Barcelona Workshop: “The Latin Qur’an, 1143-1500: translation, transmission, interpretation” — Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 09-11/03/2020

9-11 March 2020

This workshop will examine the range of medieval Latin transmission of the Qur’an and reaction to the Qur’an by concentrating on the manuscript traditions of medieval Qur’an translations and anti-Islamic polemics in Latin.

In 1143 Robert of Ketton produced, at the behest of Abbot Peter of Cluny, the first Latin translation of the Qur’an. This translation, extant in 24 manuscripts, was one of the main ways in which Latin European readers had access to the Muslim holy book. Yet it was not the only means of transmission of Quranic stories and concepts to the Latin world: there were other medieval translations into Latin of the Qur’an and of Christian polemical texts composed in Arabic (in particular the ninth-century Risalat al-Kindi) which transmitted elements of the Qur’an (often in a polemical mode).

The workshop is organised by the Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona, the research group Islamolatina and the University of Nantes.

Read the program: