1.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
2.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
3.
Quran
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The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God. It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature, the Quran is divided into chapters, which are then divided into verses. The word Quran occurs some 70 times in the text of the Quran, although different names, according to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammads death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and these codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthmans codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with minor differences in meaning. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Biblical scriptures and it summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance and it sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law, during prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz, some Muslims read Quranic ayah with elocution, which is often called tajwid. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers, in order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir. The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself and it is a verbal noun of the Arabic verb qaraʼa, meaning he read or he recited. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā, which refers to reading or lesson. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammads lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the act of reciting, as reflected in an early Quranic passage, It is for Us to collect it, in other verses, the word refers to an individual passage recited. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example, So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it, the word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel. The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran, each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb, āyah, and sūrah, the latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with an article, the word is referred to as the revelation
4.
Archdeacon
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In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. An archdeacon is often responsible for administration within an archdeaconry, which is the subdivision of the diocese. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church has defined an archdeacon as A cleric having a defined administrative authority delegated to him by the bishop in the whole or part of the diocese, the office has often been described metaphorically as that of oculus episcopi, the bishops eye. In the Latin Catholic Church, the post of archdeacon, generally a priest, was one of great importance as a senior official of a diocese. The duties are now performed by such as auxiliary and/or coadjutor bishops, the vicar general. The term archdeacon appears for the first time in Optatus of Mileves history of Donatism of about 370 and these functions included not only financial administration but also the discipline of the clergy, and examination of candidates for priesthood. From the 8th century, there was in the West a further development of the authority of the archdeacon, large dioceses had several archdeaconries, in each of which the archdeacon, had an authority comparable to that of the bishop. Frequently they were appointed not by the bishop but by the chapter or the king. However, from the 13th century, efforts were made to limit their authority and this was effected in part by the institution of the new office of vicar general, who would be a priest rather than a deacon. In 1553, the Council of Trent removed entirely the independent powers of archdeacons and those who had been in charge of different parts of the diocese gradually ceased to be appointed. Only the archdeacon associated with the chapter continued to exist as an empty title. However, Eastern Catholic Churches still utilize archdeacons, recently, this type of dual role has only existed in the Bishop suffragan of Ludlow. An archdeacon is usually styled The Venerable instead of the clerical style of The Reverend. In the Church of England the position of an archdeacon can only be held by a priest who has been ordained for at least six years, in the Church of England, the legal act by which a priest becomes an archdeacon is called a collation. If that archdeaconry is annexed to a canonry of the cathedral, the Anglican ordinal presupposes that the functions of archdeacons include those of examining candidates for ordination and then presenting them to the ordaining bishop. In the Eastern Christian churches, an archdeacon is the senior deacon within a diocese and has responsibility for serving at hierarchical services and he has responsibility for ensuring the smooth running of the service by directing the clergy and servers as appropriate. The archdeacon wears the orarion, which is twice the length of the usual orarion. An archdeacon may come from either the monastic or married clergy, an archdeacon was the prince and head of the Christians of Saint Thomas and had such titles as Archdeacon and Gate of All India, Governor of India
5.
Ketton
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Ketton is a village and civil parish in Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is about 8 miles east of Oakham and 3 miles west of Stamford, the 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 1,926, making it the fourth largest settlement in Rutland, after Oakham, Uppingham and Cottesmore. The village has a primary school with 204 children currently on roll. Ketton gave its name to the Ketton Rural District of Rutland which existed from 1894 to 1974, Ketton ward, which also includes the parishes of Barrowden, Tinwell and Tixover has two councillors on Rutland County Council. Ketton was originally Chetene meaning on the banks of the River Chater and it was originally three separate settlements, Ketton, Aldgate and Geeston, but as they grew they merged to form the village that Ketton is today. The village has a post office and general store, a library, the earliest parts of the Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin are 12th century. The church has a tower and spire. The west front is an example of late 12th century transitional architecture, the nave was restored under the direction of George Gilbert Scott in 1861–62 and the chancel under the direction of his pupil Thomas Graham Jackson in 1863–66. Jacksons chancel roof was painted by Ninian Comper in 1950, there are Ketton headstones in the churchyard, one by the lychgate depicts masons tools and is by stonemason William Hibbins of Ketton. William Hibbins built Hibbins House, which is standing today. Robert of Ketton was the first person to translate the Quran into Latin, the translation was complete by 1143. The village gives its name to Ketton stone, a limestone which is quarried locally and is used in buildings in the village. Some areas of former quarrying are now a Site of Special Scientific Interest, maintained by Leicestershire, the limestone is used to make cement. Ketton Cement Works opened in 1928 and by November that year the number of staff had risen to 250, the plant, owned by Hanson Cement, meets more than 10% of the UK demand for cement. In 2013 Rutland County Council approved plans for Lark Energy to build a farm on land reclaimed from a 1940s quarry. The solar farm provides 13% of the cement works annual energy consumption, the second phase was opened by Secretary of State for Energy Amber Rudd. In 2004 Rutland County Council planning committee resolved to approve a planning application for one wind turbine on land adjacent to the cement works off Steadfold Lane in Ketton, however, issues surrounding fast jets flying from RAF Cottesmore meant that a planning permission was never granted. In 2011 REG Windpower announced plans to install two wind turbines near Steadfold Lane, the proposal was withdrawn in August 2012
6.
