Saint Francis and the Sultan: The Curious History of a Christian-Muslim Encounter

399 Pages·2009·4.29 MB·English

by  John V. Tolan

SAINT FRANCIS AND THE
SULTAN
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SAINT FRANCIS
AND THE
SULTAN
THE CURIOUS HISTORY
OF A CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM
ENCOUNTER
JOHN TOLAN
1
1
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp
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Tolan,JohnVictor,1959–
SaintFrancisandthesultan:thecurioushistoryofaChristian-Muslimencounter/JohnTolan.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN978-0-19-923972-6
1. Francis,ofAssisi,Saint,1182–1226.2. Malikal-KamilMuhammad,SultanofEgyptandSyria,
1180?–1238.3. MissionstoMuslims—Egypt—Historiography.4. Christianhagiography.
5. Francis,ofAssisi,Saint,1182–1226—Art.6. Christianartandsymbolism.I. Title.
BX4700.F6T562009 261.2’709022—dc22
2008053082
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ISBN978–0–19–923972–6
135 7 91086 4 2
For my mother, Sally Tolan, a woman
of peace and of dialogue.
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Epoiche,perlasetedelmartiro,
nellapresenzadelSoldansuperba
predico` Cristoelialtriche’lseguiro,
epertrovareaconversioneacerba
troppolagente,personstareindarno,
reddissialfruttodell’italicaerba,
nelcrudosassointraTeveroeArno
daCristopresel’ultimosigillo,
chelesuemembradueanniportarno.
(DanteAlighieri,Paradiso,XI.100–8)
L’histoireesthabite´eparl’e´trangete´ qu’ellecherche,etelleimposesaloiaux
re´gionslointainesqu’elleconquiertencroyantleurrendrelavie.
(MicheldeCerteau,E´crirel’histoire,58)
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Acknowledgements
It would have been impossible for me to complete this book without the
help of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which accorded me
a fellowship in 2005. Much of the book was written at the Center for the
Humanities at Oregon State University, where I was a visiting research
fellow from January to June, 2005; my thanks to the staff and members of
the Center for their interest and support of my work, and for creating an
atmosphere propitious for reflection and research. Particular thanks to the
director of the Center, David Robinson. My thanks also to the personnel
ofthevariouslibrariesIusedwhileresearchingthisbook: theBibliothe`que
Nationale de France, the Vatican Libary, the Biblioteca Nazionale of
Rome, the Biblioteca Communale of Assisi, the libraries of the American
AcademyofRomeandtheEcoleFranc¸aisedeRome,andthoseofOregon
State University and the Universite´ de Nantes.
Various parts of this book have been presented at conferences and
seminars: to the conference ‘Between Empires: Orientalism before 1600’,
at Trinity College, Cambridge; to the Dublin Medieval Society; to the
Se´minaire Commun des Me´die´vistes de l’Universite´ Lyon II; to the
medieval seminar of the University of California-Riverside; to the Maison
des Sciences de l’Homme Ange Gue´pin in Nantes; to the Medieval
Studies Workshop of the University of California-Santa Cruz; to the
HistorySeminarofSantaClaraUniversity;toBrownUniversity’sMedieval
Workshop. My thanks to all those who invited me to these events and
who shared their comments and suggestions, in particular to Alfred Hiatt,
Ananya Kabir, Nicole Be´riou, Jacques Berlioz, Piotr Gorecki, Sharon
Kinoshita, Fabio Lopez La´zaro, and Amy Remensnyder.
For information concerning paintings by Paolo Gaidano at the Holy
Saviour Convent in Jerusalem, my thanks to Brother Peter Vasko of
the Terra Sancta College in Jerusalem and to Brother Michele Piccirillo
of the Studium Biblicum Francescanum of Jerusalem. I received helpful