Practical Astronomy in Fourteenth-Century Provence: Immanuel ben Jacob Bonfils of Tarascon and the Construction of Astrolabes (Study, Critical Edition, and Translation)

We present here the critical edition and translation of an unstudied Hebrew treatise on the construction of astrolabes by the Provençal Jew Immanuel ben Jacob, also known as Bonfils of Tarascon (fl. 1340–1377), plus three very short texts associated with this treatise in the manuscript tradition. This study constitutes a case study of the status of practical astronomy among Jews in fourteenth-century southern France. The study overviews Immanuel’s works and the scanty biographical notices attested in textual sources, analyses the characteristics of the three manuscripts that contain Immanuel’s treatise on the astrolabe and the manuscript diagrams related to them, and pays special attention to Bonfils’ contribution to practical astronomy and astrolabe knowledge.