Date |
ca. 1350 |
Place |
Oxford |
Material |
Brass |
Acquisition |
Lent by Oriel College, Oxford,
in 1924 |
Accession |
1924-23 |
Provenance
Oriel College presumably owned it from an
early date. It has been said to have been part of a bequest
to the college by Simon Bredon (c.1310-1372), a leading
member of the so-called 'Merton School' of
astronomer-physicians. In fact in his will, made in 1368,
Bredon bequeathed his large astrolabe to Merton College and
his small astrolabe to William Rede, who may subsequently
have given it to Merton (which has two medieval astrolabes to
this day). That the Oriel College astrolabe similarly emerges
from this 14th-century scientific renaissance in Oxford is
nonetheless reasonably certain.