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The Qur’an in Rome
Despite its relevance to the subsequent development of Western Islamic studies, the intellectual contribution of early modern Catholicism is still an under-researched area. The aim of this volume is to fill this gap, offering a series of essays dealing with the study of the Qur’an and Arabic language in early modern Catholic Europe. Focusing on the circulation of manuscripts, translations and printed books, the essays highlight how Catholic Orientalism contributed to the birth and spread of Western Islamic studies, although sometimes it was still directed towards religious polemics. Among the protagonists of this period of Islamic studies, the volume will focus on Catholic priests, mission...
The Chinese Language in European Texts
This detailed, chronological study investigates the rise of the European fascination with the Chinese language up to 1615. By meticulously investigating a wide range of primary sources, Dinu Luca identifies a rhetorical continuum uniting the land of the Seres, Cathay, and China in a tropology of silence, vision, and writing. Tracing the contours of this tropology, The Chinese Language in European Texts: The Early Period offers close readings of language-related contexts in works by classical authors, medieval travelers, and Renaissance cosmographers, as well as various merchants, wanderers, and missionaries, both notable and lesser-known. What emerges is a clear and comprehensive understanding of early European ideas about the Chinese language and writing system.
The Body as a Mirror of the Soul
Physiognomy, the history of racial classifications, and the interplay between natural philosophy, medicine, and ethics The idea of the body as a mirror of the soul has fascinated mankind throughout history. Being able to see through an individual, and drawing conclusions on their character solely based on a selection of external features, is the subject of physiognomy, and has a long tradition running well into recent times. However, the pre-modern, especially medieval background of this discipline has remained underexplored. The selected case studies in this volume each contribute to a better understanding of the history of physiognomy from antiquity to the Renaissance, and offer discussion...
Invoking Angels
"A collection of essays examining medieval and early modern texts aimed at performing magic or receiving illumination via the mediation of angels. Includes discussion of Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts"--Provided by publisher.
Governing the Empire
This book examines through the edition, translation, and study of Almohad provincial appointments the administrative, political, ideological, and religious organisation of the largest European-African Empire, renewing the study of power and authority in the medieval Islamic world.
Dating the Passion
The beginnings of scientific chronology are usually associated with the work of the great Renaissance philologist Joseph Scaliger (1540–1609), but this perspective is challenged by the existence of a vivid pre-modern computistical tradition, in which technical chronological questions, especially regarding the life of Jesus, played an essential role. Christian scholars such as Roger Bacon made innovative breakthroughs in the field of historical dating by applying astronomical calculations, critical exegesis, and the study of the Jewish calendar to chronological problems. Drawing on a wide selection of sources that range from late antiquity to 1600, this book uses the history of the date of Christ’s Passion to shed new light on the medieval contribution to science and scholarship.
The Lost Libraries of Tunis
Only little is known about the book culture of Tunis, although the city had been a centre for teaching and learning throughout Ḥafṣid rule in Ifrīqiya (c. 1230 to 1574). The libraries of Tunis are considered lost since the sack of the city by the armies of the emperor Charles V in the summer of 1535. This study reconstructs for the first time the original holdings of Tunis' medieval libraries and shows what can still be learned from these recovered fragments. An in-depth analysis of a wide range of texts and artefacts shows that the Ḥafṣid libraries were looted and their collections redistributed, mostly among European collectors. The Lost Libraries of Tunis brings Early Modern scho...
Knowledge, Discipline and Power in the Middle Ages
This collection of essays is based on a conference in honour of David Luscombe held at the University of Sheffield in September 2006 under the title "Knowledge, Discipline and Power in the Middle Ages." The 14 contributions to this Festschrift, by leading scholars in the field, show the strength and variety of recent work on the intellectual history of the middle ages. A group of papers deals with changes in the intellectual landscape during this period. Other papers focus particularly on the theme of jurisdiction, while a third groups deals with knowledge and its uses. The papers fittingly reflect the breadth and inventiveness of David Luscombe's scholarship, and in particular his work on Peter Abelard. Contributors are Christopher Brooke, Charles Burnett, Joseph Canning, Giles Constable, William J. Courtenay, Martin Kintzinger, Robert E. Lerner, Brian Patrick McGuire, John Marenbon, Gert Melville, Constant J. Mews, Jurgen Miethke, Amanda Power, Andreas Speer, and Martial Staub.
Unveiling the Hidden—Anticipating the Future
In Unveiling the Hidden—Anticipating the Future: Divinatory Practices Among Jews Between Qumran and the Modern Period, Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas and Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum collect ten studies based on primary sources ranging from Qumran to the modern period and covering Europe and the Mediterranean basin. The studies show Jews practising divination (astrology, bibliomancy, physiognomy, dream requests, astral magic, etc.) and implementing the study and practice of the prognostic arts in ways that allowed Jews to make them "Jewish," by avoiding any conflict with Jewish law or halakhah. These studies focus on the Jewish components of this divination, providing specific firsthand details about the practices and their practitioners within their cultural and intellectual contexts—as well as their fears, wishes, and anxieties—using ancient scrolls and medieval manuscripts in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Judaeo-Arabic. Contributors are Michael D. Swartz, Helen R. Jacobus, Alessia Bellusci, Blanca Villuendas Sabaté, Shraga Bar-On, Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas, Amos Geula, Dov Schwartz, Joseph Ziegler, and Charles Burnett.
A Companion to Medieval Palermo
The Companion to Medieval Palermo offers a panorama of the history of Medieval Palermo from the sixth to the fifteenth century. Often described by contrast with the communal reality of Medieval Italy as submitted to a royal (external) authority, the city is here given back its density and creativity. Important themes such as artistic and literary productions, religious changes or political autonomy are thus explored anew. Some fields recently investigated are the object of particular scrutiny: the history of the Jews, Byzantine or Islamic Palermo are among them. Contributors are Annliese Nef, Vivien Prigent, Alessandra Bagnera, Mirella Cassarino, Rosi Di Liberto, Elena Pezzini, Henri Bresc, Igor Mineo, Laura Sciascia, Gian Luca Borghese, Sulamith Brodbeck, Benoît Grévin, Giuseppe Mandalà, and Fabrizio Titone.
