Prognosticon for 1486 and 1487

poet laureate / pitisian astrologer Refers to Pitis, a place name or title sometimes associated with astrological study in the period.

Prophecy of the current year 1486, edited by Laurentius Bonincontrius of San Miniato, poet and astrologer, for the Most Reverend Father in Christ and Lord Raphael of Siena, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and most worthy Chamberlain.

MM
happens

They differ not / senef: says M.

from the book of nature / for a long time / adversaries

A decorative initial M.

Your Greatness, most worthy Prelate and Most Reverend Father, may perhaps marvel at the boldness of the astrologers of this current year, 1486. Among so many eclipses and such great conjunctions of the planets, both of this present year and of those that occurred in the past, someone dares to predict anything regarding the outcome of this year. And this is all the more so because there are so many things to be considered, some of which are even mutually contradictory, a situation which has caused me to remain silent until now. But since there is nothing that cannot be conquered by the works of the mind, and by diligent care through the kindness of the Supreme God, I have been emboldened. And, because I have perceived that your Greatness is, like all people, eager for knowledge of future things, desiring to gratify you, I come to this prophecy. But I do so on the condition that you do not demand from us anything particular, since there is no science of particulars. I will arrive at an explanation of the things we shall say through opinion. I speak of those people who are secular, so to speak, since they do not lead their lives according to the correct way of living, as those established in sacred duties do. Therefore, I will be silent about the prelates, since the arrangement of the heavens can do the least against those who have lived rightly. What difficulty there is in explaining these matters, as I believe, the silence of others will declare, which, even though I understand it is imposed upon me, yet to satisfy your Greatness, we will reveal what we feel. But not before we implore the aid of the Almighty God, with the Muses dictating:

You who rule the celestial spheres and the lamp of the Sun,
And guide the diverse motions of the pole, and the wandering stars,
Turning their paths in the opposite direction under a just law,
And the stars keeping their courses through the void:
The heavens, the globes, the flames, the lying lands,
And the seas spread across the immense sphere:
Give aid, pious one, to the prophet; give me the power to speak in verse.

Library stamp: BIBLIOTHECA REGIA MONACENSIS