page 98
Notes
1. In working on this project I was able to overcome some of the limitations in my
knowledge of codicology, paleography, and medieval astronomy by consulting Paul Saenger,
Richard Clement, John Friedman, and Sigmund Eisner; despite their generous aid, I fear that I still
have much to learn, and hope eventually to produce a much more complete and definitive study of
Ayer MS 746. I studied the manuscript directly and began preliminary investigations at the
Newberry Library thanks to a Short-term Fellowship during July 5-15, 1983.
2. See the various magisterial studies of José Maíra Millás
Vallicrosa collected in Assaig d'història de les idees físiques i
matemàtiques a la Catalunya medieval (Barcelona: Institució Patxot, 1931),
Estudios sabre histaria de la ciencia española (Barcelona: Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Cientificas, 1949), Las tablas astronómicas del Rey Don Pedro El
Ceremonioso (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1962), Nuevos
estudios sabre historia de la ciencia española (Barcelona: Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones Cientificas, 1960), and Las traducciones orientales en los manuscritos de la
Biblioteca Catedral de Toledo (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas,
1942).
3. "Towards a History of the Medieval Book," Codicologica, 1 (1976), 75-83.
4. Paleograf&icute;a española, 2 vols. (Madrid, 1923;page 99
rprt. Barcelona: El Albir, 1974). See the specimen in
facsimile 106 (vol. 2, Plate LXI) for a sample of script comparable to that in Ayer MS 746.
5. For recent bibliography on Messahalah, see Edward S. Kennedy and David Pingree,
The Astrological History of Masha'allah (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971);
also pertinent to this study are Bernard Goldstein, "The Book on Eclipses of Masha'allah,"
Physics, 6 (1964), 205-213 and Lynn Thorndike, Jr., "The Latin translations of
astrological works of Messahala," Osiris, 62 (1956), 49-72.
6. On Messahalah's influence in Spain, see Millas Vallicrosa, Nuevos estudios,
pp. 72-74.
7. Chaucer and Messahalla on the Astrolabe, Early Science in Oxford, V
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1929). The best survey of instruments is Gunther's The
Astrolabes of the World, 2 vols. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932). On the Arabic
terms for the astrolabe, see Dwight M. Donaldson, "The Nomenclature and Common Uses of the
Astrolabe," Islamic Culture, 19 (1945), 49-53. The best account of the instrument's
workings is Henri Michel, Traité de l'astrolabe (Paris: Gauthier- Villars, 1947).
Also helpful are Francis Maddison, "Early Astronomical and Mathematical Instruments: A Brief
Survey of Sources and Modern Studies," History of Science, 2 (1963), 17-50, and the
three studies of Emmanuel Poulle, "L'astrolabe médiéval d'après les
manuscripts de la Bibliothèque Nationale," Bibliothèque de l'École de
Cartes, 112 (1954), 81-103, "Peut-on dater les astrolabes médiévaux?"
Revue d'Histoire des Sciences, 9 (1956), 301-322, and "Le traité d'astrolabe de
Raymond de Marseille," Studi medievali, 3a Ser., 5 (1964), 866-900.
8. Cited by Poulle in "L'astrolabe médiéval," p. 101 and in "Le
traité d'astrolabe de Raymond depage 100
Marseille," p. 871.
9. Francis J. Carmody, Arabic Astronomical and Astrological Sciences in Latin
Translation. A Critical Bibliography (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press, 1956), pp. 15-22.
10. According to Poulle, "Peut-on dater les astrolabes médiévaux," p.
313.
11. See Millás, Las Tablas astronómicas del Rey Don Pedro El
Ceremonioso, p. 16.
12. José María Millás Vallicrosa collects the scant information
and literature on Jacob in "Una traducción, catalana de las Tablas astronómicas
(1361) de Jacob b. David Yomrob de Perpinan," Sefarad, 19 (1959), 365-371. For further
details on Jacob's biography, see Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 4 (Jerusalem: MacMillan,
1971), s.v. Bonjorn, Boner David.
13. According to Lynn Thorndike, "The Tables of Barcelona of the XIVth Century,"
Isis, 41 (1950), 285.
14. The best, but nonetheless very imperfect, listing is Mortiz Steinschneider, Die
hebraeischen uebersetzungen des Mittelalters und die Juden als Dolmetscher (Berlin:
Kommissionsverlag des Bibliographischen Bureaus, 1893), pp. 614-616. Many other manuscripts
undoubtedly exist, but the numerous variations in Jacob's surnames makes identification in
published catalogues difficult.
15. Millás, Las tablas astronómicas del Rey Don Pedro El
Ceremonioso, p. 57.
16. The best treatment of the period, with very ample bibliography, is Jocelyn N.
Hillgarth, The Spanish Kingdoms 1250-1516. vol. II: 1410-1516. Castilian
Hegemony (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978).
page 101
17. Hillgarth, Spanish Kingdoms, vol. 2, p. 135.
18. Millás, Las tablas astronómicas del Rey Don Pedro El
Ceremonioso, p. 53.
19. E.g. the Tables prepared for Pedro IV the Ceremonious; in the edition by
Millás, Las tablas astronómicas del Rey Don Pedro E1 Ceremonioso, pp.
228, 238.
20. On the strength of the astrological interest, see Millás, Las tablas
astronómicas del Rey Don Pedro El Ceremonioso, pp. 60-61.
21. Essential works on Besalú remain Francisco Monsalvatge y Fossa,
Besalú: su historia, sus condes, su obispado y sus monumentos. In his Noticias
históricas, 1-2 (Olot: Juan Bonet, 1889-1890) and Colección
diplomática del condado de Besalú, in his Noticias históricas,
11-13, 15, and 19 (Olot: Juan Bonet, 1901-1907 and E. Simo, 1908).
22. See Mario del Treppo, I mercanti catalani e l'espansione della Corona d'Aragona
nel secolo XV (Naples: L'Arte Tipografica, 1972), p. 253.
23. Del Treppo, I mercanti catalani, pp. 392, 553-554.
24. Del Treppo, I mercanti catalani, p. 258.
25. Del Treppo, I mercanti catalani, p. 261.
26. For a brief summary of the problem of the Catalan "Decadence," see Arthur Terry,
Catalan Literature (London: Ernest Benn, 1972), pp. 61-69.