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984: Some Letters by Gerbert d’Aurillac Dealing with “Arabic” Mathematics and Astrology: Difference between revisions
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984: Some Letters by Gerbert d’Aurillac Dealing with “Arabic” Mathematics and Astrology (view source)
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All three letters mention churchmen in Catalonia and document Gerbert’s efforts to receive access to mathematical and astronomical manuscripts from this region. The first letter (ep. 17 or 25), dated between February and March 984 by Lattin and to spring by Riché, was written to abbot Gerald of Aurillac. It mentions Warnerius (or Guarin), abbot of St Michel de Cuxá who was a close friend of Bishop Miró Bonfill of Girona (sed. 971-984). The latter was the son of Count Miro II of Cerdanya and Besalù (regn. 897/911-927) and the addressee of the second letter (ep. 25 or 33), dated March 984 by Lattin, March-April by Weigle and spring by Riché. Finally, the last letter (ep. 24 or 32), assigned to March 984 by Lattin, April by Riché, was sent to Lupitus of Barcelona (d. after 984), who has been identified with the archdeacon Seniofred of Barcelona.<ref name="ftn31">On this identification, see Lattin, Lupitus Barchinonensis, pp. 58-64; Lindgren, Gerbert von Aurillac und das Quadrivium (1971), pp. 178-180.</ref> | All three letters mention churchmen in Catalonia and document Gerbert’s efforts to receive access to mathematical and astronomical manuscripts from this region. The first letter (ep. 17 or 25), dated between February and March 984 by Lattin and to spring by Riché, was written to abbot Gerald of Aurillac. It mentions Warnerius (or Guarin), abbot of St Michel de Cuxá who was a close friend of Bishop Miró Bonfill of Girona (sed. 971-984). The latter was the son of Count Miro II of Cerdanya and Besalù (regn. 897/911-927) and the addressee of the second letter (ep. 25 or 33), dated March 984 by Lattin, March-April by Weigle and spring by Riché. Finally, the last letter (ep. 24 or 32), assigned to March 984 by Lattin, April by Riché, was sent to Lupitus of Barcelona (d. after 984), who has been identified with the archdeacon Seniofred of Barcelona.<ref name="ftn31">On this identification, see Lattin, Lupitus Barchinonensis, pp. 58-64; Lindgren, Gerbert von Aurillac und das Quadrivium (1971), pp. 178-180.</ref> | ||
The first two letters (nos. 17 or 25 and 25 or 33) mention an arithmetic treatise “On Multiplication and the Division of Numbers” (''De multiplicatione et divisione numerorum'')'' ''attributed to a certain “Joseph the Spaniard” (''Joseph Ispanus'') or “Joseph the wise” (''Joseph sapiens''). The third letter (no. 24 or 32) to Lupitus of Barcelona mentions a treatise on astrology (''librum de astrologia''), to be understood here as a book of astronomical content. Its authorship is unclear, but Gerbert explains that Lupitus had “translated” this work in one way or another (''translatum a te''). The past participle of the Latin verb ''transferre'' does not automatically imply a translation from one language to another. Both in ancient and medieval Latin, the verb can also mean “to copy”, “to transcribe,” or simply to “transfer.”<ref name="ftn32">See | The first two letters (nos. 17 or 25 and 25 or 33) mention an arithmetic treatise “On Multiplication and the Division of Numbers” (''De multiplicatione et divisione numerorum'')'' ''attributed to a certain “Joseph the Spaniard” (''Joseph Ispanus'') or “Joseph the wise” (''Joseph sapiens''). The third letter (no. 24 or 32) to Lupitus of Barcelona mentions a treatise on astrology (''librum de astrologia''), to be understood here as a book of astronomical content. Its authorship is unclear, but Gerbert explains that Lupitus had “translated” this work in one way or another (''translatum a te''). The past participle of the Latin verb ''transferre'' does not automatically imply a translation from one language to another. Both in ancient and medieval Latin, the verb can also mean “to copy”, “to transcribe,” or simply to “transfer.”<ref name="ftn32">See http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=translatum&la=la#lexicon; http://ducange.enc.sorbonne.fr/TRANSFERSIO; http://ducange.enc.sorbonne.fr/TRANSFERITOR; https://archive.org/details/JanFrederikNiermeyerMediaeLatinitatisLexicobOk.org/page/n1151/mode/1up.</ref> However, the use of this verb does not exclude a translation, e.g. from Arabic to Latin, at the hands of Lupitus either. This has led some scholars to claim that Gerbert’s letter to Lupitus documents one of the earliest translations of a scholarly work from Arabic to Latin. Others, more cautious in identifying a proper translation, have nonetheless taken these excerpts either as the proof or as the starting point for a more intensive investigation of Arabic influences on the study of mathematics and astronomy in the Latin West.<ref name="ftn33">E.g. Darlington, Gerbert, p. 461; Chandler, ''Charlemagne's Last March'', pp.'' ''169-174; Stock, Science, Technology, p. 37; Hugonnard-Roche, Influence of Arabic Astronomy, p. 288.</ref> | ||
==Contextualization, Analysis & Interpretation== | ==Contextualization, Analysis & Interpretation== | ||