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This book focuses on the conceptualization of the court, palace and ruler of the Umayyad Caliphate of al-Andalus. Western terminology still plays a normative role in the representation of foreign courts, determining concepts that fit poorly into chronologies with their own dynamics and specificities, which is the case of Muslim courts. While Court Studies is a well-developed field for modern Western societies, Muslim medieval courts lack a consistent field of research. Sources elaborate a specific terminology for medieval Muslim court societies. In the specific case of the Umayyad Caliphate of al-Andalus, the court is usually articulated as Bāb Suddat al-Khalīfa (“The door of the Sudda o...
The Greco-Roman world is identified in the modern mind by its cities. This includes both specific places such as Athens and Rome, but also an instantly recognizable style of urbanism wrought in marble and lived in by teeming tunic-clad crowds. Selective and misleading this vision may be, but it speaks to the continuing importance these ancient cities have had in the centuries that followed and the extent to which they define the period in subsequent memory. Although there is much that is mysterious about them, the cities of the Roman Mediterranean are, for the most part, historically known. That the names and pasts of these cities remain known to us is the product of an extraordinary process...
A People's Church brings together a distinguished international group of historians to provide a sweeping introduction to Christian religious life and institutions in medieval Italy. Each essay treats a single theme as broadly as possible, highlighting both the unique aspects of medieval Christianity on the Italian peninsula and the beliefs and practices it shared with other Christian societies. Because of its long tradition of communal self-governance, Christianity in medieval Italy, perhaps more than anywhere else, was truly a "people's church." At the same time, its exceptional urban wealth and literacy rates, along with its rich and varied intellectual and artistic culture, led to divers...
Gathering the proceedings of a symposium organized on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the qāḍī Ibn al-ʿArabī’s (d. 543/1148) passing, this volume brings together a diverse array of contributions highlighting his legacy, his relationship with his master al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), his unparalleled role in the transmission of Islamic knowledge in al-Andalus, and his lasting impact on various disciplines, including ḥadīth, theology, Islamic law, Quranic exegesis, legal theory, grammar, adab, and Sufism. This book, written by internationally recognized scholars, not only commemorates the scholarly legacy of Ibn al-ʿArabī but also illustrates how his intellectual teachings h...
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.
This volume contains the edition and translation of the chapter of al-Maqrīzī’s al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar dealing with Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, and Goths. This chapter is, for the most part, an almost exact reproduction of Ibn Ḫaldūn’s Kitāb al-ʿIbar, from which al-Maqrīzī derived material from many other sources, including prominent Christian sources such as Kitāb Hurūšiyūš, Ibn al-ʿAmīd’s History, and works by Muslim historians like Ibn al-Aṯīr’s Kāmil. Therefore, this chapter of al-Ḫabar ʿan al-bašar is a continuation of the previous Arabic historiographical tradition, in which European history is integrated into world history through the combination of Christian and Islamic sources.
Beginning in the twelfth century, taxation increasingly became an essential component of medieval society in most parts of Europe. The state-building process and relations between princes and their subject cities or between citizens and their rulers were deeply shaped by fiscal practices. Although medieval taxation has produced many publications over the past decades there remains no synthesis of this important subject. This volume provides a comprehensive overview on a European scale and suggests new paths of inquiry. It examines the fiscal systems and practices of medieval Europe, including essential themes such as medieval fiscal theory and the power to tax; royal and urban taxation; and ...
Der Mittelmeerraum wies während des Mittelalters einen großen Reichtum an Transfer- und Austauschprozessen auf. Waren entsprechende Bedingungen (geographische Mobilität, eine kulturell grenzüberschreitende Lebenssituation oder ein entsprechendes Aktivitätsfeld etc.) gegeben, konnten Menschen zu Vermittlern von Kulturgütern werden, darunter Gesandte, Pilger, Seeleute, Händler, Schmuggler, Kriegsgefangene, Geiseln, Missionare, Ärzte, Gelehrte, Übersetzer, Dolmetscher, Bauleute, Söldner und viele andere mehr. Der Band bietet einen Überblick über verschiedene Milieus, Gruppen und Individuen, die auf jeweils unterschiedlich Art die Mobilität von Kulturgütern im mittelalterlichen Mediterraneum beförderten.
How are the Crusades portrayed in popular culture today? Have the medieval images of chivalric and military heroes survived the eras of Orientalism and decolonization? The first of its kind, this comparative study examines representations of the Crusades in both European and Arab medieval texts and in 20th and 21st century transmedia recreations. It follows the cartography and illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages through modern, hybridized narratives in novels, film, comics and gaming. The shifting literary tastes, political agendas and cultural exchanges of audiences on both sides of the Mediterranean reflect their anxieties and ideals.
Cilices, haires, disciplines sont les instruments oubliés d’une macération de la chair omniprésente dans le catholicisme tridentin, mais devenue complètement anachronique aujourd’hui. Chez les carmélites déchaussées de Thérèse d’Ávila qui sont au coeur de cet ouvrage, comme dans d’autres ordres religieux qui se caractérisent par leur austérité, on se flagelle avec vigueur et en déployant des trésors d’ingéniosité pour accroître ses peines, on ingère des immondices pour signifier sa déchéance, on fait couler le sang en abondance pour se réclamer de l’imitatio Christi, ou pour édifier ou impressionner les autres. Loin de vouloir mettre en avant les pires images de la légende noire espagnole, ce livre s’attache à dégager les logiques spirituelles, culturelles et sociales de ce dolorisme assumé mais complexe et contradictoire.