Chingiz Khan: Maker of the Islamic World
For centuries Chingiz Khān has been a symbol of barbaric mayhem and murderous plunder, and the unifier of the Turco-Mongol Eurasian tribes has been presented as the archetypal embodiment of evil, a threat to the sedentary civilised world, and the stereotypical steppe marauder.
The Perils of Polygamy in 15th century Cairo
Under medieval Islamic law, a man could marry up to four women. However, if accounts from 15th century Egypt are indicative, it would be rare for such an arrangement to work out for all parties.
Dental and oral diseases in Medieval Persia, lessons from Hedayat Akhawayni
Persian physicians had a great role in assimilation and expansion of medical sciences during the medieval period and Islamic golden age.
Medicine and surgery in the Livre des Assises de la Cour des Bourgeois de Jérusalem
The Livre des Assises, written in the thirteenth century in Acre, not only provides insights into the practice of medicine and surgery in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, but also suggests that the licensing and regulation of doctors reflected contemporary Islamic practice.
Banditry and the Clash of Powers in 14th-Century Thrace: Momcilo and his Fragmented Memory
In the 14th century, a time of civil wars, religious and dynastic strifes, epidemics, natural disasters and miserable living conditions for the wider strata in the cities and the countryside that increased migratory movements, banditry, an indigenous phenomenon in the Balkan mountainous regions, intermingled with the intensified political struggles.
Rome, New Rome and Baghdad: Pathways of Late Antiquity
What I propose to do in this lecture is to discuss some salient features of Late Antiquity as a category in historical studies and then move on to the theme of Islam in Late Antiquity
Race, Periodicity, and the (Neo-) Middle Ages
My goal is to intervene in ongoing discussions of race and periodicity, particularly vis-à-vis medieval culture, in order to investigate the informing role of the medieval and more particularly of medievalisms in the construction, representation, and perpetuation of modern racisms.
Nicolette : action transvestite, or, who and what is the heroine of Aucassin et Nicolette?
In this paper, I will show how Nicolette is constantly, deliberately, changing, in appearance and identity, from the beginning of the story, and how she is thus Izzard’s action transvestite.
A Mongol Princess Making hajj: The Biography of El Qutlugh Daughter of Abagha Ilkhan (r. 1265–82)
his study examines in detail the biographical entry of an Ilkhanid (the Mongol state centred in Iran) princess, El Qutlugh Khatun daughter of Abagha Ilkhan (r. 1265–82), in the biographical dictionaries of the Mamluk author Khalil b. Aybeg al-Safadi (d. 1363)
‘That melodious linguist’: Birds in Medieval Christian and Islamic Cosmography
“Birds,” writes Albertus Magnus, “generally call more than other animals. This is due to the lightness of their spirits.”
The Muslim Conquest of Byzantine Palestina – Monstrous Invasion or Peaceful Occupation?
The Persian and Muslim invasions of Palestina brought with them large-scale changes to the whole region
Kissing Cousins: Incest and Sex Change in Tristan de Nanteuil
In this paper I re-examine Blanchandine‘s sex change in light of its relation to the issue of incest; as I will show, incest is directly related to the sex change and also punctuates the narrative at other points. Tristan de Nanteuil depicts two sexual and/or romantic relationships between cousins…
Sword and Shield of God: Byzantine Strategy and Tactics Under Heraclius During the Last Persian War and First Arab War
Only Heraclius could have wielded these forces effectively against his foes to achieve victory; with any other Byzantine commander these revolutionary tactics would have been monumentally difficult if not unworkable.
BOOK REVIEW: “Defending the City of God” : A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem, by Sharan Newman
This is my review of Sharan Newman’s latest book, Defending the City of God: A Medieval Queen, the First Crusades, and the Quest for Peace in Jerusalem.
Was a Woman the first editor of the Qur’an?
A recent study suggests that Hafsa bint ‘Umar, one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, had a crucial role in editing and codifying the Qur’an and was likely the one of the first people to have kept a written version of the religious text.
The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus in medieval Christian anti-Muslim religious polemics
Christians and Muslims argued, of course, and continue to argue about key issues of theology such as the nature of God (i.e., Trinity), revelation, the incarnation and divinity of Jesus, scripture, and the role of prophecy
Enemies of the Faith: Western Christian Views of Jews and Muslims in the Middle Ages
When we deal with this kind of question it is easy to simply fall into the trap of regarding Muslims and Jews as simply others in the views of Western Europeans. But if you look at things more closely you realize that Western European Christians viewed Muslims and Jews rather differently
Discrimination Against the Jewish Population in Medieval Castile and León
I have tried to show the degree of discrimination suffered by the Jewish community in these two kingdoms in the Middle Ages through a deep analysis of the legal sources, lay as much as ecclesiastical, and also through documentary collections reflecting their practical application
Medieval Friends: Chansons De Geste Ltd. – thematteroffrance.com
This week on Medieval Friends, we’re featuring Thomas Motter’s website, thematteroffrance.com. Thomas is fluent in French, and has lived in Paris and Munich. He’s done extensive research on medieval French history with an emphasis on the Chansons de Gestes.
Muslims as Pagan Idolaters in Chronicles of the First Crusade
If the crusade is indeed a working out of God’s will, how does one fit it into the context of divine history?
Asserting Political Authority in a Sacred Landscape: A Comparison of Umayyad and Israeli Jerusalem
Maintenance of authority is of course the end goal, but how does political leadership ‘build’ political authority in the first place?
Blue Eyes in the Islamicate Middle Ages
Negative representations of blue eyes in Islamicate literature and art have been ubiquitous since the advent of Islam in the seventh century CE
Christian Iberia: A Society Religiously Organized for War
Reconquista society in medieval Christian Spain is all too often considered through only economic and martial eyes. In this study of the prevelant cult of Santiago de Compostela (or St. James the Greater) I will demonstrate how medieval society meshed both war and religion.
Whose Golden Age? Some Thoughts on Jewish-Christian in Medieval Iberia
The medieval period in Spanish history has alternately been cast as a Golden Age of interfaith harmony and an example of the ultimate incompatibility of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities.