CRESQUES, ABRAHAM

CRESQUES, ABRAHAM (d. 1387), Majorcan cartographer, son of Abraham Vidal and Astrugona. Contrary to what has been assumed in research, his name was Cresques Abraham and not Abraham Cresques. The latter is the name of his father. Hence his son Judah (son of) Cresques. In the Catalan-speaking lands and in Provence it was customary for Jews to bear two names, the second being the father's name. Cresques' grandfather Vidal Cresques was a leader of the community in Majorca. Cresques prepared maps and compasses for Pedro iv of Aragon and his son John, who conferred on him the title magister mapamundorum et buxolarum. His map of the world was sent by the infante as a gift to Charles vi of France in 1381. Both Cresques and his son Judah (see below) were granted royal protection in 1381 and exempted from wearing the Jewish badge. Pedro iv granted him revenues and the right to appoint the ritual slaughterers and inspectors in his community. The celebrated Catalan atlas, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, is thought to be the work of Cresques. judah cresques (b. c. 1360) was also a cartographer. After his father's death he continued to make maps for John i and Martin of Aragon. He continued to reside in the call of Majorca, where he inherited a house from his father. During the anti-Jewish outbreaks in Spain in 1391, Judah became converted to Christianity, changing his name to Jaime Ribes. In 1394 he settled in Barcelona. From 1399 he is referred to in documents as magister cartarum navegandi. He is identical with the famous cartographer Mestre Jacome de Mallorca, employed in Portugal by Henry the Navigator during the 1420s.

bibliography:

G. de Reparaz, Maestre Jacome de Malhorca (1930); idem, in: Estudis Universitaris Catalans, 13 (1928), 221; A. López de Meneses, in: Estudios de Edad Media de la Corona de Aragón,, 5 (1952), 724ff.; A. Pons, in: Hispania, 16 (1956), 251–5; Baer, Spain, 2 (1965), 52, 464; Sefarad, index to vols. 1–15 (1957), s.v. Crescas.add. bibliography: Cresques Abraham, L'atlas catal de Cresques Abraham, ed. L. Mercad I Nubiola (1975); J. Riera i Sans, "Cresques Abraham, jueu de Mallorca, mestre de mapa mundis I de Brúixoles," 14–22 (also in Spanish); Cresques Abraham, Mapamundi, the Catalan Atlas of the year 1375, ed. with commentary by G. Grosjean (1978); G. Llompart and J. Riera i Sans, in: Bolletí de la Societat Arqueològica Luliana, 40 (1984), 341–50