Rutland
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Rutland /ˈrʌtlənd/ is a landlocked county in the East Midlands of England, bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest length north to south is only 18 miles and its greatest breadth east to west is 17 miles and it is the smallest historic county in England and the fourth smallest in the UK as a whole. Because of this, the Latin motto Multum in Parvo or much in little was adopted by the county council in 1950 and it has the smallest population of any normal unitary authority in mainland England and only the City of London is smaller in terms of area. Among modern ceremonial counties the Isle of Wight, City of London, the former County of London, in existence 1889 to 1965, also had a smaller area. It is 348th of the 354 districts in population, the only towns in Rutland are Oakham, the county town, and Uppingham. At the centre of the county is the artificial reservoir, Rutland Water, which is an important nature reserve serving as an overwintering site for wildfowl. Rutlands older cottages are built from limestone or ironstone and many have roofs of Collyweston stone slate or thatch, the origin of the name of the county is unclear. The northwestern part of the county was recorded as Rutland, a part of Nottinghamshire, in Domesday Book. It was first mentioned as a county in 1159. Historically it was known as Rutlandshire, but in recent times only the shorter name is common. Rutland may be from Old English hryþr or hrythr cattle and land land, however, A Dictionary of British Place-Names by A D Mills gives an alternative etymology, Rotas land, from the Old English personal name and land land. It is from the interpretation of red land that the traditional nickname for a male person from Rutland. Earl of Rutland and Duke of Rutland are titles in the peerage of England held in the Manners family, the Earl of Rutland was elevated to the status of Duke in 1703 and the titles were merged. The family seat is Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, the office of High Sheriff of Rutland was instituted in 1129, and there has been a Lord Lieutenant of Rutland since at least 1559. By the time of the 19th century it had been divided into the hundreds of Alstoe, East, Martinsley, Oakham, Rutland covered parts of three poor law unions and rural sanitary districts, those of Oakham, Uppingham and Stamford. In 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 the rural districts were partitioned along county boundaries to form three rural districts. Meanwhile, that part of Stamford RSD in Rutland became the Ketton Rural District, Oakham Urban District was created from Oakham Rural District in 1911. It was subsequently abolished in 1974, Rutland was included in the East Midlands General Review Area of the 1958–67 Local Government Commission for England
7.
Stamford, Lincolnshire
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Stamford is a town on the River Welland in Lincolnshire, England,92 miles north of London on the A1. The population at the 2001 census was 21,800 including the adjacent parish of St Martins Without, the town has 17th and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed buildings and five medieval parish churches. In 2013, Stamford was rated the best place to live by the Sunday Times, in AD61 Boudica followed the Roman 9th Legion across the river. The Anglo-Saxons later chose Stamford as their town, being on a more important river than the Gwash. In 972 King Edgar made Stamford a borough, the Anglo-Saxons and Danes faced each other across the river. The town originally grew as a Danish settlement at the lowest point that the Welland could be crossed by ford or bridge, Stamford was the only one of the Danelaw Five Burghs not to become a county town. Stamford was a town but only a very small portion of the walls now remain. Stamford became a port on the Great North Road, the latter superseding Ermine Street in importance. Notable buildings in the include the mediaeval Brownes Hospital, several churches and the buildings of Stamford School. A Norman castle was built about 1075 and apparently demolished in 1484, the site stood derelict until the late twentieth century when it was built over and now includes a bus station and a modern housing development. A small part of the wall survives at the junction of Castle Dyke. Stamford has been hosting a fair since the Middle Ages. Stamford fair is mentioned in Shakespeares Henry IV part 2, the mid-Lent fair is the largest street fair in Lincolnshire and one of the largest in the country. On 7 March 1190, crusaders at the fair led a pogrom, for over 600 years Stamford was the site of the Stamford Bull Run festival, held annually on 13 November, St Brices day, until 1839. According to local tradition, the custom was started by William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, some butchers came to part the combatants and one of the bulls ran into the town. Stamford Museum was in a Victorian building in Broad Street from 1980 to 2011, in June 2011 it closed because of Lincolnshire County Council budget cuts. Some of the exhibits have been relocated to the Discover Stamford area at the towns library. Stamford is part of the Parliamentary constituency of Grantham and Stamford, the incumbent Member of Parliament is the Conservative, Nick Boles
8.
