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Richard Dove of Buckfast, a fifteenth-century scholar (2/3) More than a third of Dove’s notebook is concerned with the pseudo-sciences, such as astrology, astronomy, chiromancy and physiognomy. In the Middle Ages, these topics were closely related to medicine, rather than the Black Arts. That is not to say that Richard Dove was preparing himself for the post of infirmarer; this choice of subject-matter is most likely a reflection of his personal interests and would thus suggest that scholars could exercise considerable independence over the choice of topics that they studied.(42) That Dove was indeed intrigued with predicting the future is reinforced by his inclusion of seventy-four English verses on ‘Rules for judging of future fortune by casts of dice’ [below right]. This interest was evidently shared by other Cistercians, and in 1361 the monks of Roche Abbey, Yorkshire, were reprimanded for throwing dice. Dove also reveals an interest in alchemy, the art of turning metal into gold. He includes illustrations of the instruments required to perform this operation [below left] and recipes for gilding rings. His fascination with alchemy was not uncommon amongst the Cistercians at this time and the Order in England incurred considerable debt when one Irish monk at Oxford, Richard Archebold, pursued the unattainable.
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