Herman of Carinthia
Encyclopedia
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
, astrologer
Astrologer
An astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...
, mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, translator and author.
Among Adelard of Bath
Adelard of Bath
Adelard of Bath was a 12th century English scholar. He is known both for his original works and for translating many important Greek and Arabic scientific works of astrology, astronomy, philosophy and mathematics into Latin from Arabic versions, which were then introduced to Western Europe...
, John of Seville
John of Seville
John of Seville was the main translator from Arabic into Castilian together with Dominicus Gundissalinus during the early days of the Toledo School of Translators....
, Gerard of Cremona
Gerard of Cremona
Gerard of Cremona was an Italian translator of Arabic scientific works found in the abandoned Arab libraries of Toledo, Spain....
(1114–1187) and Plato of Tivoli (1134–1145) Herman is the most important translator of Arabic astronomical works in 12th century and populariser of Arabic culture in Europe. The influence of his translations on the development of medieval European astronomy was especially large.
Life
In his own account he was born in "central IstriaIstria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
" circa 1100, then part of the Duchy of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
. He died circa 1160.
Most likely he went to a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monastic school in Istria. He went on to study in France. It was probably in France that Herman's attention was drawn to the classical texts which were becoming available via Arabic sources. This was before the time of the first university in France, but at Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
he attended one of the cathedral schools which were the predecessors of universities and he also studied in Paris in the 1130s.
The teachers at Chartres included Thierry of Chartres
Thierry of Chartres
Thierry of Chartres or Theodoric the Breton was a twelfth-century philosopher working at Chartres and Paris, France....
to whom Herman was to dedicate a translation in 1143. The school of Chartres
School of Chartres
During the High Middle Ages, Chartres Cathedral operated a famous and influential cathedral school, an important center of scholarship. It developed and reached its apex in the 11th and 12th centuries...
was known for its interests in Christian platonism and the natural sciences.
One of Herman's fellow students in France was Robert of Ketton
Robert of Ketton
Robert of Ketton was an English medieval theologian, astronomer and Arabist.Ketton, where Robert was either born or perhaps first took holy orders, is a small village in Rutland, a few miles from Stamford.Robert is believed to have been educated at the Cathedral School of Paris...
with whom he travelled for four years in the Eastern Mediterranean. Both men became translators from the Arabic. At Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
and Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
Herman took note of the Arabic science of that period. Circa 1138 he returned to Europe, and was active as a scholar in Spain (an important country for translations from the Arabic) and southern France. A huge part of his work remained anonymous.
Translation of Qur'an and other Islamic works
In 1142 Herman was in Spain and became involved in an important project to translate Islamic texts.Peter the Venerable
Peter the Venerable
Peter the Venerable , also known as Peter of Montboissier, abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny, born to Blessed Raingarde in Auvergne, France. He has been honored as a saint but has never been formally canonized.-Life:Peter was "Dedicated to God" at birth and given to the monastery at...
recruited a team, including Herman, to translate five texts about Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
into Latin. Different members of the team appear to have concentrated on different works, and Herman is credited as the main translator of two of them: De generatione Muhamet et nutritura eius and Doctrina Muhamet.
The most significant translation in the collection was that of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. This was entitled Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete
Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete
Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete is the translation of the Qur'an into Latin by Robert of Ketton...
and was the first known translation of the Qur'an into a European language. Robert of Ketton was its principal translator, according to most sources (including the Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete itself). However, Herman may have had some input, given the team nature of the project.
Despite being an imperfect translation, Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete remained the standard one for centuries, circulating in manuscript before being printed in the 1543 edition published in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
by Theodor Bibliander. In this edition both Herman's above-mentioned translations of treatises about Islam appeared together with a preface by Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
.
Translations of the classics
- Euclid – Euclidis geometria (Elementa). Herman translated Euclid's ElementsEuclid's ElementsEuclid's Elements is a mathematical and geometric treatise consisting of 13 books written by the Greek mathematician Euclid in Alexandria c. 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulates , propositions , and mathematical proofs of the propositions...
around 1140, possibly in collaboration with Robert of Ketton. (There were also other twelfth century translations).
- Ptolemy – the Latin translation of Claudius PtolemyPtolemyClaudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
's work PlanisphaeriumPlanisphaeriumThe Planisphaerium is a work by Ptolemy. The title can be translated as "celestial plane" or "star chart". In this work Ptolemy explored the mathematics of mapping figures inscribed in the celestial sphere onto a plane by what is now known as stereographic projection...
is a significant work which was produced in ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
in 1143.
Herman translated it from an Arabic translation from the Greek (jointly with commentaries of Maslamah Ibn Ahmad al-Majriti
Maslamah Ibn Ahmad al-Majriti
Maslama al-Majriti or Abu al-Qasim al-Qurtubi al-Majriti was a Muslim astronomer, chemist, mathematician, economist and Scholar in Islamic Spain...
, who worked in Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
in the 10th century). Western European scholastics
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
became aware of Ptolemy's astronomical views via this translation dedicated to Thierry of Chartres. (This translation was for a long time believed to be the only surviving link to Ptolemy's original. Later another Arabic translation was found to have been preserved in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
).
