Medieval Academy of America

Bodin and the Mediaeval Theory of Climate

Author(s): Marian J. Tooley
Source: Speculum, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Jan., 1953), pp. 64-83
Published by: Medieval Academy of America
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BODIN AND THE MEDIAEVAL THEORY

OF CLIMATE
BY MARIAN J. TOOLEY

No ONE who has writtenabout Republics,says Bodin, has consideredthe fundamentalproblemof how the formof a Republic shouldbe adapted to the natural
aptitudesof its people. Failure to appreciatethis principle,and the attemptto
framelaws by absolutestandardshas onlybroughtgreatstatesto ruin.He therethe theory
foreproceedsto the enquiryhimself.'A modernreader,investigating
of 'climate,'or environmentas it applies to politics,whichhe proceedsto expound,mustbe struckby thefactthat someofhis mostimportantstatementsforinstance- appear to be made quite
the distributionof the temperaments,
forno explanationsare given.This in itselfsuggeststhat his theory
arbitrarily,
was not 'prolessinematre,'but that he was drawingupon somecommonstockof
The suggestionbecomes cerscientificnotionsfamiliarto his contemporaries.
taintywhenhe cuts shorthis illustrationof a particularpoint withthe remark
that he need not go into particularswhichare mattersof commonknowledge,
and easily accessiblein the sourcesfromwhichhe himselfhad got them.2
But what werethosesources?He does not say. He does, of course,frequently
citeauthorityforhis facts.This authorityis oftwo sorts,eitherthewritersofthe
ancientworldsuch as Aristotle,Ptolemy,Galen, Caesar, Tacitus, Livy, or contemporaryhistoriansand travellers.He uses Comminesand Guicciardinion the
Italians, Sigismundd'Heberstein'shistoryofthe Muscovites,FrancescoAlvarez
on Ethiopia, and Las Casas on the AmericanIndians. He also repeatsconversationswiththePolishambassadorfromLithuania,3HenryII's Frenchambassador
to the English Court,4and reportsof the Frenchambassadorswho negotiateda
settlementof the Italian questionwiththe EmperorCharlesV.5
But, althoughit is clear that he drewhis factsfromthese sources,only suggestionsare to be foand in them of the theoriesabout environmentthat he
thoughtthe factsillustrated.It has in consequencebeen verygenerallyassumed
that his theorieswere original,and possiblyhis most importantcontributionto
politicalthought,thoughsubjectto the qualificationthathe mixedincongruously
penetratingobservationson the consequencesof such naturalinfluencesas temperatureon the physicaland moralconstitutionof men withmuchsuperstitious
1 Six Livresde la RMpublique,
v, i (Paris, 1608), p. 665. Thereare threeversionsof thischapter.The
firstdraftappeared in the Methodusad facilemhistorianum
cognitionem,
v, publishedin 1566; in it
all the generalprinciplesare stated,but not particularlyrelatedto contemporary
politics.This relationwas made in the Six Livresdela Rhpublique,
v, i, of 1576.In 1586Bodin publishedhis ownLatin
version,De RepublicaLibri Sex, whichis a freetranslationof the French,but witha fewsignificant
are to the Frenchversionunless otherwiseindicated.
additions.All references
2 Meth.,[Geneva, 1610],p. 189.
8 Rep., p. 668.
4 Rep., p. 669. In the Latin version(Frankfort,
1609), p. 777, he refersto a visit whichhe himself
had made to England, wherehe noted the weather.
Rep., p. 676.

84

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

65

matterabout the occultinfluenceof the stars.6But ifhe was indeed 'l'initiateur

de la theoriedes climats,'7one wouldexpecthimto give mostattentionwherein
facthe givesleast,to thediscussionofthegroundsofhis generalstatementsabout
The factthat he assumestheirobviousness,and dethe effectsof environment.
suggeststhat it was the illustravotes all his energiesto a wealthof illustration,
tive matterthat was new,but the generalprinciplestoo familiarto need exposition.
printersand publishersare
Fortunatelythe activitiesof the sixteenth-century
evidenceof the taste of the readingpublic. Judgingby the numberof editions
that appeared,therewas a considerableand steady demand formediaeval cosespeciallyof the morepopularencyclopaedicand informative
mologicalwritings,
type. Twenty-foureditions of Sacrobosco's De Sphaera appeared before1500
and many othersfollowedin the sixteenthcentury.It was also the subject of
and translatedinto French,German,Spanish,Italian
numerouscommentaries8
and English. Ten editions of the Latin text of BartholomaeusAnglicus,De
Rerum,and foureditionsof the French translationappeared beProprietatibus
fore 1500, and furthereditionsin both tonguesfollowedduringthe sixteenth
century.9There were six editionsof the Cuer de Philosophiebetween1507 and
1534, and othersfollowed.'0There were four editions of Guido Bonatti's De
AstronomiaTractatus,and at least fourof Vincentof Beauvais' SpeculumNaturale.
A man of Bodin's wide readingcould hardlyhave been unfamiliarwith this
evidencethat his scientificthought
literature.In fact thereis incontrovertible
was formedin thesetraditions.His UniversaeNaturae Theatrumis an exposition
of his systemof the world,and despite occasional divergencieson particular
mediaeval. That is to say, his cosmologyis based on
pointsit is fundamentally
in the
Ptolemy,his physicson Aristotle,and his physiologyon Galen,interpreted
the
From
Avicenna.
and
Haly
as
such
commentators
lightof theirgreat Arab
the
predecessors
from
his
mediaeval
inherited
Bodin
fusionof these traditions
and
of
elements
matter,
four
the
of
universe
composed
a
of
doctrine
geocentric
controlled.Moreover,in thisworkhe betrayshis acquaintancenot
astrologically
onlywiththetraditionaldoctrines,but withtheactual writingsoftheSchoolmen,
forhe freelycites among othersAquinas, AlbertusMagnus, Duns Scotus and
6 R. Chauvire,Jean Bodin,auteurde la Rgpublique(Paris, 1914), p. 359. For opinionson his imporin theSixteenth
in thisrespectsee also J. W. Allen,A HistoryofPoliticalThought
tanceand originality
Century(London, 1928), pp. 431-438; P. Mesnard,L'Essor de la philosophiepolitiqueau XVI8 siecle
(Paris, 1936), pp. 530-538; J. Moreau-Reibel,Bodin etle droitpubliquedans ses rapportsavecla philosophiede l'histoire(Paris, 1933), pp. 69-102. A. Garosci,Jean Bodin, politicae dirittonel rinascimentofrancese(Milan, 1934), pp. 149-153, draws attentionto the currencyof similarideas in the
century,but withoutdiscussingtheirorigins.
fifteenth
7 E. Fournol,Bodin pr4ddcesseur
de Montesquieu(Paris, 1896), p. 117.
du monde,iII, 2 (Paris, 1913), 239.
8 P. Duhem, Le Systeme
9 FourteenFrenchversionsby 1556; see Cb. V. Langlois,La Connaissancedela natureetdu mondeau
moyenage (Paris, 1911), p. 123.
10For a descriptionofthisworksee E. Renan Le LivredesSecretsaux Philosophes,in llist. litt.de la
France,xxx, 567-595.

