‘The Chaucer Astrolabe’On display at the British MuseumDating to 1326 and of English origin, this is
‘The Chaucer Astrolabe’On display at the British MuseumDating to 1326 and of English origin, this is the oldest extant European astrolabe. It is known today as the ‘Chaucer Astrolabe’ because a similar instrument was described by Geoffrey Chaucer in a treatise written in 1391.In the late medieval period, astrolabes were used to measure the altitude of celestial bodies in order to determine the time or to make astrological predictions. Medieval science, and particularly medicine, looked to astrology in order to explain a variety of natural phenomena including epidemic diseases like the plague. -- source link
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