Unraveling a Medical Mystery: The Identity of ‘Geredeli’ ?shak b. Murad, a Physician of Late Fourteenth-Century Rum

Abstract

"Geredeli" İshak b. Murad—the author of the late fourteenth-century Anatolian Turkish text Edviye-i Müfrede (Simple Remedies)—has long been lauded by Turkish scholars as one of the earliest recorded contributors to the development of medical writing in Rum. Until now, very little has been known about the author other than an apparent connection to Gerede. This article presents compelling evidence that reveals details of the physician's identity and later life, based on a previously overlooked and skillfully illuminated Persian materia medica in the Chester Beatty also authored by İshak (al-Majmūʿa al-mubāriziyya, Per 317).