Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate

8/10/2019 Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate

1/21

Medieval cademy of merica

Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of ClimateAuthor(s): Marian J. TooleySource: Speculum, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Jan., 1953), pp. 64-83Published by: Medieval Academy of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2847181.

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2/21

BODIN AND

THE

MEDIAEVAL

THEORY

OF CLIMATE

BY MARIAN J. TOOLEY

No

ONE

who haswrittenboutRepublics, aysBodin,has considered he funda-

mentalproblem

f

how

the

form f

a

Republic

shouldbe

adapted

to

the

natural

aptitudes

of its

people.

Failure

to

appreciate

his

principle,

nd the

attempt

o

frame

aws

by

absolute tandards

as

onlybrought

reat

tatesto ruin.He

there-

foreproceeds

o the

enquiry

himself.'

A modern

eader, nvestigating

he

theory

of

climate,'

or environments

it

applies

to

politics,

which he proceeds

to

ex-

pound,

mustbe struck y

the fact hat some

ofhis most

mportant

tatements

the

distribution

f the

temperaments,

or nstance

appear

to be made

quite

arbitrarily,

or

no

explanations

re

given.

This in

itself

uggests

hat

his

theory

was not proles inematre,'but thathe was drawing ponsome common tockof

scientific

otionsfamiliar

o

his

contemporaries.

he

suggestion

ecomes

cer-

tainty

when he cuts shorthis illustration

f a

particular oint

with the

remark

that he

need not

go

into

particulars

whichare matters

f commonknowledge,

and

easily

accessible

n

the sourcesfrom

which

he

himself ad

got

them.2

But

what were

those

sources?

He

does

not

say.

He

does,

of

course,frequently

cite authority

or

his

facts.This

authority

s

of

two

sorts,

ither he

writers

fthe

ancient

world

uch as

Aristotle, tolemy,

Galen, Caesar, Tacitus, Livy, or con-

temporary

istorians nd travellers. e uses Commines

nd

Guicciardini

n the

Italians, Sigismund 'Heberstein's istory ftheMuscovites,FrancescoAlvarez

on

Ethiopia,

and

Las

Casas on the American ndians. He also repeatsconversa-

tions

with he

Polish

ambassador rom

ithuania,3

enry I's French mbassador

to

the

English Court,4

nd

reports

f the French

ambassadorswho negotiated

settlement

f

the

talian

questionwith

the EmperorCharlesV.5

But,

although

t

is

clear that he

drew

his

facts

from hese sources,

only sug-

gestions

re to be foand

in

them of the theories

bout environment

hat he

thought

he facts llustrated.t

has in

consequence een verygenerally

ssumed

that

his

theories

were

original,

nd possiblyhis most mportant

ontribution o

political hought, hough ubjectto the qualificationhat he mixed ncongruously

penetrating

bservations n the consequences

f such natural nfluences

s tem-

perature

n

the physical

nd

moralconstitution

f men withmuch

superstitious

1

Six

Livres

e a

RMpublique,,

i

(Paris, 1608), p.

665.

There

are

three ersions f this

chapter.

The

first

raft ppeared n the

Methodus d facilem

historianumognitionem,, published

n

1566;

in

it

all the

generalprinciples re stated,

but not

particularly

elated o

contemporary

olitics.

This

re-

lationwasmade n

the Six

Livres e

a

Rhpublique,, ,

of

1576.

n 1586

Bodin

published

his own

Latin

version,

e

RepublicaLibriSex,which s

a

free ranslation f the

French,

but

with

a

few

ignificant

additions.All references

re

to

the

French

version nless otherwisendicated.

2

Meth., Geneva,1610],p. 189.

8

Rep., p. 668.

4

Rep., p. 669. In the

Latin

version

Frankfort, 609), p. 777,

he

refers

o

a

visit whichhe

himself

had

made to

England,

where

he

noted

the

weather.

Rep.,

p.

676.

84

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3/21

Bodin

and

the

Mediaeval

Theory

f

Climate

65

matter

bout the

occult

nfluence

f

the

stars.6

ut

if he was indeed

l'initiateur

de

la theorie

es climats,'7

ne

wouldexpect

him to give

most

attentionwhere

n

fact

he

gives

east,to the

discussion

f

he

grounds

fhis general

tatements

bout

theeffectsf environment.he fact thathe assumes their bviousness, nd de-

votes

all his

energies

o

a wealth

of

llustration,

uggests

hat t

was the

llustra-

tive

matter

hat

was new,

but the

general

principles

oo

familiar

o need

exposi-

tion.

Fortunately

he

activities

f the sixteenth-century

rinters

nd publishers

re

evidence

of

the

taste of

the

reading

public. Judging

y the number f

editions

that appeared,

there

was

a

considerable

nd steady

demand

formediaeval

cos-

mological

writings,

specially

f the

more

popular

encyclopaedic

nd

informative

type.

Twenty-four

ditions

of

Sacrobosco's

De

Sphaera

appeared

before

1500

and manyothersfollowedn the sixteenth entury.t was also the subjectof

numerous ommentaries8

nd

translated

nto

French,

German,

panish,

talian

and English.

Ten editions

of the

Latin

text

of

Bartholomaeus

Anglicus,

De

Proprietatibus

erum,

nd

four

ditions

of

the French

translation

ppeared

be-

fore

1500,

and further

ditions

n

both

tongues

followedduring

he

sixteenth

century.9

here were

six editionsof

the

Cuer de

Philosophie

etween

1507

and

1534,

and

others followed.'0

here were

four

editions

of

Guido

Bonatti's

De

Astronomia

ractatus,

nd at least

four

of Vincent

of Beauvais'

Speculum

Na-

turale.

A man of Bodin's wide reading

ould

hardly

have

been

unfamiliar

with

this

literature.

n fact there

s

incontrovertible

vidence

that

his scientific

hought

was

formed

n

these

traditions.

is Universae

Naturae

Theatrums an

exposition

of

his

system

of

the

world,

and

despite

occasional

divergencies

n particular

points

t

is

fundamentally

ediaeval. That

is to

say,

his

cosmology

s based

on

Ptolemy,

is physics

n Aristotle,

nd

his physiology

n Galen,

nterpreted

n

the

light

of their

great

Arab

commentators

uch as

Haly

and

Avicenna.

From

the

fusion

of

these traditions

odin

inherited

romhis mediaeval

predecessors

he

doctrine

f

a

geocentric

niverse omposed

of

the

four

lements

f

matter,

nd

astrologically

ontrolled.

Moreover,

n

this

work

he

betrays

his

acquaintance

not

only

with hetraditional octrines,ut with he actualwritingsftheSchoolmen,

for he freely

ites among

othersAquinas,

AlbertusMagnus,

Duns

Scotus

and

6

R.

Chauvire,

Jean Bodin,

uteur e

a

Rgpublique

Paris,

1914),

p.

359.

For

opinions

n

his mpor-

tance

and

originality

n thisrespect

ee also

J. W. Allen,

A

History

f

Political

Thought

n the

ixteenth

Century

London,

1928),

pp. 431-438;

P.

Mesnard,

L'Essor

de la

philosophie

olitique

u

XVI8

siecle

(Paris,

1936),

pp. 530-538;

J.

Moreau-Reibel,

Bodin et e droit ublique

ans

ses

rapports

vec

a

phi-

losophie

e

l'histoire

Paris,

1933),

pp.

69-102.

A. Garosci,

JeanBodin, politica

diritto

el

rinasci-

mento rancese

Milan,

1934), pp. 149-153,

draws

attention

o the

currency

f

similar

deas

in the

fifteenth

entury,

ut

without

iscussing

heir

rigins.