Lincolnshire
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Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It also borders Northamptonshire in the south for just 20 yards, Englands shortest county boundary, the county town is Lincoln, where the county council has its headquarters. The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire is composed of the county of Lincolnshire. Therefore, part of the county is in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. The county is the second-largest of the English ceremonial counties and one that is predominantly agricultural in land use, the county is fifth largest of the two-tier counties, as the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are not included. The county can be broken down into a number of geographical sub-regions including, Lincolnshire derived from the merging of the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Lindsey with that controlled by the Danelaw borough of Stamford. For some time the county was called Lindsey, and it is recorded as such in the 11th-century Domesday Book. In 1888 when county councils were set up, Lindsey, Holland and these survived until 1974, when Holland, Kesteven, and most of Lindsey were unified into Lincolnshire. A local government reform in 1996 abolished Humberside, and the south of the Humber was allocated to the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire. These two areas became part of Lincolnshire for ceremonial such as the Lord-Lieutenancy, but are not covered by the Lincolnshire police and are in the Yorkshire. The remaining districts of Lincolnshire are Boston, East Lindsey, Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Holland, South Kesteven and they are part of the East Midlands region. Lincolnshire is home to Woolsthorpe Manor, birthplace and home of Sir Isaac Newton and he attended The Kings School, Grantham and its library has preserved his signature, applied to a window sill when he was a teenager. Lincolnshire is an area, growing large amounts of wheat, barley, sugar beet. In South Lincolnshire, where the soil is rich in nutrients, some of the most common crops include potatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers. Most such companies are long gone, and Lincolnshire is no longer an engineering centre, however, as a result of the current economic climate some food production facilities have closed down, this has caused some reduction in the levels of migrant workers. The large number of people from Portugal is still obvious in the town of Boston. A coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents currently controls Lincolnshire County Council, the Conservative Party comfortably controlled the County Council following the 2009 local elections, in which they increased their majority to 43 seats. The Labour Party lost a total of 15 seats including 7 in Lincoln, the Lincolnshire Independents gained a total of four seats, although one of their number moved to the Conservative group during 2010, increasing the number of Conservative seats to 61
9.
Peter the Venerable
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Peter the Venerable, also known as Peter of Montboissier, abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny, was born to Blessed Raingarde in Auvergne, France. He has been honored as a saint but has never formally canonized. The Catholic Churchs Martyrologium Romanum, issued by the Holy See in 2004 regards him as a Blessed, Peter was Dedicated to God at birth and given to the monastery at Sauxillanges of the Congregation of Cluny. He took his vows there at age seventeen, swiftly rising in esteem, later he went to the monastery at Domène. He was so successful in the fulfillment of his duties at Vézelay and Domène that, by the age of thirty, he was elected general of the order. Peter was an advocate of reform within his order, which was in dire need of reconstruction after the deposing of the previous abbot, Pontius. The Congregation of Cluny was also under attack by other orders and prominent monks and theologians, including St. Bernard of Clairvaux, successfully defending his order against these attacks and completely reforming it, Peter earned the appellation of venerable. Peter became an international figure and an associate of many national. In addition, he defended French theologian Peter Abelard after the latter’s rationalistic Trinitarian interpretation had been condemned by the Council of Sens. He granted Abelard hospitality at Cluny and worked to mitigate the sentence of the council, eventually reconciling Abelard with his principal condemner, after Abelards death, Peter granted him absolution from his sins, at the personal request of Heloise. Peter is well known for collecting sources on and writing about Islam and also as the author of vast amounts of correspondence and his writings are counted as some of the most important documents of the 12th century. He took a long journey to Spain to study with Islamic scholars of all ranks. His Talmudic contributions are tenuous and still under scrutiny, Peters true brilliance came to light between 1138-1142, especially after his translation of the Koran became required reading to the entire Benedictine world and for all preachers of the crusades. Peter corresponded with Bishop Henry of Blois of Winchester and Glastonbury who became one of his closest friends, Peter was well known for his ability to win debates. The internecine truce between Peter and Bernard of Clairvaux must be seen as superficial in light of recent scholarship detailing the repressivness of Bernards Cistercians toward the Cluniacs, Peter the Venerable died at Cluny on 25 December 1156. His works are edited in Patrologia Latina vol, despite his active life and important role in European history, Peters greatest achievement is his contribution to the reappraisal of the Church’s relations with the religion of Islam. A proponent of studying Islam based upon its own sources, he commissioned a translation of Islamic source material. One scholar has described this as an event in the intellectual history of Europe. ”The Arabic manuscripts which Peter had translated may have been obtained in Toledo
10.
