PhD Florence 2012. Previous experience: University of Naples L'Orientale, Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies, ERC Project EuQu; Goethe University Frankfurt, Department of History; University of Basel, Department of History; CSIC, Madrid, ERC Project CORPI; Brno, Masaryk University, Department for the Study of Religions; Tübingen, Protestant Faculty of Theology/Centre for Islamic Theology.
Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche [Roma: Scienze e Lettere], 2015
This essay aims to shed light on the complex intertwined relationships between the Italian cultur... more This essay aims to shed light on the complex intertwined relationships between the Italian culture and Islam in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania during the conflict between Italy and the Ottoman Empire (September 1911-October 1912). Making use of different types of sources, individual accounts are investigated along with Western reflections on the Orient. Letters from the front, the press, and writers’ memoirs are examined in correlation with a series of iconographic sources such as book illustrations and both photographic and illustrated postcards.
The research begins with the intense political, cultural and religious debate that took place in Italy immediately before the war. The real and imaginary relationship with Muslims in North Africa was influenced by the idealizing atmosphere widespread in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. The nostalgic dream of re-conquering ancient Roman lands and the rebirth of the “spirit of crusade” gave rise to a strong religious dualism which was either supported or denounced by the individual prelates, the Catholic press (“La Civiltà Cattolica”, “L’Osservatore Romano”), and by well-known thinkers such as Ernesto Buonaiuti. The dynamics of the encounter with the Arab-Turk reveal certain constants, such as the evocation of the desert, the stigmatisation of religious practices and the feeling of being lost in otherness. These in turn allow one to identify precise stereotypes (the “spurcitia” and idleness of the Turk, the slowness and ambiguity of the Arab), very often rooted in the Middle Ages, connected to Islam on different levels.
Stigmatisation, however, was not the only interpretative paradigm. The essay reveals how certain rare witnesses (e.g. Arnaldo Fraccaroli, Georges Rémond), gifted with an anthropological sensitivity for local culture, described an Islamic universe made up of fascinating daily rituals not at odds with Western sensibilities. Also for this reason, with respect to Europe’s relationship with Islam, the aftermath of the war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire demands to be examined. It is an ancient legacy, but also an emblematic precedent of that which was about to emerge during the First World War.
Universum infinitum: Nicolaus Cusanus and the 15th-Century Iberian Explorations of the Ocean World, ed. by Thomas Horst, Harald Schwaetzer and Matthias Vollet, in collaboration with Kirstin Zeyer, Münster, Aschendorff, 2022
Vom Konklave zum Assessment- Center. Personalentscheidungen im historischen Wandel, hg. von Christoph Cornelißen und Andreas Fahrmeir, Darmstadt, WBG Academic , 2021
During the Council of Basel, between 1431 and 1449, a tremendous clash took place between the pop... more During the Council of Basel, between 1431 and 1449, a tremendous clash took place between the pope and a group of ecclesiastics imbued with the conciliar spirit of Constance. In 1432, shortly after the opening of the Council, Pope Eugene IV was deemed unsuitable to fill the role for which he was elected. The tensions grew over the years and impacted key issues regarding the life of the Church and of the European kingdoms, from the management of taxation to conciliation with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Hussite heresy, which threatened the Latin Church on both a military and a doctrinal level. A commission of theologians collected evidence against Eugene IV. He was accused of heresy and, in 1439, deposed by the members of the Council of Basel, who replaced him with another pope, passed to the later chronicles under the name of antipope Felix V. The Castilian theologian John of Segovia was among the most active protagonists of the lawsuit against Eugene IV. For more than a decade, he committed himself to show the unsuitability of the pope with sharp theological arguments, striving to persuade European monarchs that the pope had been deposed on the ground of legally and theologically irrefutable reasons. This essay reconstructs the clash between Eugene IV and John of Segovia starting from the idea that the election of the Venetian pope is to be considered a ruinous decision.
This article aims to show that Hernando de Talavera's evangelization strategies toward Muslims an... more This article aims to show that Hernando de Talavera's evangelization strategies toward Muslims and Muslim converts in Granada (1492-1507) cannot be fully understood without investigating his previous preaching activities from the late 1470s aimed at a group of Jewish converts in Seville whom he considered "judaizers." By closely comparing the arguments against Jewish practices which Talavera outlined in his polemical work "Católica impugnación" to a series of instructions on Christian and Muslim practices that he issued as archbishop of Granada, it will be argued that in his reformist view of a society modeled on Paul's theology of the two Laws, Judaism and Islam are closely associated. The article seeks to determine to what extent Judaism, as a well-defined set of cultural and religious practices, shaped Talavera's strategies toward Muslims within the broader conversion plan, with its universalistic character, that was promoted by the Spanish Crown in the late fifteenth century Mediterranean. At the same time, it will demonstrate how specific aspects of both religions, such as the language (Arabic, Hebrew) or the theological view of Law (the Qur'ān, Jewish law), challenged a simplistic conception of the Abrahamic faiths as interchangeable. Finally, the study will raise the question of how Talavera adapted the apostle Paul's universalistic call for conversion.
