astronomy

The Paris Concilium

The Paris Concilium is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Paris Concilium rather than just read about it. In short: The Paris Concilium was a 1348 document written at the request of King Philip VI of France by 49 medical members of the University of Paris. The authors of the document state that the cause of the plague was not something that could be grasped by humans and would never be known.

Key takeaways

The Paris Concilium belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Paris Concilium to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Paris Concilium from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Paris Concilium was a 1348 document written at the request of King Philip VI of France by 49 medical members of the University of Paris. The authors of the document state that the cause of the plague was not something that could be grasped by humans and would never be known. They focused on an analysis of why humans had been stricken with the plague based on celestial and earthly portents. The authors guessed at possible causes including a conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars under the water sign of Aquarius, an event they claimed had taken place on 20 March 1345 after a solar and lunar eclipse. Basing their theory on Aristotle's Meteorology (Aristotle) (350 BC) and Hippocrates Epidemics (310 BC), they said that a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter brings disaster. From Albert the Great, they borrowed the theory that a conjunction of Jupiter and Mars brings plague, because Jupiter was hot and moist and these qualities were believed to lead to rot and putrefaction which they associated with plague. Other theories involved comets or other similar signs. The terrestrial cause, that was seen as a proximate cause, was that the air had been poisoned by gas that was released during earthquakes. "Evil constellations" brought rain, thunder and moist south winds that spread the poisonous vapors given off my rotting carcasses. In the Middle Ages the heart was believed to be the organ governing the respiratory function, so they believed that this poisoned air reached the heart through breath and contaminated the spirit, causing organs to rot. This was based on The Canon of Medicine (القانون في الطب al-Qānūn fī al-Ṭibb) by Avicenna.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Paris Concilium

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Paris Concilium claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Paris Concilium before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Paris Concilium ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Paris Concilium

In research: The Paris Concilium appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Paris Concilium in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Paris Concilium is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1340s in France, 1348 in Europe, Astrological texts, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Paris Concilium outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Paris Concilium in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Paris Concilium means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Paris Concilium out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Paris Concilium in simple terms?

Why does The Paris Concilium matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Paris Concilium?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Paris Concilium.