7

E. Fournol,Bodin pr4ddcesseureMontesquieuParis, 1896), p. 117.

8

P.

Duhem,

Le

Systeme

u monde, II,

2 (Paris, 1913),

239.

9

Fourteen

rench

ersions

y

1556;

see Cb. V. Langlois,

La

Connaissance

e

a nature

t

du

monde

u

moyen

ge

(Paris,

1911),

p.

123.

10

or

a description

f thiswork

ee E. Renan

Le Livre

des Secrets

ux

Philosophes,

n

llist.

litt.

e

a

France,

xx, 567-595.



4/21

66

Bodin and

the

MediaevalTheory

f

Climate

Hlenry

f

Malines. It

is

in

this work,

hen,that

one

must ook forthe

physical

theories hat

underlay is

theory

f

climate.

Bodin

starts

y repeating

he

doctrine

hat the

physical

niverse

s

constituted

out of

matter nd form, ind theunending rocessofalteration o which t is

subject

is

the

consequenceof

the

perpetual

transmutation

f matterfrom

ne

form

o

another.'2

orim, e

says,

can be

either imple,

s

are

the

rudimentary

forms

fthe

four

lements, r

mixed,'

s

in

the case

of

all

things

nto

whosecom-

positioIn

enter

two or

more

elements.'3

All four

elements re

present

n

living

bodies.

Ilence

the

doctrine,

ssociated

with

Galen, of the four

radical com-

plexions,

ccording s

earth,fire, ir

or

water predominates

n

the

composition.

Bodin

does

not

expoundthis

doctrine n a

work

devoted to

physics,

but he

habitually

assumes it

when

writing

f the

physique of men.

As

a

peripatetic

physicist, owever, e holdsthat,thoughmatter s capable ofreceivingll forms,

it

possesses n

tself o

active

principle

nabling

t to

assumeform

pontaneously.14

An

extrinsic

fficientause

is

required o

accomplish

his process.

Outside and

enveloping he

world of

material

transmutations

re the

heavens,

n

ceaseless

motion. f

naturedoes

nothing n

vain,what is

the

purposeof

this

activity?

To

Bodin, as to

his

mediaeval

predecessors,

he conclusionwas

inescapable;

t

must

be

the

stars n

their ourses

hat

govern

he

mutations f

matter.'5

Moreover,

or

Bodin,

since he

rejected he

doctrine

hat form

s latent

n

matter nd the stars

merely

licit

t,16 he

stars

are

actually the

sourcefrom

which he

multiplicity f

forms

mmediatelyroceeds.'7

In

treating

f the

structure

f the

heavens,he follows

tolemy

n

supposing

seriesof

revolving pheres,

nveloping he

motionless

ore

of the

material

world.

First

are

the

spheres f the

seven

planets,

he

Moon,

Mercury,

Venus,

the

Sun,

Mars,

Jupiter,

aturn,

nd

beyond these the

eighth

phere

f the

fixed

tars,

I

Signs

of

the

Zodiac. What

followedwas a

matterof less

universal

greement.

Bodin

decides for two

more

spheres

o explain

the

double

diurnal and

annual

movement

f the

heavens.'8

The

movement f the

ninth

phere s

the origin f

the

west

to east

circuit f

the

planets on the

poles of the

Zodiac

in

their

everal

periods

of

time.The tenthsphere s the source of the most regular nd most

rapid of all

movements, he

diurnal

revolution f the

whole heaven from ast

to

west.'9 Each

planet

and

star has its

formal

roperties,ong

fixed

by a

tradition

goingback

to

Ptolenmy's rab

followers.

-low

these

properties

re

transmitted

11

Naturale

corpus est

eins

mutabile materia

formaque

coagmentatum,'

UniversaeNalurae

Thea-

trum,

(LyoIns,

596), 13.

12

Pp.

51?-54.

13

P.

74.

14

P.

53.

15

He

constantly

sserts lhis,.g., pp. 15-16,orp. 53, wheni e putsthe caelestiacorpora'first n

the

order

f

efficientauses of

generated

hings.

16

P.

67.

17

Pp.

15-16,

tota niatio

hilosophorumn

ormas mnes

a

prima

causa

fluentes

er

caelestium au-

sarirn

ordines

istribui

radiint;'

ee also

p.

97.

18

Pp.

554-556.

19

The

structure

f he

heavenis

s

the

ubject

of

hewhole fBook

V.



5/21

Bodin and theMediaeval

Theory

f Climate

67

through

paceBodin does

not say, thoughhe arguesthat

a

cause

can

be

remote

froimts

effects,nd instances he

control f the moon over the tides.20 ut the

matterhad been very

fullydiscussed

n the thirteenth

entury,

nd scientific

doctrine nthe subjectfixed. n performingheir evolutions heheavenly odies

communicate

heir

several virtues' by emitting

ays equally in

all directions.

Each

point

on

the earth's surface,

herefore,

s at the center fthe

total radiation

of that

part

of

the

heavens containedwithin ts horizon, nd the ntensity

f

the

influence f each particular

tar dependsupon

the angle

of ncidence t which

ts

raysfallupon the recipient.2'

hus all individuals,

les

creatures ui sont cy aval

soit

herbes,ou arbres,

ou vermines, u bestes,

poissons,oyseaux,

hommes et

femmes,'22

re the productof,

and perpetually

ubjectto an influence

t once

complex nd perpetually

modifying,

s the tempering

nfluence f the stars

upon

one another hangeswith the change n theirrelativepositions. n this way the

almost

infinite

ariety

of individuals

n the

world

of matter and

the

endless

mutability f things

errestrial ere

explainied.

It

willbe seen that n this ystem

f deas

the principles f

astrology ad

to be

assumed to explain the functioning

f the universe.

Moreover, hey

seemed

to

be confirmedy such observations

s the relation

etween he cycle

of ife nd the

circuit f the sun, and between

the movements

f the tides and

the phases

of

themoon. Astrology

as fundamental o all

the natural

ciences.

All

occurrences

from he flora fa

district o the

history f ts nhabitants

mustbe

determined y

the virtueofthe presiding tars,and explainedby referenceo their nfluence.

The astrological

ystem

f the world was

therefore niversally ccepted

n the

later

Middle Ages,23 nd expounded

n literature t all levels

of

scholarship,

whether

he workof constructivehinkers

uch as AlbertusMagnus,24

r

popular

encyclopaedias

n

the vulgar

tongue

such as

the

Image

du

Monde

of Maitre

Goussouin.25

In

Bodin'sday

this

system

was, of course, hallenged.

He

was

aware

of

t,

and

considered

with

some

care

Copernicus'

new

and disruptive ypothesis

f a helio-

centric ystem.He

dismisses t for easons hat anyone

n

the

fourteenthentury

mighthavegiven: t is contraryo theevidence f the senses, o theauthorityf

the

Scriptures,

nd

incompatible

with Aristotelian

hysics.26

ne

could

hardly

20

pp.

152-153.

21

MIost

learly xpounded

by Roger

Bacon, Opus Maius

(ed. Bridges,Oxford,

897),

I,

112-115.

See

also AlbertusMagnus,

De

Natura

Locorum,,

v, or BartholomaeusAnglicus,

e Proprietatibus

Rerum,

iv, i.

Ilereafter n

these

notes these three

works

are cited

merelyby

the names of

the

authors.

22

Cuerde

Philosophie

Paris,1514),

xlvi rO.

23

This

doctrine

f

the

governance

f

the stars

over

matter s not found

n

such

writers

s

Sacro-

bosco

who werenot familiarwithAristotle's

hysical

works. t is expounided

r assumed

by

all

those

whowere, rom he thirteenthentury nwards.

