Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad
Throughout the Middle Ages, Christians wrote about Islam and the life of Muhammad. These stories, ranging from the humorous to the vitriolic, both informed and warned audiences about what was regarded as a schismatic form of Christianity. Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad covers nearly five centuries of Christian writings on the prophet, including accounts from the farthest-flung reaches of medieval Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Byzantine Empire. Over time, authors portrayed Muhammad in many guises, among them: Theophanes’s influential ninth-century chronicle describing the prophet as the heretical leader of a Jewish conspiracy; Embrico of Mainz’s eleventh-century depiction of Muhammad as a former slave who is manipulated by a magician into performing unholy deeds; and Walter of Compiègne’s twelfth-century presentation of the founder of Islam as a likable but tricky serf ambitiously seeking upward social mobility.

The prose, verse, and epistolary texts in Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad help trace the persistence of old clichés as well as the evolution of new attitudes toward Islam and its prophet in Western culture. This volume brings together a highly varied and fascinating set of Latin narratives and polemics never before translated into English.

1140994197
Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad
Throughout the Middle Ages, Christians wrote about Islam and the life of Muhammad. These stories, ranging from the humorous to the vitriolic, both informed and warned audiences about what was regarded as a schismatic form of Christianity. Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad covers nearly five centuries of Christian writings on the prophet, including accounts from the farthest-flung reaches of medieval Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Byzantine Empire. Over time, authors portrayed Muhammad in many guises, among them: Theophanes’s influential ninth-century chronicle describing the prophet as the heretical leader of a Jewish conspiracy; Embrico of Mainz’s eleventh-century depiction of Muhammad as a former slave who is manipulated by a magician into performing unholy deeds; and Walter of Compiègne’s twelfth-century presentation of the founder of Islam as a likable but tricky serf ambitiously seeking upward social mobility.

The prose, verse, and epistolary texts in Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad help trace the persistence of old clichés as well as the evolution of new attitudes toward Islam and its prophet in Western culture. This volume brings together a highly varied and fascinating set of Latin narratives and polemics never before translated into English.

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Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad

Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad

by Harvard University Press
Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad

Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad

by Harvard University Press

Hardcover(Translatio)

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Overview

Throughout the Middle Ages, Christians wrote about Islam and the life of Muhammad. These stories, ranging from the humorous to the vitriolic, both informed and warned audiences about what was regarded as a schismatic form of Christianity. Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad covers nearly five centuries of Christian writings on the prophet, including accounts from the farthest-flung reaches of medieval Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Byzantine Empire. Over time, authors portrayed Muhammad in many guises, among them: Theophanes’s influential ninth-century chronicle describing the prophet as the heretical leader of a Jewish conspiracy; Embrico of Mainz’s eleventh-century depiction of Muhammad as a former slave who is manipulated by a magician into performing unholy deeds; and Walter of Compiègne’s twelfth-century presentation of the founder of Islam as a likable but tricky serf ambitiously seeking upward social mobility.

The prose, verse, and epistolary texts in Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad help trace the persistence of old clichés as well as the evolution of new attitudes toward Islam and its prophet in Western culture. This volume brings together a highly varied and fascinating set of Latin narratives and polemics never before translated into English.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674980730
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 05/07/2018
Series: Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library , #51
Edition description: Translatio
Pages: 712
Product dimensions: 5.70(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.70(d)

About the Author

Julian Yolles is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Medieval Literature at the University of Southern Denmark.

Jessica Weiss is a professional translator.

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

History of Muhammad 1

Tultusceptru from the Book of Lord Metobius 9

Chronicle of Theophanes 15

Anastasius the Librarian

Life of Muhammad 23

Embrico of Mainz

Poetic Pastimes on Muhammad 103

Walter of Compiègne

Life of Muhammad 179

Adelphus

Apology of al-Kindi 215

Book of Nicholas 517

Where Wicked Muhammad Came From 539

Abbreviations 581

Note on the Texts 583

Notes to the Texts 589

Notes to the Translations 593

Bibliography 643

General Index 653

Index of Scriptural Citations 661

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