Jewish treatises on the black death (1350–1500): A preliminary study

Most popular of the translated treatises on the Black Death was that of John of Burgundy, written in 1365. It was, in fact, translated twice: first by Benjamin ben Rabbi Isaac Karkashoni, in 1399; and later by Joshua of Bologna in the fifteenth century. The most important Jewish author in the field of epidemiology during the Black Death years was undoubtedly Abraham ben David Casalri, His father, David ben Abraham Casalri, had been active as a physician and translator in the Kingdom of Aragon and in southern France. The surname indicates that the family originated in the town Caslar, in the province of Tarragona; Abraham himself lived principally in the town of Besalu in the Kingdom of Aragon. Theoretical and practical magic, throughout the Middle Ages, was a constant companion to scientific medicine. An anonymous adjuration To Remove the Plague, apparently dating from the second half of the fourteenth century, is especially interesting in light of its universal nature.