Arabic Script on Christian Kings: Textile Inscriptions on Royal Garments from Norman Sicily

276 Pages·2017·9.111 MB·English

by  Isabelle Dolezalek

Isabelle Dolezalek
Arabic Script on Christian Kings
Das Mittelalter
Perspektiven mediävistischer
Forschung
Beihefte
Herausgegeben von
Ingrid Baumgärtner, Stephan Conermann
und Thomas Honegger
Band 5
Isabelle Dolezalek
Arabic Script
on Christian Kings
Textile Inscriptions on Royal Garments
from Norman Sicily
Gedruckt mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
ISBN 978-3-11-053202-9
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-053387-3
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-053212-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress.
Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Typesetting: Satzstudio Borngräber, Dessau-Roßlau
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
♾ Gedruckt auf säurefreiem Papier
Printed in Germany
www.degruyter.com
Contents
Preface — IX
Introduction — XI
Chapter I
Shaping Perceptions: Reading and Interpreting the Norman Arabic Textile
Inscriptions — 1
1 Arabic-Inscribed Textiles from Norman and Hohenstaufen Sicily — 2
2 Inscribed Textiles and Arabic Inscriptions in European Medieval Arts — 43
3 Historical Receptions of the Ceremonial Garments from Norman Sicily — 51
4 Approaches to Arabic Inscriptions in European Medieval Arts: Methodological
Considerations — 64
Chapter II
An Imported Ornament? Comparing the Functions of Textile Inscriptions in Sicily
and Fatimid Egypt — 73
1 Courtly Self-Representation and Public Inscriptions in Fatimid Egypt and Norman
Sicily — 75
2 Textile Production in Norman Sicily and Fatimid Egypt — 80
3 The Textile Evidence: Styles and Contents of Textile Inscriptions in Norman Sicily
and Fatimid Egypt — 92
4 Functions of Textile Inscriptions in Norman Sicily and Fatimid Egypt — 105
5 Similarities and Differences in Production Modes, Style, Content and
Function — 119
Chapter III
Contextualising Ornament: Seeing and Reading Arabic Textile Inscriptions
in Norman Public Display — 121
1 The ‘Populus Trilinguis’ and the Three Languages of the Court — 123
2 The Weight of Arabic in Norman Public Writing:
A Distorted Picture? — 127
3 Staging Textile Inscriptions: The Norman Garments and Their Contemporary
Audiences — 138
4 Visible or Invisible – Legible or Illegible? — 147
5 Inscriptions as Sound — 156
6 Political Scheme or Practical Reasons?
Arabic Language in Norman Public Inscriptions — 160
VI   Contents
Chapter IV
The Kufic Inscription on Roger II’s Mantle: Continuity as a Political Choice — 165
1 The Origins of the ‘Arabic Facet’ of Roger II’s Court: ‘Re-Arabisation’? — 167
2 T racing Continuities in Silk Production and Epigraphy
in Pre-Norman and Norman Sicily — 170
3 Roger II’s Mantle as Part of a Local Artistic Tradition — 184
4 S ituating the Production of Roger II’s Mantle in its Political Context — 187
Chapter V
A Textile Archive: The Norman Alb as a Document of Political Authority — 191
1 Arabic Public Writing Under William II — 191
2 Parallels in William II’s Legal and Artistic Self-Representation — 195
3 The Alb as Document: Visuality and Materiality
in the Performance of Legal Acts — 200
4 The Political Context of the Alb’s Embroidered Inscription — 204
5 The Alb as an Archive of Political Continuity and Legitimacy — 205
Conclusion — 211
Appendix — 219
Image Credits — 225
Bibliography — 229
Index — 251
Note on Dating and Transliterations
Dates are consistently given in the Gregorian calendar. Unless indicated otherwise,
Hijri dates have been converted for the sake of comparability.
Transliterations from the Arabic follow the guidelines of the International Journal
of Middle East Studies and do not indicate grammatical case endings (i‘rāb). This
excludes transcriptions cited from other authors, which have been adopted without
modifications. Place names and names of dynasties are rendered using their English
equivalents.

Preface
Inscribed textiles may never have crossed my mind had it not been for an inspiring
conversation with Almut Höfert in Basel. My ensuing enthusiasm for precious textiles
in the medieval Mediterranean led to a doctoral dissertation, the origin of this book,
which I completed at the Freie Universität Berlin in May 2013 and which was awarded
the Mediävistenverband (Medievalists’ Society) prize in 2015. Being granted the pos-
sibility of publishing this book in the interdisciplinary series of the Medievalists’
Society is a privilege for which I particularly thank the editors Ingrid Baumgärtner,
Stephan Conermann and Thomas Honegger.
I was most fortunate to be able to study Sicilian textile inscriptions under the
auspices of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft),
within the immensely stimulating frame of the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group
‘Kosmos/Ornatus: Ornament in Persia and France c. 1400 in Comparison.’ My work
has hugely benefited from regular discussions with my colleagues in the research
group, Vera Beyer, Simon Rettig and the members of the monthly colloquium, and
from their critical scrutiny of my ideas. I owe endless gratitude in particular to Vera
Beyer, the director of the research group and my doctoral supervisor, for her interest
in my work, her unfailing encouragement and support even long after the end of the
ornament project. I would also like to thank Regula Forster, my second supervisor,
for her kind and patient advice on Arabic issues. Being invited for two extended stays
at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence was a particular pleasure for me and for
this I would like to express my gratitude to Gerhard Wolf. Regula Schorta allowed
me to stay and carry out research at the Abegg Foundation in Riggisberg. Both made
me feel very welcome and I was grateful for the chance to discover these inspiring
institutions. I would like to thank Hannah Baader from the Kunsthistorisches Institut
in Florence, Birgitt Borkopp-Restle and her colleagues from the University of Bern,
as well as Avinoam Shalem (Columbia University) for discussing important aspects
of my work. Svenja Kauer, Joana Mylek and Cornelia Weber have been of invaluable
practical help in the completion of the book.
My heartfelt gratitude goes to Anna Bücheler, Gero Dolezalek and Edward Street,
who have invested so much of their time and patience in reading and commenting on
my drafts. I would still be working on the manuscript had it not been for my family’s
backing and Beatrice Dolezalek-Lauw’s fabulous grandchild-sitting. Last, but by no
means least, I want to thank Cornelius Richter for his loving support and unfailing
humour in the final stages of both the dissertation and the book.
Since the completion of my research, many new publications have appeared in
the fields of textile and ornament studies, epigraphy, the history of Norman Sicily,
and transcultural and Mediterranean art history. I have aimed to integrate some of
these studies in this slightly revised version of my dissertation, but hope that I will be
forgiven for having had to omit many others.