IMC 2006: Sessions
Session 216: Non-Christians in Christendom: Encounters with the Other
Monday 10 July 2006, 14.15-15.45
| Moderator/Chair: | Dionisius A. Agius, Department of Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Leeds |
|---|---|
| Paper 216-a | A New Angle on the Sicilian Muslim Revolt of 1189 (Language: English) Index terms: Administration, Geography and Settlement Studies, Islamic and Arabic Studies, Onomastics |
| Paper 216-b | 'Nella presenza del Soldan superba': Francis of Assisi Confronts Saracen Sages in the Church of Santa Croce, Florence, 1240-1485 (Language: English) Index terms: Art History - Painting, Art History - Sculpture, Mentalities, Religious Life |
| Paper 216-c | If Not Afraid of the Jews, Then of Whom?: Fear and Social Conflict in Agobard of Lyon (Language: English) |
| Abstract | Abstract paper -a: Evidence from a recently-made available royal document from Sicily suggests that there had remained significant 'ethnic' differences within the rural Muslim population which roughly corresponded to the length of time villeins had been settled on the land. This paper puts these ideas to the test. Abstract paper -b: In September, 1219, Francis of Assisi went to Egypt to preach to Sultan al-Malik al-Kâmil. This encounter is depicted four times in the Franciscan Church Santa Croce in Florence: in the Bardi altarpiece (c. 1240), by Giotto (in his early-14th-century frescoes for the Bardi Chapel), by Taddeo Gaddi (in a painting for cabinet in the sacristy, c. 1335), and by sculptor Benedetto da Maiano, in bas-reliefs for the pulpit (1480s). In differing portrayals of the encounter between saint and sultan, one sees the evolution of Franciscan attitudes towards Islam. Abstract paper -c: Agobard, an influential member of the Carolingian elite, served as bishop of Lyon from 814-840. De Insolentia Judaeorum, the text resulting from his conflict with Lyonnais Jewish community in 826, allows entry into Agobard’s emotional vocabulary. Beginning with this dispute, and following Barbara Rosenwein’s model for the study of emotional communities, this paper examines Agobard’s writings in an attempt to describe the emotional world of this member of Carolingian ecclesiastical and court society. Placing De Insolentia Judaeorum in the broader context of Agobard’s writings, it argues that fear was prominent within Agobard’s affective vocabulary. Using this insight, it thus begins to reconstruct the emotional context of Carolingian courtly activity. |