24

'Contrarietas

on

est

ex

materia, uia materia

non

est causa

virtutis

t

formae, portet rgo uod

sit

ex loco

iniformato figuratione

adiorum tellarum,'

e NaturaLocorum,

,

v.

25

'Par

li

ciels et les estoilles . . corrompt

t

naist toute riens ui

est

en

cest monde

et

qui

a

fin

t

commencement,'mage du

Monde ed. H.

0. Prior,Paris,

1913),vi, 173. This

is the prose

redaction

of

the aterthirteenthentury.

he

original ersionwas

in verse, nd appeared

n 1246.

26

Univ.Nat.

Theat., p. 580-583.



6/21

68

Bodin and

the

Mediaeval

Theory f

Climate

have better

evidence of

the

deliberateness

with

which

Bodin

adhered to the

mediaeval system.

It

is

obvious

that a doctrine f the

nfluence f environments

implicit

n

this

system f deas. Its situation r

ocus

determines hecelestial nfluencesowhich

the

body

occupying

t is

exposed,

nd

therefore

he

constitution f that

body.

Moreover t was

widely

elieved,

n

Galen's

authority,

hat

physical

onstitution

determinesmoral

aptitudes,

and

moral

aptitudes

determine ehavior.

Bodin

himself ums

up

the

doctrine

n a

couple

of

sentences.

Elementa

vi

coelestium

agitantur.

n

elementa

vero

corpus

humanum

continetur, anguis

n

corpore,

spiritus

n

sanguine,

nima

n

spiritu,

mens

n

anima.'27

What, then,

are

the

fundamental

onstituents

f

place?

Long

before

Bodin

said

so,

it

was established hat

they

re

latitude,

ongitude,

nd

configuration.

f

these atitude s byfarthemost mportant,s it defines lace in relation o the

path

of the

sun. The

property

f the sun

is to radiate

heat,

and

heat is

the

first

principle f

ife.

The

astrological

irtue

f the

sun

therefore

s

to

impart

itality;

'ad

generationem

ensibilium

orporum

ommittitur,

t

ad vitam ea

movet,

nutrit, t

auget, et

perficit,

t

purgat

ac

renovat.'28

odin

emphasizes ts

im-

portance

s

the source

of

lifewhen

he

says it

imparts

heat 'non

causaliter

sed

formaliter.'29t is therefore he

universal

planet

whose virtue

reaches

every-

where.30

But its virtue s not

equally potent

verywhere,or

he

obliquity f

ts

rays s

not everywherehe same.Ptolemy'sdivision f theworld ntoarctic, emperate,

and

tropic ones

suggested

hree

fundamental

ypesof

climate,

rigid,

emperate

and torrid.

t

is

clear,however,

n all

discussions

f

climate,

hat the

ines of de-

marcationwere

notthought

f

as

coinciding

with

the circles.

ndeed,

the Arctic

and

the

Tropics were believed to

be

uninhabitable,

nd

the hot and

cold and

temperate limates

refer

o the

habitable

earth

only,

houghwhere he

dividing

lines

came

was never

defined y

mediaeval

writers.The

only

precise

divisions

they

recognized

were

the seven

climates, ying

between

12?N.

and

50'N.,

into

which

Ptolemy

dividedthe

nhabited

arth

known o

him,

.e.,

the area

between

Scythia nd theAfrican esert, hePillarsofHercules nd India. Regionsbeyond

these limits

were,

he

thought,

opulated by very

primitive nd

savage tribes,

inhabitants

f the

ante-climata

nd

ultra-climata f his

mediaeval successors.3'

As

knowledge fthese

xtremes

ncreased,

he

sevenclimates

ost

their eculiar

importance. his

may be

the reason

why

Bodin never

dividesthe

world n

this

way,

but

considers

nly

the three

undamental

ypesof climate

hot,

cold, and

temperate.

But he

was no

longercontent

with

the old

vagueness

about their

limits, nd

defines hem

precisely orthe

first ime

by dividing

he

hemisphere

27

Meth., .

95.

28

Vincent fBeauvais, SpeculumNaturale,xv, iv. See also Bartholomeaus,

III,

xxviii.

29

Univ.

Nat.

Theat., .

578.

30

Rep., p.

690,and

Meth.,

.

103.

31

The

seven

climates

re

defined

n

Sacrobosco,

op. cit.,

ii,

and

in all

descriptions

f

the

earth's

surface

hereafter.

acon,

p.

297,

adds

three

nte-climata o the

south nd

ultra-climata

etween

he

seventh

limate nd

the

polar

circle.



7/21

Bodin and theMediaeval

Theory f Climate

69

equally,firstnto hree ones of30 degrees

f atitude ach, and then nto ix sub-

divisions f

15

degrees,

fwhichhe believes

only he most outherly nd themost

northerlyo be uninhabitable.32

e does

not, however, bservethese neat divi-

sions n differentiatinghe peoples ofEurope and the Mediterranean asin, for

theydid

not coincidewith he politicaldivisions e wished o

explain.

He

remarks

in

the Methodus

hat what may be classed as hot climates

extend to 40?N.;

the

temperate

s

that which ies between40?N. and 50?N.;

northof 50?N.

the

climate

s cold or very

cold.

Therefore,

e classes

England

and Scotland,

Den-

mark nd North Germany s cold; France,

South Germany,

NorthSpain, Italy,

and Macedonia

as temperate; outh

Spain, Sicily,the Peloponnese, nd North

Africa s hot.33

candinavia beyond he sixtieth arallel,

remote egion n the

fringes

f

the

world, rovides

he

fourth ery old type.

The sun,however, s only one of the planets, and radiationof theirproper

virtues

proceeds

from ll, not only of the planets but

the signs as well. But

though the principle

mightbe universally

greed upon, not so its precise

n-

terpretation.

In what manner

he

signs

nd the planets re to

be

assigned o

the

differentegions

f

the world

s

difficult

o determine, or he authorities o

not

agree,' says

Bacon,

and does

not

make the attempt.34

ut

others, otably

Guido

Bonatti, HenryBate of Malines and

Pierred'Aillydid. They

had two problems

to consider.

n

the first lace

ever since

Ptolemy's day

the signshad

been as-

sociated

withanother ortof division f the earth'ssurface

that

into

the four

quarters f the nhabited arth ndicatedbythe four ardinalpointsof thecom-

pass.

The

signs

were

grouped

n

units of

three o

make the

four

riplicities,

nd

each triplicity

as

associated

not

only

with

one of

the

four

uarters,

ut with

one

of

the

four elementsof

matter;35

heir

astrological ignificance

as

therefore

identifiedwith the

element to which they were attributed

n

each

case. But

which

riplicity elonged

o

which

uarter?

Was for

nstance

he north

r

the

east

under the

hot and

active

triplicity

f

fire?

tolemy

and

Albumazar

disagreed.

D'Ailly

in

his

Tractatus

e concordantia iscordantiumstronomorumuper sig-

nificationibusriplicitatum

iscussed

he

problem

t

length,36

nd

reported

Henry

ofMalines as havingdoneso before im.37ts solution ffectedhe secondprob-

lem

oftheplanets,

for

hey

n

their urnwere

associatedwith he

triplicities.

id

Mars

the

bringer

f

war, conjoined

with

the

triplicity

f

water,

have

dominion

over

the west as

Ptolemy aid,

or

over

the north s Albumazar

aid?

Bodin was not concerned

withthe

problem

f

planetary

nfluence

n

this

par-

ticular

orm. ndeed,

he

rejectedPtolemy's

doctrine hat each of

the

signsreigns

32

Rep., p. 667, and

Meth., . 82.

83

Meth.,

.

89.

34

ViI, iv,

p.

381.

