Kalonymus ben Kalonymus
Encyclopedia
Kalonymus ben Kalonymus ben Meir (Arles
, 1286 – died after 1328) was a Provençal Jewish philosopher and translator. He studied philosophy and rabbinical literature at Salonica, under the direction of Senior Astruc de Noves and Moses ben Solomon of Beaucaire. He also studied medicine, although he seems never to have practised it.
He was from a prominent and distinguished Provençal Jewish family. The father of Kalonymus and Kalonymus himself each bore the title "Nasi
" (president).
, where he later became associated with Robert of Anjou, who sent him, provided with letters of recommendation, on a scientific mission to Rome. Kalonymus's learning and character gained for him the consideration of the Roman Jewish notables; and when his family, finding that his sojourn at Rome was longer than had been anticipated, recalled him, the poet Immanuel ben Solomon of Rome wrote a letter to Nasi Samuel of Arles, protesting in the name of the Jewish community of Rome against Kalonymus' return ("Maḥberot," p. 23). According to Steinschneider and Gross, Kalonymus was the poet referred to by Immanuel (ib. p. 28) as having pleaded the cause of the Roman Jews before the pope at Avignon in 1321. But this assertion needs confirmation, inasmuch as the exact dates of Kalonymus' stay in Rome can not be ascertained. Heinrich Graetz
and Adolf Neubauer
believe that Kalonymus went to Rome after his sojourn in Catalonia, which was in 1322; and the fact that he does not mention Rome in his "Eben Boḥan" confirms their supposition. In 1328 Kalonymus was in Arles, where he probably remained until his death, the exact date of which is unknown.
Kalonymus' original works are as follows:
A great number of works have been wrongly attributed to Kalonymus ben Kalonymus.
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
, 1286 – died after 1328) was a Provençal Jewish philosopher and translator. He studied philosophy and rabbinical literature at Salonica, under the direction of Senior Astruc de Noves and Moses ben Solomon of Beaucaire. He also studied medicine, although he seems never to have practised it.
He was from a prominent and distinguished Provençal Jewish family. The father of Kalonymus and Kalonymus himself each bore the title "Nasi
Nasi
Nāśī’ is a Hebrew title meaning prince in Biblical Hebrew, Prince in Mishnaic Hebrew, or president in Modern Hebrew.-Genesis and Ancient Israel:...
" (president).
At Rome
About 1314 Kalonymus settled at AvignonAvignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, where he later became associated with Robert of Anjou, who sent him, provided with letters of recommendation, on a scientific mission to Rome. Kalonymus's learning and character gained for him the consideration of the Roman Jewish notables; and when his family, finding that his sojourn at Rome was longer than had been anticipated, recalled him, the poet Immanuel ben Solomon of Rome wrote a letter to Nasi Samuel of Arles, protesting in the name of the Jewish community of Rome against Kalonymus' return ("Maḥberot," p. 23). According to Steinschneider and Gross, Kalonymus was the poet referred to by Immanuel (ib. p. 28) as having pleaded the cause of the Roman Jews before the pope at Avignon in 1321. But this assertion needs confirmation, inasmuch as the exact dates of Kalonymus' stay in Rome can not be ascertained. Heinrich Graetz
Heinrich Graetz
Heinrich Graetz was amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective....
and Adolf Neubauer
Adolf Neubauer
Adolf Neubauer was sublibrarian at the Bodleian Library and reader in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University....
believe that Kalonymus went to Rome after his sojourn in Catalonia, which was in 1322; and the fact that he does not mention Rome in his "Eben Boḥan" confirms their supposition. In 1328 Kalonymus was in Arles, where he probably remained until his death, the exact date of which is unknown.
Works
Kalonymus acquired a high reputation both as an original writer and as a translator. He began his literary career when only twenty years old. His translations, which, with the exception of one that was printed, are all still in manuscript, include the following (arranged in chronological order, the Hebrew titles being those of the translations):- Ha-'Ammud be-Shoroshe ha-Refuah, translation of the Arabic work Kitab al-'Imad fl Uṣul al-Ṭibb of Ali ibn RidwanAli ibn RidwanAbu'l Hasan Ali ibn Ridwan Al-Misri was an Egyptian Muslim physician, astrologer and astronomer, born in Giza.He was a commentator on ancient Greek medicine, and in particular on Galen; his commentary on Galen's Ars Parva was translated by Gerardo Cremonese...
