TO THE MOST DISTINGUISHED AND LEARNED MAN, OTTO

BRUNFELS, DOCTOR OF MEDICINE, NICOLAUS

PRUCKNER SENDS GREETINGS.

A large historiated woodcut initial 'R' depicting a figure (possibly a scholar or ruler) seated at a desk or throne, enclosed within a decorative rectangular border. You seem to me to be doing exactly the right thing, most learned OTTO, in having invested your labors so far that nothing could be found lacking in you regarding that circle of disciplines which the Greeks call the encyclopediaoriginal: ἐγκυκλοπαιδείαν (enkyklopaideian). Pruckner is praising Brunfels for his "all-around" education.. I say this to mention nothing, for the moment, of your all-encompassing knowledge of languages, which you allowed yourself to acquire for this sole purpose: that it might be of use to you, and of benefit to the rest of us—that is, the more unrefined. Indeed, your most painstaking scholarly works speak for themselves, even if we remain silent, and they make it plain to almost the entire world just how much you have achieved and how much you have excelled.

How truly you must be congratulated now as a Physician—and a most excellent and great one at that—since as soon as you realized that the "sum of all things" (if I may say so without offense) was missing from your medical practice—namely, Astrology itself—you learned it through such great, tireless labor and sweat. Without astrology, I would consider all Medicine to be not only maimed, but truly worth nothing. Who is there who would not know this, provided they weigh the whole matter? Nor are you accustomed to listen to those who judge this art—noble in itself—as if it were unnecessary, or even not conducive to the physician’s work. Yet we are forced to see every day so many crises of life, so many deaths, and so many funerals of "patients" (as they call them), arising solely from the neglect—not to say contempt—of Astrology. It is as if that old adageA common proverb or saying. against Physicians were once again finding its place: "More have perished by the hand of Physicians than by the sword." For how many people are there who do not see that we are being thrown into a thousand dangers of life through their ignorance? Who does not see the truth of what is commonly said: "Only Physicians are permitted to kill without punishment"? I wish it were as false as we all hope, and as false as we are forced to see it is true, to our own great misfortune.

I would not say this—nor would I wish the fair-minded reader to interpret it otherwise—as if I were ill-disposed toward Physicians themselves or toward Medicine itself; far be it from me! Indeed, let it be far from me, as one who admires and honors it more than others, especially if it is guided by astrologyoriginal: ἀστρολογῆται (astrologētai). Pruckner borrows a term from the Roman architect Vitruvius to describe a practice informed by the stars. (to use a Vitruvian word). Because medicine excels all other arts, I am far from disapproving of it or marking it with a "black coal" An ancient Roman idiom meaning to condemn or mark as unlucky.. For what is better, what is more conducive or useful to man himself, than the very knowledge of things? "Happy is he," as the Poet A reference to the Roman poet Virgil: Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas (Georgics 2.490). pronounced, "who was able to know the causes of things."

Nor do I dwell on those who anxiously dispute over the primacy or excellence of professions. While each person holds onto his own stubbornly and grants little to another, they often stir up great tragedies over "goat’s wool" or "the shadow of an ass" Proverbial expressions for debating over trivial or worthless things.; the more foolish they are, the more they think themselves prudent.

But I return to the Physicians, who seem to me especially deserving of reproach because they neglect Astrology—an art primarily necessary for the healing craft—with such zeal. They are content only with what this or that quackoriginal: Agyrta, a traveling performer or street-healer. or charlatan has babbled at random or foolishly devised. In the meantime, they are so addicted to their chosen authority that they follow them in the Pythagorean fashion, saying: "He himself said it,"original: αὐτὸς ἔφα (autos epha). A Greek phrase referring to blind appeal to authority, famously used by the followers of Pythagoras. when they have nothing else to answer. For instance, a certain physician of "first rank" (as he seemed to himself) recently said that he valued one Avicenna Ibn Sina (c. 980–1037), a Persian polymath whose "Canon of Medicine" was a standard textbook in Europe for centuries. more than all other Physicians, whether ancient or modern; he honored him like a parent and wished to die with his Avicenna. Thus, it is no wonder if they despise Astrologers, since they grant so little even to their own peers.

Truly, it is a stupid, even impudent and daring deed, to criminalize a matter which you do not understand. Certain "shadowy" theologians do the same thing: neglecting the Word of God, they rail against the liberal arts from the pulpit, forbidding "water and fire" A Roman legal formula for banishment or total social exclusion. not so much to the arts themselves, but to their professors. First, they say the science of the stars is vain; second, that predictions are trifles and electionsThe practice of choosing the best time to start an undertaking based on the stars. are sacrilege. They blather such nonsense as: even if it were mostly true, not all stars are known; the state of the heavens is different now than it was of old; the authorities do not agree; and similar rubbish. Do they not seem to you to be performing their duty uprightly? Is it not an extraordinary kind of arguing? Is it not a worthy and noble demonstration? Who could break such a firm and solid force of argument...