William Lilly (astrologer)
William Lilly (born May 11, 1602 in Diseworth , Leicestershire , † June 9, 1681 ) was an English astrologer .
Life
Lilly was the son of a free farmer who gave him a good education so that Lilly was fluent in Latin. However, he was denied university after his father got into debt. In 1620 Lilly therefore took up a job as a house servant in London. When his wealthy employer died in 1627, he proposed his widow to marry, which she agreed to despite the large age difference. With her death six years later, he inherited a larger sum that made him financially independent. He studied astrology, which he came into contact with in 1632. From 1642 he regularly published almanacs in which he made some spectacular predictions. His main work Christian Astrology (1647) was published during this period . He played an important role in the English Civil War , in which he sided with the parliamentarians. However, this also brought him considerable hostility, which repeatedly led to arrests. Due to his friendship with high-ranking personalities like Elias Ashmole , however, he was quickly released again and again.
Lilly caused a stir for allegedly predicting the Great Fire of London (1666) some 14 years before it happened. Because of this, many people believed that he started the fire. However, he was able to plausibly explain to the court how he came to this statement at the time. For this reason he was also acquitted by parliament .
Works
- Christian Astrology, Book 1 and Book 2 , Chiron Verlag, Tübingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89997-144-6
- Christian Astrology, Book 3 , Chiron Verlag, Tübingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-89997-166-8
Individual evidence
- ↑ Who was William Lilly? ( Memento from June 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
literature
- Derek Parker: Familiar to All. William Lilly and Astrology in the Seventeenth Century . Cape, London 1973, ISBN 0-224-01112-X .
- Patrick Curry: Prophecy and Power. Astrology in Early Modern England . Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 1989, ISBN 0-691-05579-3 .
Web links
- Literature by and about William Lilly in the catalog of the German National Library
- This Life and Work of William Lilly
- Who Was William Lilly? (PDF file; 206 kB)
- Diseworth Heritage Trust: William Lilly
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lilly, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English astrologer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 11, 1602 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Diseworth , Leicestershire |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 9, 1681 |