Muhammad and the Origin of Islam in the Byzantine-Slavic Literary Context: A Bibliographical History (Byzantina Lodziensia)

The presented publication is a type of bibliographic dictionary, compiled by an interdisciplinary team of authors (Byzantynists and Paleoslavists), containing an overview of medieval texts referring to the person of Muhammad, the Arabs, and the circumstances of the birth of Islam, which were known in the __Slavia Orthodoxa__ area (especially in its eastern part, i.e. in Rus’). Therefore, it presents the works written in the Church Slavic language between the 9th and the mid-16th centuries. As the Old Rus’ discourse on Islam was shaped under the overwhelming influence of Byzantine literature, the majority of the presented sources are Byzantine texts from the 6th–14th centuries, translated into the literary language of the Orthodox Slavs. The reader will also find here a discussion on several relics, originally created in other languages of the Christian East (Syriac, Arabic) and the West (Latin), which – through the Greek – were assimilated on the Slavic ground. This book aims to fill a gap in previous studies on inter-religious polemics in the Middle Ages, which has usually focused on Christian-Muslim cultural relations, analyzing Greek and Latin texts or the works written in one of the Middle Eastern languages, almost completely ignoring the Church Slavic heritage. It is worth noting that a number of the texts presented here (as well as Slavic translations of Byzantine sources) have not been published so far. The information on them, provided in this monograph, is therefore the result of research conducted directly on the manuscript material. Cover Tile page Editorial Page Contents Introduction List of Abbreviations I. Ammonius, Relatio on the Slaughter of the Monks of Sinai and Rhaithou II. John Malalas, Chronicle III. The Lives of St. Symeon Stylites the Younger IV. John Moschus, The Spiritual Meadow V. Doctrina Iacobi VI. Sophronius of Jerusalem, Synodical Letter VII. The Quran VIII. The Martyrdom of St. Arethas IX. The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius X. Anastasius of Sinai, Questions and Answers XI. John of Damascus, On Heresies XII. Michael Syncellus, Unknown refutation of Islam XIII. Disputation between a Christian and a Saracen XIV. Theophanes, Chronographia XV. Nicephorus, the patriarch of Constantinople, Concise Chronography XVI. The Life of St. John of Damascus XVII. The Apocalypse of Daniel XVIII. Gregory Decapolite, The Historical Sermon About a Vision Which a Saracen Once Had XIX. The Formula of Abjuration of Islam XX. George the Monk (Hamartolus), Chronicle XXI. The Life of St. Constantine-Cyril (the Philosopher) XXII. The Life of St. Gregentius, archbishop of the Himyarites (St. Gregory of Taphar) XXIII. The Life of St. Basil the Younger XXIV. Nicephorus, The Life of St. Andrew the Fool (Salos) XXV. Symeon Magister and Logothete, Chronicle XXVI. John Zonaras, Epitome historiarum XXVII. Constantine Manasses, Chronicle XXVIII. The Life of St. Theodore of Edessa XXIX. The Story of How Prince Vladimir Chose the Religion XXX. Euthymius Zigabenus, Panoplia Dogmatica XXXI. Riccoldo da Monte Croce, Contra legem Sarracenorum XXXII. The Sermon on Idols XXXIII. Palaea Interpretata XXXIV. John VI Cantacuzene, Four Apologies, Four Orations against Muhammad XXXV. On Bohmit the Heretic XXXVI. The Tale of the Rout of Mamai XXXVII. Afanasy Nikitin, The Journey Beyond Three Seas XXXVIII. The Tale of the Shameful Saracen Faith XXXIX. Maximus the Greek (Michael Trivolis) Indices Index of People Index of Ethnic and Geographic Names Abstract The presented publication is a type of bibliographic dictionary, compiled by an interdisciplinary team of authors (Byzantynists and Paleoslavists), containing an overview of medieval texts referring to the person of Muhammad, the Arabs, and the circumstances of the birth of Islam, which were known in the Slavia Orthodoxa area (especially in its eastern part, i.e. in Rus?). Therefore, it presents the works written in the Church Slavic language between the 9th and the mid-16th centuries. As the Old Rus? discourse on Islam was shaped under the overwhelming influence of Byzantine literature, the majority of the presented sources are Byzantine texts from the 6th?14th centuries, translated into the literary language of the Orthodox Slavs. The reader will also find here a discussion on several relics, originally created in other languages of the Christian East (Syriac, Arabic) and the West (Latin), which ? through the Greek ? were assimilated on the Slavic ground.0This book aims to fill a gap in previous studies on inter-religious polemics in the Middle Ages, which has usually focused on Christian-Muslim cultural relations, analyzing Greek and Latin texts or the works written in one of the Middle Eastern languages, almost completely ignoring the Church Slavic heritage. It is worth noting that a number of the texts presented here (as well as Slavic translations of Byzantine sources) have not been published so far. The information on them, provided in this monograph, is therefore the result of research conducted directly on the manuscript material