David Kalonymus ben Jacob (David ben Jacob Meïr) was an Italian Jewish

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

of the fifteenth century, and a member of the

Kalonymus family Kalonymos or Kalonymus ( he, קָלוֹנִימוּס ''Qālōnīmūs'') is a prominent Jewish family who lived in Italy, mostly in Lucca and in Rome, which, after the settlement at Mainz and Speyer of several of its members, took during many gener ...

. He wrote in 1464 two astrological treatises, the smaller of which is on the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. He dedicated the latter work to King

Ferdinand I of Naples Ferdinando Trastámara d'Aragona, of the Naples branch, universally known as Ferrante and also called by his contemporaries Don Ferrando and Don Ferrante (2 June 1424, in Valencia – 25 January 1494, in Kingdom of Naples, Naples), was the only so ...

, and hoped thereby to obtain

religious liberty Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

for his coreligionists. In 1466 David translated from Latin into Hebrew an astronomical work of John of Gmünd, which he called ''Mar'ot ha-Kokabim'' (''"The Aspects of the Stars"''). The work is a description of an astronomical instrument which had been invented at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1417. He was invested by the king with an office, probably that of astrologer. In 1484 he wrote a philosophical treatise on the '' Destructio Destructionis'' of Averroes, which he addressed to his son Ḥayyim Kalonymus.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalonymus, David Year of birth missing 15th-century deaths Italian astrologers 15th-century Italian Jews Latin–Hebrew translators 15th-century astrologers