The Voynich Ninja

Both historical representations of a solar head with a headband are from copies of texts in the Aratea tradition [Leiden and St. Omer, above], which was an astronomical / astrological text from classical sources. However, there are several problems. Both are dated c. 1000 CE, making them four hundred years old during the VMs C-14 dates.

Other copies of the Aratea are even older. They may cover the same topics, but there are variations. Not every representation of the sun shows Apollo with a headband, but not all the evidence is available so far, especially for anything closer to the VMs dates.

Wikipedia articles on Apollo and Helios have a lot of interesting images - but there is a shortage of headbands there as well.

Another image in the Aratea is a diagram of the cosmos, a geocentric version showing the planets and their orbits, within a circle of the Zodiac. Not all versions have exactly the same structure, but the Leiden and St. Omer versions (with the headbands) have the same cosmic structure, one which shows Mercury and Venus as satellites in orbit around the sun, rather than the "standard" medieval model where all planetary spheres were concentric around the Earth.

Apparently, putting Mercury and Venus in orbit around the sun made the geocentric cosmic model more accurate. Now look at the VMs cosmos, in comparison with BNF Fr. 565 and Harley 334 illustrations. All the planets and their orbits are missing from this extremely simplified type of cosmic structure. Not only is there a loss of all planetary information in the VMs cosmic representation, there is an intentionally oxymoronic pairing put in its place. Hard to believe the VMs artist would have borrowed a little detail like the headband, then totally tanked on something as insignificant as the structure of the cosmos.

Geocentric cosmic structure illustrations from the Leiden and Boulogne versions show Mercury and Venus orbiting the sun.

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Chronology indicates the Boulogne Aratea has completely absorbed the cosmic structure from the earlier Leiden edition. And much additional information has been added in the supplemental circles in each of the four corners. The lower right has a geographical T-O center.

Provenance has the Boulogne edition and the Bern version both produced at St. Bertin in the 10th to 11th C. era. The similarities between the two are particularly clear in the comparison of the two representations of the Sun and Moon. They are very similar pairs of illustrations with more significant differences in coloration. These are the two examples of a solar head with a headband, outside the VMs. It's the same pair of images.

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The Bern edition does not have the same cosmic diagram as the Leiden apparently passed to the Boulogne version. Instead, it has a very different representation, with a few superficial similarities. There is a big red ring with the representational figures of the Zodiac, but Aries starts on the opposite side and goes the opposite way. It is not a planetary representation of the cosmos centered on Terra. Instead, it is a visualization of the constellations centered on the polar images of Draco and the bears.

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Another comparison with a pair of 9th Cent. St. Gall mss. show Apollo, not as a solar head, he's got sprouts, instead and there is no headband. History is clear: Apollo wears a headband at St. Bertin, not at St. Gall.

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With the Sun and Moon personified in the center of the Zodiac.

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The cosmic structure of the Leiden and Boulogne diagrams was apparently lost in favor of the seven nesting spheres model of the cosmos. Meanwhile, Aratea sources mention Eudoxus of Cnidus, but did he put Mercury and Venus in orbit around the sun in a geocentric cosmos?

Here's another version of the Aratea. The cosmic structure is yet another alternative that contradicts the model of nested spheres.

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Constellations are constellations, so to speak, but when it comes to this particular "quasi-cosmic" illustration there are some significant differences within the Zodiac ring and inside the ring in particular. Some diagrams represent the planets and their orbits, while other illustrations are focused on the constellations and perhaps the stars, as they are seen in the northern night sky.

The Leiden cosmic diagram is interesting because of its detail and its early date. It's not the nested spheres of 13th C. Sacrobosco. This seems to indicate there was a potential loss of astronomical information over time.

As far as potentially relevant illustrations of solar personifications wearing a headband, there's the Apollo of St. Bertin.

How do two illustrations four centuries old influence the production of the VMs in the 15th century? How can this evidence connect with the Burgundian era?

Guillaume Fillastre was the abbot of St. Bertin from 1451 until his death in 1473.

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The investigation of celestial faces in the VMs raises the issue solar faces and personifications that were more like heads than just faces. In particular, there is the matter of the two VMs illustrations of solar heads wearing headbands.

The investigation of headbands in general is lacking in evidence. The particular combination of a solar head with a headband is found in the illustrations of Apollo from the Saint Bertin versions of the Leiden Aratea. Still no link to the Leiden image of Apollo, if there is one.

Not only was Fillastre an abbot at St. Bertin, he was also fundamental in the history of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece is relevant to the VMs based on the 'age-old' interpretations of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and the historical connections (aft. 1430) with the Duke of Burgundy.

The story that history tells is that Fillastre's appointment was resisted by the monks of St. Bertin to the extent that Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, had to use the threat of military force against the monks.

Who would have possibly known the combination of solar heads and headbands better, based on the illustrations of Apollo, than the monks of St. Bertin abbey?