Owen Caerleon
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Persona
- Period: Late 1500s
- Occupation: University Regent, Lecturer on Natural Philosophy
- Origin: Caerleon, Wales
- Region: Earned Degree at University of Paris. Lectures at university in Northern Italy
Interests
- Medieval Physics/ Natural Philosophy
- History of Universities
- Scribe
- Washing dishes while my partner prepares grand historical feasts
Classes Taught
The Astrolabe
- The Astrolabe, https://sites.google.com/view/owen-caerleon/Astrolabe
War of the Wings: Event Site, October 2024 University of Atlantia: Summer 2025 University of Atlantia (online): February 2024, June 2024, February 2026
The Astrolabe is a mechanical instrument that can be used to calculate the positions of the stars and sun in the sky.
Astrolabes are a visible part of a deep tradition of science and mathematics that was known before the Middle Ages. Appearing before 100 BCE, the technology advanced significantly in the Islamic world. As it developed, many other calculating instruments were incorporated into it, and it became a major teaching tool for astronomers as it proliferated throughout Africa, Europe, and India.
In this class, we’ll look at animations of the night sky to see the astronomical principles and problems known at the time. The breadth of locations where astrolabes were constructed shows just how widespread advanced knowledge of astronomy was. We’ll see a bit of the mathematics needed to construct it and what calculations it can be used for. Metal astrolabes also became status symbols, and the beauty of their mathematical patterns were embellished by instrument makers to produce works of art that survive to this day.
The Medieval University
- The Medieval University https://sites.google.com/view/owen-caerleon/medieval_university
University of Atlantia (online): 2025, 2026
The University as educational institution developed in western Europe starting in the 11th century and still exists in a remarkably similar form today. Some have even directly linked the peculiarities of governance, structure, and privileges that are part of the University to specific scientific and intellectual advancement in the regions where they were present.
Some of the exceptional things about the way higher education works in modern times are indeed rigid traditions that have extended unbroken since the Middle Ages. However, you’ll see that personalities and proclivities of students and professors today are much the same as they have been for the past thousand years, and there’s a reason the university system fits both groups so well.
In this class, we’ll look at the history of the university, the reasons it came to exist the way it did, and what still persists in education today. We will discuss the background of students and teachers, their daily life, what they studied, and the rules under which they lived. Many institutions in society had stakes in universities in service of their religious, economic, social, and political goals. We’ll see how church, state, and monied interests shaped the universities and were shaped by them to further their own needs.
Astronomy and Nobility
- Astronomy and Nobility, https://sites.google.com/view/owen-caerleon/Astronomy-and-Nobility
University of Atlantia (online): February 2024, June 2024
What did people know about astronomy in the Middle Ages? What would your SCA persona have known? How would astronomy have fit into their world view? It likely would have been more than just the use of “astrology” as we would define it today (that is, using the positions of objects in the sky for divination). Many of our personas, even going back to early in period, would have had knowledge of astronomy, sometimes more than many people know today. Later, astronomy was considered an important part of the education of a refined person. We’ll discuss what was known at the time, how that knowledge was developed, why it was considered important, and how it was shared through education and writing. We’ll hear some examples of historic people, and in particular learn about the peculiar case of the Danish nobleman-astronomer, Tycho Brahe.
The Universe Before the Telescope
- The Universe Before the Telescope
University of Atlantia, Fall 2023
The class will cover astronomy as it was known in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East done entirely with the unaided eye. We will discuss the surprising amount that was known about the universe, from the discoveries made with ancient Greek and Roman logic and geometry, advancement in the Islamic and African world, and conflicting theories in European universities. The class will culminate by introducing the Copernican Revolution, and describe the conflict that occurred even before the discoveries made with the telescope. We will learn about medieval astronomical tools and techniques, see simulations of the night sky, and learn the amazing logic and thought that came out of the ancient and medieval world. As part of the class, students will make and keep a paper astrolabe.
If I am called into court
- If I ever earn an award, I would prefer to not be called into court to receive it. If there is a scroll, please make sure their work is shown off to everybody, and please feel free to ask my partner Grissel Dhai ahead of time if she would like receive it for me.
- If my partner Grissel Dhai is receiving an award, please secretly tell me ahead of time so I can sneak into the audience :)