Campanus of Novara
Campanus of Novara (c. 1220–1296) was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and physician. Born near Novara in Piedmont, he served as chaplain to popes Urban IV, Adrian V, Nicholas IV, and Boniface VIII. The scholar Roger Bacon described him as one of the two “good” mathematicians of his time.
He is best known for a Latin edition of Euclid's Elements in fifteen books. Based on an earlier compilation by Robert of Chester and enriched with material from Jordanus de Nemore and others, this edition became the standard Euclid text in the Latin West until the 16th century. The first printed edition appeared in Venice in 1482.
In astronomy Campanus wrote Theorica Planetarum, which geometrically described the motions and longitudes of the planets. He provided instructions to build a planetary equatorium and showed how to use astronomical tables from the Almagest and the Toledan Tables. His work is often seen as the first detailed Latin-language account of the Ptolemaic system.
Campanus is also associated with a system for casting horoscopes that divides the sky into twelve 30-degree houses, though similar ideas existed before him.
He died in Viterbo in 1296. The Moon’s crater Campanus is named after him, and he is known by many names, including Campanus Nouariensis and Magister Campanus.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:32 (CET).