Transfer and Religion. Interactions between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century, ed. by Alexander A. Dubrau, Davide Scotto, and Ruggero Vimercati Sanseverino, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020
The act of translating texts has long been investigated as a self-evident case of knowledge trans... more The act of translating texts has long been investigated as a self-evident case of knowledge transfer. The impressive increase of research on the history of translations, especially the important achievements of the last years regarding the translation of the Qur’an into Latin and neo-Latin languages, has shown how the translation of scriptural writings functions as a special observatory for the history of interfaith relations. Translating the Scriptures of the other religion can imply either harsh polemical claims and even military purposes, ways to come to terms with the doctrines of the other religion, or plans to convert its believers through intellectual strategies. Tackling the relation between Qur’anic translations and the Crusades, this chapter shows how the translations of the Qur’an into Latin or vernacular produced in Europe from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries did not respond to a pure linguistic interest, but were rather a result of the spiritual militancy of the commissioners and translators of the texts. The three complete translations of the Qur’an from the Middle Ages shed light on the thorny theological implications of transferring doctrinal contents from an Islamic to a Christian context. They display three different aims that are related to crusade propaganda in either a supportive or an opposing way: to make fully available the Qur’anic contents to Christian readers as a remedy to Western-Christian ignorance and a stronghold against the dissemination of Islam; to polemicize against the Qur’an to intellectually support military endeavours against Muslim kingdoms enacted through the Crusades; and to disseminate new translations of the Qur’an among both a Christian and an Islamic readership to achieve the peaceful conversion of Muslims in the long run.
Transfer and Religion. Interactions between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020
Forced Conversion in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Coercion and Faith in Premodern Iberia and Beyond, ed. by Mercedes García-Arenal Yonatan Glazer-Eytan, Leiden: Brill, 2019
This chapter questions the historiographic myth of Hernando de Talavera (1428–1507), the first ar... more This chapter questions the historiographic myth of Hernando de Talavera (1428–1507), the first archbishop of Granada after the Christian conquest, regarding the conversion of Christians of Jewish origins and Muslims. Talavera’s arguments on the abrogation of Jewish practices drawn from his Católica impugnación and his attitude towards the Muslims of Granada during the forced conversions of 1499–1502, are closely examined and compared. It will be shown how Talavera’s understanding of conversion is rooted in the medieval theological debate on the role of God’s grace and human will in the conversion process, especially the relationship between infused and acquired faith, as defined by Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham. The aim is to demonstrate that Talavera’s alleged tolerance towards non-Christians and his supposed opposition to forced conversion are less obvious, somehow contradictory, and more context-bound than is suggested by the static image of him which has been disseminated up to now.
Polemical Encounters. Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Iberia and Beyond, ed. by Mercedes García-Arenal and Gerard Wiegers, University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018
Der Papst und das Buch im Spätmittelalter (1350-1500). Bildungsvoraussetzung, Handschriftenherstellung, Bibliotheksgebrauch, hrsg. von Rainer Berndt SJ, Münster (Erudiri Sapientia, 13): Aschendorff, 2018
Esperienza e rappresentazione dell’islam nell’Europa mediterranea (s. XVI-XVIII), ed. by A. Celli and D. Scotto, special issue of the Rivista di Storia e Letteratura Religiosa, 2015
Esperienza e rappresentazione dell’islam nell’Europa mediterranea (s. XVI-XVIII), ed. by A. Celli and D. Scotto, special issue of the Rivista di Storia e Letteratura Religiosa, 2015
This essay investigates and traces the origins of the hagiographic tradition regarding Hernando d... more This essay investigates and traces the origins of the hagiographic tradition regarding Hernando de Talavera (1428-1507), the Hieronymite “confesor” of Queen Isabella I and first archbishop of Granada following the Reconquest. The earliest collection of hagiographic writings on Hernando, drawn up by direct witnesses and successors of his pastoral experience (Jorge de Torres, Jerónimo de Madrid, Alonso Fernández de Madrid), shall be closely examined. This research follows the historical and literary development of each “life” of Hernando de Talavera from his trial by the Inquisition (1506) through the mid-sixteenth century (1564), with a special interest in the interreligious strategies he adopted amidst his efforts to evangelize the Muslims of Granada both before and after their forced conversion (1502). The work is divided into three parts with three respective goals: examine the extant manuscripts and printed editions related to each “life”; compare the “lives” narrative development relating to the archbishop’s intercultural mediation amongst Muslims; correlate these authors’ interest in Hernando’s pastoral action to the broader intellectual milieu animating the Catholic Reformation in light of the European humanistic context.
