Yehuda ben Moshe ha-Kohen lived during the 13th century and became the personal physician of King

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Ger ...

. He also excelled as an

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and was a prominent translator and writer at the

Toledo School of Translators The Toledo School of Translators ( es, Escuela de Traductores de Toledo) is the group of scholars who worked together in the city of Toledo during the 12th and 13th centuries, to translate many of the Judeo-Islamic philosophies and scientific w ...

where he translated important

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

works from

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

into Castilian. He was the

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

of the Synagogue of Toledo, and one of the most influential personalities of the Jewish community in the city at that time.

Works

As a member of the School of Translators he helped Alvaro de Oviedo translate the version of Ibn Aben Ragel's ''Liber de Judiciis Astrologiae'' (''Libro conplido en los iudizios de las estrellas''), a treatise on judicial astrology that was used by Edigio de Tebladis de Parma and Pietro de Reggio. He also translated the '' Lapidario'', helped by the Christian Garci Pérez, and the famous Alfonsine tables, compiled by Isaac ibn Sid, that provided data for computing the position of the Sun, Moon and planets relative to the fixed stars.Vegas Gonzalez, Serafín, ''La Escuela de Traductores de Toledo en la Historia del pensamiento'', Toledo, Ayuntamiento de Toledo, 1998 Other works attributed to him are the ''Tratado de la açafeha'' into Latin, ''Tetrabiblon or Quatriparito'' (

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

), 15 treatises on astrology (effects of stars on man and properties of 360 stones with which to ward off negative astral influences), the ''IIII libros de las estrellas de la ochaua espera'', the ''Libro de las cruces'' and the ''Libros del saber de Astronomía''.

Mission to Portugal

The Crown Prince of Portugal, Denis of Portugal, had fallen ill with no physician being able to diagnose his malady. The king's priest had convinced the King that he was being punished by God for employing Jewish officials in his government. As a result, it was feared that both Christian kingdoms of Portugal and Spain, which were on the verge of forming an alliance, would change their attitude towards the Jews and would decree their expulsion. Legend has it that Yehuda ben Moshe decided to take the initiative and traveled to Portugal, where he gained access to the patient and came to the conclusion that the ailing prince was suffering from a blood-clot. Yehuda performed a very difficult operation that turned out successfully, saving the life of the Prince. In this way, he succeeded in counteracting the threatened deportation of Jews from Spain and Portugal.

References

External links

Rabbi Yehuda Ben Moshe HaKohen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yehuda Ben Moshe 13th-century Castilian Jews Medieval Jewish physicians of Spain Medieval Jewish astronomers Medieval Spanish astronomers Spanish translators Arabic–Latin translators Arabic–Spanish translators Hebrew–Spanish translators 13th-century translators 13th-century physicians 13th-century astronomers Court physicians

Works

Mission to Portugal

See also

References

External links