Alfred of Sarashel, also known as Alfred the Philosopher, Alfred the Englishman or Alfredus Anglicus, was born in England some time in the 12th century and died in the 13th century.
Not much more is known about his life apart from that he moved to Spain and worked in the
Toledo School of Translators
The Toledo School of Translators () is the group of scholars who worked together in the city of Toledo during the 12th and 13th centuries, to translate many of the Islamic philosophy and scientific works from Classical Arabic into Medieval Latin ...
, where he translated several texts from Arabic and Greek into Latin.
Works
* Translation of the
pseudo-Aristotelian
Pseudo-Aristotle is a general cognomen for authors of philosophical or medical treatises who attributed their works to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, or whose work was later attributed to him by others. Such falsely attributed works are known as ...
''
De plantis'' from the Arabic. " Alfred the Englishman translated the Arabic version into Latin in the reign of
Henry III. It was retranslated from this version into Greek at the Renaissance by a Greek resident in Italy."
* Several commentaries on Aristotle, including four on his ''Meteors''. These were extant down to the 17th century but have not survived.
* Wrote
De motu cordis (On the Motion of the Heart) and dedicated it to
Alexander Nequam
Alexander Neckam (8 September 115731 March 1217) was an English poet, theologian, and writer. He was an abbot of Cirencester Abbey from 1213 until his death.
Early life
Born on 8 September 1157 in St Albans, Alexander shared his birthday with K ...
.
* ''De naturis Rerum''
*''De Educatione Accipitrum'' (On the mode of training hawks)
* Five books on
Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...
''De consolatione philosophiae''.
* ''De Musica''
* De congelatione et conglutinatione lapidum (included in the Aristotel's Meteors) translation of ibn Sina text on mineralogy
[Lawrenc M. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, The University of Chicago Press, 2013 p. 58]
References
*
Further reading
* ''Shareshill, Alfred of'', in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; entry by Charles Burnett
* Burnett, Charles. ''The Introduction of Arabic Learning into England,'' (1997), p. 70ff.
See also
*
Toledo School of Translators
The Toledo School of Translators () is the group of scholars who worked together in the city of Toledo during the 12th and 13th centuries, to translate many of the Islamic philosophy and scientific works from Classical Arabic into Medieval Latin ...
*
Latin translations of the 12th century
Latin translations of the 12th century were spurred by a major search by European scholars for new learning unavailable in western Europe Renaissance of the 12th century, at the time; their search led them to areas of southern Europe, particularl ...
English non-fiction writers
English translators
Arabic–Latin translators
13th-century English writers
Translators from Greek
12th-century births
13th-century deaths
Scholastic philosophers
English male non-fiction writers
13th-century translators
Latin commentators on Aristotle
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