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.