and early translated into Arabic. The latter of these, though generally accepted in the East, was much opposed in the West, especially at the time by the Talmudist Abraham ben David of Posquières (d. 1198). Maimonides also wrote an Arabic commentary on the Mishnah, soon afterwards translated into Maimonists and anti-Maimonists. Hebrew, commentaries on parts of the Talmud (now lost), and a treatise on Logic. His breadth of view and his Aristotelianism were a stumbling-block to the orthodox, and subsequent teachers may be mostly classified as Maimonists or anti-Maimonists. Even his friend Joseph ibn ʽAqnīn (d. 1226), author of a philosophical treatise in Arabic and of a commentary on the Song of Solomon, found so much difficulty in the new views that the Mōreh Nebhūkhīm was written in order to convince him. Maimonides’ son Abraham (d. 1234), also a great Talmudist, wrote in Arabic Maʽaseh Yerūshalmī, on oaths, and Kitāb al-Kifāyah, theology. His grandson David was also an author. A very different person was Moses ben Naḥman (Ramban) or Nahmanides, who was born at Gerona in 1194 and died in Palestine about 1270. His whole tendency was as conservative as that of Maimonides was liberal, and like all conservatives he may be said to represent a lost though not necessarily a less desirable cause. Much of his life was spent in controversy, not only with Christians (in 1293 before the king of Aragon), but also with his own people and on the views of the time. His greatest work is the commentary on the Pentateuch in opposition to Maimonides and Ibn Ezra. He had a strong inclination to mysticism, but whether certain kabbalistic works are rightly attributed to him is doubtful. It is, however, not a mere coincidence that the two great kabbalistic textbooks, the Bahir and the Zohar (both meaning “brightness”), appear first in the 13th century. If not due to his teaching they are at least in sympathy with it. The Bahir, a sort of outline of the Zohar, and traditionally ascribed to Neḥunya (1st century), is believed by some to be the work of Isaac the Blind ben Abraham of Posquières (d. early in the 13th century), the founder of the modern Kabbalah and the author of the names for the 10 Sephīrōth. The Zohar, supposed to be by Simeon ben Yoḥai (2nd century), is now generally attributed to Moses of Leon (d. 1305), who, however, drew his material in part from earlier written or traditional sources, such as the Sepher Yeẓīrah. At any rate the work was immediately accepted by the kabbalists, and has formed the basis of all subsequent study of the subject. Though put into the form of a commentary on the Pentateuch, it is really an exposition of the kabbalistic view of the universe, and incidentally shows considerable acquaintance with the natural science of the time. A pupil, though not a follower of Nahmanides, was Solomon Adreth (not Addereth), of Barcelona (d. 1310), a prolific writer of Talmudic and polemical works (against the Kabbalists and Mahommedans) as well as of responsa. He was opposed by Abraham Abulafia (d. about 1291) and his pupil Joseph Giqatilla (d. about 1305), the author of numerous kabbalistic works. Solomon’s pupil Baḥya ben Asher, of Saragossa (d. 1340) was the author of a very popular commentary on the Pentateuch and of religious discourses entitled Kad ha-qemaḥ, in both of which, unlike his teacher, he made large use of the Kabbalah. Other studies, however, were not neglected. In the first half of the 13th century, Abraham ibn Ḥasdai, a vigorous supporter of Maimonides, translated (or adapted) a large number of philosophical works from Arabic, among them being the Sepher ha-tappūaḥ, based on Aristotle’s de Anima, and the Mōzenē Ẓedeq of Ghazzali on moral philosophy, of both of which the originals are lost. Another Maimonist was Shem Ṭōbh ben Joseph Falaquera (d. after 1290), philosopher (following Averroes), poet and author of a commentary on the Mōreh. A curious mixture of mysticism and Aristotelianism is seen in Isaac Aboab (about 1300), whose Menorath ha-Ma’ōr, a collection of agadōth, attained great popularity and has been frequently printed and translated. Somewhat earlier in the 13th century lived Judah al-Ḥarīzī, who belongs in spirit to the time of Ibn Gabirol and Judah ha-levi. He wrote numerous translations, of Galen, Aristotle, Ḥarīrī, Ḥunain ben Isaac and Maimonides, as well as several original works, a Sepher ʽAnaq in imitation of Moses ben Ezra, and treatises on grammar and medicine (Rephūath geviyyah), but he is best known for his Taḥkemōnī, a diwan in the style of Ḥarīrī’s Maqāmāt.
