The Jews of Arles (1391-1414). Their aptitude for sciences (the Avigdors) and predisposition to take in Catalan Jews

Authors

  • Danièle Iancu-Agou Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Laboratoire d’études sur les monothéismes.

Keywords:

Provence, Arles, Abraham Avigdor, Solomon Avigdor, Montpellier School of Medicine, the Catalan Falco family in Tarascon

Abstract

The Avigdors, a family of learned physicians, were well known in the secular Jewish community of Arles. Both Abraham Avigdor and his son Solomon translated medical works from the Montpellier School of Medicine (Arnau de Vilanova, Gerard de Solo) into Hebrew in the early 15th century.
While Renan and Neubauer lamented a lack of autobiographical information on Solomon, Latin and Provençal sources provide valuable details and show that the renowned family had a tendency towards sudden conversion. In a period of apparent calm, three of Abraham’s four sons were quick to embrace Christianity, one of them with royal patronage!
After its prosopographical, cultural first part on the Arlesian Jewish elite’s aptitude for sciences (and conversion), this article looks at the presence of Catalan Jews who settled in Arles and Tarascon in the period in question, following the drama of 1391.

Keywords: Provence, Arles, Abraham Avigdor, Solomon Avigdor, Montpellier School of Medicine, the Catalan Falco family in Tarascon

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Published

2015-06-24

Issue

Vol. 10 (2014)

Section

Articles

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