Gerard of Cremona

Who was Gerard of Cremona?

Gerard of Cremona was an Italian translator of scientific books from Arabic into Latin. He worked in Toledo, Spain and obtained the Arabic books in the libraries at Toledo. Some of the books had been originally written in Greek and were unavailable in Greek or Latin in Europe at the time. Gerard of Cremona is the most important translator among the Toledo School of Translators who invigorated medieval Europe in the twelfth century by transmitting medieval Arabic and ancient Greek knowledge in astronomy, medicine and other sciences, by making the knowledge available in the Latin language. One of Gerard's most famous translations is of Ptolemy's Almagest from Arabic texts found in Toledo.

Confusingly there appear to have been two translators of Arabic text into Latin known as Gerard of Cremona, one active in the 12th century who concentrated on astronomy and other scientific works, the other active in the 13th century who concentrated on medical works.