The Crown and the Cosmos

A special treat. If you're a student of European history, this well-researched and well-written book will hold your interest.

Hayton is a skilled linguist, and this book benefits from his smoothly crafted translations or paraphrases of Viennese astrological texts. Readers who are unfamiliar with the pragmatic astrological literature of the early sixteenth century will learn much about how astrology worked or, to be more precise, about what astrology sounded like from Hayton's extensive translations.

Hayton's writing is fluent and engaging, and his content is structured with admirable and accessible clarity. The book should appeal to all Renaissance and early modern historians, crossing as it does between politics, astrology and astronomy. I suggest that historians of astronomy especially should read Hayton's work as it comes as a timely reminder that astronomy was far more than a matter of mathematics, but was absolutely and totally embedded in almost all aspects of culture. Hayton's deep scholarship makes a significant and valuable contribution to our understanding of Renaissance culture in the fullest sense.

In this fine book, Hayton explores the ways in which Maximilian I exploited the presumed science of astrology and its expert practitioners to enhance his image and authority. . . . Offers dense but rewarding reading and includes numerous illustrations as well as an extensive scholarly apparatus.

With his elegant and erudite study, Hayton offers a stellar contribution to the growing literature on astrology and its significance for understanding premodern politics. This wonderful book will undoubtedly be a cornerstone work on the topic for years to come.