High Middle Ages · Middle East · Culture

1204

Maimonides dies in Fustat

1204

The physician, philosopher, and rabbi who had reconciled Aristotle with Torah died in Egypt, where he had served the sultan. Jewish communities from Cairo to Provence mourned him. His Guide for the Perplexed would shape scholastic thought far beyond its original readers. Thomas Aquinas cited him; Spinoza wrestled with him; his codification of Jewish law remains authoritative to this day.