Storie e miti di conciliazione, ed. by F.A. Pennacchietti and C. Pilocane, special issue of the Rivista di Storia e Letteratura Religiosa, 2012
After the teaching experience at the University of Salamanca and his long-lasting involvement as ... more After the teaching experience at the University of Salamanca and his long-lasting involvement as member of the conciliar party during the Council of Basel, Juan de Segovia (1393-1458) spent the last eight years of his life retired at Aiton in Savoy. As soon as he received the news of the fall of Constantinople, he began to deal intensively with Turkish and Islamic issues, writing well-informed treaties on Islam as well as long “Epistole” addressed to renowned European ecclesiastical figures (Nicholas of Cusa, Jean Germain, Enea Silvio Piccolomini). In 1455-56 he also promoted an innovative trilingual edition of the Qur’ān (Arabic, Castilian, Latin), now unfortunately lost, compiled together with Iça Gidelli, a learned faqīh belonging to the Islamic “aljama” of Segovia. In order to translate the “lex Mahumeti” and to compare the Christian-Islamic calendars, Iça brought some commentaries on the Qur’ān (tafsīr) and at least four Islamic writings with him to Savoy. Two of these last four writings, a guide to Islamic doctrine and a compendium on the meanings of the suras, joined the Christian books in the Castilian theologian’s library in Aiton and were later described in his “donatio inter vivos” (1457).
Drawing from the surviving Latin “Praefatio” of the trilingual Qur’ān, this essay extensively investigates the four-month direct interaction that took place between a Christian and an Islamic scholar. A comprehensive examination of the available sources, supported by that brought to light by the critical editions of unstudied works (recently published or forthcoming), allowed for both a chronological reconstruction of the inter-cultural experience, as well as shedding some light on the meaning that its Christian witness gave to it. Especially with regards to this second consideration, in spite of recent linguistic and philological studies, there are still many questions to be answered. Why would a theologian belonging to the late medieval University wish so strongly–and manage–to compile a translation of the Qur’ān that was as faithful as possible to the Arabic text? Perhaps it is no coincidence that within this Mediterranean context, which was largely Christian or re-christianized, Juan de Segovia’s contemporaries did not walk the same path.
In Nicholas of Cusa’s works, the focus on the knowledge of God is never avoidable, even when cons... more In Nicholas of Cusa’s works, the focus on the knowledge of God is never avoidable, even when considering his cultural interest in the Qur’ān and the Muslim world. Recent historiography has rarely considered the theological element of knowledge in relation with Islam, mostly drawing its attention to the late literary production dating back from “De pace fidei” (1453) to “Cribratio Alkorani” (1460-61). And with good reasons, since it is in these works that the most relevant clues may be found. And yet, Cusa’s affection for Islam harks back to his early reflections on the names of God (1430) and to the turning point of his gnoseological shift, as expressed in the “De docta ignorantia” (1440). Historical evidence, emerging from his biography and from some “loci” where he spoke about himself, may help clarify his ultimate cultural approach to Islam. This study aims at offering an insight, from its very beginning, into the roots of the broad interreligious reflection of the years 1453-61, considering facts and choices that may explain its origin and ideal horizon, its relationship with the Church, its peculiar relevance in specific moments of Cusa’s life. Moments carefully investigated here: Cusa’s journey to Constantinople (1437-38), where he tried to get acquainted with the Qur’ān, is mentioned in the “epistola” to Cardinal Cesarini at the end of “De docta ignorantia” (1440), then again in summer 1453, when a noteworthy correspondence with Piccolomini, related to “De pace fidei”, takes place. Yet that journey will be recalled in detail only in 1460-61, in the autobiographical “Prologus” to “Cribratio”. Cusa’s understanding of Islam has been influenced by his neoplatonic and Lullian background, as well as by his christological interests; but even, as this essay suggests, by his alignment with the anti-conciliar ecclesiology: with the exception of the “heavenly council” of 1453, according to a Petrinic doctrinal prospective, the failure in understanding the Trinity compromises the salvation of the soul, leading Muslims “outside the Church”.
Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche [Roma: Scienze e Lettere], 2015
This essay aims to shed light on the complex intertwined relationships between the Italian cultur... more This essay aims to shed light on the complex intertwined relationships between the Italian culture and Islam in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania during the conflict between Italy and the Ottoman Empire (September 1911-October 1912). Making use of different types of sources, individual accounts are investigated along with Western reflections on the Orient. Letters from the front, the press, and writers’ memoirs are examined in correlation with a series of iconographic sources such as book illustrations and both photographic and illustrated postcards.
