Byzantine Engagement with Islam (7th-15th): Actors, Sources, and their Impact on the Western View of Islam, session at the 60th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 8-10, 2025

Research in the field of Christian-Muslim relations has focused mainly on the engagement of Latin Christianity with Islam. Western engagement with Islam, however, began primarily with the first Latin translations in the 12th/13th century. By that time, Byzantines had already developed a century-long tradition of anti-Islamic argumentation. The session aims at examining actors and sources in Byzantium engaging with Islam and translations of the Quran, and their impact on the Western knowledge of Islam. Papers studying specific texts, argumentation, or contexts are welcome in order to shed further light on the field of Byzantino-Islamica and the Latin-Byzantine relations.

Abstracts must be submitted through Confex.

Session organizer
Manolis Ulbricht, University of Notre Dame