ALFREDO DI SHARESHEL

ALFREDO of SHARESHEL. — Also called Anglico, he is a leading figure in the scientific-philosophical movement of medieval neo-humanism. He made translations from Arabic and had a good knowledge of Greek, as is evident from some of his quotations from Aristotle; he is also noted for a commentary on the four books of the *Meteorology* (Pelzer) and a work of glosses on the *De Anima* and the *Parva naturalia*. His major work is the *De motu cordis*, a compendium of medieval physiology, dated around 1210: it is dedicated to Alexander Neckam and, after a partial edition by C. S. Barach (Innsbruck 1878), was published in its entirety with unsurpassed skill by Baeumker in his *Beiträge* (vol. XXIII, 1-11, Munich 1923). The doctrine is mostly inspired by Neoplatonism; however, notable Aristotelian elements are present, e.g., the dual definition of the soul (col. 1) and the central function attributed to the heart in the economy of vital needs. It is credited to him that Latin science in the early 13th century passed from the mathematical and astronomical phase to that dominated by physics and metaphysics.