The Queen of the Sciences. The desire to find general laws that governed the universe provided the rationale for the wide development of one side of medieval science. In the Middle Ages, as well as during the Renaissance, scholars believed that God revealed his handiwork in nature, so its laws were divine truths and understanding them would lead to a greater understanding of God. Believing that God is located in the heavens, medieval scholars placed greater importance on astronomy and Christian astrology than on other sciences. From the eleventh century on, many Churchmen thought and wrote about the workings of the heavens, making astronomy the Queen of the Sciences.

The Celestial Spheres. Medieval astronomy differed little from its ancient predecessor. Based on the concept of an earth-centered universe that had been most clearly enunciated by Alexandrine astronomer Claudius Ptolemy in the...