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66

Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

Hlenryof Malines. It is in this work,then,that one must look forthe physical

theoriesthat underlayhis theoryof climate.
Bodin startsby repeatingthe doctrinethat thephysicaluniverseis constituted
out of matterand form,"iand the unendingprocessof alterationto which it is
subject is the consequenceof the perpetualtransmutationof matterfromone
formto another.'2Forim,he says, can be eithersimple,as are the rudimentary
formsofthefourelements,or 'mixed,'as in the case ofall thingsintowhosecompositioIn enter two or more elements.'3All fourelementsare presentin living
bodies. Ilence the doctrine,associated with Galen, of the four radical complexions,accordingas earth,fire,air or water predominatesin the composition.
Bodin does not expound this doctrinein a work devoted to physics,but he
habituallyassumes it when writingof the physique of men. As a peripatetic
physicist,however,he holdsthat,thoughmatteris capable ofreceivingall forms,
it possessesin itselfno activeprincipleenablingit to assumeformspontaneously.14
An extrinsicefficient
cause is requiredto accomplishthis process.Outside and
envelopingthe world of materialtransmutationsare the heavens, in ceaseless
motion.If naturedoes nothingin vain, what is the purposeof this activity?To
Bodin, as to his mediaevalpredecessors,
the conclusionwas inescapable; it must
be the starsin theircoursesthat governthe mutationsofmatter.'5Moreover,for
Bodin, since he rejectedthe doctrinethat formis latent in matterand the stars
merelyelicitit,16the starsare actuallythe sourcefromwhichthe multiplicity
of
formsimmediatelyproceeds.'7
In treatingof the structureof the heavens,he followsPtolemyin supposinga
seriesof revolvingspheres,envelopingthe motionlesscore of the materialworld.
First are the spheresof the seven planets,the Moon, Mercury,Venus,the Sun,
Mars, Jupiter,Saturn,and beyond these the eighthsphereof the fixedstars,oI
Signs of the Zodiac. What followedwas a matterof less universalagreement.
Bodin decides for two more spheresto explain the double diurnaland annual
movementof the heavens.'8The movementof the ninthsphereis the originof
the west to east circuitof the planetson the poles of the Zodiac in theirseveral
periodsof time. The tenth sphereis the source of the most regularand most
rapid of all movements,the diurnalrevolutionof the wholeheaven fromeast to
west.'9 Each planet and star has its formalproperties,long fixedby a tradition
goingback to Ptolenmy's
Arab followers.I-lowthese propertiesare transmitted
11'Naturale corpusest einsmutabilemateriaformaque coagmentatum,' UniversaeNalurae Theatrum,I (LyoIns,1596), 13.
12 Pp. 51?-54.
13 P. 74.
14P. 53.
15 He constantly
assertstlhis,e.g., pp. 15-16, or p. 53, whenihe puts the 'caelestia corpora'firstin
the orderof efficient
causes of generatedthings.
16 P. 67.

17 Pp. 15-16, 'tota niatiophilosophorumn

formasomnesa prima causa fluentesper caelestiumcausarirn ordinesdistribuitradiint;'see also p. 97.

18 Pp. 554-556.
19The structure
oftheheavenisis thesubjectofthewholeofBook V.

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

67

throughspace Bodin does not say, thoughhe arguesthat a cause can be remote
froim
its effects,and instancesthe controlof the moon over the tides.20But the
matterhad been very fullydiscussed in the thirteenthcentury,and scientific
theirrevolutionsthe heavenlybodies
doctrineon the subjectfixed.In performing
communicatetheir several 'virtues' by emittingrays equally in all directions.
is at the centerofthe total radiation
Each pointon the earth'ssurface,therefore,
of that part of the heavenscontainedwithinits horizon,and the intensityof the
influenceofeach particularstar dependsupon the angle of incidenceat whichits
Thus all individuals,'les creaturesqui sont cy aval
raysfallupon the recipient.2'
soit herbes,ou arbres,ou vermines,ou bestes, poissons,oyseaux, hommeset
are the productof, and perpetuallysubject to an influenceat once
femmes,'22
as the temperinginfluenceof the starsupon
complexand perpetuallymodifying,
one anotherchangeswiththe changein theirrelativepositions.In this way the
almost infinitevariety of individualsin the world of matterand the endless
mutabilityof thingsterrestrialwere explainied.
It willbe seen that in thissystemof ideas the principlesof astrologyhad to be
of the universe.Moreover,they seemed to
assumed to explain the functioning
be confirmed
by suchobservationsas the relationbetweenthe cycleoflifeand the
circuitof the sun, and betweenthe movementsof the tides and the phases of
the moon.Astrologywas fundamentalto all the naturalsciences.All occurrences
fromthefloraofa districtto the historyofits inhabitantsmustbe determinedby
the virtueof the presidingstars,and explainedby referenceto theirinfluence.
The astrologicalsystemof the worldwas thereforeuniversallyaccepted in the
later Middle Ages,23and expounded in literatureat all levels of scholarship,
thinkerssuch as AlbertusMagnus,24or popular
whethertheworkof constructive
encyclopaediasin the vulgar tongue such as the Image du Monde of Maitre
Goussouin.25

In Bodin's day thissystemwas, of course,challenged.He was aware of it, and

consideredwithsome care Copernicus'new and disruptivehypothesisof a heliocentury
centricsystem.He dismissesit forreasonsthat anyonein the fourteenth
mighthave given:it is contraryto the evidenceof the senses,to the authorityof
One could hardly
the Scriptures,and incompatiblewith Aristotelianphysics.26
20

pp.

152-153.

MIostclearlyexpoundedby Roger Bacon, Opus Maius (ed. Bridges,Oxford,1897), II, 112-115.

See also AlbertusMagnus, De Natura Locorum,i, v, or BartholomaeusAnglicus,De Proprietatibus
Rerum,xiv, i. Ilereafterin these notes these three works are cited merelyby the names of the
authors.
22 Cuerde Philosophie(Paris, 1514), xlvi rO.
23 This doctrineof the governanceof the stars over matteris not foundin such writersas Sacrobosco who werenot familiarwithAristotle'sphysicalworks.It is expounidedor assumed by all those
centuryonwards.
whowere,fromthe thirteenth
24 'Contrarietas
non est ex materia,quia materianon est causa virtutiset formae,oportetergoquod
a figuratione
radiorumstellarum,'De Natura Locorum,i, v.
sit ex loco iniformato
25 'Par li ciels et les estoilles. . . corrompt
et naist toute riensqui est en cest mondeet qui a finet
Image du Monde (ed. H. 0. Prior,Paris, 1913), vi, 173. This is the proseredaction
commencement,'
century.The originalversionwas in verse,and appeared in 1246.
of the laterthirteenth
26 Univ.Nat. Theat.,pp. 580-583.
21

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68

Bodin and theMediaevalTheoryof Climate

have better evidence of the deliberatenesswith which Bodin adhered to the

mediaevalsystem.
It is obvious that a doctrineof the influenceof environment
is implicitin this
systemof ideas. Its situationor locus determinesthe celestialinfluencesto which
the body occupyingit is exposed,and thereforethe constitutionof that body.
Moreoverit was widelybelieved,on Galen's authority,thatphysicalconstitution
determinesmoral aptitudes, and moral aptitudes determinebehavior. Bodin
himselfsums up the doctrinein a couple of sentences.'Elementa vi coelestium
agitantur.In elementavero corpus humanumcontinetur,sanguis in corpore,
spiritusin sanguine,anima in spiritu,mensin anima.'27
What, then, are the fundamentalconstituentsof place? Long beforeBodin
said so, it was establishedthat theyare latitude,longitude,and configuration.
Of
theselatitudeis by farthe most important,as it definesplace in relationto the
path of the sun. The propertyof the sun is to radiateheat, and heat is the first
principleof life.The astrologicalvirtueof the sun therefore
is to impartvitality;
'ad generationemsensibiliumcorporumcommittitur,et ad vitam ea movet,
nutrit,et auget, et perficit,et purgat ac renovat.'28Bodin emphasizesits importanceas the sourceof lifewhen he says it impartsheat 'non causalitersed
formaliter.'29
It is thereforethe universalplanet whose virtue reaches everywhere.30
But its virtueis not equally potenteverywhere,
forthe obliquityof its raysis
not everywhere
the same. Ptolemy'sdivisionof the worldinto arctic,temperate,
and tropiczones suggestedthreefundamentaltypesof climate,frigid,temperate
and torrid.It is clear,however,in all discussionsof climate,that the linesof demarcationwerenot thoughtof as coincidingwiththe circles.Indeed, the Arctic
and the Tropics were believed to be uninhabitable,and the hot and cold and
temperateclimatesreferto the habitableearthonly,thoughwherethe dividing
lines came was never definedby mediaeval writers.The only precisedivisions
they recognizedwere the seven climates,lyingbetween 12?N. and 50'N., into
whichPtolemydividedthe inhabitedearthknownto him,i.e., the area between
Scythiaand theAfricandesert,thePillarsofHerculesand India. Regionsbeyond
these limitswere,he thought,populated by very primitiveand savage tribes,
inhabitantsof the ante-climataand ultra-climataof his mediaeval successors.3'
As knowledgeoftheseextremesincreased,the sevenclimateslosttheirpeculiar
importance.This may be the reasonwhy Bodin neverdividesthe worldin this
way,but considersonlythe threefundamentaltypesof climate- hot, cold, and
temperate.But he was no longercontentwith the old vagueness about their
limits,and definesthempreciselyforthe firsttime by dividingthe hemisphere
27

Meth.,p. 95.

