Abstract

ABSTRACT:

This paper presents the astrological prognostication for the year 1355, written in Hebrew by the Provençal-Jewish scholar Violas de Rodez (d. before 1372) whose extant scientific works remained unstudied and unedited to date. The introduction examines Violas's connections, background, and language, seeking to establish his situation in the scene of scientific creativity that emerged from Christian-Jewish scholarly contacts in southern France (called Provinzia by medieval Jews). The introduction supports the self-presentation of the treatise as an annual prognostication made in the wake of previous false prognostications for 1355. It argues that the professional qualities of this text, the astronomical and linguistic information it provides, as well as the political, military, economic, and medical subjects it covers, indicate that it was made for a Christian sovereign in southern France.

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