The research begins with the intense political, cultural and religious debate that took place in Italy immediately before the war. The real and imaginary relationship with Muslims in North Africa was influenced by the idealizing atmosphere widespread in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. The nostalgic dream of re-conquering ancient Roman lands and the rebirth of the “spirit of crusade” gave rise to a strong religious dualism which was either supported or denounced by the individual prelates, the Catholic press (“La Civiltà Cattolica”, “L’Osservatore Romano”), and by well-known thinkers such as Ernesto Buonaiuti. The dynamics of the encounter with the Arab-Turk reveal certain constants, such as the evocation of the desert, the stigmatisation of religious practices and the feeling of being lost in otherness. These in turn allow one to identify precise stereotypes (the “spurcitia” and idleness of the Turk, the slowness and ambiguity of the Arab), very often rooted in the Middle Ages, connected to Islam on different levels.
Stigmatisation, however, was not the only interpretative paradigm. The essay reveals how certain rare witnesses (e.g. Arnaldo Fraccaroli, Georges Rémond), gifted with an anthropological sensitivity for local culture, described an Islamic universe made up of fascinating daily rituals not at odds with Western sensibilities. Also for this reason, with respect to Europe’s relationship with Islam, the aftermath of the war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire demands to be examined. It is an ancient legacy, but also an emblematic precedent of that which was about to emerge during the First World War.
Universum infinitum: Nicolaus Cusanus and the 15th-Century Iberian Explorations of the Ocean World, ed. by Thomas Horst, Harald Schwaetzer and Matthias Vollet, in collaboration with Kirstin Zeyer, Münster, Aschendorff, 2022
Vom Konklave zum Assessment- Center. Personalentscheidungen im historischen Wandel, hg. von Christoph Cornelißen und Andreas Fahrmeir, Darmstadt, WBG Academic , 2021
During the Council of Basel, between 1431 and 1449, a tremendous clash took place between the pop... more During the Council of Basel, between 1431 and 1449, a tremendous clash took place between the pope and a group of ecclesiastics imbued with the conciliar spirit of Constance. In 1432, shortly after the opening of the Council, Pope Eugene IV was deemed unsuitable to fill the role for which he was elected. The tensions grew over the years and impacted key issues regarding the life of the Church and of the European kingdoms, from the management of taxation to conciliation with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Hussite heresy, which threatened the Latin Church on both a military and a doctrinal level. A commission of theologians collected evidence against Eugene IV. He was accused of heresy and, in 1439, deposed by the members of the Council of Basel, who replaced him with another pope, passed to the later chronicles under the name of antipope Felix V. The Castilian theologian John of Segovia was among the most active protagonists of the lawsuit against Eugene IV. For more than a decade, he committed himself to show the unsuitability of the pope with sharp theological arguments, striving to persuade European monarchs that the pope had been deposed on the ground of legally and theologically irrefutable reasons. This essay reconstructs the clash between Eugene IV and John of Segovia starting from the idea that the election of the Venetian pope is to be considered a ruinous decision.
This article aims to show that Hernando de Talavera's evangelization strategies toward Muslims an... more This article aims to show that Hernando de Talavera's evangelization strategies toward Muslims and Muslim converts in Granada (1492-1507) cannot be fully understood without investigating his previous preaching activities from the late 1470s aimed at a group of Jewish converts in Seville whom he considered "judaizers." By closely comparing the arguments against Jewish practices which Talavera outlined in his polemical work "Católica impugnación" to a series of instructions on Christian and Muslim practices that he issued as archbishop of Granada, it will be argued that in his reformist view of a society modeled on Paul's theology of the two Laws, Judaism and Islam are closely associated. The article seeks to determine to what extent Judaism, as a well-defined set of cultural and religious practices, shaped Talavera's strategies toward Muslims within the broader conversion plan, with its universalistic character, that was promoted by the Spanish Crown in the late fifteenth century Mediterranean. At the same time, it will demonstrate how specific aspects of both religions, such as the language (Arabic, Hebrew) or the theological view of Law (the Qur'ān, Jewish law), challenged a simplistic conception of the Abrahamic faiths as interchangeable. Finally, the study will raise the question of how Talavera adapted the apostle Paul's universalistic call for conversion.
