But a man must see to his own sustenance; and Jerome was constrained to prepare horoscopes to earn his keep. Ah, money. "The root of all evil." I have a hypot

But a man must see to his own sustenance; and Jerome was constrained to prepare horoscopes to earn his keep. Ah, money. "The root of all evil." I have a hypothesis that astrologers (of this era) were learned men who weren't nobility or such themselves. They gave good advice because they knew a lot, not because the "stars" told them anything, then chalked it up to "the stars say so" because both kings and astrologers were equally uncomfortable with admitting that a learned commoner was the power behind the throne. And then sometimes nobility, being human, wanted astrologers to reassure them about the future in ways that were beyond their capacity to meaningfully predict anything but they were in no position to say "no."