Bernard of Clairvaux
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Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist was a French abbot and the primary reformer of the Cistercian order. After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order, three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val dAbsinthe, about 15 kilometres southeast of Bar-sur-Aube. According to tradition, Bernard founded the monastery on 25 June 1115, naming it Claire Vallée, there Bernard would preach an immediate faith, in which the intercessor was the Virgin Mary. In the year 1128, Bernard attended the Council of Troyes, at which he traced the outlines of the Rule of the Knights Templar, on the death of Pope Honorius II on 13 February 1130, a schism broke out in the Church. King Louis VI of France convened a council of the French bishops at Étampes in 1130. After the council of Étampes, Bernard spoke with King Henry I of England, also known as Henry Beauclerc, Henry I was sceptical because most of the bishops of England supported Antipope Anacletus II, Bernard persuaded him to support Innocent. Germany had decided to support Innocent through Norbert of Xanten, who was a friend of Bernards, however, Innocent insisted on Bernards company when he met with Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor. Lothair III became Innocents strongest ally among the nobility, although the councils of Étampes, Wurzburg, Clermont, and Rheims all supported Innocent, large portions of the Christian world still supported Anacletus. Bernard set out to convince these other regions to rally behind Innocent, the first person he went to was Gerard of Angoulême. He proceeded to write a letter, known as Letter 126, Bernard would later comment that Gerard was his most formidable opponent during the whole schism. After persuading Gerard, Bernard traveled to visit William X, Duke of Aquitaine and he was the hardest for Bernard to convince. He did not pledge allegiance to Innocent until 1135, after that, Bernard spent most of his time in Italy persuading the Italians to pledge allegiance to Innocent. He traveled to Sicily in 1137 to convince the king of Sicily to follow Innocent, the whole conflict ended when Anacletus died on 25 January 1138. In 1139, Bernard assisted at the Second Council of the Lateran, Bernard denounced the teachings of Peter Abelard to the pope, who called a council at Sens in 1141 to settle the matter. Bernard soon saw one of his disciples elected Pope Eugene III, having previously helped end the schism within the church, Bernard was now called upon to combat heresy. In June 1145, Bernard traveled in southern France and his preaching there helped strengthen support against heresy, after the Christian defeat at the Siege of Edessa, the pope commissioned Bernard to preach the Second Crusade. The last years of Bernards life were saddened by the failure of the crusaders, Bernard died at the age of 63, after 40 years as a monk. He was the first Cistercian placed on the calendar of saints, in 1830 Pope Pius VIII bestowed upon Bernard the title Doctor of the Church
11.
Herman of Carinthia
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Herman of Carinthia, also nicknamed Hermannus Dalmata, Sclavus or Secundus, was an Istrian philosopher, astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, translator and author. The influence of his translations on the development of medieval European astronomy was especially large, in his own account he was born in central Istria circa 1100, then part of the Duchy of Carinthia. Most likely he went to a Benedictine monastic school in Istria and he went on to study in France. It was probably in France that Hermans attention was drawn to the texts which were becoming available via Arabic sources. The teachers at Chartres included Thierry of Chartres to whom Herman was to dedicate a translation in 1143, the school of Chartres was known for its interests in Christian platonism and the natural sciences. One of Hermans fellow students in France was Robert of Ketton with whom he travelled for four years in the Eastern Mediterranean, both men became translators from the Arabic. At Constantinople and Damascus Herman took note of the Arabic science of that period, circa 1138 he returned to Europe, and was active as a scholar in Spain and southern France. A huge part of his work remained anonymous, in 1142 Herman was in Spain and became involved in an important project to translate Islamic texts. Peter the Venerable recruited a team, including Herman, to translate five texts about Islam into Latin, the most significant translation in the collection was that of the Quran. This was entitled Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete and was the first known translation of the Quran into a European language, Robert of Ketton was its principal translator, according to most sources. However, Herman may have had input, given the team nature of the project. In this edition both Hermans above-mentioned translations of treatises about Islam appeared together with a preface by Martin Luther, Herman translated Euclids Elements around 1140, possibly in collaboration with Robert of Ketton. Ptolemy – the Latin translation of Claudius Ptolemys work Planisphaerium is a significant work which was produced in Toulouse in 1143, Herman translated it from an Arabic translation from the Greek. Western European scholastics became aware of Ptolemys astronomical views via this translation dedicated to Thierry of Chartres, for long many thought that Ptolemy was translated by German Herman Contractus and not by Herman of Carinthia. Hermans first known translation was the book of an astrological treatise Liber sextus astronomie by the Jewish writer Sahl ibn Bishr. It was released in Spain in 1138 under the title Zaelis fatidica, Sahl ibn Bishr had been writing in the Greek astrological tradition. Ibn Bishrs first five books were preserved in the translation of John of Seville, the sixth book deals with three thematic topics regarding the influences on the world and its inhabitants. The work contains divinations based on the movements of the planets and comets, circa 1140 Herman translated into Latin the astronomical work of Abu Mashar Kitab al-madkhal ila ilm ahkam al nujum
12.