Transfer and Religion. Interactions between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century, ed. by Alexander A. Dubrau, Davide Scotto, and Ruggero Vimercati Sanseverino, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020
The act of translating texts has long been investigated as a self-evident case of knowledge trans... more The act of translating texts has long been investigated as a self-evident case of knowledge transfer. The impressive increase of research on the history of translations, especially the important achievements of the last years regarding the translation of the Qur’an into Latin and neo-Latin languages, has shown how the translation of scriptural writings functions as a special observatory for the history of interfaith relations. Translating the Scriptures of the other religion can imply either harsh polemical claims and even military purposes, ways to come to terms with the doctrines of the other religion, or plans to convert its believers through intellectual strategies. Tackling the relation between Qur’anic translations and the Crusades, this chapter shows how the translations of the Qur’an into Latin or vernacular produced in Europe from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries did not respond to a pure linguistic interest, but were rather a result of the spiritual militancy of the commissioners and translators of the texts. The three complete translations of the Qur’an from the Middle Ages shed light on the thorny theological implications of transferring doctrinal contents from an Islamic to a Christian context. They display three different aims that are related to crusade propaganda in either a supportive or an opposing way: to make fully available the Qur’anic contents to Christian readers as a remedy to Western-Christian ignorance and a stronghold against the dissemination of Islam; to polemicize against the Qur’an to intellectually support military endeavours against Muslim kingdoms enacted through the Crusades; and to disseminate new translations of the Qur’an among both a Christian and an Islamic readership to achieve the peaceful conversion of Muslims in the long run.
Transfer and Religion. Interactions between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020
Forced Conversion in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Coercion and Faith in Premodern Iberia and Beyond, ed. by Mercedes García-Arenal Yonatan Glazer-Eytan, Leiden: Brill, 2019
This chapter questions the historiographic myth of Hernando de Talavera (1428–1507), the first ar... more This chapter questions the historiographic myth of Hernando de Talavera (1428–1507), the first archbishop of Granada after the Christian conquest, regarding the conversion of Christians of Jewish origins and Muslims. Talavera’s arguments on the abrogation of Jewish practices drawn from his Católica impugnación and his attitude towards the Muslims of Granada during the forced conversions of 1499–1502, are closely examined and compared. It will be shown how Talavera’s understanding of conversion is rooted in the medieval theological debate on the role of God’s grace and human will in the conversion process, especially the relationship between infused and acquired faith, as defined by Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham. The aim is to demonstrate that Talavera’s alleged tolerance towards non-Christians and his supposed opposition to forced conversion are less obvious, somehow contradictory, and more context-bound than is suggested by the static image of him which has been disseminated up to now.
Polemical Encounters. Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Iberia and Beyond, ed. by Mercedes García-Arenal and Gerard Wiegers, University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2018
Der Papst und das Buch im Spätmittelalter (1350-1500). Bildungsvoraussetzung, Handschriftenherstellung, Bibliotheksgebrauch, hrsg. von Rainer Berndt SJ, Münster (Erudiri Sapientia, 13): Aschendorff, 2018
Esperienza e rappresentazione dell’islam nell’Europa mediterranea (s. XVI-XVIII), ed. by A. Celli and D. Scotto, special issue of the Rivista di Storia e Letteratura Religiosa, 2015
Esperienza e rappresentazione dell’islam nell’Europa mediterranea (s. XVI-XVIII), ed. by A. Celli and D. Scotto, special issue of the Rivista di Storia e Letteratura Religiosa, 2015
This essay investigates and traces the origins of the hagiographic tradition regarding Hernando d... more This essay investigates and traces the origins of the hagiographic tradition regarding Hernando de Talavera (1428-1507), the Hieronymite “confesor” of Queen Isabella I and first archbishop of Granada following the Reconquest. The earliest collection of hagiographic writings on Hernando, drawn up by direct witnesses and successors of his pastoral experience (Jorge de Torres, Jerónimo de Madrid, Alonso Fernández de Madrid), shall be closely examined. This research follows the historical and literary development of each “life” of Hernando de Talavera from his trial by the Inquisition (1506) through the mid-sixteenth century (1564), with a special interest in the interreligious strategies he adopted amidst his efforts to evangelize the Muslims of Granada both before and after their forced conversion (1502). The work is divided into three parts with three respective goals: examine the extant manuscripts and printed editions related to each “life”; compare the “lives” narrative development relating to the archbishop’s intercultural mediation amongst Muslims; correlate these authors’ interest in Hernando’s pastoral action to the broader intellectual milieu animating the Catholic Reformation in light of the European humanistic context.
