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John of Seville (Johannes Hispalensis)

يوحنّا الإشبيليّ

Notable figure fl. c. 1118–1142 · Source: Maureen Robinson, The Heritage of Medieval Errors in the Latin Manuscripts of Johannes Hispalensis (John of Seville), Al-Qanṭara 28/1 (2007), pp. 41–71 · Second source: José Antonio Fernández López, Libertad, determinismo e historia en Abraham ibn Daud, Pensamiento 78/298 (2022), pp. 313–314

Field: Translation

Affiliation

Translated Abu Ma'shar and al-Farghani from Arabic

Biography

Named after Seville, he was among the earliest translators from Arabic into Latin in the first Toledan generation, though it cannot be shown that he lived in Toledo. At least fifteen translations are his, among them Abu Ma'shar's Great Introduction (1133) and Book of Conjunctions, al-Farghani's Elements of astronomy (1135) and Qusta ibn Luqa on the difference between soul and spirit. His close, word-for-word manner was taken up by Gerard of Cremona. He knew both Arabic and Latin and worked alone; the sources do not say where he learned Arabic.