Herman also translated Ptolemy's Canon (Canon of Kings
Canon of Kings
The Canon of Kings was a dated list of kings used by ancient astronomers as a convenient means to date astronomical phenomena, such as eclipses. The Canon was preserved by the astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, and is thus sometimes called Ptolemy's Canon. It is one of the most important bases for our...
). For long many thought that Ptolemy was translated by German Herman Contractus and not by Herman of Carinthia.
Astrology and astronomy
Herman's first known translation was the sixth book of an astrological treatise Liber sextus astronomie by the Jewish writer Sahl ibn BishrSahl ibn Bishr
Sahl ibn Bishr al-Israili, often known as Zahel or Zael was a Jewish astrologer, astronomer and mathematician from Tabaristan. He was the father of Ali ibn Sahl the famous scientist and physician, who became a convert to Islam.- His works :...
. It was released in Spain in 1138 under the title Zaelis fatidica (Prophesy). Sahl ibn Bishr had been writing in the Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
astrological tradition. Ibn Bishr's first five books were preserved in the translation of John of Seville
John of Seville
John of Seville was the main translator from Arabic into Castilian together with Dominicus Gundissalinus during the early days of the Toledo School of Translators....
(Johannes Hispanus) (circa 1090 – circa 1150). The sixth book deals with three thematic topics regarding the influences on the world and its inhabitants. The work contains divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
s based on the movements of the planets and comets.
Circa 1140 Herman translated into Latin the astronomical work of Abu Ma'shar Kitab al-madkhal ila ilm ahkam al nujum (Introduction to Astronomy). The work contains problems from Greek philosophy, Arabic astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and Eastern astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, and was first translated into Latin by John of Seville in 1133. Herman's less literal translation was published several times under the title Liber introductorius in astronomiam Albumasaris, Abalachii (Augusta Vindelicorum, Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
1489; Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
1495 and 1506). A large part of Herman's translation was copied into Roger of Hereford
Roger of Hereford
Roger of Hereford was a medieval astronomer active at Hereford in the period 1178 to 1198.Nothing is known of Roger's nationality or when he was born nor of his education...
's Book of Astronomical Judgements.
Herman produced a version of Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Ḵwārizmī's astronomical tables (zij) – they were also translated in 1126 by Adelard of Bath
Adelard of Bath
Adelard of Bath was a 12th century English scholar. He is known both for his original works and for translating many important Greek and Arabic scientific works of astrology, astronomy, philosophy and mathematics into Latin from Arabic versions, which were then introduced to Western Europe...
(1075–1164).
Charles Burnett (2001) postulates that Herman collaborated with Robert of Ketton and Hugo of Santalla
Hugo of Santalla
Hugo of Santalla was a significant translator of the first part of the 12th century. From Arabic originals, he produced Latin translations of texts on alchemy, astronomy, astrology and geomancy.He is thought to have been a Spanish priest, working in Tarazona...
on the Liber novem iudicum (the Book of Nine Judges), a collection of translations of Arabic astrologers, notably al-Kindi
Al-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...
. Their project may have been to supplant the current superstitious Latin astrology with Arabic astronomical science. Arabic texts cite often Hermes
Hermes
Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...
as an authority. Burnett postulates that Renaissance magi merely continued this Hermetic tradition begun by Herman, Robert and Hugh. Herman shares technical terminology with Hugh and a penchant for evocation of the Ascpelius, most notably in De essentiis (see below)
Original contributions
His original contribution to philosophy was De essentiis (On essences). In this work Herman deals with five AristotelianAristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
categories (causa, motus
Motion (physics)
In physics, motion is a change in position of an object with respect to time. Change in action is the result of an unbalanced force. Motion is typically described in terms of velocity, acceleration, displacement and time . An object's velocity cannot change unless it is acted upon by a force, as...
, spatium
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
, tempus
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, habitudo
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
). He started to write this treatise in 1143 in Toulouse and he completed it the same year in Béziers
Béziers
Béziers is a town in Languedoc in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event...
. In 1982 this book was reprinted in Germany.
Some other works are believed to be Herman's:
- meteorological Liber imbrium (A book about precipitations) (1140 to 1141)
- astrological De indagatione cordis (About heart researches) (after 1140)
In the text (or a manuscript, the syntax of this article was not clear) of De indagatione cordis there are many names of scientists and scholars whose work Herman knew and used: Abu Mas'har (787–886), Sahl ibn Bishr, Aomar Tiberia, Abu al-Kindi
Al-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...
(801–873), the eighth-century Jewish astrologer Al Batrig Mashallah (Messahalla), Hermes, and Dorotheos of Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
.
- mathematical and astronomical De mensura, De utilitatibus astrolabii, De compositione et usu astrolabii (before 1143 – Herman was certainly interested in the AstrolabeAstrolabeAn astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and longitude, surveying, triangulation, and to...
– the portrait shows Herman with one)
Many medieval authors refer to Herman's work, for instance Albert the Great (Albert von Bollstädt, Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus, O.P. , also known as Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, is a Catholic saint. He was a German Dominican friar and a bishop, who achieved fame for his comprehensive knowledge of and advocacy for the peaceful coexistence of science and religion. Those such as James A. Weisheipl...
), instructor to Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
, in his work Speculum astronomiae.
See also
- Latin translations of the 12th century
De Essentiis, A Critical Edition with Translation and Commentary by Charles Burnett. E.J.Brill, 1982.