. This translation, completed at Arles Oct. 10, 1307, was the second made by Kalonymus, the first having been lost in 1306 during the banishment of the Jews from France. - Sefer Galyanus be-Ḥaḳna ube-Kulga, GalenGalenAelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
's work on clysters and colic, from the Arabic version of Hunayn ibn IshaqHunayn ibn IshaqHunayn ibn Ishaq was a famous and influential Assyrian Nestorian Christian scholar, physician, and scientist, known for his work in translating Greek scientific and medical works into Arabic and Syriac during the heyday of the Islamic Abbasid Caliphate.Ḥunayn ibn Isḥaq was the most productive...
. - Sefer Galyanus be-Haḳḳazah, Galen's work on bleeding, probably made from the Arabic version of Hunayn ibn Ishaq.
- Treatise on the five geometrical bodies by EuclidEuclidEuclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...
, in relation to the theory of Apollonius of PergaApollonius of PergaApollonius of Perga [Pergaeus] was a Greek geometer and astronomer noted for his writings on conic sections. His innovative methodology and terminology, especially in the field of conics, influenced many later scholars including Ptolemy, Francesco Maurolico, Isaac Newton, and René Descartes...
, and the commentary of Simplicius of CiliciaSimplicius of CiliciaSimplicius of Cilicia, was a disciple of Ammonius Hermiae and Damascius, and was one of the last of the Neoplatonists. He was among the pagan philosophers persecuted by Justinian in the early 6th century, and was forced for a time to seek refuge in the Persian court, before being allowed back into...
. - Ha-Dibbur ha-Meshullash, treatise on the triangle, by Abu Sa'adan.
- Sefer Meshalim be-Tishboret, on mathematical propositions.
- Sefer ha-Temunah ha-Ḥittukit, a work on geometry, entitled Fi al-Shakl al-Ḳuṭṭa, by Thabit ibn QurraThabit ibn Qurra' was a mathematician, physician, astronomer and translator of the Islamic Golden Age.Ibn Qurra made important discoveries in algebra, geometry and astronomy...
. - Ma'amar be-Iẓṭawwonot ube-Ḥiddudim, treatise on cylinders and cones.
- Bi'ur Sefer Ṭobiḳi, AverroesAverroes' , better known just as Ibn Rushd , and in European literature as Averroes , was a Muslim polymath; a master of Aristotelian philosophy, Islamic philosophy, Islamic theology, Maliki law and jurisprudence, logic, psychology, politics, Arabic music theory, and the sciences of medicine, astronomy,...
's commentary on the topics. - Bi'ur Sufisṭiḳi, Averroes' commentary on sophisms.
- Bi'ur Sefer ha-Mofet, Averroes' large commentary on the second analytics.
- Sefer ha-Ẓemaḥim, treatise on the plants, attributed to Aristotle, with the commentary thereon by Averroes.
- Ma'amar be-Sekel weha-Muskal, treatise on the intellect and the intelligible, by Al-FarabiAl-Farabi' known in the West as Alpharabius , was a scientist and philosopher of the Islamic world...
. - Ma'amar be-Mispar ha-Ḥokmot, on the division of the sciences, by Al-Farabi.
- Sefer ha-Peri ha-Niḳra Meah Dibburim, commentary on the KαρπόςCentiloquiumThe Centiloquium , also called Ptolemy's Centiloquium, is a collection of one hundred aphorisms about astrology and astrological rules...
of (Pseudo-)Ptolemy, translated from the Arabic version of Abu Ja'far Aḥmad ben Yusuf ben Ibrahim. - Iggeret be-Ḳiẓẓur ha-Ma'amar be-Moladot, short treatise on nativities, by Al-KindiAl-Kindi' , known as "the Philosopher of the Arabs", was a Muslim Arab philosopher, mathematician, physician, and musician. Al-Kindi was the first of the Muslim peripatetic philosophers, and is unanimously hailed as the "father of Islamic or Arabic philosophy" for his synthesis, adaptation and promotion...
. - Iggeret be-'Illot, treatise on the influence of the heavenly bodies on rain, by Al-Kindi.
- The middle commentary of Averroes on physics.
- Sefer ha-Hawayh weha-Hippased, Averroes' middle commentary on generation and corruption.
- Sefer Otot ha-Shamayim, Averroes' middle commentary on meteors.
- Iggeret Ba'ale Ḥayyim, ("Treatise on Animals"), translated from the twenty-first treatise of the encyclopedia of the Brethren of Sincerity, published in 1557 at Mantua, and in 1704 at Frankfort-on-the-Main. This translation was rendered into Judæo-German by Enoch ben Ẓebi (Hanover, 1718) and into German, under the title Abhandlung über die Thiere, by Julius Landsberger (Darmstadt, 1882).
