27. On the size, or eclipse, of the Sun and Moon
THE RECKONING OF TIME
from the line of the Sun's path through the middle [of the zodiac]. The farther it penetrates into the southern zone, the lower it appears from our point of view, who look upon it from the north. But when [the Moon] climbs into the solstitial circle, she frequently appears to be higher than the summer Sun, for although she is closer to the Earth than to the Sun, she sometimes travels beyond the limits of the Sun by ¢ve or even six degrees, and so from our point of view, standing on the Earth and looking at both stars from underneath, the further she moves towards the north, the more loftily she seems to seek the summits of heaven.
This will be demonstrated by the following example. At night-time, you go into a very large hall, or better, a church, immense in its length, breadth and height, and ablaze with countless lamps burning in honour of a martyr's feastday. Amongst these are two very large lamps of marvellous workmanship, hanging by chains from the ceiling, but the one which is nearer to you when you enter is also closer to the £oor.
However the hall is so vast, and the height of those distant lamps so great, that with your nightvision [nocturno uisu] you can make out the light and rays of £ame more than you can the vessel itself which contains the ¢re. Now indeed, as you start to advance towards the lamps, looking straight at them,240 and beyond them towards the ceiling or opposite walls, the lamp which is nearer appears higher to you. The closer you approach, the higher up will the one which is lower appear to you, until, by a more evident truth, you see where they are all positioned. So /362/ likewise we, situated beneath the two great luminaries of heaven, see them both at the meridian in such a way that the one which is lower, in rising further and further to the north, seems ever higher and higher, and as we train our eyes upon them and through them to the heavens, the one which, by obvious reason, is patently riding lower down appears to be higher than the other.
27. ON THE SIZE, OR ECLIPSE, OF THE SUN AND MOON
Pliny relates the following information241 concerning the size or eclipse of the Sun and Moon in that most delightful book, the Natural History:
It is obvious that the Sun is obscured by the intervention of the Moon, and 240 I.e. keeping them aligned, one behind the other.
241 Cf. Bede, The Nature of Things 22, ''Bobbio computus'' (PL 129.1329).
TRANSLATION
the Moon by the interposition of the Earth, and each a¡ects the other. The Moon takes away by its interposition the very same rays of the Sun which the Earth takes away from the Moon. When [the Moon] makes its transit, [the Earth] is darkened by sudden gloom; the star [i.e. the Moon], ontheotherhand,isquenchedby[Earth's]shadow.Thedarkness is nothing but the Earth's shadow. Both eclipses occur, not every month, but at intervals; this is due to the incline of the zodiac, and the twists and turns, as they say, of the Moon's course, for the movement of these stars
[Sun and Moon] is not always matched down to the ¢nest divisions. This theory draws mortal minds into the heavens, and discloses to their contemplation from this height, as it were, the magnitude of the dimensions of the three largest things in nature. /363/ Were the Earth larger than the Moon, it would not be possible for the entire Sun to be erased by the Moon when it comes between [the Sun] and the Earth.242 The Sun's magnitude is seen to be the largest of the three, nor would it be necessary
[to demonstrate] that its size is something immense by the evidence of the eyes and the mind's induction, given that [the Sun] casts, from the mid-point of heaven, shadows of equal length from trees spread out for any number of miles.243 And a little later, he says: It is certain that a solar eclipse can only take place when the Moon is new or in its ¢rst day, what they call ''in conjunction''; [an eclipse] of the Moon on the other hand can only happen when the Moon is full, and always when it is as close as possible.244There are eclipses of both stars below the Earth245 every year at the appointed days and hours, but even when they take place above the Earth they are not visible everywhere, sometimes because of cloud, and often because the globe of the Earth blocks out the dome of heaven. Two hundred years ago, this was discovered by the insight of Hipparchus.246
But lest we seem to take up a whole chapter with the statements of even such a great pagan [as Pliny], let us also ask the doctors of the Church what they think of this. St Jerome, interpreting the passage in the Gospels which states that darkness covered the whole Earth at the 242 This is, of course, wrong, but no ancient author known to Bede other than
Pliny discusses the size of the Moon relative to the Earth, though many compare the Moon to the Sun. Hence Bede never had occasion to question Pliny on this point.
243 Pliny, HN 2.7.47^2.8.50 (1.196^200).
244 I.e. to the path of the Sun.
245 I.e. in the opposite hemisphere.
246 HN 2.10.56^57 (1.204).