Context of Commentaries on the Textbook of Astronomy “Pseudo-Proclus’ Sphaera” in the Renaissance

The project investigated the networks between professors of Astronomy and Greek and their students in sixteenth-century European cities, who used the original Greek, humanistic  textbook of astronomy “Pseudo-Proclus’ Sphaera.” To understand the context of Pseudo-Proclus’ Sphaera in the Renaissance, professors’ commentaries on and translations of the text are compared to the standard textbook of Astronomy—Sacrobosco’s Sphaera—especially concerning their contents, structure, and cited authorities. It was determined that, in spite of the humanistic character of this work, it also underwent a process of transformation due to the “practical turn” in the second half of the sixteenth century (Johanna Biank, Pseudo-Proklos’ Sphaera: Die Sphaera-Gattung im 16. Jahrhundert, Dissertation, Fakultät 1, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin). The project concluded with the open access publication Pseudo-Proklos’ Sphaera.