Anglo-Saxon Perceptions of the Islamic World

Anglo-Saxon Perceptions of the Islamic World PDF Author: Katharine Scarfe Beckett
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 113944090X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this book, Scarfe Beckett is concerned with representations of the Islamic world prevalent in Anglo-Saxon England. Using a wide variety of literary, historical and archaeological evidence, she argues that the first perceptions of Arabs, Ismaelites and Saracens which derived from Christian exegesis preconditioned wester expressions of hostility and superiority towards peoples of the Islamic world, and that these received ideas prevailed even as material contacts increased between England and Muslim territory. Medieval texts invariably represented Muslim Arabs as Saracens and Ismaelites (or Hagarenes), described by Jerome as biblical enemies of the Christian world three centuries before Muhammad's lifetime. Two early ideas in particular - that Saracens worshipped Venus and dissembled their own identity - continued into the early modern period. This finding has interesting implications for earlier theses by Edward Said and Norman Daniel concerning the history of English perceptions of Islam.

Anglo-Saxon Perceptions of the Islamic World

Anglo-Saxon Perceptions of the Islamic World PDF Author: Katharine Scarfe Beckett
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 113944090X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this book, Scarfe Beckett is concerned with representations of the Islamic world prevalent in Anglo-Saxon England. Using a wide variety of literary, historical and archaeological evidence, she argues that the first perceptions of Arabs, Ismaelites and Saracens which derived from Christian exegesis preconditioned wester expressions of hostility and superiority towards peoples of the Islamic world, and that these received ideas prevailed even as material contacts increased between England and Muslim territory. Medieval texts invariably represented Muslim Arabs as Saracens and Ismaelites (or Hagarenes), described by Jerome as biblical enemies of the Christian world three centuries before Muhammad's lifetime. Two early ideas in particular - that Saracens worshipped Venus and dissembled their own identity - continued into the early modern period. This finding has interesting implications for earlier theses by Edward Said and Norman Daniel concerning the history of English perceptions of Islam.

Historical Evolution of Perceptions of Muslims

Historical Evolution of Perceptions of Muslims PDF Author: Mohd Anas
Publisher: BENEST BOOKS
ISBN:
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 133

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Historical Evolution of Perceptions of Muslims" offers a comprehensive exploration of how societal perceptions of Muslims have evolved over centuries. Through a meticulous examination of historical events, cultural interactions, and socio-political shifts, this book uncovers the complexities and transformations in the portrayal of Muslims across different eras. From the early formation of perceptions during the rise of Islam to contemporary global challenges, the book provides insights into how these perceptions have influenced and been influenced by the broader historical and cultural contexts. By delving into the impact of major historical events, including the Crusades, the Ottoman Empire's role, colonialism, and modern geopolitical developments, this work aims to shed light on the nuanced realities behind the often-misunderstood image of Muslims, offering readers a deeper understanding of their place in global history and contemporary society.

Britain and the Islamic World, 1558-1713

Britain and the Islamic World, 1558-1713 PDF Author: Gerald MacLean
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191619906
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

Get Book Here

Book Description
Before they had an empire in the East, the British travelled into the Islamic world to pursue trade and to form strategic alliances against the Catholic powers of France and Spain. First-hand encounters with Muslims, Jews, Greek Orthodox, and other religious communities living together under tolerant Islamic rule changed forever the way Britons thought about Islam, just as the goods they imported from Islamic countries changed forever the way they lived. Britain and the Islamic World tells the story of how, for a century and a half, merchants and diplomats travelled from Morocco to Istanbul, from Aleppo to Isfahan, and from Hormuz to Surat, and discovered a world that was more fascinating than fearful. Gerald MacLean and Nabil Matar examine the place of Islam and Muslims in English thought, and how British monarchs dealt with supremely powerful Muslim rulers. They document the importance of diplomatic and mercantile encounters, show how the writings of captives spread unreliable information about Islam and Muslims, and investigate observations by travellers and clergymen who reported meetings with Jews, eastern Christians, Armenians, and Shi'ites. They also trace how trade and the exchange of material goods with the Islamic world shaped how people in Britain lived their lives and thought about themselves.

The Medieval Spains

The Medieval Spains PDF Author: Bernard F. Reilly
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521397414
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Get Book Here

Book Description
Tracing the political evolution of the Iberian peninsula from late Roman imperial provinces to monarchies of the mid-fifteenth century, essays on the significant periods of medieval Spain sketch the major political, economic, social and intellectual features of their times.

