Book 8: On the universe and the heavens and Book 9: On time and motion

Texts and Images

The eighth book, with 44 chapters, deals with the universe. It is particularly focused on the heavens, planets, stars and zodiac, and provides a synthesis of medieval astronomy drawn from Aristotle and Ptolemy. A Master, holding an armillary sphere, lectures on astronomy in the image that introduces this book.

Different ways of calculating the passage of time are discussed in the following book, which concerns time and motion. It covers years (both solar and lunar), months, seasons, key liturgical dates, and methods of calculating dates taken primarily from Bede. The leaf with the introductory miniature is missing from this book which has 33 chapters.