Imperial Government and Authority in Medieval Western Islam IGAMWI
Imperial Government and Authority in Medieval Western Islam IGAMWI
Imperial Government and Authority in Medieval Western Islam IGAMWI
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<strong>Imperial</strong> <strong>Government</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Authority</strong> <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>Medieval</strong> <strong>Western</strong> <strong>Islam</strong><br />
<strong>IGAMWI</strong><br />
ERC Start<strong>in</strong>g Grant (Consolidator)<br />
Research proposal<br />
Pascal BURESI<br />
UMR 8167 “Orient et Méditerranée”<br />
Team<br />
“<strong>Medieval</strong> <strong>Islam</strong>”<br />
CNRS-FRANCE
The Almohad Empire (1130-1269)<br />
First!<strong>and</strong>!only!<br />
period!of!<br />
political!unity!<br />
of!the!entirety!<br />
of!the!<br />
Maghreb!<br />
under<br />
autochtonous!<br />
rulers
The Almohad Empire (1130-1269)<br />
Particularity!of!the!<br />
Almohad!dogma<br />
"!synthesis!of!all!<br />
the!previous!<br />
religious!trends!<br />
of!<strong>Islam</strong><br />
"!Internal!<br />
legitimacy!<strong>and</strong>!<br />
<strong>in</strong>dependence!<br />
from!Eastern!<br />
<strong>Islam</strong>ic!Centers
Almohad <strong>Authority</strong> <strong>and</strong> Div<strong>in</strong>e Law (!ar"! a)<br />
! The!<strong>in</strong>tellectual!context!<strong>in</strong>!<strong>Western</strong>!<strong>Islam</strong><br />
" Influence!of!the!faylus#f!(‘Philosophers’)!<strong>and</strong><br />
of!the!Mu$tazilism<br />
" Averroès!(1126"98),!born!<strong>in</strong>!a!family!of!judges,!q)%*!of!<br />
Cordoba,!judge!<strong>and</strong>!philosopher,!doctor!<strong>and</strong>!counsellor<br />
of!the!Almohad!caliphs<br />
! The!new!bases!of!authority<br />
! !Qu’ran!<strong>and</strong>!Tradition!(Sunna)<br />
! !Rejection!of!jurisprudential!literature!(fatwa)!<strong>and</strong>!of<br />
the!Ulemas’!authority<br />
! !Infallibility!of!the!Mahdi!<strong>and</strong>!of!his!successors<br />
! =>!New!specific!devices!to!enact!the!Law<br />
" !The!Chancery:!vector!of!caliph’s!words!throughout!the!Empire
The Corpus: 300 documents of Chancery<br />
! The!nature!of!the!documents:<br />
" Letters!of!military!victory!or!defeat<br />
" Advice!to!the!population!of!the!Empire<br />
" Acts!of!nom<strong>in</strong>ation!or!destitution!of!imperial!civil!servants<br />
" Caliphal!speeches!about!general!policy!<strong>and</strong>!imperial!decisions<br />
" Letters!of!<strong>in</strong>formation!issued!by!the!prov<strong>in</strong>ces!to!the!Caliph<br />
All!to!be!read!publicly!<strong>in</strong>!the!Great!mosques!of!the!Empire<br />
! Orig<strong>in</strong>s!of!the!documents<br />
! !Orig<strong>in</strong>als:!10%<br />
!<br />
!Quotations <strong>in</strong> narratives, <strong>in</strong> poetic <strong>and</strong> literary anthologies,<br />
<strong>in</strong> bio-bibliographical or geographic dictionaries: 40%<br />
!<br />
Manual of chanceries or books of forms: 50%
The Edition of <strong>Medieval</strong> Arab Manuscripts<br />
An urgence!<br />
" Recent!research!projects!on!Eastern!Arabic!manuscripts:<br />
"<br />
Petra!Sijpesteijn!(ERC,!Leyde):!papyri!Egypt!8 th !C.<br />
"<br />
Christian!Müller!(ERC,!Paris):!juridical!sources!8 th "15 th !<br />
"<br />
Andreas!Kaplony!(Zurich):!Eastern!papyri!8 th !"9 th !C.<br />
None!on!Maghreb<br />
None!on!the!10 th "14 th !C.!Arab!manuscripts!<br />
20!Millions!of!Arab!manuscripts!from!the!Middle!Ages<br />
vs.!200!000!(only!)!for!<strong>Medieval</strong>!Lat<strong>in</strong>!West
Arabic Language<br />
<strong>and</strong> Scientific<br />
Editions<br />
Orig<strong>in</strong>al!Act<br />
Correspondence!between!the!Almohad!governor!<br />
of!Ifriqiya!<strong>and</strong>!the!archbishop!of!Pisa<br />
23!March!1202<br />
Location:!Archivio!di!Stato!di!Pisa,!Atti!Pubblici!<br />
"!Diplomatico!cartaceo!<br />
—!dimension#:!40#cm!x!21,5#cm<br />
Previous!editions:<br />
—!1864"1869#:!Michele!Amari<br />
—!1987:!A.!al"T%z&<br />
—!1995:!A.#$Azz%w&
Manuals of Chancery<br />
al"Balaw&,<br />
al"(a$)’!al"&az*l!<br />
13 th !C.<br />
Location:!<br />
