Gerard of Cremona (c.1114-1187) was the greatest and most prolific Arabic translator of his time.(1) His Latin translations of over seventy seminal works in the sciences introduced the advanced Greek and Arab world to an intellectually impoverished Europe during the Middle Ages. His translations are credited with providing the classical foundations for the work of such thinkers as Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and Copernicus. Yet today, little is known about this linguistic pioneer who worked on the intellectual frontier dividing Christendom and the Muslim world.
Toledo, Spain was taken by Alfonso VI of Leon (and El Cid) from the Muslims in 1085 and it soon became the capital of Castile. A scholarly community, "The School of Toledo," (2) rose under the leadership of the French Archbishop Raymond who reigned from 1126 until his death in 1152. Raymond knew the wealth of knowledge and scientific expertise which the Muslim world possessed and desired that Christendom gain access to its riches. Archdeacon Dominic Gundisalvi undertook many translations and directed the Bureau of Translation founded by Raymond.(3) Under Raymond's patronage, such translating giants as Gerard and John of Seville (a converted Jew) flourished and schools developed around them.(4) These "schools" included scribal and linguistic assistants, apprentices, and Arabic manuscript hunters.
Toledo attracted other first rate scholars from all over Europe including Adelard of Bath, Robert of Chester, Rudolf of Bruges and Hermann of Carinthia. By the middle of the thirteenth century, scholars such as these had translated the bulk of ancient science into Latin. The writings of such greats as Aristotle, Ptolemy, Euclid and Hippocrates had been preserved in Arabic for hundreds of years. Muslim intellectual giants had also been writing commentaries and expanding on the Greek works for generations. Toledo represented the intellectual door through which this incredible storehouse of knowledge would become known to the West.(5)
Little is known about Gerard's youth except that he became aware of Toledo as an intellectual center and that a copy of Ptolemy's famous Almagest could be found there. After a fair degree of schooling in his native Italy, Gerard journeyed to Toledo with the hope of translating this major work into Latin. The date of his arrival is uncertain, but he probably arrived before 1144 when he would have been at the age of 30.
It is unknown whether he actually knew John of Seville (whose most productive years would have been near the time of Gerard's arrival), but he quickly learned to follow John's translation style which tended to be a word-for-word literal translation from the Arabic into Latin. Gerard's "school" of translators in Toledo probably helped him undertake much of the enormous task involved in translating such difficult and lengthy works.
Christian translators faced many serious obstacles. To begin with, Muslim intellectuals highly valued their cultural achievements and were not at all inclined to freely share their knowledge with "infidels" who had a reputation for plagiarism. Ibn Abdun, a Muslim cleric of the day complained:
Books of science ought not to be sold to Jews or Christians, except those that treat of their own religion. Indeed, they translate books of science and attribute authorship to their coreligionists or to their bishops, when they are the work of Muslims.(6)
A translator hoping to create an authoritative translation faced not only the challenge of obtaining manuscripts, but of obtaining good, high quality manuscripts. It was quite normal for there to be many manuscript versions circulating. Gerard certainly must have had a great deal of help in locating texts, because scholarship has determined that Gerard had outstanding source copies on which to base his work.(7)
Though little is known about Gerard the person, glimmers of his personality shine through in his work and in a series of encounters Gerard had with a scholar named Daniel of Morley. An Englishman, Daniel travelled to Toledo via Paris because he recognized the Spanish city as the intellectual center of his day. Daniel's Philosophia recounts Gerard's intellectual interests and his way of life in Toledo. Daniel also speaks of a lively encounter he had with the Italian and mentions Gerard's public lectures on Abu Ma'shar's Great Introduction to the Science of Astrology (which is still unpublished today).(8) This little nugget of information is invaluable. Gerard was not an introverted copyist who spent every hour of his life dutifully translating esoteric Arabic works. Rather, Gerard was a true scholar who understood what he was translating and possessed the temperment and intelligence necessary to lecture and converse with the intellectual leaders of his day.
Unfortunately, besides the Daniel of Morley remembrances, there are no known writings by contemporaries which shed light on his life and career. The only exception to this is a short biography and bibliography of his translations written by his companions (socii) after his death. Presumably, it was written by his students at his Toledo school since they refer to him as "master."(9) It is also possible the bio-bibliography was written in Cremona by admirers who had no personal contact with Gerard. Indeed there is some evidence that at his death in Toledo, his body and his "library" were taken to Cremona.(10) If the biography was written by admirers or relatives who received his estate, this would account for its glowing praises. Their suggestion that Gerard was a humble man seriously contradicts Daniel's recollections which suggest nothing of the kind.(11)
This bio-bibliography was at some point attached to one of Gerard's translations (Galen's Tegni). Luckily this "socii" list survived the centuries and provides us with an authoritative list of Gerard's translations. Scholars question whether Gerard is fully responsible for all the translations, but there is a remarkable consistency in the translations which lend credence to the theory that he exercised considerable control over their transmission. The socii list only included Gerard's translations ("These are the titles of the books translated by Master Gerard at Toledo")(12) and does not include any of the commentaries and other "original works" which he may have written.
