CHAPTER III

An important moment—The history of the Arabs in their influence on the intellectual life of Europe—The school of Toledo—Scot fixes his residence in that city—The name and fame of Aristotle—Scot engages in translating Arabic versions of the works of Aristotle on Natural History—The De Animalibus and its connection with the Physionomia—The Abbreviatio Avicennae and its relation to former versions of the Toledo school—The date when Scot finished this work.—Frederick’s interest in these books—The De partibus animalium—Did Scot know Greek?—How the Arabian Natural History contrasts with the modern—Toledo, 42