Abiathar Crescas (, ) was a 15th-century

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

astrologer Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

from the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

(now part of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). He was head astrologer to King John II of Aragon, father of King Ferdinand of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

. He could remove

cataracts A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or double vision, halos around ligh ...

by a surgical procedure known as couching. In 1468 he restored the eyesight of King John in two simple operations, who was completely blind before the surgeries. Crescas was a leader of Aragon's Jewish community.

References

* Philosophers of Judaism Medieval Jewish physicians of Spain Medieval Jewish astrologers 15th-century Aragonese Jews Medieval Jewish philosophers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Medieval Spanish astrologers {{Spain-med-bio-stub