Isaac ben Mordecai, known as Maestro Gajo, was an Italian Jewish physician. He acted as physician to Pope Nicholas IV

Pope Nicholas IV

Pope Nicholas IV , born Girolamo Masci, was Pope from February 22, 1288 to April 4, 1292. A Franciscan friar, he had been legate to the Greeks under Pope Gregory X in 1272, succeeded Bonaventure as Minister General of his religious order in 1274, was made Cardinal Priest of Santa Prassede and...

 and/or Pope Boniface VIII

Pope Boniface VIII

Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...

, at the end of the thirteenth century.

For him Nathan of Cento translated into Hebrew an Arabic work by 'Ammar ibn Ali al-Mauṣili, on the cure of diseases of the eye. Gajo was held in great esteem by the physicians Zerahiah ben Shealtiel Ḥen and Hillel ben Samuel of Verona. From Forlì

Forlì

Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...

, the latter wrote to Gajo two long letters (see "Ḥemdah Genuzah," pp. 18-22) on the dispute concerning Maimonides

Maimonides

Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...

's doctrines, which Gajo followed with interest.

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