ARGOLI (12)

Cardinal Armand Jean du Plessis, 

Duke of Richelieu and Fronsac; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly referred to as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman, nobleman, and statesman. He was consecrated as a bishop in 1607 and was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a cardinal in 1622, and King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642; he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin, whose career he had fostered.

[Argoli, 172 - Morin (23, 612)]


The theme was analysed in particular by Morin de Villefranche (Morinus) in the Astrologia Gallica [Book XXIII, p. 612, Adriaan Vlacq, The Hague, 1 vol. fol. I-XXI + 850 p., 1661].

MORIN OF VILLEFRANCHE AND CAMPANELLA, ASTROLOGUES OF THE COURT

Two great philosophers, Morin de Villefranche and Campanella, are the astrologers of Richelieu. The brilliant career of Morin de Villefranche with Claude Dorme, Bishop of Boulogne, convinced him that astrology is nothing without astronomy. He becomes familiar with the court but runs up against Richelieu, who sets out his method for determining the longitudes at sea. Yet all of Europe uses it. When Louis XIII had him called to witness the birth of Louis XIV, he may note, hidden behind a curtain, the very exact hour of the birth of the dolphin and establish his horoscope. Better disposed than Richelieu, Mazarin paid him a pension. This allows him to write a considerable work, in twenty-six volumes, Astrologica Gallica. Morin announces his own death: it occurs well on November 6, 1656!
As for the iconoclastic thinker Tommaso Campanella, he is still in prison. Yet Pope Urban VIII, who noticed the power of his scientific theses, saves the Calabrian from the Inquisition by helping him to take refuge in France in 1634. Richelieu attaches himself as adviser of Italian affairs, which does not does not prevent Campanella from producing a horoscope of the little dolphin Louis. Well ahead of his time, he wrote two works that will make his universal reputation, De monarchia hispanica discursus, in which he proposes to the emperor a reform to constitute a truly universal empire, and Cité du Soleil, where he advocates a communism without religion to eliminate the exploitation of man by man. [adapted from Philippe Valode, Histoire de France en 2000 dates, Acropole, 2011, p. 298]

There is no evidence that Morinus was ever employed by Cardinal Richelieu, though it is quite possible the Cardinal may at some time have asked Morinus lor a consultation. In any case the reader may wonder just why Morinus felt so unjustly treated at the hands of Cardinal Richelieu as this is never made clear in the text, although Morinus alludes in many places to his dislike of Richelieu.

Several of the reigning monarchs in Europe at the time—including the king of France—had offered a large sum of money to be awarded to anyone who discovered a reliable method for the calculation of geographic longitudes, as this had long been felt necessary, and particularly for determining precise locations in sea travel. Morinus developed a method for this based on the following procedure: The elevation of the Moon was measured from a star whose position was known exactly, and from this the right ascension and latitude as well as its longitude and declination were obtained. It was ncccssary then to calculate according to tables the time when the Moon had this same position in the sky in the place for which the tables were compiled and of which the longitude was known. The difference in the time when converted into degrees would give the position of the ship.

On March 30, 1634, in the great hall of the arsenal at Paris, Morinus gave a demonstration of his “Science of Longitudes” before an assemblage of 300 persons including eight commissioners designated by Richelieu, as well as mathematicians, prelates, and members of the court. After questioning and discussions lasting six hours a verdict of approval was given by the mathematicians present. [Morinus System of Horoscope Interpretation, XXI, Richard S. Baldwin, 1974, vi-vii]

Scientific controversies are grafted on rivalries of customers, like Jean-Baptiste Morin (1583-1656), astronomer and mathematician, with Nicolas Bourdin, Marquis de Vilennes (1583-1676) about astrology. Morin published a book on the theory of longitudes around 1634-1635, which attracted Richelieu's interest because of its impact on navigation. He grants subsidies to Morin: the controversy between the two astrologers is the representation of a conflict between clients of Richelieu and Gaston; In the middle of the 17th century, astrology is still widely defended as a serious science, a representation of the world based on "a geocentric and anthropocentric vision of the world". The two men have reissued and translated the works of Ptolemy, including Le Centiloque, and feel that astrology fits perfectly the principle of verification of knowledge by experience. The publication of Bourdin, in 1651, contains a handwritten dedication to Gaston d'Orleans who appointed him governor of Vitry-le-François. He is therefore part of the prince's clientele. Morin published in 1654 the Astrological Remarks on the Commentary on Ptolemy's Centiloque, brought to light by Messire Nicolas de Bourdin, in which he reproached, in addition to Bourdin's erroneous translation, according to him, of the term "Centilogue" instead of "Centiloque", the fact that Bourdin considers that "astrology has experience for girls" while Morin supports the opposite. Behind scholarly pointillism hides another reproach, the fact that Nicolas de Bourdin is an aristocrat who practices astrology as an amateur. The link between knowledge and social condition is controversial here: anxious to give a guarantee to his work, Bourdin evokes the prestige of his ancestry, the career of his ancestors, secretary of state under Henry II, Francis II and Charles IX. [adapted from Gaston d'Orléans: Entre mécénat et impatience du pouvoir, Pierre Gatulle, Champ Vallon, 2012]

I)- natal chart

• ASC SCORPIO, ruler MA (I, very close to ASC)
• MC LEO, ruler SU (XI)
• opposition SU-MO - quadrature JU-SU and VE-MA - // mundane between JU and ME.

