Astrologové a Ferdinand I. Habsburský

This study focuses on the attempts of astrologers to offer and provide their services to King and Emperor Ferdinand I of Habsburg (1503–1564). This ruler attracted the attention of astrologers and their writings, but his response to these works, if evident in his written statements, was reserved or negative. The astrological texts addressed to Ferdinand are evaluated in the social and cultural context of the monarch‘s entourage, where, alongside the pro-astrological scholars of the University of Vienna, there was also his trusted advisor Bernhard von Cles, who harbored similar skepticism toward astronomers. Ferdinand I was aware of the distorting flattery that entered into this genre, and he and his court also experienced disappointment from the unfulfilled predictions of the renowned Luca Gaurico. Ferdinand was also not pleased with the style of dressing according to the colors of the planets at the Italian court of the d‘Este family; a style of dressing that may have been brought to Innsbruck by Ferdinand‘s daughters. The last known attempt to spark Ferdinand‘ s interest in astrology was made by Bartolomeus Sartorius from Oschatz, Saxony, in his treatise Fata astrologica Ferdinandi I. Imperatoris. His text can serve as a model iudicium addressed to an aristocrat, and is therefore analyzed in more detail here.