’, the duke of Milan would live eighty-one years and eleven months. [The Politics of Prognostication: Astrology, Political Conspiracy and Murder in Fifteenth-Century Milan, Monica Azzolini, pp. 13-14, excerpts, in History of Universities: Volume XXIII/2, Mordechai Feingold 2008]

We have seen that the alcocoden could not be judged by his celestial state (exile). Only VE (contracting a * with AS, MO) can claim this state.