Morinus gives VE for ALMUTEN (MA is closed).

- HYLEG MA (or ASC)
- ALCOCODEN (MA but it is possible that there is no alcocoden...)
- ANAERETA MA, possibly JU (observe also that SU is detrimental)
Observe also that SA is in ARIES whose ruler is MA, very strong. JU is detrimental and in VIII. SA is also detrimental (ARIES).

II)- primary directions

A)- foreign secretary 1616

We see on this map that SU is in // with VE, compared to MC. This is a fine ray. Observe that this is a mundane chart. I am going to give the zodiacal equivalent in order to show the very noticeable difference in the spatial representation.

Observe that we have the equivalence :  mundane converse direction = direct direction zodiacal.

- parameters

direction	promissor	significator
C SU // VE	// VE	SU
long	134,37 N E	166,43 N E
lat	0,000	0,000
AR	136,844	167,521
dec	16,556	5,365
ha	-0,106	-0,642
OA	155,546	173,335
dom Campa	276,755	314,283
dom Regio	274,604	303,547
Dom Placidus	275,033	304,526
pôle Regio	4,948	30,798
pôle Campa	4,948	30,798
Pôle Placidus	3,513	22,509
DM D|N	D |6,079 - N |173,921	D |36,756 - N |143,24
DA pôle D|N	D |1,046 - N |45,624	D |2,23 - N |9,893
DA	18,703	5,814
SA D|N	D |108,7 N |71,3	D |95,81 N |84,19
D Horiz	102,62	59,06
Htd*	18,117	15,969
DH**	0,336	2,302
TS	130,765	8:43:3,6
lat geo,	47,167
eclip	23,491
birth year	1585
event year	1617
*  temporal hour (= 1/6e Sad)	** horary distance, (= mundane positions, see Giuseppe Bezza)

L(z) progressed :

	PD L(z)
	L(z) progressed
SU	194,105
	LIBRA
VE	165,949
	VIRGO
	converse L(z)
VE	99,053
	CANCER
SU	135,00
	LEO

 In the case with the 'progressed' L(z), we compute the point which is rising (wiz the ASC point with a new latitude : the pole of the point), so 4.9° for //VE and 30.7 for SU.
In the case with the 'converse' L(z), we first increase the hour angle (ha) of the value of the 'life arc' : for 1616; it is (with the PTO key factor) arc = 32°. So, we obtain

ha (//VE) = ts-AR(//VE)+ arc = 27.16°

and

ha(SU) = ts-AR(SU) + arc = 355°

Then, we compute the Campanus domitudes of the progressed AR

Dom //VE (Campanus) =  239° (L(z) = 99 CANCER) and Dom SU = 276.34° = 135° LEO.

- results

B)- cardinal 1622

1)- SU conj MC

Direction SU to MC : 36.75° PTO (1622)

mc/pf	AR
SU	167,521
TSN	130,765
arc	36,756

MC directions highlight the difficulties in defining fictitious directions. In this case, we find 1 D Goldmayer Placidus (D = 33.54° AR).

2)- VE // SU

 

direction	promissor	significator
C VE // SU	VE	// SU
long	123,49 N W	82,97 N W
lat	-4,175	0,000
AR	124,799	82,340
dec	15,354	23,304
ha	0,104	0,845
OA	142,026	110,026
dom Campa	263,245	225,717
dom Regio	265,396	236,453
Dom Placidus	264,992	232,967
pôle Regio	4,948	30,798
pôle Campa	4,948	30,798
Pôle Placidus	3,486	24,634
DM D|N	D |5,966 - N |174,034	D |48,425 - N |131,57
DA pôle D|N	D |0,959 - N |41,199	D |11,392 - N |58,458
DA	17,227	27,686
SA D|N	D |107,23 N |72,77	D |117,69 N |62,31
D Horiz	101,26	166,11
Htd*	17,871	19,614
DH**	0,334	2,469
TS	130,765	8:43:3,6
lat geo,	47,167
eclip	23,491
birth year	1585
event year	1622
*  temporal hour (= 1/6e Sad)	** horary distance, (= mundane positions, see Giuseppe Bezza)

- results

C)- exitus : 1642

The death occurs in coincidence with the alignment of MA on the SU-MO axis, in opposition to MO.
Observe also the VE-JU conjunction with JU in VIII.

direction	promissor	significator
C MA opp. MO	MA	opp.MO
long	210,55 S E	171,12 N E
lat	-0,329	3,729
AR	208,307	173,323
dec	-11,997	6,954
ha	-1,353	-0,743
OA	221,558	180,883
dom Campa	0,538	318,889
dom Regio	0,791	307,920
Dom Placidus	0,691	309,260
pôle Regio	47,164	33,540
pôle Campa	47,164	33,540
Pôle Placidus	46,950	25,250
DM D|N	D |77,542 - N |102,458	D |42,558 - N |137,44
DA pôle D|N	D |13,388 - N |13,149	D |3,298 - N |12,604
DA	13,251	7,56
SA D|N	D |76,75 N |103,25	D |97,56 N |82,44
D Horiz	0,79	55
Htd*	17,208	16,26
DH**	-5,954	2,617
TS	130,765	8:43:3,6
lat geo,	47,167
eclip	23,491
birth year	1585
event year	1642
*  temporal hour (= 1/6e Sad)	** horary distance, (= mundane positions, see Giuseppe Bezza)

- result

We have 2 DP and 1 fictitious Goldmayer Placidus.