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Article - John of Seville Lmefford (talk) 12:14, 11 October 2019 (UTC)[edit]

John of Seville (Latin: Johannes Hispalensis or Johannes Hispaniensis) (fl. 1133-53) was one of the main translators from Arabic into Castilian in partnership with Dominicus Gundissalinus during the early days of the Toledo School of Translators. John is most notably known for his translation of a litany of Arabic astrological works, and in addition he is also credited with the production of several original works in Latin.[1][2]

Life and Context[edit]

John of Seville was a baptized Jew, whose Jewish name (now unknown) has been corrupted into "Avendeut", "Avendehut", "Avendar" or "Aven Daud". This evolved into the middle name "David", so that, as a native of Toledo, he is frequently referred to as Johannes (David) Toletanus. Some historians argue that in fact there were two different persons with a similar name, one as Juan Hispano (Ibn Dawud) and other as Juan Hispalense, this last one perhaps working at Galician Limia (Ourense), for he signed himself as "Johannes Hispalensis atque Limiensis", during the Reconquista, the Christian campaign to regain the Iberian Peninsula. Though his precise birthdate and death date remain unknown, he is known to have flourished in his work from 1133 to 1153. [3][4]

Translated and Original Works[edit]

Since John of Seville had gone by multiple names throughout his lifetime, it is often debated by historians as to which translations of this time period were actually his.[5] The topics of his translated works were mainly astrological, astronomical, philosophical and medical.[4] John’s particular style of translation is recognized by scholars due to his proclivity to translate works, word for word, while continuing to maintain the original languages syntax and grammatical structure.[6]

Astrological and Astronomical[edit]


John of Seville translated Al-Farghani's Kitab Usul 'ilm al-nujum(Book on the Elements of the Science of Astronomy) into Latin in 1135 ('era MCLXXIII')under the revised title of (The Rudiments of Astronomy),[7][8] as well as translating the Arab astrologer Albohali's "Book of Birth" into Latin in 1153.[9] He also translated Kitāb taḥāwīl sinī al-‘ālam by Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi into Latin.[10] More notable works of John of Seville include the translations of a manuscript in the library of St. Marks, the Greater Introduction of Albumasar, a work of his own titled Epitome artis astrologiae, and the engraved written work of Thebit.[1]

Medical and Alchemy[edit]

At least three of his translations, a short version of the Secretum Secretorum dedicated to a Queen Tarasia, a tract on gout offered to one of the Popes Gregory, and the original version of the 9th century Arabic philosopher Qusta ibn Luqa's De differentia spiritus et animae, were medical translations intermixed with alchemy in the Hispano-Arabic tradition.[11] Another notable work translated by John of Seville from arabic is the Emerald Tablet, an alchemical work of the Hermetic tradition that is originally credited to Hermes Trismeguistus himself, it was said to contain many alchemical secrets.[12]

Philosophical[edit]

In his Book of Algorithms on Practical Arithmetic, John of Seville provides one of the earliest known descriptions of Indian positional notation, whose introduction to Europe is usually associated with the book Liber Abaci by Fibonacci:

“A number is a collection of units, and because the collection is infinite (for multiplication can continue indefinitely), the Indians ingeniously enclosed this infinite multiplicity within certain rules and limits so that infinity could be scientifically defined; these strict rules enabled them to pin down this subtle concept.”

John of Seville is also credited with working in collaboration with Dominicus Gundissalinus and Jewish philosopher Abraham Ibn Daud to translate the De anima of Avicenna, a philosophical commentary on Aristotle's writings.[13][1] It is speculated that the written work of Zael, titled Liber temporum, may have been translated by John of Seville. However, the name of the translator was never mentioned in the manuscript so it remains uncertain.


Peer Review by DustyHC (talk) 15:42, 18 October 2019 (UTC)[edit]

John Seville What does the draft do well? The draft adds a lot of valuable information on John and his works. Suggestions. I suggest using different paragraphs/sections for original works, known translations, and speculated translations, in order to make it more clear. I would also like to know where he was doing a majority of his work. Most important suggestion. I would suggest re organizing the translations and original works to make it more clear.

