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The Contribution of the Jews of Spain to the Transmission of Science in the Middle Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2008

Mariano Gomez-Aranda
Mariano Gomez-Aranda*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo, CSIC, Albasanz 26–28, 28037 Madrid, Spain
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Abstract

The Jews of Spain in the Middle Ages played an important role in the transmission of Graeco-Arabic learning by translating, or participating in translations, of scientific texts. They also composed original works on mathematics, astronomy, astrology and medicine in which they adapted the theories of the ancients for their own time. Science was used by the ruling powers as an element of prestige, and by the Jewish scientists as a way to obtain a high social status. The policy of cultural sponsorship of Muslim caliphs, as well as of Christian kings, was fundamental in the process of transmission of the Greek sciences to the Western world. The School of Translators of Toledo is an example of this process. The astronomical theories developed by Jewish scientists at the end of the 15th century played an important role in the Spanish and Portuguese discoveries of the 16th century. Their knowledge of astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and medicine was also used by the Jewish intellectuals to provide a rational and scientific support for the Jewish religion and tradition, as is reflected in the interpretations of the Bible by medieval Spanish Jewish authors.

Type
Articles
Information
European Review , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , May 2008 , pp. 169 - 181
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 2008

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References

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