Meanwhile the literary activity of the Jews in Spain had its effect on those of France. The fact that many of the most important works were written in Arabic, the vernacular of the Spanish Jews under the Moors, which was not understood in France, gave rise to a number of translations into Hebrew, chiefly by the family of Ibn Tibbōn (or Tabbōn). The first of them, Judah ibn Tibbōn, translated works of Baḥya ibn Paqūdah, Judah ha-levi, Seadiah, Abū’lwalīd and Ibn Gabirol, besides writing works of his own. He was a native of Granada, but migrated to Lunel, where he probably died about 1190. His son Samuel, who died at Marseilles about 1230, was equally prolific. He translated the Mōreh Nebhūkhīm during the life of the author, and with some help from him, so that this may be regarded as the authorized version; Maimonides’ commentary on the Mishnah tractate Pirqē Abhōth, and some minor works; treatises of Averroes and other Arabic authors. His original works are mostly biblical commentaries and some additional matter on the Mōreh. His son Moses, who died about the end of the 13th century, translated the rest of Maimonides, much of Averroes, the lesser Canon of Avicenna, Euclid’s Elements (from the Arabic version), Ibn al-Jazzār’s Viaticum, medical works of Ḥunain ben Isaac (Johannitius) and Razi (Rhazes), besides works of less-known Arabic authors. His original works are commentaries and perhaps a treatise on immortality. His nephew Jacob ben Makhīr, of Montpellier (d. about 1304), translated Arabic scientific works, such as parts of Averroes and Ghazzali, Arabic versions from the Greek, as Euclid’s Data, Autolycus, Menelaus (מיליום) and Theodosius on the Sphere, and Ptolemy’s Almagest. He also compiled astronomical tables and a treatise on the quadrant. The great importance of these translations is that many of them were afterwards rendered into Latin,[1] thus making Arabic and, through it, Greek learning accessible to medieval Europe. Another important family about this time is that of Qimḥi (or Qamḥi). It also originated in Spain, where Joseph ben Isaac Qimḥi was born, who migrated to S. France, probably for the same reason which caused the flight of Maimonides, and died there about 1170. He wrote on grammar (Sepher ha-galui and Sepher Zikkaron), commentaries on Proverbs and the Song of Solomon, an apologetic work, Sepher ha-berīth, and a translation of Baḥya’s Ḥōbhōth ha-lebhabhōth. His son Moses (d. about 1190) also wrote on grammar and some commentaries, wrongly attributed to Ibn Ezra. A younger son, David (Radaq) of Narbonne (d. 1235) is the most famous of the name. His great work, the Mikhlōl, consists of a grammar and lexicon; his commentaries on various parts of the Bible are admirably luminous, and, in spite of his anti-Christian remarks, have been widely used by Christian theologians and largely influenced the English authorized version of the Bible. A friend of Joseph Qimḥi, Jacob ben Me’īr, known as Rabbenū Tam of Ramerupt (d. 1171), the grandson of Rashi, wrote the Sepher ha-yashar (ḥiddūshīn and responsa) and was one of the chief Tosaphists. Of the same school were Menahem ben Simeon of Posquières, a commentator, who died about the end of the 12th century, and Moses ben Jacob of Coucy (13th century), author of the Semag (book of precepts, positive and negative) a very popular and valuable halakhic work. A younger contemporary of David Qimḥi was Abraham ben Isaac Bedersi (i.e. of Béziers), the poet, and some time in the 13th century lived Joseph Ezobhi of Perpignan, whose ethical poem, Qeʽarath Yōseph, was translated by Reuchlin and later by others. Berachiah,[2] the compiler of the “Fox Fables” (which have much in common with the “Ysopet” of Marie de France), is generally thought to have lived in Provence in the 13th century, but according to others in England in the 12th century. In Germany, Eleazar ben Judah of Worms (d. 1238), besides being
