Texts from the Middle

Thomas E. Burman is Professor of History at University of Notre Dame. He is a scholar of Christian-Muslim-Jewish intellectual and cultural history in the medieval Mediterranean. His book Reading the Qur’an in Latin Christendom was awarded the Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History.    Brian A. Catlos is Professor of Religious Studies at University of Colorado Boulder. He works on Christian-Muslim-Jewish relations in the premodern Mediterranean. His most recent book, Kingdoms of Faith: A New History of Islamic Spain, is available in eight languages and as an audiobook.Mark D. Meyerson is Professor in the Department of History and Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. He works on Christian-Muslim-Jewish relations in the premodern Mediterranean and on the history of violence. His book A Jewish Renaissance in Fifteenth-Century Spain was runner-up for the National Jewish Book Award, USA.

• ContentsList of Texts AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPART I. The Helleno-Islamic Mediterranean (650–1050 CE)1 The Legacy of Empire1. The Battle of Siffin (657 CE)2. The Battle of Tours (732 CE)3. Legends of Women and the Conquest of al-Andalus4. Toda of Navarre and ꞌAbd al-Rahman III5. The Emperor, the Caliph, and the Elephant6. Basil Lakapenos: A Mighty Eunuch2 Mediterranean Connections1. Harald Hardradi: A Viking in the Mediterranean 2. Religious Relations in Fatimid Cairo3. The Calendar of Córdoba4. Jewish Traders’ Letters from the Cairo Geniza5. Ibn Fadlan at the Frontiers of the Mediterranean World3 Conversion and the Consolidation of Identiies1. Christian Arabization in Muslim Lands2. Byzantine Iconoclasm3. The Donation of Constantine 4. Jews in Early Medieval Europe 5. Jewish Communities and Muslim Authorities in the Cairo Geniza 4 Peoples of the Book Reading Their Books 1. Which Is the Bible? Which Is the Qurꞌan? 2. The Problem of Scriptural Translation3. Studying in Eleventh-Century Iraq and France4. Hadiths on Fasting, Charity, and the Hajj5. A Christian and a Muslim Interpret Their Scriptures6. Plotinus on Beauty and the One7. Ibn Hazm Critiques the Christian Gospels and Explores the Nature of Love PART II. An Age of Conflict and Collaboration (1050–1350 CE)5 Holy and Unholy War 1. The Fall of Yusuf ibn Naghrilla2. The Trial of Philip of Mahdia 3. Franks and Muslims in Crusade-Era Palestine and Syria 4. Latin-Byzantium Relations 5. Papacy and Power 6. The Almohad Revolution 6 A Connected Sea 1. The Power of Negotiation2. Visions of the East3. A Rough Guide to Pilgrimage 4. A Pilgrim at Sea 5. Collaboration and Credit 7 Mediterranean Societies 1. Morality in the Marketplace 2. The Limits of Legitimacy 3. Keeping It Clean 4. Power and Piety 5. The Challenge of Heresy 6. Pride and Prejudice 8 Reading Each Others’ Books 1. The Disciplina Clericalis of Petrus Alfonsi, 1062–1140 CE 2. The Muslim and Christian Buddhas3. Mixed-Blood Greek Border Lords 4. The Muslim Jesus 5. The Latin-Christian Encounter with the Talmud 6. The Book of the Covenant by Joseph Kimhi 7. Ibn Taymiyya Critiques Christianity—and Others 9 A Sea of Technology, Science, and Philosophy 1. Hacking the Astrolabe across the Mediterranean 2. The Life of a Scientific Translator: Gerard of Cremona (ca. 1114–1187 CE) 3. Learning Medicine, Finding Medicines 4. Thomas Aquinas’s Third Way 5. Gregory Palamas on the Dangers of Philosophy 6. Nonrationalism Thrives! PART III. The Contest for the Mediterranean (1350–1650 CE)10 Imperial Rivalry and Sectarian Strife 1. Islamic Discourses of Legitimacy 2. Christian Views of the Fall of Constantinople 3. Fernando II of Aragon and Spanish Imperial Expansion4. Machiavelli’s Views on Politics 5. Fighting Sectarian Enemies 11 Minorities and Diasporas 1. The Spanish Inquisition and the Expulsion of the Jews 2. Oppression and Expulsion of the Moriscos3. Jews and Ghettos in Renaissance Italy 4. Christians under Mamluk and Ottoman Rule 5. Responses to Expulsion and Exile 12 Slavery and Captivity1. Slave Soldiers in the Muslim World2. Early Medieval Europe and the Slave Trade3. Slave Life in Late Medieval Mediterranean Europe 4. Crusaders, Corsairs, and Captives 5. Perceptions of Black Africans in the Early Modern Mediterranean 13 Mystical Messiahs and Converts, Humanists and Armorers1. Describing Muslim and Jewish Mystics2. A Morisco Prophecy of Turkish Triumph3. Conversion in Public 4. Sixteenth-Century Latin-Christian Views of Islamic Science and Medicine 5. Building and Firing the Bombards14 Family, Gender, and Honor 1. Contracting Marriage2. Women in the Economy 3. Women in Power4. Women’s Spirituality 5. Sexual Transgressions and the Law 15 Mediterranean Economies and Societies in a Widening World1. Responses to the Plague2. Social Rebellion3. Muslim-Christian Commercial Agreements 4. Private and Public Charity 5. Climate Change, War, and Discontent Bibliography Index