28 Vincentof Beauvais,

SpeculumNaturale,xv, iv. See also Bartholomeaus,VIII, xxviii.

Univ.Nat. Theat.,p. 578.
30 Rep., p. 690, and Meth.,p. 103.
31 The seven
climatesare definedin Sacrobosco,op. cit.,iii, and in all descriptionsof the earth's
surfacethereafter.
Bacon, p. 297, adds threeante-climatato the southand ultra-climatabetweenthe
seventhclimateand the polar circle.
29

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

69

equally,firstintothreezones of30 degreesoflatitudeeach, and thenintosix subdivisionsof 15 degrees,ofwhichhe believesonlythemostsoutherlyand themost

He does not, however,observethese neat divinortherlyto be uninhabitable.32
the peoples of Europe and the Mediterraneanbasin, for
sions in differentiating
theydid notcoincidewiththepoliticaldivisionshe wishedto explain.He remarks
in the Methodusthat what may be classed as hot climatesextend to 40?N.;
the temperateis that whichlies between40?N. and 50?N.; northof 50?N. the
climateis cold or very cold. Therefore,he classes England and Scotland,Denmarkand NorthGermanyas cold; France,South Germany,NorthSpain, Italy,
and Macedonia as temperate;South Spain, Sicily,the Peloponnese,and North
Africaas hot.33Scandinavia beyondthe sixtiethparallel,a remoteregionon the
fringesof the world,providesthe fourthverycold type.
The sun, however,is only one of the planets,and radiationof theirproper
virtuesproceedsfromall, not only of the planets but the signs as well. But
though the principlemightbe universallyagreed upon, not so its precise in'In whatmannerthe signsand the planetsare to be assignedto the
terpretation.
to determine,forthe authoritiesdo not
different
regionsof the worldis difficult
But others,notablyGuido
agree,'says Bacon, and does not make the attempt.34
Bonatti,HenryBate of Malines and Pierred'Aillydid. They had two problems
to consider.In the firstplace ever since Ptolemy'sday the signshad been associatedwithanothersortof divisionof the earth'ssurface- that intothe four
quartersof the inhabitedearthindicatedby the fourcardinalpointsof the comand
pass. The signswere groupedin unitsof threeto make the fourtriplicities,
was associatednot onlywithone ofthe fourquarters,but withone
each triplicity
of the four elementsof matter;35their astrologicalsignificancewas therefore
identifiedwith the elementto which they were attributedin each case. But
whichtriplicity
belongedto whichquarter?Was forinstancethenorthor theeast
under the hot and active triplicityof fire?Ptolemy and Albumazar disagreed.
super sigdiscordantium
astronomorum
D'Ailly in his Tractatusde concordantia
and reportedHenry
discussedthe problemat length,36
nificationibus
triplicitatum
of Malines as havingdone so beforehim.37Its solutionaffectedthe secondprobDid
lem oftheplanets,fortheyin theirturnwere associatedwiththe triplicities.
Mars the bringerof war, conjoinedwith the triplicityof water,have dominion
over the west as Ptolemysaid, or over the northas Albumazarsaid?
Bodin was not concernedwiththe problemof planetaryinfluencein this particularform.Indeed, he rejectedPtolemy'sdoctrinethat each of the signsreigns
32

Rep., p. 667, and Meth.,p. 82.

83Meth.,p. 89.
34

ViI, iv, p.

381.

35The systemis fullyexplainedby Bartholomaeus,viii, ix-xxi; or Cuer de Philosophie,p.

lxvi v0.

lxiv-

36 Publishedin a collectionof textsof whichsixteenare by d'Aillyand fiveby Jean Gerson.There

is no date, title,place of publicationor pagination.But it is knownto have come fromthe press of
Johnof Westphaliaat Louvain, in 1480.
37This work of Henry of Malines is only known throughd'Ailly's reportof it; see Walleraiid,
HenriBate de Malines (in Les Philosophesbelges,ii [19311,18).

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70

Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

overa particularlocality.38
In any case, Bodin was not so muchinterestedin this
divisionof the earth into quartersas in the divisioninto zones, because he attacheda muchgreaterimportanceto latitudethan to longitudeas a determinant
what was
of the natureof place. In consideringplanetaryradiation,therefore,
usefulto him was the traditionthat the planets were independently
associated
withthe divisionsof latitude.The almostuniversalrule was to followPtolemy
in assigningthe sevenplanetsto the sevenclimatesin order,as does,forinstance,
or d'Ailly,40
or Bonatti.41However,this
the authorof the Cuer de Philosophie,39
methodofdistribution
did notsuitBodin,forthatpartoftheinhabitedearththat
ofthesevenclimates.
interestedhimdid notfallexclusivelywithintheframework
Instead he adopted the muchrarerpracticeof assigningthe planetsto the zones.
One writerat any rate in the thirteenthcenturyhad done so. Guido Bonatti
ascribedone ofthe threeouterplanets,and one ofthe threeinnerto each zoneSaturnand Luna to the frigid,Jupiterand Mercuryto the temperate,and Mars
Bodin followsthe principlebut changesthe order.He
and Venus to the torrid.42
transposesMars and Saturn,thusplacingthe frigidzone underMars and Luna,
This is extremelyarbitraryof him,for
and the torridunderVenus and Saturn.43
it involvesthe linkingof a hot witha cold planet in each case, and sacrificesthe
principleof similaritybetween a climate and its planets. The only reason he
givesforthisdistribution
is not its logic,but its conformity
withobservedeffects
(d'Aillyhad alreadyobservedthat thismustbe the finaltest44),and he thought
he observedthe warlikeinfluenceof Mars in the north,and the contemplative
virtueof Saturnin the south.45
For Bodin, therefore,
differences
of latitude subject the human organismto
morecomplexinfluences
than merelythe effectsof heat. The occultinfluencesof
the planetsproperto each zone emphasizedivergencies,
and environment
in one
zone is highlydifferentiated
fromthat in another.
Bodin's second constituentof place, longitude,everyonewas agreed was far
less important.East is east and west is west,forthe sun is in the ascendantand
morepotentover the one, and in declensionand therefore
therefore
feeblerover
the other.46
But the distinctionis less marked,occultior.
Neitherthe dividingline,
northe principleof differentiation
had everbeen defined.47
Bodin agreesthat it is
38

Meth.,pp. 135-138. See also Univ.Nat. Theat.,pp. 621-624.

39 Cvii. vO.

YmagoMundi,x. Bodin treatsofhis variousworkson astrologyat somelengthin Rep., iv, ii.

De AstronomiaTractatus,iv, viii.
42 op. cit.,IV, Vii. I have not foundthat anyone else did this,but Bonatti attractedattentionin
France and CharlesV commissioneda translation(C. Jourdain,'Nicholas Oresmeet les astrologues
de la Cour de Charles V,' in Revuedes QuestionsHistoriques,xviii [1875]).
43 Rep., pp. 691-692,and Meth.,pp. 102-103.
44 De Concordantia
Discordantium
Astronomorum.
40 I have not been able to findthat he had any precedent
forthis arrangement.But the spheresof
influenceof the planets seem to have been a matterof some uncertainty.Bodin's contemporary,
distribution
accordingto the points
AugerFerrier,whomhe citeson occasion,givesa quite different
of the compassin his Des jugementsastronomiques
sur les nativitez.
46 Pierred'Ailly,De Concordantia
Astronomorum.
Discordantium
47 Bacon, p. 250, and Pierred'Ailly,YmagoMundi, xii.
40
41

