Theodor Bibliander's Machumetis saracenorum principis eiusque successorum vitae, doctrina ac ipse alcoran (1543) as the Sixteenth-century “Encyclopedia” of Islam

The Machumetis saracenorum principis (1543, second edition 1550), compiled by the Zurich theologian Theodor Bibliander, has long been recognized as one of the most significant texts on Islam published in the Latin West in the Early Modern era. The Qur'an translation it contained (the first ever...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Miller, Gregory J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2013]
In: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Year: 2013, Volume: 24, Issue: 2, Pages: 241-254
IxTheo Classification:BJ Islam
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance
KBC Switzerland
Further subjects:B Theodor Bibliander
B Latin Qur'an
B Ottoman Turks
B Western views of Islam
B Christian-Muslim relations
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:The Machumetis saracenorum principis (1543, second edition 1550), compiled by the Zurich theologian Theodor Bibliander, has long been recognized as one of the most significant texts on Islam published in the Latin West in the Early Modern era. The Qur'an translation it contained (the first ever to be printed) was not superseded for over 100 years. This article explores how the work functions as a whole text in the context of Bibliander's life and theology, with particular attention paid to its paratexts (that is, its framing devices) and organization. Bibliander's compilation is discovered to be a self-contradictory, problematic text. In the sixteenth century, new information on the Turks and their religion did not replace, but rather was placed simply alongside other materials, sometimes substantiating older materials, sometimes directly contradicting them. This ambiguity opened up space for new and different readings while supporting, simultaneously, the received tradition. All of this points to the important transitional nature of the sixteenth century in Christian-Islamic engagement.
ISSN:1469-9311
Contains:Enthalten in: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/09596410.2013.772329