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Averroes (Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Rushd; 1126–1198), was one of the greatest Islamic philosophers and a noted physician. Averroes, who lived in Spain, is primarily known as commentator on Aristotle's works. While Averroes had little influence on Islamic thought, Latin and Hebrew translations of his works made him a central figure in Christian and Jewish philosophy from the 13th century on.
In late medieval Jewish philosophy, Averroes became, next to Maimonides, the most important influence in the field. He arrived at this stature by means of the Hebrew translations of his works. Jewish philosophers describe him by such appellations as "the great sage," "the chief of the commentators [on Aristotle]," and "the soul and the intellect of Aristotle." Among Jewish philosophers there were some who tried to harmonize Averroes' teachings with those of Judaism, while there were others who had a purely philosophic interest in his views. Since Maimonides and Averroes disagreed on certain philosophic topics, some Jewish philosophers also attempted to reconcile their divergent views.
The Hebrew printing press in Riva, which was active between 1558 and 1562 and produced about 35 titles. The press owed its success to the cooperation of three men: Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo, bishop of Trent, who had jurisdiction over the town and whose coat-of-arms appears on many of the Riva publications; R. Joseph b. Nathan Ottolenghi, rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Cremona; and Jacob Marcaria, dayyan and physician, also of Cremona, who was the printer and contributed learned prefaces to his productions.
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