There is some uncertainty surrounding the question of whether Gerard produced any original works. Modern scholarship, however, has tended to add titles to Gerard's corpus rather than limit it. Most of the early detractors were those who relied solely on the socii list. Titles have been added through the careful comparison of Gerard's style and syntax with texts thought to be his own. His style can be isolated through comparison of his translations with those of his comtemporaries who sometimes translated or reworked the same Arabic material.(13) A handful of "Gerardian originals" are under scholarly consideration.
For example, the nineteenth century scholar Ferdinand Wüstenfeld held that Gerard produced several medical glosses (i.e. Glose super Viaticum, Super dietas universales and Summa de modo medendi et ordine curandi) on works by Ishaq al-Isra'ili. Richard Lemay, conversely, doubts the authenticity of these manuscripts but convincingly refutes Wüstenfeld's belief that Theorica planetarum and Astronomical Geomany are not Gerardian.(14) Given Gerard's ability, it seems plausible he produced at least some of the surviving commentaries on the works he translated and some "original works" as well.
Toledo in the twelfth century would have been a dynamic, fascinating milieu. Scholars from throughout Europe travelled there to learn, study and communicate with one another. The multi-cultural atmosphere of Toledo would have made it an exciting and interesting place to live and work. Along with the Christians who had control over the region, strong, coherent Muslim communities continued to co-exist there and were allowed to worship as they pleased. The Mudejares were Muslims who found themselves under Christian rule when Toledo was conquered in 1085.(15) The Mozarabs, meanwhile, were Arabized Christians who had fled Islamic Spain and settled in Christian Spain.(16) A large Jewish community was also in place in Toledo and contributed considerably to the intellectual culture.
One Mozarab, named Galippus, helped Gerard in his early translation of the Almagest which is thought to have been completed in 1175.(17) Most Latin scholars of this period did not work directly with the Arabic manuscripts because few of these translators knew the langauage. Instead, they would have the Arabic translated into the Spanish vernacular by an intermediary (often by converted trilingual Jews who knew Hebrew, Arabic and a romance language). From the vernacular (spoken audibly), the Christian scholar would then create a Latin translation.(18) It is not thought this was generally the case with Gerard, however. It is clear that he translated directly from the Arabic because of the sentence structure and phraseology he employed.
Much of what can be ascertained about Gerard is revealed in his life's work. Hints of Gerard's interests are revealed in the types of works he translated. Besides his interest in math, medicine and what today would be considered scientific astronomy, Gerard also dabbled in what moderns would consider astrology or perhaps even the occult. Gerard translated Al-Kindi's De somno et visione which "accepts clairvoyance and divination by dreams as true and asks why we see some things before they happen."(19) Gerard is also considered to be the author of Astronomical Geomancy which instructs the reader how to foretell the future about "everyday events" by charting the movements and alignments of the stars, planets and the moon.
Gerard's breadth is astonishing and it is significant to consider that in many cases he was the first European whose eyes gazed upon the ancient works which he translated. He was an immediate and unquestionable authority on many important Greek and Arabic works in the sciences. Indeed, Gerard probably wrote commentaries on the works he translated, made notes in the margins and even gave public lectures if Daniel of Morley is to be believed.
Much can also be learned about Gerard through the careful study of his Latin manuscript translations. They reveal an extremely competent and careful personality with an eye for detail and accuracy.(20) Anyone hoping to write the definitive biography of Gerard would be required to analyze the surviving manuscripts and discern his methods, approach, and linguistic leanings. Many scholars have studied his Latin manuscripts, but as of yet, no one has compared the Arabic against his Latin translations. Indeed, "this double task, advocated by Wüstenfeld in 1877, has not yet even been attempted."(21)
Gerard's influence is important not only because he produced first rate translations of important works. Just as significant is the impact his work made on the pivotal thinkers of the Middle Ages and Early Modern times. His translations began to be used as textbooks in the brand new universities founded in Europe.(22) By making these texts available to Europeans, he influenced countless generations of scholars as they attempted to develop a general cosmology and understanding of the sciences. Gerards' translation of Avicenna's (980-1037) enormous Canon is "perhaps the most widely read medical treatise ever penned, editions of which continued to be issued right down to the middle of the seventeenth century."(23)
It is not surprising that the rise of the university parallels Gerard's era of important translation activity. Universities in Salerno, Bologna and Paris began incorporating this "new" Greek and Arabic knowledge into their curriculum. Not surprisingly, not everything which was translated into Latin was immediately understood in Europe. After Gerard had translated Ptolemy's Almagest, "no one knew what to do with it. Parts of it could be understood but the mathematics was difficult and beyond the comprehension of most Western scholars."(24) In many cases, it was not until much later (the fourteenth century for the Almagest) that Western scholars fully comprehended the insights of the ancient masters.(25) It was then that the modern age had its start as the scientists, astronomers, physicians, and mathematicians began to truly make new discoveries and contributions in the scientific fields.