35

he system

s

fully xplained by

Bartholomaeus,

iii, ix-xxi;

or Cuer de Philosophie, .

lxiv-

lxvi v0.

36

Published n a collection f textsof which ixteen

re by d'Ailly nd fivebyJean Gerson.

There

is no date, title,place

of

publication

r

pagination.

But it is known o have come

from

he

press

of

John

f

Westphalia

t

Louvain,

n

1480.

37

This

work

of

Henry

of Malines

is

only

known

through 'Ailly's report

f

it;

see

Walleraiid,

Henri

Bate de

Malines (in

Les

Philosophes elges,

i

[19311, 8).



8/21

70 Bodin and theMediaeval Theory f Climate

over a particular ocality.38n any case, Bodin was not so much nterested

n

this

divisionof the earth nto quarters s

in

the division nto zones, because

he

at-

tached a muchgreater mportance o latitude han to longitude s a determinant

of the natureofplace. In considering lanetary adiation, herefore, hat was

useful o

him

was the tradition hat the planets

were

independentlyssociated

with the divisions f latitude.The almost universal ule was to follow tolemy

in assigning he sevenplanets o the sevenclimates

n

order, s does,for nstance,

the

author

of

the Cuer de

Philosophie,39

r

d'Ailly,40

r Bonatti.41

owever,

his

method fdistributionid not suitBodin,for hatpartofthe nhabited arth hat

interested

imdid

not

fall

xclusively

ithin

he framework

f

the

sevenclimates.

Instead

he

adopted

the muchrarer

ractice

f

assigning

he

planets

to

the zones.

One writer t any

rate in

the thirteenth enturyhad

done so. Guido Bonatti

ascribed ne ofthethree uterplanets, nd one ofthethreenner o each

zone-

Saturn nd

Luna to

the

frigid, upiter

nd

Mercury

o

the

temperate,

nd

Mars

and Venus to the torrid.42

odin

follows he principle ut changes he

order.He

transposes

Mars and

Saturn, hus placing he frigid one underMars

and

Luna,

and

the

torrid nder

Venus and

Saturn.43

his is

extremelyrbitrary

f

him,

for

it involves he inking f a hot with cold planet n each case, and sacrifices he

principle

f

similarity etween a climate and its planets. The only reason he

givesfor hisdistributions not ts ogic,but its conformity ithobserved ffects

(d'Ailly

had

already

observed

hat this must be

the final est44),

nd

he

thought

he observed

he warlike nfluence f Mars in the north, nd the contemplative

virtue fSaturn nthe south.45

For

Bodin, therefore, ifferencesf latitude subject the human organism o

morecomplex nfluenceshan merely he effects f heat. The occult nfluences f

the

planetsproper

o each zone

emphasizedivergencies,nd environmentn one

zone

is

highly ifferentiated

rom

hat

in another.

Bodin's second constituent f place, longitude, veryonewas agreed was far

less important. ast is east and west s west,for he sun s in the ascendant nd

therefore

ore

potent

over

the one, and

in

declension nd thereforeeebler ver

the other.46

ut the distinction

s less

marked, ccultior. either he dividing ine,

northe principle f differentiationad everbeen defined.47odin agrees hat t is

38

Meth., p. 135-138. See also Univ. Nat. Theat.,

pp. 621-624.

39

Cvii.

vO.

40

Ymago

Mundi, x. Bodin treats fhis various

works n astrology t some ength n Rep., v, ii.

41

De Astronomia ractatus,

v, viii.

42

op. cit., V, Vii. I

have not foundthat

anyone

else did this,but Bonatti attracted ttention

n

France and Charles V commissioned translation

C. Jourdain,Nicholas Oresme t les astrologues

de

la

Cour

de

Charles V,'

in

Revue

des

Questions

istoriques,

viii

[1875]).

43

Rep., pp. 691-692, and Meth., p. 102-103.

44

De Concordantia iscordantium stronomorum.

40

I have not been able to find hathehad any precedent or hisarrangement.ut thespheres f

influence

f the planets seem to have been a matter

f some uncertainty. odin's contemporary,

AugerFerrier,

whomhe

cites

on

occasion,gives

a

quite

differentistribution

ccording

o the

points

of the compass n his Des

jugements

stronomiquesur es nativitez.

46

Pierre

d'Ailly,

De

Concordantia iscordantium

stronomorum.

47

Bacon, p. 250,

and

Pierre

d'Ailly,

Ymago

Mundi, xii.



9/21

Bodin

and theMediaeval

Theory f

Climate

71

impossible o say in

thiscasewhere he

division omes,

nd does not

attempt hat

precision e achieved

n the case of

atitude.But he

is sure about the

extremes,

whichhe

shifts astwards o the

Moluccas

and westwards o

the

Canaries. Cir-

cumnavigation f theworldhas notdestroyed orhimthe notionof an eastern

and western

uarterofthe globe,

each with

ts fixed ite, and

specific

uality.

But there

was

somethingmore n the

determinationf the

natureofplace

than

the stellar

radiation

to

which t was exposed.

It was an axiom of

Aristotelian

physicsthat

the

communication f form

s

conditioned y the aptness

of the

material o receive t.

As

AlbertusMagnus expressed

t, the

nature of all gen-

erated things

depends first n

radiation

radius) and second on

site (locuscon-

tinens),48

or

from he one

proceeds

heat, which s the

first

rinciple

f

life nd,

within he

other

s

contained

moisture,which s the

first

rinciple f growth.49

In otherwords hecounterpartfstellarradiation s regionalgeography,which

Vincent

of

Beauvais

analyses

as

altitude,

humidity,

he

proximity

f

mountains

and the

sea, the

quality of the

soil;50

or

t is

all

these

things

hat

determine he

balance betweenheat

and

moisture.

n

high ltitudes

he

atmosphere

s

cool,

thin

and

dry,

nd

in

ow-lying laces,

especiallynear the

sea, damp,

warm,

nd

heavy.

It

follows hat

mountainous

istricts re more

northerlyn their limate

han the

latitude ndicates, nd

sheltered alleys

more

southerly.Great

importancewas

also attached

to theprevailing

inds, or

tolemyhad said bodies

are

conditioned

by the air

which ontains hem.

The number

was fixed t twelve

nd their

everal

qualitiesdetermined.5'or this reason twas agreedthatthesituation fmoun-

tains

matters

s much

as their ltitude; t

affects ot only he

temperature

f the

adjacent territories

y exposing hem

n

one

direction nd

protecting

hem n

another,

but determines he

prevailing

winds. These

were the considerations

which nformed

quinas's discussion

of

a

suitable site for a

city.52

t was not

merely questionof

health

either, orhealth and

energy

rofoundlyffect e-

havior.Aquinas

remarked n

the

demoralizing

ffect f too fertile soil and

too

soft n

air,

for here

pleasure

omes

asily

and exertion s

not

necessary.53

n the

other

hand,

t was

generally greed that

places

liable to

great

winds and storms

were

especially noxious,

because

the

agitation

of

the

atmosphere

isturbs

he

mind and

distorts he

udgment.54

WhenBodin

discusses

onfiguration

s

the

third

onstituent

f

nvironment,

e

selects

the same features

s

important,

mountains

especially

heir

aspect

marshes

nd

tempestuous

inds;55

and he finds herein he

explanation

f

many

of

the

differencesetween he

people

of one

province

nd another.

The

Pyrenees

48

Albertus,i, i.

49

Albertus,

i, ii.

50

iv,

Cxii. What follows s

common

orm,

nd can

be

found,

or

nstance,

n

Albertus,,

xiii,

and

Bartholomaeus,

iv,

i

and ii.

51

For thenumber nd qualityofthe

winds ee Bartholomaeus, ,

iii,

and

d'Ailly,

Ymago

Mundi,

lx.

