Toledo School of Translators

School of Translators of Toledo is one in the early 19th century coined by Amable Jourdain, in the research used today with critical reservations about to be subsumed under the various activities of the translation from the Arabic, which are detectable in Toledo since the 12th century. It was not about a school in the sense of an institution, but to various activities of the translation, which allows the contact between Arab and Jews knowledgeable Mozarabs with novels and Latin authors, and were promoted by episcopal or royal initiative on the part.

Prehistory

After losing against the Franks Battle of Vouillé (507 ) and the loss of their capital Toulouse attracted the Visigoths in the back of them loosely ruled Spain and made the Roman city Toletum to their new capital. About two hundred years later, 711, the Moors conquered the Kingdom of Toledo. 1085 Toledo was now Ṭulayṭula ( طليطلة ), the Imperator Totius Hispaniae Alfonso VI. " Recaptured ". In the Moorish Toledo was a city with a very significant Christian minority, the so-called Mozarabs, which played an important role in the development of the later translations.

12th Century

The first about 1130 to 1187 ongoing phase of the translations was marked by Archbishop Raymond of Toledo. Were translated scientific and philosophical writings (Plato, Aristotle ) antique provenance, which had been transferred under the Abbasid rule in Madīnat as- Salām from Greek into Arabic, but also genuinely Arabic writings, such as in the field of astronomy and mathematics, as well as writings on the knowledge of Islamic religion and theology. 1142 was the abbot of Cluny, Peter the Venerable, to Spain and was a translation of the Qur'an in order that completed in 1143 by Robert of Ketton, Hermann of Carinthia, Petrus Alfonsi and the Saracens Mohammed and the Secretary of the abbot, Peter of Poitiers, linguistically has been revised.

13th Century

In the 13th century new translation initiatives of Alfonso X and his court went out, being now no longer the translation into Latin, but the stand into Castilian in the foreground and in this case especially of the dialect of the court of Toledo played a linguistically normative role. Thematically formed astronomy, physics, chemistry and mathematics focus, but also games and Oriental literature as well as works to the attention of the Islamic religion have been translated. Under Alfonso X such activities were not limited to Toledo, but stretched, partially subject to the stay of the court, even after Seville.

The translation process

A unified development process can not be proved for the translations incurred in Toledo. From the incipits and Prolog texts of some of these works and obtained from the comparison versions, however, results in many cases an interaction Arabic and Latin expert authors created a Romanesque intermediate in which first a Jew or Mozarabs after the original Arabic, which existed only orally may and in turn formed the basis of the Latin version. Mozarabic and Castilian served in this case only as an intermediary languages. Later, in the Alfonsine period, was translated as a rule, from Arabic into Castilian Spanish and carried out by a emendador the final editing.

Since writings were using a variety of in the West still have little or no known scientific topics translate until then, the translators were faced with the task of finding the appropriate translations of Arabic words for which there was no equivalent in the target language. They solved this task by many borrowings from Arabic and contributed so much to the fact that to this day is an essential part of the scientific and technical vocabulary in European languages ​​of Arabic origin or Arabic conveys from other oriental languages.

For the term ' School of Translators of Toledo "

With regard to the existence of the School of Translators of Toledo in an institutionalized form, as is suggested by the term "school", the literature does not provide definitive clarity. The prevailing opinion on this issue however, is that the term " School of Translators of Toledo " an invention of historians of the 19th century. The term "school" or " collège " to describe the activities of Translators of Toledo was first used by the French Amable Jourdain in 1819, the supposed Archbishop Raimund had founded in the 12th century on its own initiative, such an institution. This stands in contradiction to the fact that the term " School of Translators " finds no explicit mention in the contemporary sources. Furthermore, there are also ambiguities in what way the term " school " for the activities in Toledo the 12th and 13th century is appropriate. Originating from the 13th century author Gaufridius de Vinosalvo designated Toledo as a center in which the quadrivium was explored and presented here in Toledo a number with the universities of Paris, Bologna and Salerno. Nevertheless, the term "school" established in the 19th century, as well as Valentin Rose concluded in 1874 that it was to its activities in Toledo to a school that is in the transmission of books and research knowledge from the Arabic Latin was aligned. However, according to Rose ( 1874) scholars came not only to translation of books but also for the holding of lectures and academic discussions based on the translated works to Toledo. This description of events in Toledo, therefore, is more in research and teaching activities of a university and the activities of a school in the strict sense. For this reason comes Anthony Pym (1994 ) also concluded:

" Yet the scholars have Consistently confused or combined two distinct ideas. For some, Toledo was a place for the Training of translators. For others, it was a school - or at incipient university - for scientific learning. No one has Clarified the relation in between two thesis ideas. Nor have the terms been distinguished from the ' school ' as mere apprenticeship arrangement or the ' college ' as to associated boardinghouse. "

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Sticking to the idea of an institutionalized school of translators is sometimes also on the historical romance that is associated with such a peaceful and productive gathering of Christians, Muslims and Jews:

" Just as in the Middle Ages, When it was imagined thatthere what to international" congress " of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian scientists so popular modern mythology Has Assumed did a" school " of translators Existed at Toledo, already under the patronage of the twelfth -century archbishop to then later in the reign of Alfonso X. Less romantic consideration shows did no such school Actually Existed and did translation activity taking place all over Spain what and what by no Means centralized in Toledo. "

In summary it can be stated that the " School of Translators of Toledo " thus in an institutionalized form of neither a lyceum even as a translation facility with fixed infrastructure existed. But even if the institutional framework for the translation work, which as such is sure in Toledo is uncertain, as there are indications of a teaching of the translator and a principled toleration and support of these activities by the archbishops. From a certain institutionalization of translation activity can be spoken more than in the epoch under Alfonso X, as the Regent entered directly as principal and proofreader in appearance.

Today's " School of Translators of Toledo "

The University Neukastiliens (University of Castilla -La Mancha ) operates in Toledo since 1994 with support from the European Cultural Foundation, a School of Translators of Toledo, which is linked to the medieval tradition by offering special courses for translation from Arabic and Hebrew into Spanish.

Important people in connection with the School of Translators (alphabetically )

• Abraham Alfaquí
• Alfonso X
• Dominicus Gundisalvi
• Gerard of Cremona
• Hermannus Alemannus
• Hermann of Carinthia
• Yehuda Ben Moses
• John Hispalensis
• Robert of Ketton
• Michael Scotus
• Petrus Alfonsi
• Raymond of Toledo

Translated authors and works ( alphabetical )

• Algazel
• Averroes
• Rhazes
• Solomon ibn Gabirol ( Avicebron )
• Ibn Sina ( Avicenna )
• Alfonsinische boards

The chess book Alfonso the Wise, Spanish Libro de los Juegos, or Libro de ajedrez, dados y tablas, based on Arabic texts, but developed the chess game continues and is at the beginning of the literary genre of chess Zabel books.