Late Medieval Jewish Physicians and their Manuscripts

Abstract Most medieval Hebrew manuscripts in late medieval Iberia, especially those containing non-religious texts, were copied by individuals for their personal use. Hebrew medical codices were thus very often both written and used by Jewish physicians. Considering these manuscripts as material objects opens a new window onto medical practice among the Jewish community. This article uses two case studies—one exploring a single manuscript (Vatican Biblioteca Apostolica ebr. 362) and the various medical texts it contains and the other following the transmission of a single medical text (Bernard de Gordon’s Lilium medicinae) through a number of different manuscripts—to inquire into what can be learned from the scribal practices of the Jewish doctors who wrote, owned and used these manuscripts.