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Re: VMs: George of Trebizond...?

Hi Rene,

There are two works of Monfasani on Trebizond
in the Brill series. You may find the earlier one
(A biography and a study of his rhetoric and
logic) more interesting. It gave me the idea
that Trebizond was remarkably well equipped
to be the VMs writer. It also contains some
details about his horoscope - no picture IIRC.
And the wonderful detail that, as a sexagenarian,
he was a bit too fond of pretty young girls.
Any good old VMs enthousiast, ready to jump to
conclusions (aren't we all? ) will understand
the significance of that :-)

Claudio has just sent me Trebizond's horoscope (based on the birth details just posted). I find it interesting for two (quite separate) reasons:-
(1) having been to one of Bob Zoller's seminars on medieval astrology, it is immediately obvious (to me at least) that his midheaven (MC) would (stepping forward one degree per year) conjunct with his 12th house (house of secrets etc) Mars round about when he was about 70 (say, from about 65 to 75). So: I'm sure Bob would have had no hesitation in predicting a surge in secret sexual activity during Trebizond's late sixties. :-)
(2) Note that although Trebizond's sun is in Aries, it's his *moon* that is in Pisces, which is (presumably) the particular malign influence he was complaining about. :-o

So: I'm pretty sure David Pingree did get it correct. :-)

Claudio gives (degree sign minute):-
        Sun     23Ari49
        Moon     5Pis08
        Merc    20Ari51
        Venu     7Tau55
        Mars    11Ari09
        Jupi    1Gem38
        Satu    20Sco55 (Retrograde)
        Asc     17Tau10
        MC      29Cap57 (ie, cusp)

These are counting up from zero: so (unless I've got this wrong) it would be correct to say that Trebizond's natal moon was in the sixth degree of Pisces, his sun in the 24th degree of Aries, etc.

Now - the bizarre thing is this: if you count the VMS zodiac degrees in the way I've previously suggested seems most logical (ie, clockwise, inner ring first, starting from 10 o'clock), then...
Sun Pisces degree 6 nymph male
Moon Aries degree 24 nymph male
Merc Aries degree 21 nymph male
Venu Taurus degree 8 nymph male (though hard to tell)
Mars Aries degree 12 nymph (hard to tell)
Jupi Gemini degree 2 nymph (hard to tell)
Satu Scorpio degree 22 nymph female (I think)

If this is true, then - given that there are so few male nymphs - how statistically likely is this?

Could this be the mechanism by which Trebizond's horoscope is steganographically hidden within the VMS zodiac pages? Could Trebizond, drawing these diagrams, have encoded the planetary positions in his own natal chart by representing them as male figures, surrounded by a mass of female figures?

Discuss! :-)

Did Trebizond ever see the copy of Ptolemy's
handy tables that are now Vat.Gr.1291? It's
by itself extremely likely. If he did, he may
well have written about it. John Monfasani
might even know. I actually never contacted him
about the VMs since IMHO this is such a long
shot, but Nick, if you are already in contact
with him, it might be possible to find out.

I'll be perfectly happy to ask Monfasani but really only after I've properly checked out his two books (as a matter of professional courtesy etc).

Note: his opinion of this whole possibility? "Quite extraordinary". :-)

The handwriting of his son, on the other hand, has
a typical elegant humanist trait.

Hmmm... if his son was a code-maker... who knows! :-)

Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.....

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