God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215

God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215 PDF Author: David Levering Lewis
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393067904
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 505

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning author, God’s Crucible brings to life “a furiously complex age” (New York Times Book Review). Resonating as profoundly today as when it was first published to widespread critical acclaim a decade ago, God’s Crucible is a bold portrait of Islamic Spain and the birth of modern Europe from one of our greatest historians. David Levering Lewis’s narrative, filled with accounts of some of the most epic battles in world history, reveals how cosmopolitan, Muslim al-Andalus flourished—a beacon of cooperation and tolerance—while proto-Europe floundered in opposition to Islam, making virtues out of hereditary aristocracy, religious intolerance, perpetual war, and slavery. This masterful history begins with the fall of the Persian and Roman empires, followed by the rise of the prophet Muhammad and five centuries of engagement between the Muslim imperium and an emerging Europe. Essential and urgent, God’s Crucible underscores the importance of these early, world-altering events whose influence remains as current as today’s headlines.

The Islamic World Since the Peace Settlement

The Islamic World Since the Peace Settlement PDF Author: Arnold Toynbee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Eastern question
Languages : en
Pages : 664

Get Book Here

Book Description


Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages

Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages PDF Author: Michael Frassetto
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498577571
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Get Book Here

Book Description
The conflict and contact between Muslims and Christians in the Middle Ages is among the most important but least appreciated developments of the period from the seventh to the fourteenth century. Michael Frassetto argues that the relationship between these two faiths during the Middle Ages was essential to the cultural and religious developments of Christianity and Islam—even as Christians and Muslims often found themselves engaged in violent conflict. Frassetto traces the history of those conflicts and argues that these holy wars helped create the identity that defined the essential characteristics of Christians and Muslims. The polemic works that often accompanied these holy wars was important, Frassetto contends, because by defining the essential evil of the enemy, Christian authors were also defining their own beliefs and practices. Holy war was not the only defining element of the relationship between Christians and Muslims during the Middle Ages, and Frassetto explains that everyday contacts between Christian and Muslim leaders and scholars generated more peaceful relations and shaped the literary, intellectual, and religious culture that defined medieval and even modern Christianity and Islam.

Arabic-Islamic Views of the Latin West

Arabic-Islamic Views of the Latin West PDF Author: Daniel G. König
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191057010
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 451

Get Book Here

Book Description
Arabic-Islamic Views of the Latin West provides an insight into how the Arabic-Islamic world perceived medieval Western Europe in an age that is usually associated with the rise and expansion of Islam, the Spanish Reconquista, and the Crusades. Previous scholarship has maintained that the Arabic-Islamic world regarded Western Europe as a cultural backwater at the periphery of civilization that clung to a superseded religion. It holds mental barriers imposed by Islam responsible for the Muslim world's arrogant and ignorant attitude towards its northern neighbours. This study refutes this view by focussing on the mechanisms of transmission and reception that characterized the flow of information between both cultural spheres. By explaining how Arabic-Islamic scholars acquired and processed data on medieval Western Europe, it traces the two-fold 'emergence' of Latin-Christian Europe — a sphere that increasingly encroached upon the Mediterranean and therefore became more and more important in Arabic-Islamic scholarly literature. Chapter One questions previous interpretations of related Arabic-Islamic records that reduce a large and differentiated range of Arabic-Islamic perceptions to a single basic pattern subsumed under the keywords 'ignorance', 'indifference', and 'arrogance'. Chapter Two lists channels of transmission by means of which information on the Latin-Christian sphere reached the Arabic-Islamic sphere. Chapter Three deals with the general factors that influenced the reception and presentation of this data at the hands of Arabic-Islamic scholars. Chapters Four to Eight analyse how these scholars acquired and dealt with information on themes such as the western dimension of the Roman Empire, the Visigoths, the Franks, the papacy and, finally, Western Europe in the age of Latin-Christian expansionism. Against this background, Chapter Nine provides a concluding re-evaluation.

Imagining the Jew in Anglo-Saxon Literature and Culture

Imagining the Jew in Anglo-Saxon Literature and Culture PDF Author: Samantha Zacher
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1442646675
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 377

Get Book Here

Book Description
The thirteen essays in Imagining the Jew in Anglo-Saxon Literature and Culture examine visual and textual representations of Jews before 1066.

Inhabited Spaces

Inhabited Spaces PDF Author: Nicole Guenther Discenza
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 148751154X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
We tend to think of early medieval people as unsophisticated about geography because their understandings of space and place often differed from ours, yet theirs were no less complex. Anglo-Saxons conceived of themselves as living at the centre of a cosmos that combined order and plenitude, two principles in a constant state of tension. In Inhabited Spaces, Nicole Guenther Discenza examines a variety of Anglo-Latin and Old English texts to shed light on Anglo-Saxon understandings of space. Anglo-Saxon models of the universe featured a spherical earth at the centre of a spherical universe ordered by God. They sought to shape the universe into knowable places, from where the earth stood in the cosmos, to the kingdoms of different peoples, and to the intimacy of the hall. Discenza argues that Anglo-Saxon works both construct orderly place and illuminate the limits of human spatial control.