Lecture 1 – Astrology in Renaissance
In this talk we return to a period in European history when astrology was considered a science. For centuries astrologers were learned mathematicians with respected positions in universities and governments. Astrology was even taught at Oxford! Yet by the seventeenth century, astrology was fast losing its place in mainstream science. This talk explores contests over astrology’s legitimacy that were taking place at the same time as astrology was thriving in the public sphere more than ever before.
Bio:
Michelle Pfeffer is a historian of science and religion at the University of Oxford. Her latest book, Inventing Immortality (2026), was about the history of the soul, and she is now writing a new book about how astrology stopped being considered a science. With David Zeitlyn she curated an exhibition at the Bodleian Library, ‘Oracles Omens Answers’ (Dec 2024-April 2025), and co-edited the related book, Divination, Oracles, and Omens, published by Bodleian Library Press.
Caption: Horoscope diagram from BL Royal Manuscript Collection. Public Domain.
Divining the Past, Present, and Future: Oracles, Series 2 – Four Lectures
Join us for Series Two as we journey once again into the histories and mysteries of divination. Delivered by leading scholars in the field
Curated & Hosted by
Marguerite Johnson is a cultural historian of the ancient Mediterranean, specialising in sexuality and gender, particularly in the poetry of Sappho, Catullus, and Ovid, as well as magical traditions in Greece, Rome, and the Near East. She also researches Classical Reception Studies, with a regular focus on Australia. In addition to ancient world studies, Marguerite is interested in sexual histories in modernity as well as magic in the west more broadly, especially the practices and art of Australian witch, Rosaleen Norton. She is Honorary Professor of Classics and Ancient History at The University of Queensland, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. She lives in Mytilene on the Greek island of Lesvos.
Attendees will receive a recording of each lecture valid for 4 weeks.