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

71

impossibleto say in thiscase wherethe divisioncomes,and does not attemptthat

precisionhe achievedin the case of latitude.But he is sure about the extremes,
whichhe shiftseastwardsto the Moluccas and westwardsto the Canaries. Circumnavigationof the worldhas not destroyedforhim the notionof an eastern
and westernquarterof the globe,each withits fixedsite,and specificquality.
But therewas somethingmorein the determination
ofthe natureofplace than
the stellarradiationto whichit was exposed. It was an axiom of Aristotelian
physicsthat the communicationof formis conditionedby the aptness of the
materialto receiveit. As AlbertusMagnus expressedit, the nature of all generated thingsdependsfirston radiation (radius) and second on site (locus continens),48forfromthe one proceedsheat, whichis the firstprincipleof lifeand,
withinthe otheris containedmoisture,whichis the firstprincipleof growth.49
In otherwordsthe counterpartof stellarradiationis regionalgeography,which
Vincentof Beauvais analysesas altitude,humidity,the proximityof mountains
and the sea, the qualityof the soil;50forit is all thesethingsthat determinethe
balance betweenheat and moisture.In highaltitudesthe atmosphereis cool,thin
and dry,and in low-lying
places,especiallynearthe sea, damp,warm,and heavy.
It followsthatmountainousdistrictsare morenortherly
in theirclimatethan the
latitudeindicates,and shelteredvalleys more southerly.Great importancewas
also attachedto theprevailingwinds,forPtolemyhad said bodiesare conditioned
by the air whichcontainsthem.The numberwas fixedat twelveand theirseveral
For thisreasonit was agreedthat the situationof mounqualitiesdetermined.5'
tainsmattersas muchas theiraltitude;it affectsnot onlythe temperature
ofthe
adjacent territories
by exposingthem in one directionand protectingthem in
another,but determinesthe prevailingwinds. These were the considerations
which informedAquinas's discussionof a suitable site for a city.52It was not
merelya questionof health either,forhealth and energyprofoundlyaffectbehavior.Aquinas remarkedon the demoralizingeffectof too fertilea soil and too
softan air,fortherepleasurecomeseasilyand exertionis not necessary.53
On the
otherhand, it was generallyagreedthat places liable to greatwindsand storms
were especiallynoxious,because the agitationof the atmospheredisturbsthe
mindand distortsthe judgment.54
WhenBodin discussesconfiguration
as thethirdconstituent
ofenvironment,
he
selects the same featuresas important,mountains- especiallytheiraspect marshesand tempestuouswinds;55and he findsthereinthe explanationof many
ofthe differences
betweenthe people of one provinceand another.The Pyrenees
48 Albertus,ii, i.

Albertus,ii, ii.
50 iv, Cxii. What followsis
49

commonform,and can be found,forinstance,in Albertus,I, xiii, and

Bartholomaeus,xiv, i and ii.
51 For the numberand quality of the windssee Bartholomaeus,x, iii, and d'Ailly, YmagoMundi,
lx.
52 De RegiminePrincipum,ii, ii.
53 De Regimine
Principum,
ii, iv.

54 Vincentof Beauvais, op. cit.,iv, ix.

55 Rep., p.

668, and Meth.,p. 131.

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792

Bodin and theMediaeval TheoryofClimate

exaggeratethe differences
in latitude betweenFrance and Spain, by exposing
Frenchmento northerlyinfluencesonly, and Spaniards to southerly;and the
Appennineshave the same effectin emphasizingthe distinctionbetweenTuscan
and Lombard.58Rough prevailingwinds make the people of Britain,Portugal,
Thrace, and Persia turbulent,whereasthe Italians and the inhabitantsof Asia
Minor,livingin approximatelythe same latitudesare humaneby reason of the
softairs that blow over them; and it is the wind that makes Gascons more inFlorence,built
tractablethan Belgians,despitetheirmoresoutherlysituation.57
in mountainouscountry,is an energeticand turbulentcity,and its citizens,like
thoseofthe Swiss Cantons,impatientof government;Venice,beinga cityof the
plain, is stable because is inhabitantsare more pacificand amenable to good
of a
counsel.58
He ascribesthe prosperityof Genoa or Ghentto the opportunities
maritimesituation,but the prosperityof Nuremberghe thinksis due to the
infertility
of the soil,whichhad compelledits inhabitantsto exertthemselvesin
For the same reason Attica was the
other ways to assure their subsistence.59
motherof all the arts.A0
Environmentreacts on men throughtheirbodies in the firstinstance; for
temperatureand humidity,whichare the fundamentalpropertiesof place, are
also the fundamentalpropertiesofthe fourelementsof whichbody is composed.
Hence the fourradical complexionsin men are characterizedby the physical
element;the phlegmatic,like water,is cold and
propertiesof the predominating
moist; the sanguine,like air, hot and moist; the choleric,like fire,hot and dry;
the melancholic,like earth, cold and dry. A causal connectionwas therefore
traced betweenplace and radical complexion.But, as d'Ailly pointed out, this
is theresultofa processnot ofassimilation,but ofreaction;cold climatesproduce
Externalheat,
men ofhot temperaments,
and hot climates,cold temperaments.6'
it was believed,drawsout the moistureof the body,and withthat the 'spiritus'
or breathoflifethat courseswiththe blood throughthe veins; internalheat and
moistureis therebylost, the temperatureof the body reduced and vitality
lowered.External cold and drought,on the otherhand, conserveinternalheat
and moistureby closingthe poresof the skinand so checkingevaporation.Extremecold or drought,however,have the opposite effect;by preventingany
too much
ofthebodyby conserving
evaporationat all theylowerthetemperature
moisture,and so diminishits vitality.62
Rep., p. 692.
to the Gascons and the Belgians appears only in the Latin version,
Rep., p. 696. The reference
p. 808.
56

57
58

Rep.,p. 664.

59Rep., p. 697.
60 Meth.,p. 130.
61 De Concordantia
Discordantium
Astronomorum.
See also Aquinas, In LibrisPoliticorum,
vii, lect.
V. (This section of the Commentaryon the Politics is probably not Aquinas' own work-see
M. Grabmann,'WelchenTeil der aristotelischen
Politik hat der hl. Thomas von Aquin selbst commentiert,'PhilosophischesJalhrbuch
der Gorres-Gesellscehaft,
xxviii, 3 (Fulda, 1915). I have used
Aquinas' name forthe sake of brevity.)
62 These doctrinesare fullyexpoundedby Bartholomaeus,iv, i-xi. They are in part stated,or implied,in any discussionofcomplexion,e.g.,Albertus,ii, ii, or VincentofBeauvais, op. cit.,IV, cix-Cxi.

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

73

These physiologicalnotionswereused to explainwhat Ptolemyand Avicenna

had said about the physiqueboth of northernraces and negroes.In the north,
wherethe air is cold and dry,the nativesare physicallyvigorous;theyare strong,
tall, broad and long-lived;moreover,internalheat means a large appetite and
rapid digestion.Those who live in a hot climate,fromthe dissipationof their
vital forces,are small and feeble,of weak digestionand small appetite.Certain
characteristicappearances were also observed with great regularity.In cold
climatesthe coloringis fairand the textureof the skin and hair fine;voices are
softand deep in tone,the effectof damp on the throat.In hot countriesthe sun
drawsthe blood to the surfaceand darkensthe skin- in extremeheat blackens
and coarsensit - driesand frizzlesthe hair.Droughtmakes voices high-pitched
and harsh.',
The distributionof the temperamentsaccordingto climatewas thereforeobvious. It was generallyagreedthat the peculiaritiesof the cold drytemperament,
the melancholic,were to be observedin the dark and puny inhabitantsof the
extremesouth. It was also agreed that the races of the far northexhibitedthe
of the phlegmaticcomplexion,the cold and damp, forthe men
characteristics
thereare large,fairand slow-moving.
In theless rigorousclimateofthetemperate
regions,wherethe temperaturewas such as to conservethe heat of the body
withoutpreventingthe evaporationof surplusmoisture,occurredthe betterbalanced, choleric,and sanguinetypes.
These physiologicaltheorieswere not, however,the only principleon which
the distribution
of the temperaments
was determined.There was also the tradition associatingthe complexionswith the triplicitiespresidingover the four
quartersof the inhabitedearth. But this was a matterof much greateruncertaintythan the agreed effectsof temperature;the authorities,as has been obas to theirdistribution,
thus presentingtheirmediaevaldisciples
served,differed
witha problemof reconciliationthat exercisedall theiringenuity.The tradition
that apparentlybecame currentin France - forit is foundin that repositoryof
commonplaces,the Cuer de Philosophie- was Albumazar's; the phlegmatic
ofwater,is assignedto thenorth,themelancholic
complexion,underthetriplicity
underthat of earthto the south,the cholericunderthat of fireto the east; and
the sanguineunderthat of air to the west.64
It is thistraditionwhichexplainsBodin's apparentlyarbitraryarrangement
of
the temperamentsin orderfromnorthto south,phlegmatic,sanguine,choleric
and melancholic- thoughhis is a distribution
accordingto latitude,ratherthan
to quarters.But the two methodsare not unrelated.The northernquarterfalls
in thefrigidregionsand the southernin the torrid.The extremesofeast and west
are both includedin the temperatezone, as d'Aillyhad alreadyobserved;65
but
the cold damp of the west causes that quarterto have affinities
withthe north,
whereasthe warmthof the east relates it more nearlyto the south. So Bodin
could assume the obviousnessof the arrangementwhen he said that Scandi63See Albertus,ii, iii; Bartholomaeus,iv, i-iv; Vincentof Beauvais,
op. cit.,iv, cix-Cxi.
64 P. lXVi. VO.

