On the Soul
A text like "On the Soul", for instance, was unavailable in Latin in Christian Europe before the middle of the twelfth century. The first Latin translation is due to James of Venice (12th century), and has always been considered as the "translatio vetus" (ancient translation). The second Latin translation ("translatio nova", new translation) was made from the Arabic translation of the text around 1230, and it was accompanied by Averroes's commentary; the translator is generally thought to be Michael Scot. James's "translatio vetus" was then revised by William of Moerbeke in 1266–7, and became known as the "recensio nova" (new recension), which was the most widely read version. "On the Soul" ended up becoming a component of the core curriculum of philosophical study in most medieval universities, giving birth to a very rich tradition of commentaries, especially c. 1260–1360.