medieval cosmology
Geocentric celestial spheres
Medieval cosmology is the understanding of the universe's structure that prevailed in Europe during the Middle Ages—a finite, Earth-centered cosmos with crystalline spheres carrying the moon, sun, planets, and stars in concentric rings, bounded by the realm of God.
This model, inherited from Ptolemy and Aristotle, placed humanity at the center but also at the bottom, with celestial perfection above.
Dante's *Divine Comedy* maps medieval cosmology onto the soul's journey.
- unmoved moverSelf-sufficient first cause
- epicyclesOrbits within orbits
- geocentrismEarth as cosmic hub
- earthly realmThe physical world below
- metaphysicsPhilosophy of existence's nature
zodiac · Neoplatonism · world soul · alchemy · empyrean · Aristotelianism · natural philosophy · deferent · celestial spheres · crystal spheres · music of the spheres · teleology · quintessence · scholasticism · fixed stars · astrolabe · heaven · firmament
- astrologyastrology, zodiac, horoscope, horoscopes, birth chart
- Divine ComedyInferno, Dante, Paradiso, Beatrice, Virgil
- DanteDivine Comedy, Inferno, Dante, Paradiso, Beatrice
- Dante cosmologyDivine Comedy, Paradiso, Inferno, Beatrice, Virgil
- Dante StudiesDivine Comedy, Inferno, Paradiso, Beatrice
- PurgatorioDante, Virgil, Beatrice, Mount Purgatory, cantos
medieval cosmologyScientific Revolution
Early modern intellectual transformation