Storie e miti di conciliazione, ed. by F.A. Pennacchietti and C. Pilocane, special issue of the Rivista di Storia e Letteratura Religiosa, 2012
After the teaching experience at the University of Salamanca and his long-lasting involvement as ... more After the teaching experience at the University of Salamanca and his long-lasting involvement as member of the conciliar party during the Council of Basel, Juan de Segovia (1393-1458) spent the last eight years of his life retired at Aiton in Savoy. As soon as he received the news of the fall of Constantinople, he began to deal intensively with Turkish and Islamic issues, writing well-informed treaties on Islam as well as long “Epistole” addressed to renowned European ecclesiastical figures (Nicholas of Cusa, Jean Germain, Enea Silvio Piccolomini). In 1455-56 he also promoted an innovative trilingual edition of the Qur’ān (Arabic, Castilian, Latin), now unfortunately lost, compiled together with Iça Gidelli, a learned faqīh belonging to the Islamic “aljama” of Segovia. In order to translate the “lex Mahumeti” and to compare the Christian-Islamic calendars, Iça brought some commentaries on the Qur’ān (tafsīr) and at least four Islamic writings with him to Savoy. Two of these last four writings, a guide to Islamic doctrine and a compendium on the meanings of the suras, joined the Christian books in the Castilian theologian’s library in Aiton and were later described in his “donatio inter vivos” (1457).
Drawing from the surviving Latin “Praefatio” of the trilingual Qur’ān, this essay extensively investigates the four-month direct interaction that took place between a Christian and an Islamic scholar. A comprehensive examination of the available sources, supported by that brought to light by the critical editions of unstudied works (recently published or forthcoming), allowed for both a chronological reconstruction of the inter-cultural experience, as well as shedding some light on the meaning that its Christian witness gave to it. Especially with regards to this second consideration, in spite of recent linguistic and philological studies, there are still many questions to be answered. Why would a theologian belonging to the late medieval University wish so strongly–and manage–to compile a translation of the Qur’ān that was as faithful as possible to the Arabic text? Perhaps it is no coincidence that within this Mediterranean context, which was largely Christian or re-christianized, Juan de Segovia’s contemporaries did not walk the same path.
In Nicholas of Cusa’s works, the focus on the knowledge of God is never avoidable, even when cons... more In Nicholas of Cusa’s works, the focus on the knowledge of God is never avoidable, even when considering his cultural interest in the Qur’ān and the Muslim world. Recent historiography has rarely considered the theological element of knowledge in relation with Islam, mostly drawing its attention to the late literary production dating back from “De pace fidei” (1453) to “Cribratio Alkorani” (1460-61). And with good reasons, since it is in these works that the most relevant clues may be found. And yet, Cusa’s affection for Islam harks back to his early reflections on the names of God (1430) and to the turning point of his gnoseological shift, as expressed in the “De docta ignorantia” (1440). Historical evidence, emerging from his biography and from some “loci” where he spoke about himself, may help clarify his ultimate cultural approach to Islam. This study aims at offering an insight, from its very beginning, into the roots of the broad interreligious reflection of the years 1453-61, considering facts and choices that may explain its origin and ideal horizon, its relationship with the Church, its peculiar relevance in specific moments of Cusa’s life. Moments carefully investigated here: Cusa’s journey to Constantinople (1437-38), where he tried to get acquainted with the Qur’ān, is mentioned in the “epistola” to Cardinal Cesarini at the end of “De docta ignorantia” (1440), then again in summer 1453, when a noteworthy correspondence with Piccolomini, related to “De pace fidei”, takes place. Yet that journey will be recalled in detail only in 1460-61, in the autobiographical “Prologus” to “Cribratio”. Cusa’s understanding of Islam has been influenced by his neoplatonic and Lullian background, as well as by his christological interests; but even, as this essay suggests, by his alignment with the anti-conciliar ecclesiology: with the exception of the “heavenly council” of 1453, according to a Petrinic doctrinal prospective, the failure in understanding the Trinity compromises the salvation of the soul, leading Muslims “outside the Church”.
This collaboration brings into conversation scholars of Jewish and Islamic studies, theologians, ... more This collaboration brings into conversation scholars of Jewish and Islamic studies, theologians, and cultural historians to shed new light on the enduring intertwining between the Abrahamic faiths in the Mediterranean and Central Europe since the Middle Ages. Drawing on interdisciplinary expertise, the volume presents a series of case studies reflecting – in either a constructive or a disruptive way – the interactions between the dynamics of transfer and the role of religion in society. The long durée of the book's chronology helps outline the making of religious transfers in the medieval times and their transformations up to the twentieth-century challenges of nationalism and secularism. Considering a variety of distinct implications and reactions to religious transfer, the volume contributes to pinpointing past and present challenges towards religious conceptions, doctrines and narratives in the interaction between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
International Summer School in Interreligious Studies - Protest and Proclamation: An Interreligio... more International Summer School in Interreligious Studies - Protest and Proclamation: An Interreligious Perspective Towards the History of Prophetology - The Centre for Interreligious Studies based at the Almo Collegio Borromeo, Pavia, organizes on this topic an international summer school at Villa Vigoni, the German-Italian Centre for the European Dialogue, from 25 to 29 July 2022. During five working days, lectures and workshops on primary sources will be held by internationally renowned experts of each religious tradition. In an intellectually thrilling atmosphere, the summer school aims to provide an intensive discussion of the meanings and implications of prophetology in the history of the Abrahamic religions. The scriptures of each religion and a series of historical case studies from the antiquity to the early modern era will be comparatively discussed.