Al-Kindi
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Abu Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn ʼIsḥāq aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kindī, known as the Philosopher of the Arabs, was a Muslim Arab philosopher, polymath, mathematician, physician and musician. Al-Kindi was a descendant of the Kinda tribe and he was born in Basra and educated in Baghdad. In the field of mathematics, al-Kindi played an important role in introducing Indian numerals to the Islamic and he was a pioneer in cryptanalysis and devised several new methods of breaking ciphers. Using his mathematical and medical expertise, he was able to develop a scale that would allow doctors to quantify the potency of their medication, the central theme underpinning al-Kindis philosophical writings is the compatibility between philosophy and other orthodox Islamic sciences, particularly theology. And many of his works deal with subjects that theology had an immediate interest in and these include the nature of God, the soul and prophetic knowledge. Al-Kindi was born in Kufa to a family of the Kinda tribe, descended from the chieftain al-Ashath ibn Qays. His father Ishaq was the governor of Kufa, and al-Kindi received his education there. He later went to complete his studies in Baghdad, where he was patronized by the Abbasid caliphs al-Mamun and he was also well known for his beautiful calligraphy, and at one point was employed as a calligrapher by al-Mutawakkil. When al-Mamun died, his brother, al-Mutasim became Caliph, al-Kindis position would be enhanced under al-Mutasim, who appointed him as a tutor to his son. But on the accession of al-Wathiq, and especially of al-Mutawakkil, henry Corbin, an authority on Islamic studies, says that in 873, al-Kindi died a lonely man, in Baghdad during the reign of al-Mutamid. After his death, al-Kindis philosophical works quickly fell into obscurity and many of them were lost even to later Islamic scholars, felix Klein-Franke suggests a number of reasons for this, aside from the militant orthodoxy of al-Mutawakkil, the Mongols also destroyed countless libraries during their invasion. Al-Kindi was a master of different areas of thought and was held to be one of the greatest Islamic philosophers of his time. The Italian Renaissance scholar Geralomo Cardano considered him one of the twelve greatest minds of the Middle Ages, according to Ibn al-Nadim, al-Kindi wrote at least two hundred and sixty books, contributing heavily to geometry, medicine and philosophy, logic, and physics. His influence in the fields of physics, mathematics, medicine, philosophy and music were far-reaching and his greatest contribution to the development of Islamic philosophy was his efforts to make Greek thought both accessible and acceptable to a Muslim audience. Al-Kindi carried out this mission from the House of Wisdom, an institute of translation and learning patronized by the Abbasid Caliphs, in Baghdad. In his writings, one of al-Kindis central concerns was to demonstrate the compatibility between philosophy and natural theology on the one hand, and revealed or speculative theology on the other. Despite this, he did make clear that he believed revelation was a source of knowledge to reason because it guaranteed matters of faith that reason could not uncover. This was an important factor in the introduction and popularization of Greek philosophy in the Muslim intellectual world
13.
