Astruc de Sestier

Astruc de Sestier , born towards 1370 with Aix-en-Provence and deceased towards 1439 with Aix-en-Provence, is a Jewish Médecin of Aix-en-Provence, revealed like best the Bibliophile of his time.

Biography

Astruc de Sestier is the son of Mosse Abram . It nothing written forever, but sign in the monasteries. It is rather rich and ready of the money, as important ackowledgements of debt of January 1414 in January 1435 prove it. Astruc de Sestier is especially known as Jewish doctor of Aix-en-Provence, revealed like the best bibliophile of its time.

Its relations with the Christians

In Occident, medicine is very dependant on the catholic church which directs the hospitals, asylums and leper-house S and governs teaching in the Université S.

In France, medical colleges are created with the university of Montpellier in 1220, of Toulouse in 1229. Many interdicts concilaires exist concerning the Jews, since that of Béziers (1246) and various interventions of laic authorities, such as that of Charles II of Sicily for Provence. They slow down the exercise of their profession while prohibiting the Christians from calling upon them.

However, these interdicts, actually, are respected little because the Christian customers are frequent. Astruc de Sestier, doctor Jewish inhabitant of Aix has as much Christian customers than Jewish. It is even assisted of a Christian barber. It looks after in 1421 a monk of the Abbaye of Saint-Victor of Marseilles.

But, the authorities show greater intolerance: an act of November 7th 1421 gives a report on a lawsuit condemning it to have had sexual relationships with a Christian woman. Astruc de Sestier is condemned to the prison with Tarascon, where it remains a long time and with a fine of 100 money marcs.

Its library (1439)

One can speak about collection-model of the Jewish surgeon Astruc inhabitant of Aix of Sestier, drawn up after fatal turbulences of 1430, which involve the conversion of the one of its sons. Rich person of 179 volumes, it is indexed thanks to the inventory after death established by the Mossone widow and another son Jose de Sestier, doctor also, in 1439. Among them, in his succession one finds: the Talmud, of the talmudic gloses, the Bible S, of the works of liturgy, treaties of Rashi, the books of Medicine, Philosophy, mathematical, Astronomy, the comments of Aristote, Averroès, Avicenne, Maïmonide translated by Tibbon, the essence of the controversy of Rambam and other books “Spanish”: the Questions and answers of Solomon Ben Adret, Isaac Ben Chechet, the Khusari of Jeuda ha-Levi, a treaty of Tudela (Spain) on the various degrees of the intellectual perfection … etc

The Pentateuque is largely present in the libraries of the Jews very well-read men. It is thus not astonishing to find it with Aix-en-Provence at Astruc of Sestier, in 1439. It also has comments exegetic relating to Pentateuque, a specimen of Abraham ibn Ezra. Another snuffed commentator with Gérone, as much as in the South of France, is the grammairien David Kimhi with his comments on the Psalms , whose Astruc of Sestier has six specimens. He has also two Al Zahrawi, in his from Aix collection. It is also interested in astronomy, in Goralot of Abraham ibn Ezra.

Descent

Astruc de Sestier and his Mossone wife had several children. The Jews of the county of Provence do not escape them-also the movement from conversion.

Thus the son of Astruc de Sestier, Mosse de Sestier , before even the inventory of the books of his/her father, gave up the Judaism, following the bloody and unusual riot which has occurred in the Jewish district inhabitant of Aix (1430) and took the new name of Guillaume Brici .

the third wire, minor at the time of the inventory, Leon, is found in Avignon, 1503, neophyte from now on, under the name of Léonard Gros .

His/her brother Jose de Sestier , doctor, that one even which authenticated in Hebrew the inventory, died as a Jew before the banishment of 1501. It is him which must inherit the library, because there remained Jewish, but his/her brothers dispute this decision.

Its grand-daughter, Bonadona de Sestier , born in 1431 with Apt, Marie with Marseilles with a Neophyte, Solomon de Beaucaire (1430-1510) , become Jean Hortie . Jean Hortie is the syndic of Apt (Vaucluse) in 1505 and commercial. He is with the head of an impressive capital when he makes his will in 1489. Their descendants marry with neophytes or even of the middle-class men, whose family is Christian since centuries.

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