The objective of this seminar is to analyse the role that the Qur'an had in interactions in moder... more The objective of this seminar is to analyse the role that the Qur'an had in interactions in modern and medieval Europe with Islam, in debates between Christians of various persuasions and doctrines or in criticism of Christianity during the Enlightenment, among other areas of investigation. To what extent is the Qur'an imbedded in the political and religious thought of Europe and part of the intellectual repertoire of Medieval and Early Modern Europeans of different Christian denominations, of European Jews, freethinkers, atheists and of course European Muslims? During the sessions we will study how the Qur'an was interpreted, adapted, used, and formed in Christian European contexts since the Middle Ages, in order to understand how the Holy Book has influenced both culture and religion in Europe. You can check out the program and fill in the application form at the link below:
La figura di Maria di Nazareth è da secoli fonte di riflessione teologica, oggetto d’indagine ese... more La figura di Maria di Nazareth è da secoli fonte di riflessione teologica, oggetto d’indagine esegetica e riferimento devozionale. A partire dai risultati di nuove ricerche in ambito storico e filologico, il ciclo di conferenze affronta ‘narrazioni’ e concetti fondamentali relativi alla figura di Maria – la "Dormitio Virginis", la nascita verginale di Gesù, l’Annunciazione, l’Immacolata Concezione, il viaggio in Egitto della Sacra Famiglia – da un punto di vista di storia interreligiosa, cioè attraverso prospettive e problemi storici che risultano condivisi, complementari o polemicamente contesi tra ebraismo, cristianesimo e islam. Le cinque conferenze sono tenute da specialisti di letteratura cristiana antica, letteratura rabbinica, traduzioni medievali del Corano, storia del pensiero cristiano contemporaneo e storia della teologia islamica attivi presso università e centri di ricerca europei (Ginevra, Tubinga, Madrid, Pavia, Torino/Exeter), riuniti in questa occasione in un dialogo scientifico concepito come unitario e organico. Online e aperto al pubblico, il ciclo di conferenze è organizzato dal Centro di Studi Interreligiosi presso l’Almo Collegio Borromeo di Pavia e conclude il corso di “Chiese e teologie in età moderna e contemporanea”, attivato entro il nuovo curriculum “Studi interreligiosi” della Laurea magistrale in Storia d’Europa dell’Università di Pavia.
Cultural Transfers as Interreligious Challenges – Case-Studies of Jewish and Christian/Western In... more Cultural Transfers as Interreligious Challenges – Case-Studies of Jewish and Christian/Western Interactions with Islam
The establishment of Islamic theology in Germany raises fundamental questions about the way in which Islam can be perceived and assumed in a European context. Rationality, secularism and pluralism form the framework for presenting the Islamic theological discourse in a scientifically understandable and socially acceptable way. In order to discuss the issues this exciting project gives rise to, the research group Rationality and Reason in the Life and Thought of Muslims in a Global and Pluralistic Context – Conceptions of Islamic Theology organizes each semester between 2014-2016 a series of lectures. International scholars from diverse scholarly backgrounds are invited to discuss the relevant topics with the public. The research group consists of eight researchers from the Zentrum für islamische Theologie (ZiTh), the Evangelisch-theologische Fakultät and the Orientalisches Seminar in Tübingen, and the Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg (HfJS).
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Books by Davide Scotto
The research begins with the intense political, cultural and religious debate that took place in Italy immediately before the war. The real and imaginary relationship with Muslims in North Africa was influenced by the idealizing atmosphere widespread in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. The nostalgic dream of re-conquering ancient Roman lands and the rebirth of the “spirit of crusade” gave rise to a strong religious dualism which was either supported or denounced by the individual prelates, the Catholic press (“La Civiltà Cattolica”, “L’Osservatore Romano”), and by well-known thinkers such as Ernesto Buonaiuti. The dynamics of the encounter with the Arab-Turk reveal certain constants, such as the evocation of the desert, the stigmatisation of religious practices and the feeling of being lost in otherness. These in turn allow one to identify precise stereotypes (the “spurcitia” and idleness of the Turk, the slowness and ambiguity of the Arab), very often rooted in the Middle Ages, connected to Islam on different levels.
Stigmatisation, however, was not the only interpretative paradigm. The essay reveals how certain rare witnesses (e.g. Arnaldo Fraccaroli, Georges Rémond), gifted with an anthropological sensitivity for local culture, described an Islamic universe made up of fascinating daily rituals not at odds with Western sensibilities. Also for this reason, with respect to Europe’s relationship with Islam, the aftermath of the war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire demands to be examined. It is an ancient legacy, but also an emblematic precedent of that which was about to emerge during the First World War.