Mss!4168,!f°!85v<br />
'iz)nat!+asaniyya!<br />
of!Rabat!<br />
(Morocco)<br />
unpublished<br />
Manual!of!Chancery:!first!page!of!the!exempla!part!of!the!book
Thematical focuses<br />
! !the!social!history!of!the!medieval!Maghreb<br />
! !the!political!<strong>and</strong>!adm<strong>in</strong>istrative!organisation!of!a!<br />
Berber"based!Empire<br />
! !the!exercise!of!<strong>Imperial</strong>!power!<strong>in</strong>!tribal!<strong>and</strong>!nomadic!<br />
societies<br />
! !the!contribution!of!the!peripheral!regions!to!the!<br />
development!of!the!religious!<strong>Islam</strong>ic!dogma!<strong>and</strong>!Law<br />
! the!articulation!between!religion!<strong>and</strong>!politics!<strong>in</strong>!a!very!<br />
particular!<strong>Western</strong>!caliphate
Core <strong>and</strong> peripheral regions: the<br />
Subsaharian<br />
Africa<br />
traditional view<br />
India<br />
Maghreb<br />
Middle Eastern<br />
Arabic Core<br />
of <strong>Islam</strong><br />
Central!<br />
Asia<br />
Persia<br />
Middle!Eastern!Core!is!supposed!to!have!def<strong>in</strong>ed!the!<br />
religious,!cultural,!l<strong>in</strong>guistic!<strong>and</strong>!political!norms!<strong>and</strong>!the!<br />
peripheral!regions!to!have!adaptated!them
Core <strong>and</strong> peripheral regions:<br />
The normative process<br />
Persia<br />
Central<br />
Asia<br />
Eastern Arabic<br />
Core formalises<br />
the peripheral<br />
productions <strong>and</strong><br />
books<br />
Maghreb<br />
India<br />
1. Books, goods <strong>and</strong> ideas, travelled through trade <strong>and</strong> pilgrimage.<br />
2. The <strong>Western</strong> scholars fled the Iberian Reconquista <strong>and</strong> brought with them<br />
their knowledge <strong>and</strong> books <strong>in</strong> the Eastern madrasas <strong>and</strong> cities.
Partnerships of <strong>IGAMWI</strong> project<br />
Switzerl<strong>and</strong><br />
Orientalische Sem<strong>in</strong>ar of<br />
Zurich:<br />
A. KAPLONY<br />
(Arab manuscripts)<br />
Great Brita<strong>in</strong><br />
Oxford University:<br />
J. JOHNS & N. JAMIL<br />
(Arab-Norman Chancery of<br />
Sicily)<br />
Morocco<br />
Rabat<br />
University:<br />
H. QÂRA<br />
(Arab<br />
manuscripts)<br />
Belgium<br />
Liege University:<br />
F. BAUDEN<br />
(Mameluk Chancery <strong>and</strong><br />
manuscripts)<br />
<strong>IGAMWI</strong> TEAM<br />
P.I.<br />
+<br />
2 Post-doc<br />
+<br />
2 PhD students<br />
Spa<strong>in</strong><br />
CSIC:<br />
M.FIERRO<br />
M. GARCÍA-ARENAL<br />
(Almohad period)<br />
Universidad Complutense<br />
Madrid:<br />
M.-J. VIGUERA<br />
MOLÍNS<br />
(Arab manuscripts)<br />
Casa de Velázquez: P.I.<br />
Italy<br />
LUISS University:<br />
B. SORAVIA<br />
(Chancery of al-Andalus)<br />
France<br />
UMR 8167 ‘<strong>Medieval</strong> <strong>Islam</strong>’ : D. AIGLE (Mongol Chancery)<br />
EPHE: F. DÉROCHE (Arab manuscripts)<br />
LAMOP: B. GRÉVIN (Lat<strong>in</strong> West Ars dictam<strong>in</strong>is)
2011-2015<br />
Dedicated Website<br />
- Different levels of access<br />
- Progressive publication<br />
of the sources <strong>and</strong> of<br />
their translation<br />
2013 & 2015<br />
Two <strong>in</strong>ternational<br />
congresses<br />
1- with specialists of<br />
Arabic paleography <strong>and</strong><br />
manuscripts<br />
2- with specialists of Arab<br />
& Lat<strong>in</strong> ars dictam<strong>in</strong>is <strong>and</strong><br />
chanceries<br />
Output of <strong>IGAMWI</strong> project<br />
<strong>IGAMWI</strong><br />
2012-2015<br />
Papers <strong>and</strong> articles<br />
of the <strong>IGAMWI</strong> team<br />
members<br />
- <strong>in</strong> International peerreviewed<br />
journals<br />
- <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternational meet<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
on manuscripts <strong>and</strong><br />
medieval chanceries<br />
2015<br />
Books<br />
- Arabic edition fac<strong>in</strong>g French translation<br />
of the whole corpus (!3 vols.)<br />
- Historical study of the Almohad Empire<br />
(1 vol.)
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