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Redaction of Euclid's Elements — Campanus of Novara

~1259 AD · Transmission: Global
MathematicsAstronomyTranslationItalian

An Italian mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and physician, Campanus of Novara served as chaplain to four successive popes. His most influential contribution was his Latin redaction of Euclid's Elements in fifteen books, composed before 1259, incorporating material from Jordanus de Nemore's Arithmetica and al-Nayrizi's commentary via Gerard of Cremona's translation. It became the most-used Euclidean compilation in Latin Europe for over two centuries; Erhard Ratdolt's 1482 Venice edition, based on Campanus's redaction, was the editio princeps of the Elements.

InstitutionPapal curia (chaplain to Urban IV, Adrian V, Nicholas IV, and Boniface VIII)
Historical regionItaly (Novara, Piedmont) — documented activity in the Roman curia and possibly England
Secondary sourceEncyclopedia.com/DSB; Busard, H.L.L. — Campanus of Novara and Euclid's Elements (2005)
Original languageLatin
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