Gerard of Cremona(1114 — 1187)
Gerard of Cremona
Royaume d'Italie
5 min read
Gerard of Cremona was a 12th-century Italian translator, active in Toledo, who translated many Greek and Arabic scientific works from Arabic into Latin. He played a decisive role in transmitting ancient and Arabic knowledge to medieval Europe.
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born around 1114 in Cremona (Italy)
- Settled in Toledo to learn Arabic and gain access to scientific manuscripts
- Translated Ptolemy's Almagest from Arabic into Latin around 1175
- Said to have translated more than 70 works (astronomy, mathematics, medicine, philosophy)
- Died in 1187 in Toledo
Works & Achievements
Translation of the great Greek treatise on astronomy, transmitted through Arabic. It laid the foundation of scholarly astronomy in medieval Europe for several centuries.
Translation of the medical encyclopedia of Ibn Sina, which became the standard textbook in universities until the 17th century.
Translation of the great Greek treatise on geometry from an Arabic version. It nourished the teaching of mathematics in the Middle Ages.
Translations of Aristotle's scientific works from Arabic. They revived the study of natural philosophy in the West.
Translation of the founding treatise of Arabic algebra. It spread new methods of calculation among Latin scholars.
A collection of translations on medicine (Rhazes) and the natural sciences. They considerably enriched the Latin scholarly vocabulary.
Anecdotes
Gerard of Cremona is said to have come to Spain, to Toledo, in search of Ptolemy's *Almagest*, a work of astronomy unavailable in Latin. Amazed by the abundance of Arabic books he found there, he learned Arabic and decided to stay to translate these treasures of knowledge.
He is credited with translating more than 70 works, which probably makes him the most prolific translator of the Middle Ages. To carry out this colossal task, he surrounded himself with assistants, including Mozarabic or Jewish collaborators who were fluent in Arabic and helped him rough out the texts.
It was thanks to his translation of the *Almagest*, completed around 1175, that Ptolemy's astronomy was known to Latin Europe for centuries. Many scientific words of Arabic origin, kept as they were, entered our languages through his translations.
He also translated Avicenna's *Canon of Medicine*, which became the standard textbook in European universities until the 17th century. Generations of physicians thus studied from an Arabic text made accessible by his pen.
After his death in 1187, his students wrote a short biography accompanied by the list of his translations, so that his work would not fall into oblivion. It is largely thanks to this document that we know the extent of his work.
Primary Sources
Lest the name of so great a man remain unknown... his companions drew up the list of all the works he had translated, as is done for Saint Galen.
Translated from Arabic into Latin by Gerard of Cremona at Toledo, a work setting out the motion of the stars and the order of the celestial spheres.
Medicine is the science by which we know the states of the human body with respect to health and disease.
Key Places
City in Lombardy, in northern Italy, where Gerard was born around 1114. It gave him his name.
Former capital of learning in al-Andalus, reconquered in 1085, home to the great Arabic libraries. Gerard lived and worked here for most of his life.
The city's religious and intellectual center, where the canons and scholars of the school of translators gathered. Gerard is thought to have been connected to it as a cleric.
Christian kingdom of Spain that, after the Reconquista, fostered exchanges between Latin, Arabic, and Jewish cultures. The political setting of Gerard's work.