- Sefer Mah-she-aḥar ha-Ṭeba' , Averroes' middle commentary on metaphysics.
- Treatise on arithmetic by Nicomachus of Gerasa, accompanied by a commentary of Abu Sulaiman Rabiya ibn Yaḥya.
- Be-'Inyane ha-Kokabim ha-Nebukim, translation of Ptolemy's treatise on the planets.
- Sefer Arshmidah, ArchimedesArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an...
's treatise on the sphere and the cylinder, translated from the Arabic version of Costa ibn Luḳah. - Iggeret be-Laḥiyt ube-Maṭar, Al-Kindi's treatise on humidity and rain.
- Averroes' dissertations on the first book of the Prior AnalyticsPrior AnalyticsThe Prior Analytics is Aristotle's work on deductive reasoning, specifically the syllogism. It is also part of his Organon, which is the instrument or manual of logical and scientific methods....
. - Iggeret be-Siddur Ḳeri'at ha-Ḥokmot, Al-Farabi's treatise on the method of studying philosophy.
- Destructio Destructionis, a Latin translation from the Arabic Tahafut al-Tahafut ("The Incoherence of the IncoherenceThe Incoherence of the IncoherenceThe Incoherence of the Incoherence by Andalusian Muslim polymath and philosopher Ibn Rushd is an important Islamic philosophical treatise, in which the author defends the use of Aristotelian philosophy within Islamic thought.It was written in the style of a dialogue against Al-Ghazali's claims...
") written by Averroes against Al-GhazaliAl-GhazaliAbu Hāmed Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-Ghazzālī , known as Algazel to the western medieval world, born and died in Tus, in the Khorasan province of Persia was a Persian Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic....
.
Kalonymus' original works are as follows:
- An answer in Hebrew addressed to En Bonafoux ibn Caspi, in opposition to the latter's Ḳundreṣim (Quinterniones). The answer refers chiefly to Ibn Caspi's work on the Bible, entitled Ṭirat Kesef, or Sefer ha-Sod. After having paid homage to the talent and learning of Caspi, Kalonymus criticizes the book, in which he claims to have detected many errors. He states that in any case, even if the work were perfect, it ought not to have been published, on account of its disrespectful treatment of Biblical personages. The answer was published by PerlesPerlesPerles may refer to*Perles is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardie in northern France.*Perles is also the French name for Pieterlen, in Switzerland*Joseph Perles , a rabbi...
under the title Kalonymos ben Kalonymos Sendschreiben an Joseph Caspi (Munich, 1879). - Sefer Melakim, a treatise on arithmetic, geometry, and astrology, of which only a fragment has been discovered by Steinschneider (Munich MS. No. 290). This treatise was composed at the request of a "great king," whom Steinschneider believes to have been Robert of Anjou.
- Eben Boḥan, an ethical treatise composed in the year 1322. The treatise is written in cadenced prose, imitating, though with less elegance, the style of Jedaiah Bedersi in his Beḥinat 'Olam. The author intended in the Eben Boḥan to show the perversities of his contemporaries, as well as his own. He passes in review all the social positions of which men are proud, and proves their vanity. At the end he enumerates the sufferings of Israel and expresses the hope that God will have pity on His people who, in three years—1319-22, during which time the Eben Boḥan was written—had suffered persecution at the hands of the shepherds and of the leprous, besides an auto da féAuto Da FeAuto Da Fe were an Irish new wave musical group formed in Holland in 1980 by former Steeleye Span singer Gay Woods and Trevor Knight. The band's sound incorporated keyboards and electronics. Woods stated "It was the happiest musical time I ever had so far. I learned so much. I was ridding myself...
of the Talmud at Toulouse. The Eben Boḥan was first published at Naples in 1489, and passed through many editions. It was twice translated into German, first by Moses Eisenstadt, or, according to Zedner, by Katzenellenbogen (Sulzbach, 1705), and then in cadenced prose by W. Meisel (Budapest, 1878). - Masseket Purim, a parody for the Feast of PurimPurimPurim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...
, written at Rome. Caricaturing the rabbinical style of argument, the author humorously criticizes every one, not excluding himself. Later this kind of parody found many imitators. The Masseket Purim was first published at Pesaro (1507–20).
A great number of works have been wrongly attributed to Kalonymus ben Kalonymus.