Mark of Toledo

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Mark of Toledo (fl. 1193-1216) was a Spanish physician, translator and a canon of Toledo.

He is best known for producing one of the earliest translations of the Qur'an into Latin.[1]

Biography

Mark had studied medicine at university, and being fluent in Arabic, had translated several medical texts, including the Libellus de Unione Dei by Ibn Tumart, before being asked to translate the Qur’an.[2][3]

The translation of the Qur’an was commissioned by the Archbishop of Toledo, Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, and the city’s archdeacon, Master Maurice; it was completed in 1210.[2]

Mark used a word-for-word translation technique, as opposed to Robert of Ketton’s earlier style.[2]

He also translated Hippocrates' De aere aquis et locis, Hunayn Ibn Ishaq's versions of four of Galen's treatises.

See also

References

  1. Yolles, Julian (2020). "Scientific Language in the Latin Qur'ans of Robert of Ketton and Mark of Toledo". JStor. Journal of Qur’anic Studies, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 121–48. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  2. Burnett, Charles (2022). "Mark of Toledo Intellectual Context and Debates between Christians and Muslims in Early Thirteenth Century Iberia". Oxford University Research Archive. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  3. "Arabic and Latin Corpus". University of Würzburg. Retrieved 2 June 2026.

External sources