Eleventh Century Astronomical Events as Recorded in Contemporary European Sources

Abstract

The eleventh century was exceptionaly rich in very prominent astronomical events, such as the SN1006 (probably the brightest Supernova in historical times), the great comet of 1066, the SN1054. These events were recorded in numerous chronicles throughout the world and in particular in Europe and need to be carefully analyzed with the appropriate instruments of the philological criticism. This work will present a certain number of sources from the European Middle Ages, that are unknown or less studied. They describe events spanning from the end of the tenth century to the end of the eleventh century. These texts have been selected because they are homogeneous and, in some way, representative of a number of astronomical phenomena. They prove that medieval chroniclers can be extremely accurate in their descriptions.