[Andalusi Studies] Kenneth B. Wolf, April 25, 5pm (NYC)– Columbia University Seminar on Religion & Writing (#751)

[Dagmar Riedel]

Dear colleagues,
Some of you may be interested in Kenneth Baxter Wolf's seminar -- which is
open to ZOOM participants -- about the ninth-century *Istoria de Mahometh*.
All best wishes,
Dagmar Riedel

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Dagmar Riedel <dar2111 at columbia.edu>
Date: Sat, Apr 1, 2023 at 11:19 PM
Subject: Kenneth B. Wolf, April 25, 5pm (NYC)– Columbia University Seminar
on Religion & Writing (#751)
To: Dagmar Riedel <islamicbookcensus at gmail.com>


Dear colleagues,

The next meeting of the Seminar on Religion & Writing will be held on
Tuesday, April 25 at 5pm. We are delighted to have Professor Kenneth Wolf
(Pomona College) present “How Not to Read the Earliest Latin Life of
Muhammad.” His abstract follows below.

Please register here by April 18th if you would like to join us. The
seminar will be held in a hybrid format.  For those who will join us in the
Faculty House at Columbia University’s Morningside Campus, the seminar will
be followed by a dinner with Dr. Wolf at 6:30pm; the meal costs $30 per
person.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Anya Wilkening (
abw2163 at columbia.edu). Further information can be found on the seminar
blog.

Columbia University encourages persons with disabilities to participate in
its programs and activities. University Seminar participants with
disabilities who anticipate needing accommodations may contact the Office
of Disability Services at 212.854.2388 or disability at columbia.edu.
Disability accommodations, including sign-language interpreters, are
available on request. Requests for accommodations must be made two weeks in
advance.

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, April 25!

All the best,
Susan Boynton and Dagmar Riedel, co-chairs
Anya Wilkening, rapporteur



How Not to Read the Earliest Latin Life of Muhammad

The Istoria de Mahometh is arguably the earliest Latin “biography” of
Muhammad, written in Iberia sometime between the end of the eighth and the
beginning of the ninth centuries. As one would expect, it is pejorative
from beginning to end. In 857 Eulogius of Córdoba copied the Istoria into
his Liber apologeticus martyrum, the second of two works that he wrote in
defense of the so-called “Córdoban Martyrs.” Because the author of the
Istoria is unknown, Eulogius has borne the brunt of modern scholarly
criticism for perpetrating such a “ignorant” account of Muhammad’s career.
But such an assessment ignores the subtleties of the text and the context
within which it was recycled by Eulogius. This micro-study of the Istoria
de Mahometh suggests the need for more nuance across the board when
approaching medieval Christian views of Islam.in
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