65 YmagoMundi, xii.

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74

Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

navians are phlegmatic,Germanssanguine,Frenchmencholeric,and Spaniards

and was consistent
melancholic.6It followedthe acceptedorderofthe triplicities,
with the agreed effectsof temperature;for the sanguine temperament,being
moist,is properto a morenorthernclimatethan the choleric,whichis dry.
But - and this was the crux of the matterforBodin - it was an accepted
doctrinethat, as Bacon says, 'upon their radical complexionsdepend men's
dispositionsin respectof morals,of learningand languages,of all craftsand ocof an
cupations.'67The conclusionwas based upon the accountof thefunctioning
animal organismin the De MotibusAnimaliumattributedto Aristotle,and his
analysis of intellectualprocesses in the De Anima. All spontaneousactivity
springsfromimpulseswhich are organicin origin,because such activityis a
consequenceof appetite,and appetitefollowsthe excitementof some sense located in an organof the body. Thereforethe involuntaryactivitiesof any living
creatureare conditionedabsolutelyby its physicalconstitution.68
Animals,says
The vegetaWilliamofAuvergne,ofnecessityfollowtheirradicalcomplexions."9
tive and the sensitivesoul - i.e., theprinciplesof growthand of sensation- is
each, says Vincentof Beauvais, 'obligata materiae.'70Moreoverthose activities
ofmenwhichare deliberateare also, thoughindirectly,
affectedby temperament.
Even the intellectivesoul, Vincentof Beauvais adds - and Aquinas agreeswith
him- is conditionedby the body it inhabits'secundumquid.' Aquinas explains
by paraphrasingthe thirdbook ofthe De Anima; all knowledgeis begottenupon
the organsof sense,forthe subjects of thoughtare the fantasmataor sensible
speciesabstractedfromthe multitudeof primarysense impressions.71
From this
it was argued that the more acute the sense impressionsthe more penetrating
the consequentprocessesofthought.But the acutenessor otherwiseof sensatory
experiencedependson physicalconstitution;forsense impressionsare conveyed
to the brain by 'spirit'whichcirculates,withthe blood, throughthe veins; hot
blood is thickand impedesthe operationof spiritand so onlypermitsdull perceptions;but thinblood facilitatesfinenessof perceptionby allowing'spirit'to
coursefreely.72
These premisesaccepted, therewas very generalagreementas to theirparticular consequences.The primaryphysical bases of characterare blood and
spirit.Hot blood means energyand animositas- the quality that makes men
confidentand assertive,impatient,magnanimous,greedyof honor and power.
The 'hot-tempered'northerner
thereforeis a great fighter,brave because con66 Rep., p.

677.
Bacon, p. 138.
68 'Organicaspartesquoque preparantydoneepassionesut cito moveanturad dilectabilemconsecutionem'(d'Ailly,De Concordantia
Discordantium
Astronomorum).
69 De Universo,
i, xlvi.
70 Op.cit.,III, xXXiV.
71 Aquinas, In LibrisPoliticorum,
vii, lect. v.
72 The doctrineof the processesof sensationcame fromthe De differentia
spirituset animae attributedto Constabulinlus,
(or Costa ben Luca). It was includedin the collectedworksof Constantine Africanuspublishedin Basel in 1536.
67

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

75

temptuousof wounds- he does not fearloss of blood because he can well spare
dull. Southerners
it. But as a necessarydefectof thesevirtueshe is intellectually
are timid,and vengefuland cruelin conon the otherhand, beingthin-blooded,
sequence. But their 'spirit'being unimpededin its operation,they are characterizedby subtilitasor fineimpressionsand speculativeacuteness.They excel,
in the sciences,especiallythe occult,in religionand the liberalarts. In
therefore,
extremecases the vividness of their imaginationsleads the melancholicinto
delusionsand madness.In practicalaffairstheycompasstheirends by guileand
not by force;theircrueltyis the crueltyofartistsnot ofbrutes.73
WhenBodin particularizesabout 'la diversitedes hommes,'he selectsprecisely
fordiscussion.He too comparesmen in respectof size,
the same characteristics
the typeof energyin whichtheyexcel,theircoloring,the qualityof theirvoices,
the nature of theircruelty,and theircharacteristicformsof madness; and he
findsall the old generalizationssubstantiallytrue.74From the ambassadorfrom
Lithuania he learnedthat the Muscovites of the far northwere veryfair,like
Ptolemy'salbinos;75and on the testimonyofLas Casas he noticedthat Magellan
had found the Patagonians of the southernhemispherevery large and very
simple;76 and the West Indians, especiallythe Brazilians, like other southern
races, he ascertainedwere extremelycruel.7 Moreoverhe foundin mediaeval
medicinethe answeras to whyall thesethingsshouldbe so; it is always 'radical
thatpredisposes
complexion"'It is the black bile ofthemelancholictemperament
men are reSuch
and
sciences.
the
occult
to
religion
southerners contemplation,
to
it
is
mostfully
is
illumination
and
whereas
divine
all,
given
and
docile,
poseful
mostbrightlyin stillwaters.78
in the quietmind,just as lightis mirrored
effective
The yellowbile of the cholerictemperamentmakes men energetic,practicalin
theiractivities,apt to undertakegreatenterprises.Such is the dispositionof the
French. The Germans,on the otherhand, thoughactive, are unstable; it is a
consequenceof the sanguinecomplexion,ofthehot blood thatmakesmenrobust
and gay, but unreliableand at the mercyof impulsebecause too thickwittedto
plan and keep to a courseof action.He remarksin parenthesesthat tyrantshave
always drawntheirbodyguardsfromnorthernraces,not onlyfortheirstrengtb
Whensuchpeople
and courage,but also because oftheirinaptitudeforintrigue.79
frenzyof the melanbecome deranged,theirmadnessis not the self-tormenting
choly,but a merefollyof dancingand singing.The phlegmaticsof the farnorth,
73 Albertus,ii, iii, Aquinas, In Libris Politicorum,
VII, v. and De RegiminePrincipum,ii, i; Vincent of Beauvais, op. cit.,iv, cX and cxi; Bartholomaeus,xv, 1; Cuer de Philosophie,pp. Cxi, V?-CXii,
Thereis moredetail in some than in others,
Discordantium
Astronomorum.
r?;d'AillyDe Concordantia
forthereis a commonliteraryparentage,chieflyPtolemy,Haly and Avicenna.
but no disagreements,
D'Ailly's discussionis the fullest.
74 Rep., p. 678, and Meth.,p. 90.
75Rep., p. 688.
76 Rep., p. 671.
77 Rep.,p. 680.
78

Rep., p. 687, and Meth.,p. 105.

678, and Meth.,p. 92.

