John of Sicily[a] was an astronomer active in Paris in the late 13th century. His only known surviving work is Inter cetera veritatis philosophicae documenta, a Latin commentary on the instructional material, Quoniam cuiusque actionis, attached to the Toledan Tables. It was a popular work on trigonometry and planetary motion.[1] It survives in ten complete manuscript copies and some further fragments. It was completed at Paris between 1291 and 1293 based in part on an earlier anonymous commentary, Sicut dicit Hermes. John also had access to the astronomical tables of Ibn Isḥāq al-Tūnisī.[2]
A lost work by John may be referenced in the inventory made of the library of King Charles V of France shortly after his death in 1380. A copy of John's commentary is listed[b] and under the same name an Almagest,[c] probably a work on planetary theory completed after the commentary.[2]
Notes
- Also known as: John of Messina, Johannes de Messina, Johannes de Sicilia, Johannes Siculus.
- Scripta Johannis de Cicilia super canonez Azarchachelliz, Tabulas Tholetanas.
- Almagesti Johannis de Cicilia.
References
- Giancarlo Truffa (2014), "John of Sicily", in T. Hockey et al., eds., Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (New York: Springer), p. 1137. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_9305
- C. Philipp E. Nothaft, "Were the Tables of Ibn Isḥāq al-Tūnisī known in Paris c. 1300?", Journal for the History of Astronomy 55.4 (2024): 490–503, esp. 492.
Further reading
- Pedersen, Fritz Saaby (1986). "Scriptum Johannis de Sicilia super canones Azarchelis de tabulis Toletanis." Cahiers de l'Institut du Moyen-Âge grec et latin, vols. 51–52.