The Medieval Dream in Theory and in Practice

What, if anything, can dreams tell us? Medieval people had all sorts of beliefs about whether dreams could be predictive or if they should be avoided as deceits. Much of what they believed was the heritage of Greco-Roman and biblical beliefs, to include the Bible, myth, and philosophy of mind. In this episode, we'll do a quick run-through of what medieval people believed about dreams and their predictive power.

Further Reading

Primary Sources

Macrobius. Commentary on the Dream of Scipio. Translated by William Harris Stahl. New York: Columbia University Press, 1952.

This is the work itself that ended up being the source on dream interpretation in the Middle Ages.

 

Martin, Lawrence T. Somniale Danielis: An Edition of a Medieval Latin Dream Interpretation Handbook. Frankfurt: Peter D. Lang, 1981.

This is the Latin edition, but it's simple Latin and it's also got a decent guide to the manuscripts.

Secondary Sources

Kruger, Steven F. Dreaming in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

What it says on the can. A good guide to what medieval people believed about dreams and dreaming.

Roest, Bert. "Divination, Visions and Prophecy according to Albert the Great." In Media Latinitas : a collection of essays to mark the occasion of the retirement of L.J. Engels, edited by Jozef Engels Lodewyk et al., 323-8. Turnhout: Brepols, 1996.

An outline of what Albertus Magnus thought about how dreams work and how he assimilated the works of Avicenna and Aristotle.

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