Simon Forman: The Astrologer's Tables - History Today Article

Oct 12, 2026

Examines how late-16th-century astrologer Simon Forman’s casebooks, diaries, and diagrams offered a distinctive view of a time when star-study began aligning with emerging scientific methods. Traces Forman’s death in a narrative shared by his wife Jean Forman and later retold by William Lilly, then situates the episode within broader debates over astrology’s determinism, medicine, and compatibility with free will. Also explains core practices such as horoscopes and major judgment types.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Simon Forman: The Astrologer's Tables

Forman’s death story and later transmission

Astrology as learned practice and historical change

Methods: ephemeris, horoscope, and planetary houses

Four types of astrological judgments

Simon Forman: The Astrologer's Tables [http://www.historytoday.com/print/77351](http://www.historytoday.com/print/77351) Published on History Today ([http://www.historytoday.com](http://www.historytoday.com)) Simon Forman: The Astrologer's Tables By Lauren Kassell | Published in History Today Volume: 61 Issue: 9 2011 Lauren Kassell reveals how the casebooks, diaries and diagrams of the late-16thcentury astrologer Simon Forman provide a unique perspective on a period when the study of the stars began to embrace modern science. On a September evening 400 years ago, Jean Forman, the wife of the astrologer, Simon, teased him over supper. Could he tell which of them would die ﬁrst, she asked, mocking his art and his age. He was 58, she 30 years his junior. His reply was simple. She would bury him within a week. This was a Thursday. On Friday nothing happened. On Saturday nothing happened. By Wednesday the astrologer ʼsskill was happily in question. But on Thursday, as Forman set off by boat from Lambeth to the City – presumably to visit clients, attend to business or see friends – he fell down, shouted ʻAn impost, animpost ʼ and died. Some years later Jean told this story to William Lilly (1602-81), then England ʼs most famous astrologer. Lilly had tracked down Forman ʼs widow in pursuit of the deceased astrologer ʼs papers and he included the story of Forman ʼs death in the account of his own life that he wrote in 1668 for his friend Elias Ashmole, the great antiquary and founder of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Lilly ʼs autobiography set out a genealogy of English astrologers An engraving of Simon Forman, from an original c. 1590. Image: Getty / Hulton culminating with himself. Lilly praised Forman as ʻjudicious and fortunate ʼ in horary questions and stressed that [diagnosing] sickness was his ʻ masterpiece ʼ [meaning his specialism] . But he also insinuated that the Elizabethan practitioner was an old-fashioned magician, in contrast to himself, whose numerous prognostications during the Civil Wars and Protectorate combined politics and prophecy, improved the astrological literacy of the nation and advanced the art. Forman ʼs death, then, marks not the end of an era when astrologers thrived, but the beginning of a period of a more systematic and public pursuit of the science of the stars. 1 of 7 12/09/2011 17:37 Simon Forman: The Astrologer's Tables [http://www.historytoday.com/print/77351](http://www.historytoday.com/print/77351) Astrology was a serious business. The roots of learned astrology lay in ancient texts. In second century Egypt Ptolemy set out the sophisticated mathematical model of the geocentric cosmos that prevailed until Copernican cosmology was adopted in the 16th and 17th centuries. Ptolemy also outlined the principles of astrology, the study of the inﬂuences of the stars and planets on the natural world, the fate of nations and the lives of men and women. In the 12th century Latin translations of Arabic astrological books began to circulate in Europe. Astrology was typically taught as part of the medical curriculum at universities. With the Protestant Reformation theologians increasingly complained that astrology was overly deterministic. This, combined with the rise of Copernicanism, prompted efforts to reform astrology in line with empirical observations of the motions of the stars and their effects on life on earth. Throughout Renaissance Europe astrologers taught at universities and practised in royal courts and for private clients. They published almanacs and prognostications, bolstering their incomes and advertising their expertise to potential patrons. Theologians questioned whether astrology was compatible with concepts of free will and divine providence. Poets and playwrights used astrological language to convey correspondences between the human body and the terrestrial and celestial realms, often expressed in terms of an analogy between the mi

FAQs

What sources does the article highlight when discussing Simon Forman?

It emphasizes Simon Forman’s casebooks, diaries, and diagrams, which provide a unique perspective on the period’s approach to studying the stars.

How does the article describe the account of Forman’s death?

Jean Forman tells the story to William Lilly, who had pursued Forman’s papers, and Lilly includes the death account in his writings.

What are the four main types of astrological judgments mentioned?

The article outlines revolutions, nativities, elections (favorable hours), and interrogations (horary questions), including a related refinement called decumbiture.

Oct 12, 2026

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