52

De

Regimine rincipum,

i,

ii.

53De

Regimine

rincipum,

i,

iv.

54

Vincent f Beauvais, op.

cit., v, ix.

55Rep., p. 668,

and Meth., . 131.



10/21

792 Bodin and the

Mediaeval

Theory f

Climate

exaggerate he differencesn

latitude betweenFrance and Spain, by exposing

Frenchmen

o

northerly

nfluences

nly,

and

Spaniards

to

southerly;

nd

the

Appennines ave the same effect

n emphasizing he distinction

etweenTuscan

and Lombard.58 ough prevailingwinds make the people ofBritain,Portugal,

Thrace, and Persia turbulent,

whereas he Italians

and the inhabitants

f Asia

Minor, iving

n

approximately

he same latitudes re humaneby reason of the

soft irs that blow over them;

and it is the wind that makes Gascons more

n-

tractable han Belgians,despite

their

more

southerly ituation.57

lorence,

built

in mountainous ountry,s an

energetic

nd

turbulent ity,

nd its citizens,

ike

those of

the Swiss

Cantons,

mpatient

f

government; enice,

being city

of the

plain, is stable because is inhabitants re more pacific

nd amenable

to

good

counsel.58 e

ascribes

he

prosperity

f

Genoa

or Ghent

o

the

opportunities

f

a

maritime ituation,but the prosperity fNuremberghe thinks s due to the

infertilityf the soil,which

had compelled ts inhabitants o

exert hemselves

n

other ways

to assure

their

subsistence.59

or

the

same

reason

Attica

was

the

mother f all the

arts.A0

Environment

eacts

on

men through

heir

bodies in

the first

nstance;

for

temperature

nd

humidity,

which

are

the

fundamental roperties

f

place,

are

also the fundamental

roperties

f

the

four

lements

f

whichbody

s

composed.

Hence

the

four

radical complexions

n

men are

characterized y the physical

properties f the predominating

lement; he phlegmatic,ike

water, s cold and

moist;

the

sanguine,

ike

air,

hot and moist; the choleric, ike fire, ot

and

dry;

the

melancholic,

ike

earth,

cold and dry. A causal connectionwas therefore

traced betweenplace and radical complexion. ut, as d'Ailly

pointed out, this

is

the result fa processnot of ssimilation, ut ofreaction; old

climates roduce

men ofhot temperaments,nd hot climates, old temperaments.6'

xternalheat,

it

was believed,draws out the

moisture f the body, and withthat the spiritus'

or

breathof ife hat courseswith he blood through he veins;

nternal eat and

moisture s thereby ost, the temperature f the body reduced

and vitality

lowered.External cold and

drought, n the otherhand, conserve nternalheat

and

moisture y closing he

pores of the skinand so checking vaporation.Ex-

treme cold or drought, owever,have the opposite effect; y preventing ny

evaporation

t all

they ower

hetemperaturef he bodyby conserving

oo much

moisture, nd so diminish ts vitality.62

56

Rep.,p.

692.

57

Rep.,

p. 696.

The

reference

o the Gascons and

the

Belgians

appears

only

n

the Latin

version,

p. 808.

58

Rep., .

664.

59

Rep.,

p. 697.

60

Meth., .

130.

61

De Concordantiaiscordantium stronomorum.ee alsoAquinas, n LibrisPoliticorum,ii, lect.

V.

(This

section of the

Commentary

n the

Politics

s

probably

not

Aquinas'

own work

see

M.

Grabmann, WelchenTeil der

aristotelischen olitik hat der hl.

Thomas

von

Aquin

selbst

com-

mentiert,'

hilosophisches

alhrbuch

er

Gorres-Gesellscehaft,

xviii,

3

(Fulda, 1915).

I

have

used

Aquinas'

name

for he sake of

brevity.)

62

These doctrines

re

fully

xpounded

by

Bartholomaeus,v,

i-xi.

They

are

in

part

stated,

or

im-

plied,

n

any

discussion f

complexion,.g.,

Albertus,i, ii,

or

Vincent

f

Beauvais,

op.

cit., V,

cix-Cxi.



11/21

Bodin and the

MediaevalTheory f

Climate

73

These

physiological

otionswere used to

explainwhatPtolemy nd

Avicenna

had said about the

physique

both of northern aces and

negroes. n the north,

where

he air

s

cold and dry, he

natives re

physically igorous; hey

re strong,

tall, broad and long-lived;moreover, nternalheat means a largeappetite and

rapid

digestion.Those

who

live

in

a hot

climate,from he dissipation

f their

vital

forces,

re small and

feeble, f weak

digestion nd

small appetite. Certain

characteristic

ppearances

were also

observed with

great regularity. n cold

climates

he

coloring

s fair nd

the texture f

the skin and

hair fine;

voices are

soft

nd

deep

in

tone,

the

effect f damp on

the throat. n

hot countries he sun

draws

the

blood to the

surface nd darkens

he skin

in

extreme eat blackens

and coarsens

t

dries nd

frizzles he hair.

Drought

makes voices

high-pitched

and harsh.',

The distributionfthe temperamentsccording o climatewas therefore b-

vious.

t

was

generally greed

hat the

peculiarities f

the

cold

dry emperament,

the

melancholic,

were to be

observed

n

the dark and

puny inhabitants f the

extreme outh.

t was also

agreed

that the

races

of the far

north

xhibited he

characteristics

f

the

phlegmatic

omplexion,

he

cold

and

damp, forthe men

there

re arge,

air

nd

slow-moving.

n the

ess rigorous

limate

f

the

temperate

regions,

where

the

temperature

was

such

as

to conserve he

heat

of the body

without

preventing

he

evaporation

of

surplus moisture,

ccurred he better-

balanced, choleric,

nd

sanguine

ypes.

These

physiological heorieswere

not,

however,

he

only principle

n

which

the

distribution

f

the

temperaments

as determined. here was also

the

tradi-

tion

associating

the

complexions

with the

triplicities residing

ver

the

four

quarters

of the

inhabited

arth. But this was a

matter

of much

greater

uncer-

tainty

than the

agreed

effects f

temperature;

he

authorities,

s has

been ob-

served,

differeds to

their

distribution,

hus

presenting

heirmediaeval

disciples

with

problem

f

reconciliation

hat exercised

ll their

ngenuity.

he tradition

that

apparently

ecame

current

n

France

-

for

t is

found

n

that

repository

f

commonplaces,

he Cuer

de

Philosophie

was

Albumazar's;

the

phlegmatic

complexion,

nder he

triplicity

f

water,

s

assigned

o the

north,

hemelancholic

underthat of earth to thesouth, hecholeric nderthat of fire o theeast; and

the

sanguine

nder

that

of

air to

the

west.64

It is thistraditionwhich

xplainsBodin's

apparently rbitraryrrangement

f

the

temperaments

n

orderfromnorth o

south,phlegmatic, anguine,

holeric

and melancholic

though

his

s

a

distribution

ccording

o

latitude,

ather han

to

quarters.

But the two

methods re

not unrelated.

The

northern

uarter

falls

in the

frigid egions

nd

the southernn the torrid.

he extremes feast and

west

are both included n

the

temperate

one,

as

d'Ailly

had

already

observed;65 ut

the cold

damp

of

the west causes that

quarter

o have

affinities

iththe

north,

whereasthe warmth f the east relates t morenearlyto the south.So Bodin

could assume the

obviousnessof the

arrangement

when

he

said

that Scandi-

63

See

Albertus,

i,

iii;

Bartholomaeus,

v,

i-iv;

Vincent

of

Beauvais,

op.

cit., v,

cix-Cxi.

64

P.

lXVi. VO.

65

Ymago

Mundi,xii.



