1010‒1028: First Reference to an Astrolabe in Lorraine by Radulf of Liège

Abstract

Based on a letter sent by the scholar Radulf of Liège to the magister Ragimbold in Cologne, this article discusses the spread of knowledge about astrolabes from the Arabic-Islamic to the Latin-Christian sphere in the early Middle Ages. It pays special attention to the connection between the construction of such instruments (today hardly preserved) and the compilation and translation of treatises explaining their use. Exploring who was involved in this scholarly discourse, it elucidates the role played by scholars from Lorraine in the complex transfer of knowledge from the Arabic-Islamic sphere via Catalonia to the Western and Eastern Frankish realms between the tenth and eleventh centuries.