As inter-religious conflict moves to the front of our geo-political consciousness, the Mediterranean draws increasing attention from those interested in the history of that conflict. This interest is often directed at establishing some over-arching thesis. Is there some essential and eternal disagreement between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? Is there, on the contrary, a basis for solidarity between the three Abrahamic religions? Or is it, as many would like to believe, that one of these religious cultures is more tolerant than the others, or that one is intrinsically more violent? The histories of the Mediterranean produced in pursuing these questions often take the form of exempla, examples in the medieval sense: morally instructive narratives. This talk focuses on “exemplary” uses of the history of medieval Spain, with its “convivencia” of the three religions.
David Nirenberg is Deborah R. and Edgar D. Jannotta Professor of Medieval History and Social Thought at the University of Chicago, and director of the university’s Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society. His research focuses on the ways in which Jewish, Christian, and Islamic societies have interacted with and thought about each other. His books include Communities of Violence: Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages (1996), Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition (2013) and Neighboring Faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism Medieval and Modern (forthcoming 2014).
This lecture is sponsored by the Iberian Studies Working Group.
For further information contact Carolina López-Ruiz.
