A MEDIEVAL bishop’s theory about the origins of the Universe may not have been so wide of the mark, according to North-East researchers.

In his 1225AD treatise De Luce, meaning Concerning Light, Robert Grosseteste, a Bishop of Lincoln, describes a Universe being created via a Big Bang-like explosion of light, before forming into nine celestial spheres.

And that theory has parallels with the modern idea of multiple universes, say experts from the Ordered Universe Project.

The Durham-led study translated De Luce afresh from the original Latin, before applying modern mathematical and computational techniques to Grosseteste’s equations.

Professor Richard Bower, from Durham University’s Institute for Computational Cosmology, said: “By applying modern computational power to Grosseteste’s incredibly consistent work, it appears we had come across a ‘medieval multiverse’ implicit within it.

“We now know of course, thanks to the astronomical advances of the last four centuries, that a cosmos consisting of nine spheres centred on the Earth is not correct.

“But when Grosseteste wrote De Luce, it was the most elegant and simple theory consistent with then-current knowledge.

“It shows us that the fundamental human desire to understand the workings of nature is very old.

“It’s fantastic that this has coincided with results from the BICEP 2 project which has uncovered new evidence from the Cosmic Microwave Background to support a Big Bang theory for the origin of the Universe.”

The team’s latest research is published today (Wednesday, April 23) in the Royal Society Journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society.