The Medieval World View

Dametrius Sanders 003 Mrs. Pike November 26, 2012 The Medieval World View, ed. ed. Candace R. Gregory, Carey Roberts, and H. Micheal Tarver (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) Peter von Sivers, Charles A. Desnoyers, and George B. Stow. Patterns of World History: vol. 1 : to 1600. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) Tammy Pike. Lecture Notes What are the cosmos and what do they represent. The Buch der Natur or the Book of Nature was written by Konrad von Magenburg depicts the cosmos as levels, steps that we have to take to reach heaven in a different way that nobody else sees it.There are so many different opinions on what the stars mean because the view of them has changed over time. So what are the stars are they just there or are they one of the levels we need to reach to enter heaven. According to Konrad Von Magenburg’s illustration of Buch der Natur is a book but he depicts the cosmos as humans on earth being the lowest level, then levels of the stars, finally the top level heaven the goals of all humans. Aristotle believes that â€Å"the earth is the center of the universe, and everything revolves around them† .This idea which is called Aristotle’s Universe was adopted by the medieval church and to challenge this view of the Universe was not merely a scientific issue; it became a theological one as well, and subjected dissenters to the considerable and not always benevolent power of the Church. So making people think that God put the earth at the center of the everything and the church being the peoples connection to God putting all the power into their hands.Ptolemy was different he added to Aristotle’s view of the universe but he calculated and researched to make his own ideas as well. Ptolemy came up with â€Å"that the heavens go in a uniform circular motion and the objects in the heavens are made from perfect material, and cannot change their intrinsic properties†. These ideas togeth er became known as the Ptolemaic Universe. He also wrote about the cosmos in his book called â€Å"Almagest† in a way Ptolemy and Aristotle had the same views and ideas about the heavens its just more scientific advances in Ptolemy's time .Even though today people don't see the cosmos as the heavens or a level to become heavenly beings we still try to discover what the stars hold. The meaning of the stars today really doesn’t mean anything to Christianity or the church. So is Konrad von Magenburg right or wrong are they a level. Is heaven right beyond them and all we have to do is pass certain tests to reach it. But the stars are something that we really want to discover but we as humans no longer think that the heavens lie beyond it.