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more than any other, that one can best and most rightly
understand all things. For the sake of astronomy
alone the other six arts were founded, which have
been named above. And without them no one
can know anything rightly about astronomy, no
matter how wise or powerful that person might be. Just as
the hammer or other tools of the mason are the
instruments by which he shapes his work and carries
out his craft, in the same way, through proper mastery of them,
the other six arts are the instruments and basis of
astronomy. The wise men of old -- kings,
princes, dukes, counts, knights, and other
great lords -- by their understanding and diligent
study, as well as their noble conduct,
put all their effort and labor into learning the scholarly arts,
in order to understand
astronomy. And to the extent that they worked by the will
of Our Lord alone, they acquired this knowledge and knew
it sufficiently well. For they knew much
of the great affairs which were happening in the world.
And they considered the things of the world to be as nothing,