ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Arnoul de Quincampoix: Physician, Translator, and Astrologer at the French Court in the Early Fourteenth Century

• In Event: Divining Heaven and Earth

English Abstract

Arnoul de Quincampoix served as physician to Philip the Fair (r. 1285–1314), Louis X (r. 1314–1316), and Philip V (r. 1316–1322). Beyond his medical role, he was active as an astrologer and as a translator. He is credited with at least eight translations of astrological works by Abū Maʿšar, Abraham Ibn Ezra, the pseudo-Hermes, and Abraham bar Hiyya, positioning him at the intersection of ancient, Arabic-Persian, and Hebrew scholarly traditions. He also stands among the earliest known translators of astrological texts into French, prefiguring the great translation movement under Charles V (r. 1364–1380). In this capacity, Arnoul made a noteworthy – yet still largely understudied – contribution to the development of scientific knowledge and to the history of ideas in early fourteenth-century France.
This paper first surveys Arnoul de Quincampoix’s œuvre, its sources, and its distinctive features. It then turns to the reception of one of his translations, the Livre des Élections lunaires, through an examination of a manuscript witness (Vatican, BAV, Reg. Lat. 1257). This manuscript offers a rarely discussed but particularly revealing case of how the knowledge conveyed by Arnoul’s translation was put into practice, and of the intellectual circles that engaged with it.

Author

• Florence Ninitte