Michael Scot facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Michael Scot
Michael Scot in the Bodleian Library's De Physionomiae manuscript
Born	Michael Scot 1175
Died	c. 1232
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics, astrology, alchemy

Michael Scot (in Latin: Michael Scotus; born in 1175 – died around 1232) was a very smart Scottish mathematician and scholar who lived during the Middle Ages. He studied at famous universities like Oxford and Paris. He also worked in cities like Bologna and Toledo, where he learned to speak Arabic. Michael Scot became a science advisor and court astrologer for Emperor Frederick II. He was known for translating important books and was one of the most famous thinkers of his time.

Michael Scot: A Medieval Genius

Michael Scot was a brilliant scholar from Scotland. He was known for his knowledge in many areas, including math, astrology, and even early forms of science. He traveled a lot, learning from different cultures and sharing his wisdom.

Early Life and Learning

Michael Scot was born in Scotland, near the border with England. He started his education at a church school in Durham. Then, he went on to study at two of the most important universities of his time: Oxford in England and Paris in France. There, he focused on subjects like philosophy, mathematics, and astrology.

He later traveled to Bologna in Italy and then to Toledo in Spain. In Toledo, he learned Arabic very well. This skill was super important because it allowed him to read and study ancient Greek writings that had been translated into Arabic. He also studied the works of famous Arab scholars like Avicenna and Averroes. Michael Scot then translated many of these important Arabic texts into Latin, which was the main language for scholars in Europe.

Working for the Emperor

When Michael Scot was about 50 years old, Emperor Frederick II invited him to join his royal court in Sicily. The Emperor was very interested in science and learning, and he wanted Michael Scot to be his expert advisor.

At the Emperor's request, Michael Scot helped translate even more books by the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle. These translations included books about animals, the soul, and the sky. He also translated the comments that Arab scholars like Averroes had written about Aristotle's works.

Michael Scot was so respected that the second version of Fibonacci's famous math book, Liber Abaci, was dedicated to him in 1227. Some people even think Michael Scot might have helped Fibonacci with his ideas about the Fibonacci sequence, which is a pattern of numbers found in nature.

Emperor Frederick II often asked Michael Scot big questions about the world. For example, he asked about the earth's foundations, the stars, and even what was beyond the sky. There's a funny story that the Emperor tried to trick Michael Scot. He secretly lowered a church tower to see if Scot's calculations about the distance to heaven would be wrong. But Michael Scot was too smart! He simply said that either the moon had moved further away or the tower had gotten shorter.

His Amazing Books and Ideas

Michael Scot was one of the first people to seriously study physiognomy. This is the idea that you can tell a person's character or future by looking at their face or body. He also wrote many books about astrology (studying how stars affect life), alchemy (an early form of chemistry), and other mysterious sciences.

Some of his most famous books include:

• Super auctorem spherae: This book was about the heavens and stars.
• De sole et luna: This one talked about the sun and moon, but it also had a lot about alchemy, where the sun represented gold and the moon represented silver.
• De chiromantia: A small book about chiromancy, which is reading palms.
• The Liber introductorius: This was a group of three books about predicting the future. It included the Liber quatuor distinctionum, the Liber particularis, and the Liber physiognomiae (the book about physiognomy).

Michael Scot believed that astrologers were important because they could understand many of God's secrets. He was even offered important church positions, like being an Archbishop in Ireland and England, but he turned them down.

Some historians believe that Emperor Frederick II used Michael Scot as a messenger to Arab rulers. This was because Scot knew Arabic and could help with diplomatic talks and sharing knowledge. He might have even traveled with the Emperor to the Holy Land during a crusade.

Legends and Stories

The exact date Michael Scot died is not known. There are many interesting legends about him. One popular story says that he knew he would die from a small stone hitting his head. So, he wore an iron cap to protect himself. But one day, he took off his cap in church, and a small stone fell and hit him, leading to his death.

In legends, Michael Scot was often seen as a powerful magician. People said he could use spirits to bring food from faraway royal kitchens. Another legend says he turned a group of witches into stone, which became the stone circle called Long Meg and Her Daughters in England.

Michael Scot even appears in a famous old poem called Divine Comedy by Dante. In the poem, he is in a part of hell reserved for sorcerers and false prophets. Dante describes him in a way that some think refers to his physical appearance, while others believe it describes his clever but sometimes tricky personality.

He was also known for predicting the future. Many writers from his time compared him to other famous prophets. Later writers like Boccaccio and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola also wrote about him, sometimes criticizing his interest in astrology, and sometimes defending him.

In a poem by John Leyden called Lord Soulis, Michael Scot is said to have taught magic to a bad sorcerer. And in Sir Walter Scott's poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Michael Scot is shown as a powerful figure who could even conquer a demon by giving it an impossible task. In the Scottish Borders, people still say that any very old or difficult work was done by "Auld Michael" (Old Michael), or by Sir William Wallace, or even the Devil!