12/21

74 Bodin

and

theMediaeval

Theory f

Climate

navians

are

phlegmatic,

Germans

anguine,

renchmen

holeric,

nd

Spaniards

melancholic.6t

followed

he

accepted

order

f

the

triplicities,

nd was

consistent

with the agreed

effects

f

temperature;

or

the

sanguine temperament, eing

moist, s proper o a morenorthern limate hanthecholeric,which s dry.

But

-

and this was the

crux of

the

matterforBodin it was an

accepted

doctrinethat, as Bacon

says, 'upon

their radical

complexions epend

men's

dispositions

n

respect

f

morals,

f

earning

nd

languages,

f

all crafts nd oc-

cupations.'67

he conclusionwas based

upon

the account

of

the

functioning

f

an

animal organism

n

the

De

Motibus

Animalium ttributed o

Aristotle,

nd his

analysis of intellectual

processes

n

the

De Anima. All

spontaneousactivity

springs rom mpulseswhich are

organic

n

origin,

because such

activity

s a

consequence

f

appetite,

nd

appetite

follows

he

excitement f some sense

lo-

cated in an organof thebody.Therefore heinvoluntaryctivities fanyliving

creature

re

conditioned

bsolutely y

its

physical

onstitution.68

nimals,

ays

William

of

Auvergne,

f

necessity

ollow

heir

adical

complexions. 9

he

vegeta-

tive and the sensitive

oul

-

i.e.,

the

principles

f

growth

nd of sensation is

each, says Vincent

f

Beauvais, 'obligata materiae.'70Moreover

those activities

ofmen

which re

deliberate

re

also, though ndirectly,

ffected

y temperament.

Even the ntellective

oul,

Vincent

f

Beauvais

adds

-

and

Aquinas agreeswith

him is

conditioned

y the body

t inhabits

secundum

uid.' Aquinas explains

by paraphrasing he

third ook

of

the De

Anima;

all

knowledge

s

begotten pon

the organsof sense,forthe subjectsofthought re the fantasmata r sensible

species

abstracted rom he multitude f

primary

ense

mpressions.71rom this

it

was

argued that

the

more

acute

the

sense

impressions he morepenetrating

the

consequent rocesses

f

thought.

ut

the acuteness

r

otherwise f

sensatory

experience epends

on

physical onstitution; or

ense mpressions re

conveyed

to the brain

by

'spirit'

which

circulates,with the blood, through he veins;

hot

blood

is

thick

nd

impedes

he

operation f spirit nd so only permits ull

per-

ceptions;

but thin blood facilitates

ineness f

perception y allowing spirit'

to

course

reely.72

These premises ccepted,therewas very generalagreement s to theirpar-

ticular

consequences.

The

primaryphysical

bases

of

character re blood and

spirit.

Hot

blood

means

energy

nd

animositas

the quality that makes

men

confident nd assertive, mpatient,

magnanimous, reedyof honor and

power.

The

'hot-tempered' ortherner

herefores a

great fighter, rave because con-

66

Rep., p. 677.

67

Bacon, p. 138.

68

'Organicas

partes

uoque

preparant

doneepassiones

ut

cito moveantur

d

dilectabilem onsecu-

tionem'

d'Ailly,

De

Concordantia

iscordantium

stronomorum).

69

De

Universo,,

xlvi.

70

Op.

cit.,

II, xXXiV.

71

Aquinas,

n

Libris

Politicorum,ii,

lect.

v.

72

The doctrine

f

the

processes

f

sensation

came from

he

De

differentia

piritus

t

animae

at-

tributed o

Constabulinlus,or

Costa ben

Luca).

It was

included

n

the

collected

works

f

Constan-

tine

Africanus

ublished

n

Basel

in

1536.



13/21

Bodin

and the

Mediaeval Theory

f Climate

75

temptuous

f

wounds

he does not fear

oss of blood

because

he can well

spare

it.

But as a

necessary efect

f thesevirtues

he

is intellectually

ull.

Southerners

on

the

otherhand,

beingthin-blooded,

re timid,

nd

vengeful

nd cruel n

con-

sequence.But their spirit'being unimpeded n its operation, hey are charac-

terizedby subtilitas

r fine mpressions

nd speculative

cuteness. They

excel,

therefore,

n

the sciences,

specially

he occult,

n

religion

nd the iberal

rts. n

extreme

ases

the vividness of their maginations

eads the melancholic

nto

delusions

nd

madness.

n

practical

ffairs hey

compass

their nds by guile

and

not by

force; heir

ruelty

s

the

cruelty

f artistsnot

of brutes.73

WhenBodin particularizes

bout

la diversite

es

hommes,'

e selects

precisely

the same characteristics

ordiscussion.

He too

comparesmen

in respect

f size,

the

type

of

energy

n which

hey

xcel, heir oloring,

he quality

of

theirvoices,

the natureof theircruelty, nd their characteristicorms fmadness; and he

finds

ll

the

old generalizations

ubstantially rue.74

rom the ambassador

from

Lithuania

he

learned

that the

Muscovites

of the far

north

were veryfair,

ike

Ptolemy's

lbinos;75

nd

on

the testimony

f Las Casas

he noticed hat

Magellan

had found

the

Patagonians of

the southern

hemisphere

ery large

and

very

simple;76

and the

West Indians, especially

the Brazilians,

ike other southern

races,

he ascertained

were extremely

ruel.7 Moreover

he found n mediaeval

medicine

he

answer

s

to

why

all

these

things

houldbe

so;

it

is

always

radical

complexion '

t

is the black

bile of the melancholic emperament

hat predisposes

southernerso contemplation,eligionnd the occultsciences. uchmen are re-

poseful

nd

docile,

nd whereasdivine

llumination

s

given

o

all,

it is most

fully

effective

n the

quiet

mind, ust

as

light

s mirrored

ost

brightly

n stillwaters.78

The yellow

bile

of the

choleric

emperament

makes

men

energetic,

ractical

n

their ctivities, pt

to undertake

reatenterprises.

uch

is

the

disposition

f

the

French.

The

Germans,

on

the otherhand,

though ctive,

are unstable;

t

is a

consequence

f the

sanguine

omplexion,

f

the hot

blood that

makes

men robust

and

gay,

but

unreliable

nd

at the mercy

f

mpulse

because too thickwitted

o

plan

and

keep

to

a courseof action.He

remarks

n parentheses

hat

tyrants

ave

alwaysdrawntheirbodyguards rom orthernaces,notonlyfor heir trengtb

and

courage,

ut also

because of

their

naptitude

or

ntrigue.79

hensuch

people

become

deranged,

heir

madness

s

not the

self-tormenting

renzy

f the

melan-

choly,

ut

a

mere

folly

f

dancing

nd

singing.

he

phlegmatics

f the far

north,

73Albertus,i, iii, Aquinas,

n Libris

Politicorum,II,

v. and

De Regimine

rincipum,i, i;

Vin-

centofBeauvais, op. cit., v,

cX

and

cxi;

Bartholomaeus, v, 1;

Cuer de

Philosophie, p.

Cxi,

V?-CXii,

r?; d'AillyDe Concordantia iscordantium stronomorum.

here

s

more etail

n

some

than

n

others,

but no

disagreements,

or here s a common

iterary arentage, hiefly tolemy,Haly

and

Avicenna.

D'Ailly's

discussion

s the

fullest.

74

Rep., p. 678, and Meth., . 90.

75

Rep.,

p.

688.

76

Rep., p.

671.

77

Rep., .

680.

78

Rep., p. 687, and Meth.,p. 105.

79Rep., p. 678, and Meth.,p. 92.