79 Rep., p.

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76

Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

condemnedby natureto be chieflyremarkablefortheirstupidity,do not interest

him verymuch,and have only a small place in the discussion.Mental disorder
withthemtakes the formof senileobliviousness.80
In the firstplace,
to his mind,enhancedthesecharacteristics.
Otherinfluences,
thefourradicalcomplexionswerehabituallyassociatedwiththefourages ofman,
thesanguinecomplexionwithchildhood,thecholericwithadolescence,themelancholicwithmaturityand the phlegmaticwithold age.81This means,he thought,
'that the firsttype is eager but erratic,the second adventurous,the thirdconand the fourthphysicallyand mentallylethargic.82
servativeand reflective,
In the secondplace therewas the influenceof the presidingplanets.83Saturn
predisposesto contemplationand Venus to idlenessand licentiousness,and as
theyare, accordingto Bodin, the planets of the southernregions,they confirm
the predispositionof the melancholicto religiousfervorand loose morals,and
explain why genius is so oftenallied to wickedness.He illustratesby citing
Alvarez on the Ethiopiansand Livy on the Carthaginians.The temperatezone
is underthe beneficentplanet Jupiter,whose subjectsare of good physiqueand
good morals,and concernedwiththe operationsof thepracticalintellect,suchas
law and jurisprudence;his associate,Mercury,also disposesto usefulactivities,
the tendenciesof the
rhetoric,businessand commerce.Here as well, therefore,
The sanguinenorthis under
dominanttemperament,
the choleric,are confirmed.
Mars, who notonlymakesmenwarlike,but apt at all crafts,especiallythosethat
have to do withmetal and fire.His partner,the Moon, makes men chaste,and
also greathunters.84
Bodin emphasizeshis thesisby consideringwhat happenswhenmen migrate.
Albertushad noticedthat plants and animals in generalgrowlargeror smaller
and he thoughtthat if Ethioas theyare moved fromone climateto another,85
pians settledin the norththeirskins would become fairin a fewgenerations.86
Here again, Bodin accepts the mediaeval doctrineas substantiallytruebecause
he thoughtit explainedwhat had occurredin his own times. He ascribed the
conquestof Spain by the Moors,and the victoriesofthe Spanishtroopstakento
in theirmilitaryenergywhen they
Germanyby CharlesV, to the improvement
removedto a more northerlycountry.On the otherhand, the GermanLanzknechts
who went southto Italy underthe Constableof Bourbonand Fronsberg
suffereda correspondingdecline; and the French armies under Philibert of
Orange failedbeforeNaples as the Cimbriansand the Gauls had failedbefore
Rome.87But, though he thoughtclimate operated immediatelyupon men's
Rep., pp. 677-682 and 698-699; Meth.,pp. 95, 114.
By analogywiththe associationof the fourseasons withthe fourelementsof matter.The table
of correspondencies
appeared in SacroboscoDe ComputoEcclesiastico.
82 Rep.,p. 686.
83 For the qualitiesof the planetssee
Bartholomaeus,ViII, xxiii-xxx;Guido Bonatti, op. cit.,III,
i-vii; Cuerde Philosophie,p. lxvii,vO.
80
81

84

Rep.,pp. 690-691.

Albertus,ii, i.
Albertus,II, iii.
87Rep., p. 670.

85
88

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

77

energies,it takes timefortheirdispositionsto be permanentlyaltered,formen

do not respondto environment
as quicklyas do plantswhichsuck theirnourishment directlyfromthe soil. But given time, men will, he thought,become
acclimatized,mentallyand morallyas well as physically,as happened to the
Saxons Charlemagnetransplantedto the Low Countries.88
What probablyfirstsuggestedthe applicationof these physiologicalideas to
the studyofpoliticswas that chapterin the Politics89
in whichAristotleobserved
that northernraces are naturallyindependentbut undisciplined;southernraces
intelligent
but slothful,and thus the predestinedsubjectsof tyrants;whilethose
occupyinga middle situation have energyenough for independenceand intelligenceenoughto rule not onlythemselvesbut others.Mediaeval commentatorssaw quite clearlythat thispassage was explainedby reference
to the effects
of climateon men's capacities. It was glossed in this way, forinstance,in the
on the Politicsattributedto Aquinas.90
commentary
in distinguishAs one would expect,Bodin kept to thistraditionalframework
ing politicaltypes.But he verymuch enlargedits positivecontentby considering the effectsnot only of temperatureon the human constitution,
but of total
stellarradiation.This enables himto draw conclusionsabout laws, occupations,
formsof government,
and the tendenciesof internationalrelationships.Because
cold makes men physicallyvigorousand brave, the best soldiersare produced
in the north.Therefore,all the greatinvasionshave comefromthat directionof the Goths, Vandals, Franks, Normans, Tartars. For this reason the more
northernrace will always overcomethe more southerlyin war; Rome had her
greatesttriumphsin theLevant and NorthAfrica,but even in herbestdays could
not penetratenorthwardsbeyond the Danube.91The English had never conBecause Mars disposesto
queredthe Scots,but habituallydefeatedthe French.92
manual skillas well as war, fromthe northcome the best craftsmen,
Flemings,
are evocativeof inBut because none of theseinfluences
Germansand English.93
are inaccessibleto all appeal save that of the senses,and
telligence,northerners
save
those
of force.He uses Caesar, Tacitus, and Solinusto show
all arguments
that among them the ruleris powerlesswho is not armed with the sword,and
For this reason,
he collectsevidenceabout the brutalityof theirpunishments.94
too, thoughconquerorscome fromthe north,such have not foundedpermanent
empires,fortheylack both the intelligenceand perseveranceto hold what they
overrun.95
The propervirtueofthose who live in the temperatezone is prudence,or the
88

Rep., p. 698.

89 VI, vii.

90 In LibrisPoliticorum,
the passagein thisway in his De ConVII, v. Pierred'Aillyalso interprets
cordantiaDiscordantiumAstronomorum.
91Rep., p. 672, and Meth.,p. 91.
92 Rep., p. 676.
9 Rep., p. 690, and Meth.,p. 108.

94 Rep.,p. 679.

95Meth.,p. 91.

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78

Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

rightfunctioning
of the practicalintellect,whichresultsfromthat union of intelligenceand skillthat a moderateclimate,and the beneficent
planetsofJupiter
and Mercuryinduce. Such people excel in businessand politics.Hence all the
greatsystemsoflaw - Greek,Roman,and French- have been evolvedin these
regions.Here also have arisenall the greatempiresthe worldhas ever knownAssyrian,Median, Persian, Parthian, Greek, Roman, and Celtic. The great
historians,orators,and poets have come fromthese regions.Here men are
governednot by forcebut reason; they reach theirconclusionsby discussion,
and preferthe methodofnegotiationto war.96
The childrenof Saturn,the visionariesof the south,are preoccupiedwiththe
problemsofabstracttruthratherthan good conduct,and all the greatsystemsof
religionhave arisenfirstin theseparts.It is not reasonbut faithby whichthey
are ruled, and they appeal to oracles ratherthan arguments.The enervating
effectsof a hot climatemake themwretchedsoldiers,but theyprevail,nevertheless, in virtue of theirsuperiorcunning.9"The more southerlyrace, therefore,
has always excelledover its northernneighborsin mattersof diplomacy.Bodin
quotes with approval Commines'remarkthat thoughthe French have usually
been defeatedby the English,theyhave always securedadvantageoustermsby
the peace settlements
that have followedwar; thoughthey,in theirturn,rightly
complainthat theyare habituallybeaten at the diplomaticgame by the Spaniards,whohave got the betterof themin everysettlementforthe last hundred
yearsor more.98
And the moral?Bodin concludedboldlythat certainmodes of conductare not
altogetherwithinthe provinceofhumanvolition;ifLeo Africanusand Francisco
Alvarez had realizedthis,he says, theywould not so have praised Africansfor
theirabstemiousness- it is the simpleconsequenceof a feebleappetite. Similarly,the chastityof northerners
is not to be particularlyadmired,forit comes
of the weaknessof the sexual impulsein those of a phlegmatictemperament;
nor is the licentiousnessof the southto be blamed,forit is equally the markof
the melancholiccomplexion.99
The apparentvirtuousnessof the Germanscomes
fromtheirlack of imagination;it takes 'spirit'to make men eithergreatlygood
or greatlybad, and Livy should not, therefore,
have blamed Hannibal forhis
vices,fortheywereinseparablefromhis genius.100
But moreimportantto Bodin
than thesecriticismsof otherwritersis the practicalconclusionhe draws.Statesmen must frametheirpolicy in accordancewith these unalterablefacts of the
situation;to try and subject southernersto the laws properto the temperate
regions,or accustomnortherners
to legal processeswill only bringall to ruin.10'
He ascribesthe failureof the Spaniardsin the Low Countriesin his own day to
96
97
98

Rep., p. 687, and Meth.,p. 105.