DustyHC DustyHC (talk) 15:42, 18 October 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review Response[edit]

Referring to the location of work suggestion, the location of his work is mentioned for a few of his translations but it is unknown for the rest of them. We do plan on reorganizing his original works into bullet point sections.

Peer review by Lds7ht (talk) 15:45, 18 October 2019 (UTC)[edit]

   What’s Good

       I like that you are including his original works. However I think it could be its own section

   Follow their lead

       John’s particular style of translation is recognized by scholars due to his proclivity to translate works, word for word, while continuing to maintain the original languages syntax and grammatical structure.

   This is a good bit of info but I don’t think it belongs in the intro.

   Clear structure

       “The topics of his translated works were mainly astrological and astronomical, philosophical and medical. “

       Right now the “translated and original works” is one large paragraph. You could add subtitles based on this part of the article Lds7ht (talk) 15:45, 18 October 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review Response[edit]

The suggestion to move the added sentence from the intro will be taken into account. Once again, we will be reorganizing the original works page to similar sections as the ones suggested. We will also be making grammatical changes to add clarity to the article.

Peer Review by Mtv52 (talk) 15:49, 18 October 2019 (UTC)[edit]

The draft adds quite a bit and includes a multitude of new sources. The link to Dominicus Gundissalinus goes to the mobile wikipedia cite, which is an easy fix. The second heading of the article cites his original works as well as his translated works, but no mention to his original latin works are made in it besides a sentence at the start of the article. Adding what information can be found about his original latin works would probably be most important. Also I’m not sure about referring to him by his full name throughout the entire article, maybe just referring to him as John (like was done in the heading) or try to use him/his pronouns. Mtv52 (talk) 15:49, 18 October 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review Response[edit]

The suggestion to fix the Dominicus Gundissalinus link was a great find and will be fixed soon. We will be mentioning the original latin works throughout his original works page. Lastly, we will be taking into account the suggestion to abbreviate his name to just "John" rather that his extended name "John of Seville."

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Thorndike, Lynn (1959-1). "John of Seville". Speculum. 34 (1): 20–38. doi:10.2307/2847976. ISSN 0038-7134. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Lindberg, David C. (2007). The beginnings of western science : the European scientific tradition in philosophical, religious, and institutional context, prehistory to A.D. 1450 (2nd ed ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226482057. OCLC 156874785. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  3. ^ Lindberg, David C. (2007). The beginnings of western science : the European scientific tradition in philosophical, religious, and institutional context, prehistory to A.D. 1450 (2nd ed ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226482057. OCLC 156874785. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ a b Jewish Encyclopedia. "Johannes Hispalensis". Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  5. ^ Robinson, Maureen. (2007). The Heritage of Medieval Errors in the Latin Manuscripts of Johannes Hispalensis (John of Seville). al-Qanṭara. 28.
  6. ^ Thorndike, Lynn (1959-1). "John of Seville". Speculum. 34 (1): 20–38. doi:10.2307/2847976. ISSN 0038-7134. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Lindberg, David C. (2007). The beginnings of western science : the European scientific tradition in philosophical, religious, and institutional context, prehistory to A.D. 1450 (2nd ed ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226482057. OCLC 156874785. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  8. ^ Astronomy, astrology, observatories and calendars, A. Akmedov, History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. 4, Part 2 ed. Clifford Edmund Bosworth, M.S.Asimov, (Motilal Banarsidass, 2000), 198.
  9. ^ Houtsma, p.875
  10. ^ "Flowers of Abu Ma'shar". World Digital Library. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  11. ^ Goulding, Robert. Speculum, vol. 82, no. 2, 2007, pp. 494–495. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20464144.
  12. ^ The emerald tablet of Hermes. Hermes, Trismegistus. [United States]. ISBN 9781609422325. OCLC 965551903.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. ^ Gutas, Dimitri (2016), Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), "Ibn Sina [Avicenna]", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2016 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2019-10-04

External links[edit]


Category:Arabic–Latin translators Category:12th-century people from León and Castile Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Year of death unknown Category:Arabic–Spanish translators Category:Spanish translators Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Category:12th-century translators

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