14/21

76

Bodin and the

Mediaeval Theory f

Climate

condemned y

nature

o be

chiefly

emarkable or heir

tupidity,

o not

nterest

him verymuch,

nd have

only

a small

place

in the discussion.Mental disorder

withthemtakes

the form f

senile

obliviousness.80

Other nfluences,o hismind, nhanced hesecharacteristics.n the first lace,

the

four adical

complexions

ere

habitually

ssociated

with he four

ges

of

man,

thesanguine omplexion

ith

hildhood,

he cholericwith

dolescence,

hemelan-

cholic

with

maturity

nd the

phlegmatic

with

old

age.81

This

means,

he

thought,

'that the first ype

is

eager

but

erratic,

he

second

adventurous,

he

third

on-

servative

nd

reflective,

nd

the

fourth

hysically

nd

mentally ethargic.82

In the second place therewas the influence f the presiding

lanets.83 aturn

predisposes o contemplation

nd Venus

to

idleness nd licentiousness,nd

as

they are, according

o Bodin, the planets

of the

southern

egions, hey

confirm

thepredispositionf the

melancholic o

religious

ervor

nd loose

morals,

nd

explain why genius

is so

often allied to wickedness.

He

illustrates y citing

Alvarez on the Ethiopians

and Livy

on

the Carthaginians.

he temperate one

is underthe beneficent lanet

Jupiter,

hose

subjects

are of good physique nd

good morals,

nd concernedwith he

operations

f

the

practical

ntellect,

uch

as

law and

jurisprudence; is

associate,Mercury,

lso

disposes

to

useful

ctivities,

rhetoric, usiness nd

commerce.Here as

well, therefore,

he

tendencies

f

the

dominant

emperament,

he

choleric,

re

confirmed.

he

sanguine

north

s

under

Mars, who not onlymakes

menwarlike, ut apt at all crafts, specially hose hat

have to do

with

metal and

fire.His partner, he Moon,

makes

men chaste, nd

also greathunters.84

Bodin emphasizes

his

thesis

by considering hat happens

when men migrate.

Albertushad noticedthat

plants and

animals n

general

grow argeror smaller

as

they

are moved

from ne

climate

o

another,85

nd he

thought hat

if

Ethio-

pians settled

n the norththeir

kins

would become

fair

n

a fewgenerations.86

Here

again,

Bodin

accepts

the mediaeval doctrine s substantially ruebecause

he

thought

t

explained

what

had occurred

n his

own

times.

He ascribed the

conquestof Spain by the Moors,

and

the

victories f the Spanishtroops aken to

Germany y

Charles

V,

to

the

improvement

n

their

military nergywhen they

removed o a morenortherly ountry.On the otherhand, the GermanLanz-

knechts howent south

to

Italy under he

Constable

of

Bourbonand Fronsberg

suffered

corresponding

ecline;

and the

French armies

under Philibert of

Orange

failed before

Naples

as

the Cimbrians

nd

the Gauls had

failed

before

Rome.87

But, though

he

thought

climate

operated

immediately pon men's

80

Rep.,

pp.

677-682

and

698-699;

Meth.,pp.

95,

114.

81

By

analogy

with he association

f

the four easons with

he

four

lements

f

matter.The table

of

correspondencies

ppeared

n Sacrobosco

De

Computo

cclesiastico.

82

Rep.,p.

686.

83

For thequalitiesoftheplanets ee Bartholomaeus,

iII,

xxiii-xxx;Guido Bonatti,op. cit.,

II,

i-vii; Cuer

de

Philosophie, .

lxvii,vO.

84

Rep.,

p.

690-691.

85

Albertus,i,

i.

88

Albertus,I, iii.

87

Rep.,

p. 670.



15/21

Bodin and theMediaeval Theory f Climate

77

energies, t takes time for heirdispositions o be permanentlyltered,for

men

do not

respond

o

environments

quickly

s do

plants

which uck

theirnourish-

ment directlyfromthe soil. But given time, men will, he thought,

become

acclimatized,mentally nd morally s well as physically, s happened to the

Saxons

Charlemagne ransplanted

o the Low Countries.88

What probablyfirst uggested he applicationof these physiological deas

to

the

study

of

politics

was that

chapter

n

the Politics89n which

Aristotle bserved

that northern aces are

naturally ndependent

ut

undisciplined; outhern aces

intelligent ut slothful,nd thus the predestined ubjectsof tyrants;while

hose

occupying

middle situation

have energy nough

for

independence nd in-

telligence nough

o rule not

only themselves ut others.Mediaeval commenta-

tors

saw quite clearly hat

this

passage

was

explainedby referenceo the effects

of climateon men's capacities. t was glossed n this way, for nstance, n the

commentary

n

the Politics

ttributed o

Aquinas.90

As one would expect,Bodin kept to

this

traditional ramework

n

distinguish-

ing political ypes.But he verymuch enlarged ts positivecontent y consider-

ing the effects ot only of temperature n the human constitution, ut of total

stellarradiation.This enables

him to

draw conclusions bout laws,

occupations,

forms f

government,

nd the tendencies f nternational

elationships.

ecause

cold makes men

physically igorous

nd

brave, the

best soldiers re

produced

in

the north.Therefore,ll the great nvasionshave come from hatdirection-

of the Goths, Vandals, Franks, Normans,Tartars. For this reasonthe more

northern

ace

will always

overcome he

more

southerly

n

war;

Rome had her

greatest riumphs

n

the

Levant and North

Africa,

ut even

n her

best

days could

not penetrate

northwards

eyond

the Danube.91

The

English

had

never

con-

queredthe Scots,

but

habitually

efeated

he

French.92 ecause Mars

disposes

o

manual skill as well as war, from he north

ome the best

craftsmen,

lemings,

Germans

nd

English.93

ut because

none

of

these

nfluencesre evocativeof n-

telligence,

orthernersre inaccessible o

all

appeal

save that

of the

senses,

nd

all

arguments

ave those of force.

He uses

Caesar, Tacitus,

and

Solinus

to

show

that amongthemtheruler s powerlesswho is not armed withthe sword, nd

he

collects

vidence

bout the

brutality

f their

punishments.94

or

this

reason,

too, though onquerors

ome from

he

north,

uch

have

not founded

ermanent

empires,

or

hey

ack both

the

intelligence

nd

perseverance

o hold what

they

overrun.95

The

proper

irtue

fthose

who

live

in

the

temperate

one

is

prudence,

r

the

88

Rep.,

p.

698.

89

VI,

vii.

90

In Libris

Politicorum,

II,

v.

Pierre

d'Ailly

also

interprets

he

passage

n

this

way

n

his De

Con-

cordantia iscordantium stronomorum.

91

Rep.,

p.

672,

and

Meth.,

.

91.

92

Rep., p.

676.

9

Rep., p.

690,

and

Meth.,

.

108.

94

Rep.,

. 679.

95

Meth.,

.

91.



16/21

78

Bodinand the

Mediaeval Theory

f Climate

right

unctioningf the practical

ntellect,whichresultsfrom

hatunion of in-

telligence

nd

skill

hat a moderate

limate, nd the

beneficent lanets of Jupiter

and

Mercury nduce. Such

people excel in business

nd politics.

Hence all the

great ystems f aw

-

Greek,Roman,and French have beenevolved nthese

regions.Here also have

arisen ll the great mpires he

worldhas ever

known

Assyrian,

Median,

Persian, Parthian, Greek,

Roman, and Celtic. The great

historians, rators, nd

poets have

come fromthese regions.

