Click the play button to listen to the audio:
Partica divinatoria, the art of predicting the future, was widespread in the medieval world, as was astrology. Horoscopes were used by leaders and rulers to predict the outcomes of a war, a marriage, or to decide the most opportune time to wage battles. For a very long time, Frederick hosted one of the best-known scientists of the time, Michael Scot. He became the Emperor's official diviner: although Scot clearly distinguished science from the magical arts (expressly forbidden!), Dante placed him in the 20th canto of the Inferno, in the circle of soothsayers, those who yearned for knowledge of the future beforehand.
The story goes that the Emperor, eager to put Michael Scot's scientific skills to the test, challenged him to measure the distance between the top of a bell tower and a specific star in the sky; after some time, he had him repeat the calculation. This time, however, he had the palace floor lowered. Scot realized that the distance turned out to be slightly farther!
