The “Chaucerian” Astrolabe in the British Museum: A Reassessment of Its Dating and Ownership

Abstract

An undated medieval Latin astrolabe in the British Museum has many of the design features shown in manuscripts of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Treatise on the Astrolabe and is thus one of a group of astrolabes often described as “Chaucerian.” Although traditionally dated to the late fourteenth or early fifteenth centuries, it has recently been suggested that it is a later copy made by using the Treatise illustrations as a pattern. The close examination of the astrolabe in this article shows that the original dating is correct. It also produces the hypothesis that it was made for Bishop Henry Beaufort, one of John of Gaunt’s extended family who was educated as a part the group which included Chaucer’s son Thomas.