Identifications

Here is another short breakdown of the hypothesis I am presenting in these pages.

1. I identify aspects of the Ladin herbal tradition (and its folklore) in the illustrations, as well as…

2. An early modern cosmology that is, amongst other things, heliocentric.

I note these two things are incongruous. One element is rustic, the other scholarly and educated. (This is largely a distinction between the drawings and the diagrams.)

3. Turning to the text I identify the systems of Ramon Llull, or his influence.

These points, I argue, must inevitably direct our attention to Nicholas of Cusa, the Llullist, the heliocentric cosmologist, who was bishop of the Ladin people in the mid 1400s.

If we admit that a very considerable mind must be behind the astronomy, the script and text, at least, and posit that there is only a smallish list of capable people in the relevant period, there is a strong circumstantial case that points to the mind of Cusanus. As I see it:

*The Ladin tradition
*The early modern cosmology
*The Llullism

all converge in the identification of Nicholas of Cusa as the mind behind the work.

I do not suppose that Cusanus actually penned the manuscript – and he didn’t draw the pictures – but I believe the work is best described as Cusean. I conclude that it came into being by the instigation, or the direct influence, of Nicholas of Cusa, while he was bishop of Brixen and resident in the South Tyrol.

The axis of the hypothesis is the identification of the Ladin herbal tradition. It would not be fatal to the hypothesis if it were shown that the language is not the product of Llullian wheels or in any way influenced by Llull. Cusanus was still Bishop of Brixen and would still be a strong candidate because of his prolonged association with the Ladin.

As it happens, I am persuaded that the text bears the imprint of some type of system reminiscent of Llull’s. More generally, I suspect the work is some extension of the Llullian Art to the natural sciences, a known interest of Nicholas of Cusa.

It would be fatal to my hypothesis if the geographical locus of the work is not alpine northern Italy and has no relation to the herbal traditions of the Ladin.

As for Cusanus, he had followers, students, disciples, colleagues. He was a man of influence. When, in one of his dialogues, the layman says how desirable it would be to make a survey of weights and measures of particular regions, the Cardinal doesn’t say he will do it, he says he will get it done. My hypothesis does not depend directly upon Cusanus himself. It merely requires a Cusean.

If I was pushed for an exact scenario at this stage, I would suggest that Nicholas composed the text and had the manuscript prepared for the Lord of Tor in Val Badia.

R. B.