Euclid
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Euclid, sometimes called Euclid of Alexandria to distinguish him from Euclides of Megara, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the father of geometry. He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I, in the Elements, Euclid deduced the principles of what is now called Euclidean geometry from a small set of axioms. Euclid also wrote works on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, number theory, Euclid is the anglicized version of the Greek name Εὐκλείδης, which means renowned, glorious. Very few original references to Euclid survive, so little is known about his life, the date, place and circumstances of both his birth and death are unknown and may only be estimated roughly relative to other people mentioned with him. He is rarely mentioned by name by other Greek mathematicians from Archimedes onward, the few historical references to Euclid were written centuries after he lived by Proclus c.450 AD and Pappus of Alexandria c.320 AD. Proclus introduces Euclid only briefly in his Commentary on the Elements, Proclus later retells a story that, when Ptolemy I asked if there was a shorter path to learning geometry than Euclids Elements, Euclid replied there is no royal road to geometry. This anecdote is questionable since it is similar to a story told about Menaechmus, a detailed biography of Euclid is given by Arabian authors, mentioning, for example, a birth town of Tyre. This biography is generally believed to be completely fictitious, however, this hypothesis is not well accepted by scholars and there is little evidence in its favor. The only reference that historians rely on of Euclid having written the Elements was from Proclus, although best known for its geometric results, the Elements also includes number theory. The geometrical system described in the Elements was long known simply as geometry, today, however, that system is often referred to as Euclidean geometry to distinguish it from other so-called non-Euclidean geometries that mathematicians discovered in the 19th century. In addition to the Elements, at least five works of Euclid have survived to the present day and they follow the same logical structure as Elements, with definitions and proved propositions. Data deals with the nature and implications of information in geometrical problems. On Divisions of Figures, which only partially in Arabic translation. It is similar to a first-century AD work by Heron of Alexandria, catoptrics, which concerns the mathematical theory of mirrors, particularly the images formed in plane and spherical concave mirrors. The attribution is held to be anachronistic however by J J OConnor, phaenomena, a treatise on spherical astronomy, survives in Greek, it is quite similar to On the Moving Sphere by Autolycus of Pitane, who flourished around 310 BC. Optics is the earliest surviving Greek treatise on perspective, in its definitions Euclid follows the Platonic tradition that vision is caused by discrete rays which emanate from the eye. One important definition is the fourth, Things seen under a greater angle appear greater, proposition 45 is interesting, proving that for any two unequal magnitudes, there is a point from which the two appear equal. Other works are attributed to Euclid, but have been lost
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Euclid's Elements
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Euclids Elements is a mathematical and geometric treatise consisting of 13 books attributed to the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt circa 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulates, propositions, the books cover Euclidean geometry and the ancient Greek version of elementary number theory. Elements is the second-oldest extant Greek mathematical treatise after Autolycus On the Moving Sphere and it has proven instrumental in the development of logic and modern science. According to Proclus, the element was used to describe a theorem that is all-pervading. The word element in the Greek language is the same as letter and this suggests that theorems in the Elements should be seen as standing in the same relation to geometry as letters to language. Euclids Elements has been referred to as the most successful and influential textbook ever written, for centuries, when the quadrivium was included in the curriculum of all university students, knowledge of at least part of Euclids Elements was required of all students. Not until the 20th century, by which time its content was taught through other school textbooks. Scholars believe that the Elements is largely a collection of theorems proven by other mathematicians, the Elements may have been based on an earlier textbook by Hippocrates of Chios, who also may have originated the use of letters to refer to figures. This manuscript, the Heiberg manuscript, is from a Byzantine workshop around 900 and is the basis of modern editions, papyrus Oxyrhynchus 29 is a tiny fragment of an even older manuscript, but only contains the statement of one proposition. Although known to, for instance, Cicero, no record exists of the text having been translated into Latin prior to Boethius in the fifth or sixth century. The Arabs received the Elements from the Byzantines around 760, this version was translated into Arabic under Harun al Rashid circa 800, the Byzantine scholar Arethas commissioned the copying of one of the extant Greek manuscripts of Euclid in the late ninth century. Although known in Byzantium, the Elements was lost to Western Europe until about 1120, the first printed edition appeared in 1482, and since then it has been translated into many languages and published in about a thousand different editions. Theons Greek edition was recovered in 1533, in 1570, John Dee provided a widely respected Mathematical Preface, along with copious notes and supplementary material, to the first English edition by Henry Billingsley. Copies of the Greek text still exist, some of which can be found in the Vatican Library, the manuscripts available are of variable quality, and invariably incomplete. By careful analysis of the translations and originals, hypotheses have been made about the contents of the original text, ancient texts which refer to the Elements itself, and to other mathematical theories that were current at the time it was written, are also important in this process. Such analyses are conducted by J. L. Heiberg and Sir Thomas Little Heath in their editions of the text, also of importance are the scholia, or annotations to the text. These additions, which distinguished themselves from the main text. The Elements is still considered a masterpiece in the application of logic to mathematics, in historical context, it has proven enormously influential in many areas of science
