466 Majorca
subsequently translated into Hebrew and LATIN, it was a
philosophical Aristotelian meditation on the fundamen-
tals of literalist religion. It was written for cases where
religious practice and biblical and Talmudic culture were
in conflict with contemporary philosophical reasoning
and knowledge. It specifically addressed those who were
perplexed but had a solid acquaintance with Judaic
knowledge and theology. Reconciling faith and reason,
they could become true philosophers capable of under-
standing metaphysical realities and gaining a true knowl-
edge of God for themselves. Some found this synthesis of
faith and reason too heterodox and controversial and
condemned the guide. Christian scholars such as Thomas
AQUINASread this guide with much interest.
Further reading:Moses Maimonides, The Guide of
the Perplexed,2 vols., trans. Shlomo Pines (Chicago: Uni-
versity of Chicago Press, 1963); Moses Maimonides, Let-
ters of Maimonides,ed. Leon D. Suslin (New York: Yeshiva
University Press, 1977); Raymond L. Weiss and Charles
Butterworth, eds., Ethical Writings of Maimonides(New
York: New York University Press, 1975); Gil Anidjar,
“Our Place in al-Andalus”: Kabbalah, Philosophy, Literature
in Arab Jewish Letters(Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univer-
sity Press, 2002); Idit Dobbs-Weinstein, Maimonides and
St. Thomas on the Limits of Reason(Albany: State Univer-
sity of New York Press, 1995); Isidore Epstein, ed., Moses
Maimonides, 1135–1204: Anglo-Jewish Papers in Connec-
tion with the Eighth Centenary of His Birth(London: Son-
cino Press, 1935); Howard T. Kreisel, Maimonides’
Political Thought: Studies in Ethnics, Law, and the Human
Ideal(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999);
Harry A. Wolfson, The Kalam Arguments for Creation in
Saadia, Averroës, Maimonides and St. Thomas(New York:
Reprinted from the Saadia Anniversary Volume of the
American Academy for Jewish Research, 1943), 197–245.Majorca Majorca is the largest island of the BALEARIC
ISLANDS, an archipelago in the western Mediterranean, off
the Spanish coast. Conquered by the VANDALSin the fifth
century, it became part of the Visigothic kingdom in the
seventh century. In 713 it was conquered by the ARABS. In
1229 King JAMESI conquered and annexed it to ARAGON,
when it became a province. Before his death in 1276,
James divided his realm and ceded Majorca and its royal
title, to his younger son, James II (r. 1264–1327), who
was also lord of areas in southern France, Roussillon,
Cerdagne, and MONTPELLIER. The independent existence
of this set of holdings was always challenged by the elder
branch of the Aragonese ruling dynasty. In 1344, during
one of these dynastic battles, King James III (r. 1324–49)
of Majorca was defeated and killed by King Peter IV (r.
1336–87) of Aragon. Majorca and the counties of Roussil-
lon and Cerdagne were then annexed to the Crown of
Aragon, while Montpellier was sold to FRANCE. Majorca
then became again a prosperous province of Aragon and
an important cultural center with strong commercial
links with BARCELONA.Moses Maimonides (Courtesy Library of Congress)