Abstract

In several of his works, Nicolaus Ellenbog, a Benedictine ‘humanist’ from Ottobeuren, discusses celestial influence on human action. An analysis of the most relevant passages from his Enarrationes in Regulam S. Benedicti, his Quæstiones miscellaniæ, and his Epistulæ, indicates that, unlike most late-medieval scholastics and Renaissance philosophers, he does not exalt human autonomy, but rather tends to embrace a soft astrological determinism. The appendix offers a critical editio princeps of some interesting extracts from the abovementioned texts.