Medieval Encounters 

About: Medieval Encounters is an academic journal published by Brill. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Judaism & Islam. It has an ISSN identifier of 1380-7854. Over the lifetime, 371 publications have been published receiving 1736 citations. The journal is also known as: Medieval encounters (New York).

Alfonso X "The Wise": The Last Almohad Caliph?

Abstract: When dealing with the prolific intellectual output during the reign of King Alfonso X, known to be indebted to Arabic sources, hardly any reference is made to the Almohad context. It is particularly striking that Almohad culture is even ignored when referring to the influence of Averroism. It was in fact the Almohad caliphs who encouraged the development of Aristotelian philosophy, which interest in philosophy and knowledge formed part of the "sapientialist" concept of the Almohad caliphate itself. This chapter discusses this often-disregarded "sapientialism," insisting on its connection with Alfonso X, continuing the line of inquiry begun by Ana M. Montero. The chapter describes what was involved in the political and cultural project of the Almohads, in order to show the parallels with the political and cultural project of Alfonso X.Keywords: Almohad caliphs; Averroism; cultural project; King Alfonso X; political project; sapientialism

Coptic Historiography in the Fātimid, Ayyubid and Early Mamluk Periods'

Abstract: This article intends to give a brief overview of Arabic historiographical works compiled by Coptic authors between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Each section of the paper deals with various aspects of one particular text. Within each section, an account is given first of the structure of the composition of the text. This is followed by a short outline of the biographical data on the author or compiler, whenever available. The aim of this sub-section is to characterize the author in terms of his social and confessional position and more particularly to try to find out to what extent he may have been subject to influences from the adjacent (Muslim, Jewish, Melkite) communities. In the third sub-section, the sources, in as far as these have been identified in previous studies, are reviewed and presented in such a way as to indicate to what degree the compiler made use of material originating from confessional groups other than his own Coptic tradition. Conversely, the fourth and last sub-section on each text, contains remarks on the later impact and reception of the text, both within and outside Coptic readership itself. In the concluding section, it is argued that this analysis, despite the manifold uncertainties it cannot solve immediately, suggests a development that moves from a horizon limited to the cultural heritage of the traditions of the Coptic community towards the much more cosmopolitan or universalist cultural environment of the "Coptic Renaissance" of the thirteenth century.