Abstract/Summary

Medieval prognostics constitute a category of short texts, usually offering advice for making decisions or dealing with problems such as illness. Until relatively recently they were dismissed as mere superstition and attracted rather little attention from scholars. This began to change in the late twentieth century, when early-medieval prognostics, and perhaps especially those in Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian manuscripts, were given serious attention. Following on from this, attention has been given to prognostics in other vernaculars, such as Anglo-Norman French and Middle English. However, it is still the case that Latin prognostics in use in the central middle ages tend to be overlooked, even when they are found in manuscripts which have been the subject of considerable discussion. An example of this is an impressive manuscript, now Harley 978 in the British Library, which is linked to Reading Abbey by its calendar. This article provides an analysis of its prognostic collection and of their role in monastic culture.