{"id":17500,"date":"2023-01-15T16:56:09","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T16:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/?page_id=17500"},"modified":"2023-10-24T15:24:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T15:24:25","slug":"conrad-2023-congress","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/manuscriptevidence.org\/wpme\/abstracts\/conrad-2023-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Conrad (2023 Congress)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Allman Conrad
\n(Research Group on Manuscript Evidence<\/em>)<\/h2>\n

“Gamified Numbers:
\nBoard Games as Educational Instruments
\nfor Teaching Astrology and Other Quadrivial Arts”<\/h2>\n

Abstract of Paper
\npresented at the 58th International Congress on Medieval Studies
\n(Kalamazoo, 2023)<\/h3>\n

Session on “Moving Parts and Pedagogy, Parts I\u2013II”
\n<\/strong>Part II:\u00a0 <\/strong>“Teaching Astrology and other Liberal Arts”<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Organized by David Porreca<\/h4>\n

Co-Sponsored by the RGME and <\/strong>the Societas Magica
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

2023 Congress Program<\/a><\/h4>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n

To use games and play in medieval education was by no means unusual but a rather common practice. Nicolaus Cusanus<\/a> (1401\u20131464) \u2014 who in De ludo globi<\/a> or “The Globe Game”<\/a> (1463) introduces his own educational, in fact theological, game \u2014 once even remarked that every liberal art can be associated with at least one specific game with conceptual similarities, thus hinting at a notion of a double-nature of games constantly oscillating between instruments and pleasurable pastimes. One of the most illustrative and unique examples in this context certainly is rhythmomachy (rhitmomachia<\/a> or “Battle of Numbers”), an early mathematical board game.<\/p>\n

Presumably created in Germany in the 11th century and based on Boethian<\/a> theories on the mathematical arts, the scholarly board game was still known to scholars of the 17th and 18th centuries, including very illustrious ones such as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz<\/a> (1646\u20131716). It therefore comes as little surprise that it was associated with the four disciplines of the quadrivium<\/a>, especially arithmetic, which together provided the interpretational framework for its deeper meaning. Treatises on rhythmomachy were in fact often bound into manuscripts on the mathematical arts.<\/p>\n

Collapsing mathematical operations and motions of game pieces, rhythmomachy embodies a deep, intrinsic connection between numbers and gameplay that was already known to antiquity and conveys the cosmological idea of the inseparability of all branches of knowledge within the microcosm of a game. Consequently, the game was perceived as a microscopic mirror of macrocosmic relations.<\/p>\n

This holism makes a striking reappearance in other examples, such as the astrological games of Alfonso X of Castile<\/a> (1221\u20131284) and their Arabic models, which the paper will also explore in comparison, yet not without pointing out decisive conceptual differences. Such differences stem not least from a changed reevaluation of cosmological principles, determinism, and voluntarism in respect to the human condition in the light of later scholasticism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Some Images, courtesy of Michael<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

I. Specimens of Rhithomacy, Depicted
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Montpellier<\/h4>\n
\"\"

Biblioth\u00e8que interuniversitaire, Section M\u00e9decine, Montpellier, H 366, f. 13v, with rhythmomachy pyramids at the top flanking a lion’s mask. Image via Creative Commons, via https:\/\/portail.biblissima.fr\/fr\/ark:\/43093\/mdata268b7df0d12be6fa155f802fd66b4123b9ddd65a.<\/p><\/div>\n

2. Close Up, #lionincluded #cutecritter<\/h4>\n
\"Two

Two rhythmomachy pyramids with the image of a lion’s frontal mask, 14th century, Biblioth\u00e8que interuniversitaire, Section M\u00e9decine, Montpellier, H 366, f. 13v. Image via Creative Commons, via https:\/\/portail.biblissima.fr\/fr\/ark:\/43093\/mdata268b7df0d12be6fa155f802fd66b4123b9ddd65a.<\/p><\/div>\n

3. Rhythmachy Simulation (\u00a9 2023 Michael A. Conrad) as #boardgame<\/h4>\n
\"Rhythmomachy

Rhythmomachy Simulation (Player 1’s turn). Image \u00a9 2023 Michael A. Conrad.<\/p><\/div>\n

II. So-called “Astrological Chess” Depicted, #boardgame and #peopleincluded<\/h3>\n
\"The

The so-called “Astrological Chess” game. Alfonso X, Libro de acedrex. El Escorial, Ms. j.T.6, fol. 96v. Circa 1284. Image via Wikipedia via Creative Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Note that Michael will expand upon this subject for Episode 11<\/strong> of our online series wherein “The Research Group Speaks”<\/a> to be held online on Saturday 8 July 2023.<\/p>\n

Registration via our RGME Eventbrite Collection<\/a> here: Michael Allman Conrad Speaks on Gamified Numbers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Michael has contributed frequently to RGME Sessions at ICMS and our other events, for which we give thanks. For example:<\/p>\n