Here men are

governednot

by

force

but reason;

they reach their

conclusions y discussion,

and

prefer

he method

f

negotiation

o

war.96

The

children f

Saturn,

he visionaries f the south, re

preoccupiedwith the

problems fabstract ruth ather

han good

conduct,

nd

all

the

great

ystems

f

religion ave arisenfirst n

these parts.

t

is

not reasonbut faithby which

hey

are ruled, and they appeal to oraclesratherthan arguments. he enervating

effects f a

hot

climate

make

them

wretched oldiers,

ut

they

prevail,

neverthe-

less, in

virtue of their

superior unning.9 he more

southerly ace, therefore,

has always excelledover

its northern eighborsn

matters f

diplomacy.Bodin

quotes with

approval Commines'

remark hat though he

French have usually

been

defeated

y

the

English, heyhave always secured

dvantageous

erms

by

the

peace settlementshat

have followed

war; though hey, n their

urn, ightly

complain hat they are

habituallybeaten at the

diplomaticgame

by the Span-

iards,who

have got the

betterof them n every

ettlement or helast hundred

yearsor more.98

And the

moral?Bodin concluded

oldly hat certain

modes of conduct re not

altogether

ithin he

province f humanvolition; f

Leo Africanus

nd Francisco

Alvarez

had realized

this,he

says, they

would not so have praised

Africans

or

their

bstemiousness

it is

the

simple consequenceof

a feebleappetite.

Simi-

larly, he chastity f

northernerss not

to be particularly dmired,

or t comes

of the

weakness

of the

sexual impulse n those of a

phlegmatic

emperament;

nor s the

licentiousness f

the south to

be blamed,for t is

equally the

mark of

the melancholic

omplexion.99he

apparentvirtuousness

f

the Germans

omes

from heir ack of magination; t takes spirit' o makemen eithergreatly ood

or

greatlybad, and Livy

should not, therefore, ave

blamed Hannibal

forhis

vices,

for

hey

were

nseparable rom is

genius.100

ut more

mportant

o Bodin

than these

criticisms f

other

writers

s

the

practical

onclusion e

draws.

States-

men must

frame heirpolicy n

accordancewith

these

unalterablefacts

of

the

situation;to tryand

subject southerners o

the laws proper

to

the

temperate

regions,

r

accustom

northernerso legal

processes

will

only bring

ll to ruin.10'

He

ascribes

he failure

f the Spaniards

n

the Low

Countries

n

his

own

day

to

96

Rep.,p. 687,and Meth., . 105.

97

Rep., p.

690,

and

Meth.,

.

105.

98

Rep.,

.

676.

99

Rep.,

p.

671,

and

Meth.,

.

113.

'0I

Rep.,

p.

685;

and

Meth.,

.

102.

101

Rep.,

.

689.



17/21

Bodin

and the

Mediaeval

Theory f

Climate

79

their ttempt

o

imposeregulations

uitable

to Spain on a

people living 12 de-

grees

of

atitudefurther orth.'02

t

least one of

Bodin'smediaeval

predecessors

had

anticipated

im n

thinking hat the

relativity f

tandards

fconduct

mong

menwas a governing actor n practicalpolitics. n the first ears of the four-

teenth

century

nother

Frenchman,John

of

Paris, rejected on

these

grounds

the

possibility

f

creating

universal

emporal tate.

Diverse

modes

of ife

nd

diverse orms

f

policy

occur n

those

regions

where

he climate

nd thecharacter

of the people are

different,nd what one

community f men

esteem as

highly

virtuous, nother

does not

consider irtuous t

all. 03

Such

thoughtswere

dangerous.

By

seeming o call

in

questionthe moral re-

sponsibility

f the

individual, hey struck

t

the root of the

Christian

thic.'04

Whenthereforen

19277

he Bishop of

Paris heldan

enquiry nto

heterodox each-

ing ntheuniversity,mongthe9217 ropositionsnathematizedwerethosethat

embodied he views of

the

extremists,r

Averroists,

mongnatural

philosophers

on

this

subject

of

environment

that

the

world s

subject

n

all its

occurrences

to

the order of

necessity

that

diversity

f

place

determines

bsolutelythe

course

of

events

that the

will

of the individual s

under hecompulsion f

the

stars, nd

is

as

much

necessitated y

cognition s is the

appetiteofbrutes

that

diversity

n

men

n

respectnot onlyof

temporal ut

spiritual

ualities

s

the con-

sequence

of

the

diverse

igure

f

the

heavens.'05

But

even the most

orthodox ould

not

entirely eject the

implied

ystem

of

ideas. To believe nthevalidity f thereasonat all was to accept thecosmology

of

the

astrologers;

nd

those who could

not,

as did

the

Averroists, ostulate

a

conflict

etween he

truths f

faith nd

the

truths

f

reason,

were

concerned

o

find

meansof

reconciling

eligion nd science.The

position

akenup was

always

the same. As

Aquinas

saw

very clearly,

he

theory

f

the influence

f

the

stars

was a

theory

xplaining he

transmutations

f

matter.

n

so far as

they have

bodies,

men

are,

like all

things

compounded

f

matter,

fashioned

by

that

in-

fluence.

Physically

they are the

product of

environment, nd

those impulses

which

come from

ensuous

xperience

re

spontaneous

ecause

the senses are a

property fbody. But their mmaterialouls cannotbe directlyubjectto these

forces

which

move

matter,

hough

they may be

indirectly

hrough

he

desires

of

the

flesh. he

uncompromisingverroist eld that

this

ndirect

nfluence

s as

absolute

as

the

direct

one

because conduct

is

determined

y appetite.

But

Albertus nd

Aquinas, and all

who

adopted their

views,

were

emphatic

hat the

will

s

not, ike

sense, nherent

n

any

organ

of

body

and therefore emains

ree;

a rushof

blood

to the

heart xcites

nger,

ut the soul

s

not

thereby

nder om-

pulsion to

violence.'06n

the last

analysis men

can and

on

occasions

do,

resist

102

De Republica

ibri Sex, p. 770.

This passage

does not appear

in the

French.

103

De Potestate egalietPapali, cap. iii, n Goldast,Monarchia . ImperiiRomani.

104

Alexander

Neckham,De Naturis

Rerum,,

vii

(ed. T. Wright,

erumBrittanicarum edii

Aevi

Scriptores,

ondon,

1868) already

put this quite clearly

p. 89). See

also Aquinas, Ad Fratrem

ey-

naldumde

JudiciisAstrorum.

105

Denifle-Chatelain

lhartularium

niversitatis

arisiensis, , No. 478,

pp. 543

ff.Arts:21, 142,

162,

159, 148.



18/21

80 Bodin

and theMediaeval

Theory fClimate

natural

mpulses in other

words

scape

the

empire

f

the stars.

One can

never,

then,

predict

of any

individualhow

he will act on any given

occasion,

and

horoscopes

nd particular

rognosticationshereby

tand

condemned.Neverthe-

less, because

most men

most of the

time follow heir

natural

mpulses, ne can

arrive t tolerably ccurate

conclusions s to

how different

ypes

of men n

the

mass

will behave

in

certain

situations.Bacon, for

nstance,

sserted that

the

astrologer an confidently

ake

general udgments

bout

communities f

men,

and

useful

observations

n their mannersand customs, religions

nd wars,

whereas

e has

far ess

certainty

n

pronouncing

n the activities

f

ndividuals.'07

Those

who held such

views saw in the actual

variety

f

law

and

custom he

record

of the

deliberate ffort

f men to correct hose

natural

imperfections

peculiar

to their

everal situations.Dante,

while ustifying

niversal emporal

monarchy,

ejected

hedesirability

f a universal ystem

f aw,

on the grounds

that men livingunderdifferentonditionsneed differentinds of discipline.

'Nations, kingdoms

nd cities have their special

conditionswhich ought

to be

regulated

by different

aws. For law

is a rule

to direct ife, nd

naturally

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Tooley - Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate

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