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Theodosius of Bithynia
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Theodosius of Bithynia was a Greek astronomer and mathematician who wrote the Sphaerics, a book on the geometry of the sphere. Born in Tripolis, in Bithynia, Theodosius is cited by Vitruvius as having invented a sundial suitable for any place on Earth and his Sphaerics provided the mathematics for spherical astronomy, and may have been based on a work by Eudoxus of Cnidus. Francesco Maurolico translated his works in the 16th century, ivor Bulmer-Thomas, Theodosius of Bithynia, Dictionary of Scientific Biography 13, 319–320. Also on line Theodosius of Bithynia, chisholm, Hugh, ed. Theodosius of Tripolis
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Ptolemy
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Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek writer, known as a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt, wrote in Koine Greek, beyond that, few reliable details of his life are known. His birthplace has been given as Ptolemais Hermiou in the Thebaid in a statement by the 14th-century astronomer Theodore Meliteniotes. This is a very late attestation, however, and there is no reason to suppose that he ever lived elsewhere than Alexandria. Ptolemy wrote several treatises, three of which were of importance to later Byzantine, Islamic and European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest, although it was entitled the Mathematical Treatise. The second is the Geography, which is a discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the Apotelesmatika but more known as the Tetrabiblos from the Greek meaning Four Books or by the Latin Quadripartitum. The name Claudius is a Roman nomen, the fact that Ptolemy bore it indicates he lived under the Roman rule of Egypt with the privileges and political rights of Roman citizenship. It would have suited custom if the first of Ptolemys family to become a citizen took the nomen from a Roman called Claudius who was responsible for granting citizenship, if, as was common, this was the emperor, citizenship would have been granted between AD41 and 68. The astronomer would also have had a praenomen, which remains unknown and it occurs once in Greek mythology, and is of Homeric form. All the kings after him, until Egypt became a Roman province in 30 BC, were also Ptolemies, abu Mashar recorded a belief that a different member of this royal line composed the book on astrology and attributed it to Ptolemy. The correct answer is not known”, Ptolemy wrote in Greek and can be shown to have utilized Babylonian astronomical data. He was a Roman citizen, but most scholars conclude that Ptolemy was ethnically Greek and he was often known in later Arabic sources as the Upper Egyptian, suggesting he may have had origins in southern Egypt. Later Arabic astronomers, geographers and physicists referred to him by his name in Arabic, Ptolemys Almagest is the only surviving comprehensive ancient treatise on astronomy. Ptolemy presented his models in convenient tables, which could be used to compute the future or past position of the planets. The Almagest also contains a catalogue, which is a version of a catalogue created by Hipparchus
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Almagest
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The Almagest is the critical source of information on ancient Greek astronomy. It has also been valuable to students of mathematics because it documents the ancient Greek mathematician Hipparchuss work, Hipparchus wrote about trigonometry, but because his works appear to have been lost, mathematicians use Ptolemys book as their source for Hipparchuss work and ancient Greek trigonometry in general. The treatise was later titled Hē Megalē Syntaxis, and the form of this lies behind the Arabic name al-majisṭī. Ptolemy set up a public inscription at Canopus, Egypt, in 147 or 148, the late N. T. Hamilton found that the version of Ptolemys models set out in the Canopic Inscription was earlier than the version in the Almagest. Hence it cannot have been completed before about 150, a century after Ptolemy began observing. The Syntaxis Mathematica consists of thirteen sections, called books, an example illustrating how the Syntaxis was organized is given below. It is a 152-page Latin edition printed in 1515 at Venice by Petrus Lichtenstein, then follows an explanation of chords with table of chords, observations of the obliquity of the ecliptic, and an introduction to spherical trigonometry. There is also a study of the angles made by the ecliptic with the vertical, Book III covers the length of the year, and the motion of the Sun. Ptolemy explains Hipparchus discovery of the precession of the equinoxes and begins explaining the theory of epicycles. Books IV and V cover the motion of the Moon, lunar parallax, the motion of the apogee. Book VI covers solar and lunar eclipses, books VII and VIII cover the motions of the fixed stars, including precession of the equinoxes. They also contain a catalogue of 1022 stars, described by their positions in the constellations. The brightest stars were marked first magnitude, while the faintest visible to the eye were sixth magnitude. Each numerical magnitude was twice the brightness of the following one and this system is believed to have originated with Hipparchus. The stellar positions too are of Hipparchan origin, despite Ptolemys claim to the contrary, Book IX addresses general issues associated with creating models for the five naked eye planets, and the motion of Mercury. Book X covers the motions of Venus and Mars, Book XI covers the motions of Jupiter and Saturn. Book XII covers stations and retrograde motion, which occurs when planets appear to pause, Ptolemy understood these terms to apply to Mercury and Venus as well as the outer planets. Book XIII covers motion in latitude, that is, the deviation of planets from the ecliptic, the cosmology of the Syntaxis includes five main points, each of which is the subject of a chapter in Book I
