Bartomeu de Tresbens (fl. 1359-1375 was a physician and astrologer in the service of King Pere the Ceremonious of Aragon and his son Joan, both of them strongly interested in providing patronage for astronomy-astrology. Tresbens dedicated a set of astrological treatises in Catalan to Pere. He therefore appears to be the author of the most outstanding body of astrological work written in the vernacular in Latin medieval Europe. However, it has been scarcely studied up to now: only his longest treatise has been edited though insufficiently analysed, whereas his other works remain unstudied. This paper aims to outline Tresbens's biography and his relationship with the monarchy, both from the extant documentation and from his writings, as well as presenting an overview of his works. Upon examination Tresbens is revealed to be a notorious and well attested example that can help to understand the role of astrologers in medieval European courts.

A biographical approach to Bertomeu de Tresbens, a physician and astrologer who worked for King Pere el Cerimoniós of Aragon and for his son infant Joan, later known as Joan I el Caçador. This biography is built on a thorough reseach based on all documentation on him found in archives-principally in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon-, as well as on the information contained in all his astrology works. We place Tresbens in his Occitan origin and in the economic, political and social contexts of the time when he had been documented in territories of the Crown of Aragon. Thus, the man behind the most important Catalan oeuvre on astrology is brought to light. We have studied particularly his career regarding his relationship with the monarchy and with the town of Cervera, whose local government planned to employ him as a physician. Finally, we present an original edition of all documentation found in archives regarding Tresbens used in this paper.

Four of the works attributed to Arnau de Vilanova may be considered consilia, which is the name of the genre of texts that expound medical treatments for illnesses suffered by specific individuals. In this paper, I first address the problem of their autheticity within the framework of the so-called "Arnaldian question". The evidence presented here confirms that Arnau de Vilanova was the author of the Regimen podagre and the Epistola ad Bremundum Montisferrarii, while the question regarding the authorship of the Regimen quartane and the Cura febris ethice remains unresolved. This article furthermore documents the degree to which the actual cures prescribed by the physician in the consilia agreed with the doctrinal works of the Galenic tradition. It is explained how medieval university-trained physician had to compete with other practitioners and how they tried to outrival them by applying the doctrines of learned medicine to the individual cases at hand.

[ca] El regnat de Pere el Cerimoniós és sens dubte el període de més esplendor per a l’astronomia i l’astrologia a la Corona d’Aragó, gràcies al decidit impuls d’aquest monarca. El seu interès per la ciència dels estels es manifestà en l’adquisició i fabricació d’instruments astronòmics i en la promoció d’un ambiciós conjunt d’obres d’astronomia i astrologia. En conseqüència, al llarg del seu regnat, més d’una dotzena d’astrònoms-astròlegs consta que van estar al servei del rei Pere, sigui per a treballs puntuals sigui per una vinculació continuada. Aquest article pretén oferir una visió sobre el perfil biogràfic i professional d’aquests experts, especialment pel que fa a la seva relació amb la Corona, a partir no solament de la revisió dels testimonis ja coneguts sinó també de documents que fins ara havien passat desapercebuts o havien estat poc estudiats.

Entre las prácticas y creencias varias que compartieron el nombre de magia en la baja edad media descollan la nigromancia y la magia natural como las dos principales corrientes de la magia medieval de tradición escrita. La nigromancia era conceptualmente más próxima a la religión, en el sentido de que pretendía obtener la ayuda de unos poderes sobrenaturales — espíritus, demonios — por medio de ritos, si bien − o quizás por esto mismo — era la más combatida por la Iglesia. En cambio, la magia natural resultaba más próxima a las ciencias medievales, puesto que su finalidad era conocer y explotar los mecanismos de la naturaleza. Aún así los escolásticos medievales distinguian entre un conocimiento racional bien explicado en el marco de su concepción física del universo y un conocimiento, a menudo también muy útil, que solo se podía adquirir por experiencia porque escapaba a la razón, Es de este tipo de conocimiento del que se ocupaba la magia natural, fundamentada en las propiedades ocultas existentes en la na turaleza.