Rep., p. 690, and Meth.,p. 105.

Rep.,p. 676.

99Rep., p. 671, and Meth.,p. 113.

'0I Rep., p. 685; and Meth.,p. 102.
101Rep.,p. 689.

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

79

theirattemptto imposeregulationssuitableto Spain on a people living12 degreesof latitudefurthernorth.'02

At least one of Bodin's mediaevalpredecessors
had anticipatedhimin thinkingthatthe relativityofstandardsofconductamong
men was a governingfactorin practicalpolitics.In the firstyears of the fourteenth centuryanotherFrenchman,John of Paris, rejected on these grounds
the possibilityof creatinga universaltemporalstate. 'Diverse modes of lifeand
diverseformsofpolicyoccurin thoseregionswherethe climateand the character
of the people are different,
and what one communityof men esteemas highly
virtuous,anotherdoes not considervirtuousat all."03
Such thoughtswere dangerous.By seemingto call in questionthe moral responsibilityof the individual,they struckat the root of the Christianethic.'04
Whentherefore
in 19277
theBishop ofParis held an enquiryintoheterodoxteaching in the university,
amongthe 9217propositionsanathematizedwerethosethat
embodiedthe viewsofthe extremists,
or Averroists,amongnaturalphilosophers
- that the worldis subject in all its occurrences
on this subject of environment
to the order of necessity- that diversityof place determinesabsolutelythe
courseof events- that the will of the individualis underthe compulsionof the
stars,and is as muchnecessitatedby cognitionas is the appetiteofbrutes- that
diversityin men in respectnot onlyoftemporalbut spiritualqualitiesis the consequenceof the diversefigureof the heavens.'05
But even the most orthodoxcould not entirelyreject the impliedsystemof
ideas. To believein the validityof the reasonat all was to accept the cosmology
of the astrologers;and those who could not, as did the Averroists,postulatea
conflictbetweenthe truthsof faithand the truthsof reason,were concernedto
finda meansofreconciling
religionand science.The positiontakenup was always
the same. As Aquinas saw veryclearly,the theoryof the influenceof the stars
was a theoryexplainingthe transmutationsof matter.In so far as they have
bodies, men are, like all thingscompoundedof matter,fashionedby that influence.Physicallythey are the product of environment,and those impulses
whichcome fromsensuousexperienceare spontaneousbecause the senses are a
propertyof body. But theirimmaterialsouls cannotbe directlysubjectto these
forceswhichmove matter,thoughthey may be indirectlythroughthe desires
of the flesh.The uncompromising
Averroistheld that thisindirectinfluenceis as
absolute as the direct one because conduct is determinedby appetite. But
Albertusand Aquinas, and all who adopted theirviews,wereemphaticthat the
will is not, like sense,inherentin any organof body and therefore
remainsfree;
a rushofblood to the heartexcitesanger,but the soul is not therebyundercompulsion to violence.'06In the last analysis men can and on occasions do, resist
De RepublicaLibri Sex, p. 770. This passage does not appear in the French.
De Potestate
RegalietPapali, cap. iii,in Goldast,MonarchiaS. ImperiiRomani.
104 AlexanderNeckham,De NaturisRerum,i, vii (ed. T. Wright,RerumBrittanicarum
Medii Aevi
Scriptores,
London, 1868) already put this quite clearly(p. 89). See also Aquinas, Ad FratremReynaldumde JudiciisAstrorum.
105Denifle-ChatelainClhartularium
Universitatis
Parisiensis,i, No. 478, pp. 543 ff.Arts: 21, 142,
162, 159, 148.
102
103

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

80

naturalimpulses- in otherwordsescape the empireofthe stars.One can never,

then, predict of any individualhow he will act on any given occasion, and
therebystand condemned.Neverthehoroscopesand particularprognostications
less, because most men most of the time followtheirnaturalimpulses,one can
typesof men in the
arriveat tolerablyaccurate conclusionsas to how different
mass will behave in certain situations.Bacon, for instance,assertedthat the
make generaljudgmentsabout communitiesof men,
astrologercan confidently
and useful observationson their manners and customs,religionsand wars,
on the activitiesofindividuals.'07
whereashe has farless certaintyin pronouncing
Those who held such views saw in the actual varietyof law and customthe
record of the deliberateeffortof men to correctthose natural imperfections
peculiar to theirseveral situations.Dante, while justifyinguniversaltemporal
monarchy,rejectedthe desirabilityof a universalsystemof law, on the grounds
kinds of discipline.
conditionsneed different
that men living under different
'Nations, kingdomsand cities have their special conditionswhichought to be
laws. For law is a rule to directlife,and naturallythe
regulatedby different
Scythianswho live outsidethe seventhclimate... must needs be regulatedin a
way fromthe Garamanteswho live under the equinoctial circle."08
different
Bodin was emphaticallyofthisopinion.He explicitlyrejectsthe belief,whichhe
attributesto Polybius and Galen, that men's conductis determinedabsolutely
of will,by an exerciseof
by the influenceof the stars;men,he says,by an effort
Indeed,he
reason,or by discipline,can overcomethe impulsesoftheirnatures.109
had said his object in makingthisdetailedstudyof the effectsof climatewas to
show 'combien la disciplinepeut changerle droit naturel des hommes.' He
thoughtthe developmentof the Germansfromthe primitivetribesTacitus describedto the civilizedpeople of his own day a case in point."0But disciplinere'Vrai est que
laxed, menrelapsequicklyinto the merecreaturesof environment.
le peuple retournerabien tost a
si les lois et coustumesne sontbien entretennus,
son naturel."" Disciplineand its decay was, he holds,the secretof the rise and
on the
fallofRome. The verysame view had been expressedin the commentary
Politicsattributedto Aquinas.1"2
So Bodin concludes,it is the businessof a good statesmanto apply through
law and governmentthat disciplinewhichcorrectsthe defectsof nature,but in
doing so he must, like a good architect,use the materialslocally available; he
mustapply that sortofdisciplinethat the local inhabitantsare capable ofunderthan Dante in thinkingthat
going,withprofitto themselves.Bodin goes further
106Free will is affirmed
in relationto theinfluenceofclimateby Aquinas,In LibrisPoliticorum,
vii,
lect. v. The problemis more fullyargued by Albertus,Summa Theologiae,I, q. 68; and Aquinas,
Summa Theologica,I, q. 115; Ia II ae q. 9. Afterthe greatcontroversy
it was usual to add a saving
clause about freewillin all discussionsot theinfluenceof environment.
107 Bacon, pp. 249 ff.
108De Monarchia,i, xiv.
109 Rep., p. 669 and Meth.,p. 50.
110 Rep., p. 697 and Meth.,p. 133.
111Rep.,p. 698.

112In

LibrisPoliticorum,
vii,

V.

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

81

this principlegovernsnot only formsof law, but also formsof governmentdes plus grands,et peutestrele principalfondementdes Re'estat'-'L'un
publiques est d'accomoderl'estat au naturel des citoyenset les edicts et les
The determinaordonnancesa la naturedes lieux,des personneset des temps."'13
tionofthemeasuresappropriatein any givensituationBodin leftto thepractical
politician;his own task was completedwhen he had described'la nature des
lieux' upon whichpolicymustbe based.
These comparativestudiesof the capacitiesof men inevitablyraisedthe questionas to whichwas the nationmostfavoredby nature.The Schoolmenhad no
hesitationas to the principleof selection.Aristotlehad lent his immenseauthority to the opinionthat it is the middleand not the extremesituationwhichis to
be preferred,
because the union of northernvigorand southernintelligencecorof
rectsthe defectsofeither.Controversyarose,however,over the identification
on
Ptolemy
held,
the middlesituation.Aristotlehad said the Greeksoccupiedit.
the otherhand,that the fourthclimatewas the best,i.e., the area lyingapproximatelybetween28?N. and 34?N. Haly agreed,but thoughtthat its easternregionswerethe mostexcellent;forthe fourthclimateoccupiesa centralposition
amongthe sevenclimates,and theeast oftheworldis on therighthand,partakes
ofthenatureofthe sun (whichis therein the ascendant),is masculine,and under
These considerations
that offire.14
made the
the mostmajesticof the triplicities,
Arabs the most fortunateof races. His authoritycarriedgreatweight;Albertus
and Pierred'Aillyquoted it withrespect.
acceptedit,"15
But forall theirgreat reverencefor the opinionsof theirteachers,western
of
to accept withoutquestionthe naturalsuperiority
Christiansfoundit difficult
the infidelArab. Even Albertusin one passage argues on the evidence,and deof the inhabispite the opinionof the 'philosophers,'in favorof the superiority
Afterhis time and as a resultof the
tants of the sixthand seventhclimates.1"6
nationalismfostered-bythe governmentof Philip IV, the Greek
self-conscious
and the Arab weredeposedin favorofthe Frenchman.JohnofJandunexplicitly
Aristotleclaimedforthe Greeks."7
claimsforthe Frenchpreciselythe superiority
Pierre Dubois expressessimilarviews. In the De RecuperationeTerreSancte,
whilepressingfora Frenchcrusade,he warnsthe kingnot to lead it in person,
but stay in France and beget and educate childrenthere,'forthose born and
broughtup in thekingdomof Francegreatlyexcel those bornin otherregionsin
their manners, constancy, courage and beauty."'8 In the De Abbreviatione
Guerrarumet Litium he argues in favor of a sort of universalFrench empire,
because 'as everybodyknows,the Franks excel the people of all otherregions
and kingdoms. . . theymake a much greaterand betteruse of theirjudgment
than any othernation; they do not give way to irrationalanger,nor resistthe
113
114