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Adelard of Bath
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Adelard of Bath was a 12th-century English natural philosopher. He is known as one of the first to introduce the Hindu–Arabic numeral system to Europe and he stands at the convergence of three intellectual schools, the traditional learning of French schools, the Greek culture of Southern Italy, and the Arabic science of the East. Given the period when he was alive, Adelard’s biography is incomplete in places and leaves some aspects open to interpretation, as a result, much of what is ascribed to Adelard is a product of his own testimony. As his name suggests, he was born in the Roman English city of Bath, despite his extensive travels, by the end of his life he had returned to Bath, where he died. Scholars are hesitant to ascribe definitive parents to the philosopher but Fastred and his name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, which would have placed him in the subordinate class, status wise, in 11th-century England. It is believed that he left England toward the end of the 11th century for Tours, likely on the advice of Bishop John de Villula, during his studies in Tours, an anonymous wise man of Tours inspired Adelard with his interest in astronomy to study the science. Adelard later taught for a time at Laon, leaving Laon for travel no later than 1109, after leaving Laon, he travelled to Southern Italy and Sicily no later than 1116. Adelard also travelled throughout the lands of the Crusades, Greece, West Asia, Sicily, Spain, Tarsus, Antioch. The time spent in these areas would help explain his fascination with mathematics, by 1126, Adelard returned to the West with the intention of spreading the knowledge he had gained about Arab astronomy and geometry to the Latin world. One aspect of particular interest with respect to Adelard, his teachings, and this time of remarkable transition marked an opportunity for someone to gain valuable influence over the evolution of human history. Again, given the 11th-century time period that Adelard was alive, in the absence of a printing press and given the weak public literacy rate, books were rare items in medieval Europe—generally held only by royal courts or Catholic monastic communities. Fittingly, Adelard studied with monks at the Benedictine Monastery at Bath Cathedral, among Adelard of Baths original works is a trio of dialogues, written to mimic the Platonic style, or correspondences with his nephew. The earliest of these is De Eodem et Diverso and it is written in the style of a protreptic, or an exhortation to the study of philosophy. The work is modelled on Boethius Consolation of Philosophy, evident in Adelards vocabulary and it is believed to have been written near Tours after he had already travelled, though there is no indication that he had travelled past Southern Italy and Sicily at the time of writing. The work takes the form of a dialogue between Philocosmia, who advocates worldly pleasures, and Philosophia, whose defence of scholarship leads into a summary of the seven liberal arts. Underlining the entire work is the contrast between Philocosmias res, and Philosophias verba, each section of the liberal arts is divided into two parts. The second of this trio, and arguably Adelards most significant contribution, was his Questiones Naturales or Questions on Natural Science. It can be dated between 1107 and 1133 as, in the text, Adelard himself mentions that seven years have passed since his lecturing in schools at Laon and he chooses to present this work as a forum for Arabic learning, referring often to his experiences in Antioch
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Planisphere
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In astronomy, planisphere is a star chart analog computing instrument in the form of two adjustable disks that rotate on a common pivot. It can be adjusted to display the stars for any time. It is an instrument to assist in learning how to recognize stars, the astrolabe, an instrument that has its origins in Hellenistic astronomy, is a predecessor of the modern planisphere. The term planisphere contrasts with armillary sphere, where the sphere is represented by a three-dimensional framework of rings. The chart and overlay are mounted so that they are free to rotate about a pivot point at their centers. The star chart contains the brightest stars, constellations and deep-sky objects visible from a latitude on Earth. The night sky that one sees from the Earth depends on whether the observer is in the northern or southern hemispheres, a planisphere window is designed for a particular latitude and will be accurate enough for a certain band either side of that. Planisphere makers will usually offer them in a number of versions for different latitudes, planispheres only show the stars visible from the observers latitude, stars below the horizon are not included. A complete twenty-four-hour time cycle is marked on the rim of the overlay, a full twelve months of calendar dates are marked on the rim of the starchart. The window is marked to show the direction of the eastern and western horizons, the disk and overlay are adjusted so that the observers local time of day on the overlay corresponds to that days date on the star chart disc. The portion of the star visible in the window then represents the distribution of stars in the sky at that moment for the planispheres designed location. Users hold the planisphere above their head with the eastern and western horizons correctly aligned to match the chart to actual star positions, the word planisphere was originally used in the second century by Ptolemy to describe the representation of a spherical Earth by a map drawn in the plane. This usage continued into the Renaissance, for example Gerardus Mercator described his 1569 world map as a planisphere, in this article the word describes the representation of the star-filled celestial sphere on the plane. The first star chart to have the name planisphere was made in 1624 by Jacob Bartsch, Bartsch was the son-in-law of Johannes Kepler, discoverer of Keplers laws of planetary motion. Since the planisphere shows the sphere in a printed flat. Planispheres, like all charts, are using a certain projection method. For planispheres there are two methods in use, leaving the choice with the designer. One such method is the azimuthal equidistant projection