Some mention should be made of the specific scholars and subject areas which greatly benefitted from the Latin translations of Arabic and Greek works by Gerard. Gerard's impact was felt in many fields, but most immediately upon the work of the Scholastics and then, later, in the Renaissance.
Albertus Magnus (1206-1280), the "scholastic of the scholastics,"(26) systematized the whole of Aristotelian philosophy and was greatly indebted to Gerard's translation of Aristotle and the medical writings of Avicenna and Galen.(27) Albert's pupil, Thomas Aquinas (1227-1274), brought Aristotle under the rubric of Church ecclesiology through his philosophical and theological treatises.
The Franciscan Roger Bacon (1214-1294) relied heavily on Arabic thought and made important contributions in the fields of optics, astronomy, the natural sciences, chemistry and mathematics. Both the Scholastics and the scholars of the Renaissance period owed a great debt to Gerard because of his translation of Ibn al-Haitham's Kitab al-manazir, "the most important optical treatise of ancient and mediaeval times,"(28) which was written in Cairo before 1039. It first came into printed form in 1572 when Gerard's translation was included in Friedrich Risner's Opticae thesaurus.(29)
Copernicus (1473-1543), to Rome's dismay, revolutionized astronomy by placing the sun instead of the earth at the center of the universe. The astronomer knew Gerard's translation of Ptolemy's astronomical Almagest which was published in Venice in 1515.(30) Another important astronomical contribution was Gerard's translation of Arzachel's Toledan Tables. This work was the foreruner of a long list of efforts by European astronomers attempting to compute accurate tables of astrological predictions.(31) Gerard influenced the mathematicians by his translation of Archimedes' Measurement of the Circle which was used in Europe for several centuries.(32)
Gerard's most prolific work, however, was done in the field of medicine. He translated at least twenty-one medical writings including Ibn Sina's (Avicenna) Canon and al-Razi's Almansorius. "Consequently, his translations had an immeasurable impact upon Latin medicine of the Middle Ages, which profited greatly from the advanced state of medicine in medieval Islam."(33)
It is often difficult to quantify, in real terms, the importance of a person's work. Still, Gerard's contributions were phenomenal by any standard due to his being "the most prolific translator of scientific and philosophical works from Arabic in the Middle Ages."(34) The Muslims, who had known and preserved the ancient Greek works for generations, had developed and enhanced the work of the great masters. Indeed, the Muslim world had generated masters of its own including Avicenna and Jabir ibn Hayyan (d. 815?) who is credited with over 300 treatises on alchemy.(35)
It is difficult to measure the significance of introducing such knowledge to an intellectually impoverished Europe which was just beginning to develop the guilds which would soon blossom into universities. Richard Lemay notes that "Gerard's translations made a decisive contribution to the growth of medieval Latin science. The impact of his work was felt well into the early modern period."(36) Although the works of Aristotle and Arab philosophers were banned at the University of Paris in the early 1200's, Gerard's translations which concerned physical and cosmological teachings were accepted. Indeed,
The evolution of the university curriculum during the thirteenth and fourteenth ceunturies reveals the slow but sure penetration of many of Gerard's translations, which nourished the awakened interest in natural science until the end of the Middle Ages.(37)
As late as the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when the "new science" began to develop at Oxford, Paris, and Padua, some of Gerard's translations continued to be relied upon in the classrooms. Gerard's own Theorica planetarum was used as an introductory text in astronomy by students through the fifteenth century.(38)
It would be critical for Gerard's biographer to have a firm grasp of Latin in order to study and comprehend Gerard's work. If the biographer truly wanted to be comprehensive, this person should also have some background in Arabic. Comparing the Arabic texts with Gerard's could be extremely revealing, especially on a philological level. There are understandable reasons, however, why this task has never been attempted. One of the main problems is that few scholars today are sufficiently proficient in both Latin and Arabic to accomplish such a complicated feat. Additionally, there is always the difficulty of defining precisely which Arabic texts Gerard utilized since many were in existence and relatively few have survived. The biographer's most prudent course would probably be to study Gerard's surviving Latin translations which can be found in libraries throughout Europe.
The last major biography of Gerard was written almost 150 years ago.(39) A few efforts have been made at capturing the life and work of Gerard, but (given his importance) a serious gap remains in the literature. A new biography which tells the story of this fascinating figure who, in one sense, "educated Europe" is long overdue.
The remainder of this project (annotated biblio., MSS list, etc.) will appear on this page at a later time. IHD
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