Rep., p. 666.
This is how Pierred'AillysummarizesHaly, YmagoMundi,xiii.

115Albertus,
ii, ii.

116 Albertus,

i, xi.

De LaudibusParisiis, ii, viii,in Le Roux de Lincy et Tisserand,Paris etses historiensau XIVe

et XV6 siecles(Paris, 1867), p. 60.
118 Acad. des Inscr.: Collection
de textespourservira l'6tudede l'histoire,
No. 9 (Paris, 1891), p. 139.
117

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892

Bodin and theMediaeval TheoryofClimate

dictates of rightreason-characteristics which we do not observe in other

people."'9This is clearlyforhima questionofclimate,forhe adds that ifFrenchmen migratetheylose this excellence,thoughhe consideredthat it takes three
or even fourgenerations'domicilein foreignpartsto corruptentirelythe virtues
of a Frenchman.PierreDubois is contentto affirm;the author of the popular
Cuer de Philosophieattemptsproofby relatingthe superiority
of the French to
of the stars above theirheads. If we consider,he says, the
the superexcellence
most noble movementof the universe,the movementof the spheresupon the
poles of the zodiac, we perceivethat the Arcticpole is above the Antarctic,the
west the righthand of the world.Furthermore,
thereis a greatermultitudeof
morebeautifulstarsin the quarterof the heavens towardsthe Arcticpole than
towardsthe south. Thereforethe northwestregionsof the inhabitedearth are
the 'most noble.' 'Nous Latins . .. nous habitonsvers occidentet vers la pole
arctique,'he concludes,and leaves the readerto make his own inferences.120
Bodin shares these convictions,but does not expressthem with quite such
simpledogmatism.He acceptsthe principlethat the middlesituationis the best,
and formallyawards the palm to Italy, as being midwaybetweenScandinavia
and Ethiopia, Spain and Arabia.12'But he makes nothingof it, and draws no
conclusions.On the otherhand, he is verymuch preoccupiedwith the natural
advantagesthe Frenchenjoy overtheirneighbors.He, too, thinksthe northwest
quarterof the inhabitedearth is to be preferred.
In the Methodushe discusses
withsome care the importantquestion,whichof the fourquartersis on the right
hand of the world.Astrologersdivided all natural agents into those that were
masculineand dominant,and those that werefeminineand subservient,
the one
symbolizedby the righthand and the otherby the left.He rejectsthe claimsof
theeast,westand south,whateverthe supporting
authority,and decidesin favor
of the north,on the groundsthat accordingto the most excellent(because the
most rapid) motionof the world,the diurnalfromeast to west,the northis on
the right,the south on the left hand.'22Furthermore,the west is similarly
dominantin relationto theeast because its affinities
are withthe northin respect
of its coldness,whereasthe east is relatedto the south; 'all the ancientsagree,'
he alleges,'that the factssupportthis,fortheydescribethe east as moredocile
and submissivethanthe west."123
The northwestcorneroftheworld,then,is that
mostfavoredby nature.
More precisely,in the concludingpassages of the chapterin the Republic,he
claimsfortheFrenchthat preeminence
thatAristotleclaimedforthe Greeks,but
on the groundssuppliedby mediaeval glossatorsof the Politics,that the complexion characteris-tic
of those latitudes is the best. Accordingto Galen, irresponsibilityis the mark of the sanguinetemperamentand, like the childhood
119This pamphlethas not been edited; but M. Langloishas printedlongextractsfromit in his edition of the De Recuperatione
TerreSancte.This passage is quoted on p. 129.
120 P. Civ, r?.
121 Rep., p. 677.
122
p. 109, and Rep., p. 691.
Mleth.,
123 Rep., p. 691.

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Bodin and theMediaeval Theoryof Climate

83

ofpurpose.This is illustrated
withwhichit is associated,comesfromuncertainty
by the inconstancyof the barbariansin the past to the faiththey so readily
adopted,and the multiplicationof sects amongthe Germansand the Englishin
of the south,associated
his own time.In contrast,the melancholytemperament
withmiddlelife,makes men obstinatein perseverance.He gives the Jewsas an
that ifhis climatetheoryholds,theirmigrations
forgetful
example,momentarily
shouldlong ago have changedtheirradical complexion,and withthat theirpersistentadherenceto the religionof theirfathers.But the impetuosityCaesar
- 'allegresse'withtheenergyand enterprise
ascribesto the Gauls he identifies
ofthe cholericdisposition.In facttheFrench,in virtueof
ofyouth,characteristic
exhibitin theirconductthe firmness
and energythat is the
theirenvironment,
happy mean betweenlevity and obstinacy.'24He not only agrees with Pierre
Dubois and JohnofJandunbut he agreeswiththemforreasonswhichtheywould
have understoodand approved.
thoroughly
Certainconclusionsemergeveryclearlyfromthis comparisonof Bodin's observationson climatewiththoseofhis mediaevalpredecessors.In the firstplace,
his theoryis coherentin all its parts,because it deriveslogicallyfromthemediaeval conceptionof the systemof the world,and so shares its consistency.In the
secondplace, Bodin added nothingsubstantiallynew; he dreweveryone of his
main ideas fromacceptedtraditionsverygenerallyheld. Nevertheless,he didnot
leave the doctrineexactlyas he foundit. For one thing,he assembledwithinthe
compassofa singlediscussion,not onlyall that had been said on the subject,but
also what had hithertoonly existedin fragmentary
form,as scatteredobservationsarisingincidentallyout ofsomeothertopic.He therebyreducedto coherent
formmaterialtillthenunordered.For anotherthing,thoughhe foundno reason
to modifyany of the ideas he inherited,he greatlyenrichedtheircontentby
observed.The Schoolmenwere
adducinga mass of new evidence,independently
primarilyinterestedin the philosophicalproblemofestablishingby ratiocination
a singlesystemof ideas fromthe various traditionsthey inherited.If they illustratedat all, theywere contentto repeatexampleshallowedby age and use.
Bodin took the systemfor granted,and gave all his attentionto its practical
implications.He was thereforemost originalwhere they were least so, in the
handlingof evidence.He did what theydid not do, systematicallysurveyedthe
sceneto showhow the laws ofenvironment
actuallyworked.More
contemporary
new emphasis.The
the
doctrine
a
in
this
he
quite
gave
importantstill, doing
because they
influence
environment
to
discuss
the
of
were
Schoolmen
provoked
Bodin
was not
the
will
the
individual.
moral
of
free
of
the
saw it raised
problem
so muchinterestedin the problemsraised,as in theuse that could be made ofthe
he
scienceby the statesman.A true understandingof the laws of environment,
thought,was the inevitablestartingpoint of all sound policy,all good laws, all
beneficialinstitutions.His claim to originalityrests on this re-orientationof
traditionalbeliefs,to servea usefulpurpose.He applied the science.
BEDFORD COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
124

Rep., p. 698 ff.,and Meth.,p. 116.

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