Papers by Davide Scotto
Drawing from the surviving Latin “Praefatio” of the trilingual Qur’ān, this essay extensively investigates the four-month direct interaction that took place between a Christian and an Islamic scholar. A comprehensive examination of the available sources, supported by that brought to light by the critical editions of unstudied works (recently published or forthcoming), allowed for both a chronological reconstruction of the inter-cultural experience, as well as shedding some light on the meaning that its Christian witness gave to it. Especially with regards to this second consideration, in spite of recent linguistic and philological studies, there are still many questions to be answered. Why would a theologian belonging to the late medieval University wish so strongly–and manage–to compile a translation of the Qur’ān that was as faithful as possible to the Arabic text? Perhaps it is no coincidence that within this Mediterranean context, which was largely Christian or re-christianized, Juan de Segovia’s contemporaries did not walk the same path.
The research begins with the intense political, cultural and religious debate that took place in Italy immediately before the war. The real and imaginary relationship with Muslims in North Africa was influenced by the idealizing atmosphere widespread in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. The nostalgic dream of re-conquering ancient Roman lands and the rebirth of the “spirit of crusade” gave rise to a strong religious dualism which was either supported or denounced by the individual prelates, the Catholic press (“La Civiltà Cattolica”, “L’Osservatore Romano”), and by well-known thinkers such as Ernesto Buonaiuti. The dynamics of the encounter with the Arab-Turk reveal certain constants, such as the evocation of the desert, the stigmatisation of religious practices and the feeling of being lost in otherness. These in turn allow one to identify precise stereotypes (the “spurcitia” and idleness of the Turk, the slowness and ambiguity of the Arab), very often rooted in the Middle Ages, connected to Islam on different levels.
Stigmatisation, however, was not the only interpretative paradigm. The essay reveals how certain rare witnesses (e.g. Arnaldo Fraccaroli, Georges Rémond), gifted with an anthropological sensitivity for local culture, described an Islamic universe made up of fascinating daily rituals not at odds with Western sensibilities. Also for this reason, with respect to Europe’s relationship with Islam, the aftermath of the war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire demands to be examined. It is an ancient legacy, but also an emblematic precedent of that which was about to emerge during the First World War.
Drawing from the surviving Latin “Praefatio” of the trilingual Qur’ān, this essay extensively investigates the four-month direct interaction that took place between a Christian and an Islamic scholar. A comprehensive examination of the available sources, supported by that brought to light by the critical editions of unstudied works (recently published or forthcoming), allowed for both a chronological reconstruction of the inter-cultural experience, as well as shedding some light on the meaning that its Christian witness gave to it. Especially with regards to this second consideration, in spite of recent linguistic and philological studies, there are still many questions to be answered. Why would a theologian belonging to the late medieval University wish so strongly–and manage–to compile a translation of the Qur’ān that was as faithful as possible to the Arabic text? Perhaps it is no coincidence that within this Mediterranean context, which was largely Christian or re-christianized, Juan de Segovia’s contemporaries did not walk the same path.
Le cinque conferenze sono tenute da specialisti di letteratura cristiana antica, letteratura rabbinica, traduzioni medievali del Corano, storia del pensiero cristiano contemporaneo e storia della teologia islamica attivi presso università e centri di ricerca europei (Ginevra, Tubinga, Madrid, Pavia, Torino/Exeter), riuniti in questa occasione in un dialogo scientifico concepito come unitario e organico.
Online e aperto al pubblico, il ciclo di conferenze è organizzato dal Centro di Studi Interreligiosi presso l’Almo Collegio Borromeo di Pavia e conclude il corso di “Chiese e teologie in età moderna e contemporanea”, attivato entro il nuovo curriculum “Studi interreligiosi” della Laurea magistrale in Storia d’Europa dell’Università di Pavia.
The establishment of Islamic theology in Germany raises fundamental questions about the way in which Islam can be perceived and assumed in a European context. Rationality, secularism and pluralism form the framework for presenting the Islamic theological discourse in a scientifically understandable and socially acceptable way. In order to discuss the issues this exciting project gives rise to, the research group Rationality and Reason in the Life and Thought of Muslims in a Global
and Pluralistic Context – Conceptions of Islamic Theology organizes each semester between 2014-2016 a series of lectures. International
scholars from diverse scholarly backgrounds are invited to discuss the relevant topics with the public. The research group consists of eight researchers from the Zentrum für islamische Theologie (ZiTh), the
Evangelisch-theologische Fakultät and the Orientalisches Seminar in Tübingen, and the Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg (HfJS).