Arabist

This is an article about the scholars known as Arabists, not the political movement Pan-Arabism.

Origins of Arabism

Arabism began in Spain in the medieval era. Medieval Spain sat on the cusp between the Muslim and Christian worlds; at various times, either a Christian or a Muslim kingdom might be the most hospitable toward scholars. Although some translation of Arabic texts into Latin (mostly of works on mathematics and astronomy) began as early as the 10th century, major work dates from the School of Toledo, which began during the reign of Alfonso VII of Castile, (1105–1157), when Jews literate in Arabic were driven north from al-Andalus (now Andalusia) by the religious rigidity of the Almohad dynasty.

Related Topics:
Spain - Medieval - Muslim - Christian - Latin - Mathematics - Astronomy - 10th century - School of Toledo - Alfonso VII of Castile - 1105 - 1157 - Jew - Al-Andalus - Andalusia - Almohad

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Translations were made into the Vulgar Latin or early Spanish that was the vernacular language of that time and place, as well as into the Church Latin that was then Europe's lingua franca. Early translations included works by Avicenna, Al-Ghazali, Avicebron, etc.; books on astronomy, astrology, and medicine; and the works of some of the Ancient Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle, who unlike Plato had been unknown or at least largely ignored in medieval Christendom. The latter were accompanied by the commentaries of Al-Ghazali, Avicenna, and Averroes, to the point of there being an identifiable Averroist school of philosophy in Christian Europe.

Related Topics:
Vulgar Latin - Spanish - Vernacular language - Church Latin - Lingua franca - Avicenna - Al-Ghazali - Avicebron - Astrology - Medicine - Ancient Greek - Aristotle - Plato - Christendom - Averroes - Averroist

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Spain was so much the center of medieval Arabism as to draw scholars from throughout Christian Europe, notably Gerard of Cremona, Herman of Carinthia, Michael Scotus, and Robert of Ketton. In 1143, Robert of Ketton made the first Latin translation of the Qur'an, at the request of Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny. Marcos de Toledo produced another translation of the Qur'an in the 13th century under a mandate from archbishop Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada, who later edited the landmark Historia Arabum ("history of the Arabs"), drawing on the work of al-Razi for the knowledge of al-Andalus prior to the Almoravid conquest.

Related Topics:
Gerard of Cremona - Herman of Carinthia - Michael Scotus - Robert of Ketton - 1143 - Qur'an - Peter the Venerable - Cluny - Marcos de Toledo - 13th century - Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada - Al-Razi - Almoravid

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