The Angelic Movers

How did the spheres of the medieval cosmos move? Late medieval scholars thought that each sphere received its intelligence (originating with God) from the sphere above, and also had a soul. The actions of both the intelligence and the soul moved the sphere. However, the idea that the celestial spheres had souls was problematic, as it implied an animation of the heavens. This was rejected by most scholars after the condemnation of 219 philosophical and theological propositions at the University of Paris in 1277. Instead, Western Latin scholars identified the celestial intelligences with angels who moved each celestial sphere.