Dominicans, Muslims and Jews in the Medieval Crown of Aragon
Author(s): Robin Vose (Author)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication Date: June 22, 2009
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Print length: 312 pages
ISBN-10: 0521886430
ISBN-13: 9780521886437
Book Description
With their active apostolate of preaching and teaching, Dominican friars were important promoters of Latin Christianity in the borderlands of medieval Spain and North Africa. Historians have long assumed that their efforts to convert or persecute non-Christian populations played a major role in worsening relations between Christians, Muslims and Jews in the era of crusade and reconquista. This study sheds light on the topic by setting Dominican participation in celebrated but short-lived projects such as Arabic language studia or anti-Jewish theological disputations alongside day-to-day realities of mendicant life in the medieval Crown of Aragon. From old Catalan centers like Barcelona to newly conquered Valencia and Islamic North Africa, the author shows that Dominican friars were on the whole conservative educators and disciplinarians rather than innovative missionaries – ever concerned to protect the spiritual well-being of the faithful by means of preaching, censorship and maintenance of existing barriers to interfaith communications.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“…a well-written work…” -Isabel A. O’Connor-AARHMS Newsletter
“It is impossible to do justice in a short review to Robin Vose’s interesting and thoughtful study of the Dominicans … The author has successfully fulfilled his ail that the study ‘will contribute to a more balanced and historically accurate account of the complexities surrounding inter-religious contacts in the Middle Ages’ (p. 17); it is a welcome addition to the corpus of Iberian studies available to English-speaking scholars.” -Jill R. Webster, Speculum
“Like the Dominican order that Vose discerns, this is very much an inward-oriented study. Nevertheless, it is a useful corrective that will be an aid to historians studying the history of Christian mission and inter-faith relations in the Middle Ages.” -Brian A. Catlos, Journal of Ecclesiastical History
“Dominicans, Muslims and Jews in the Medieval Crown of Aragon will become essential reading on the Dominicans and coexistence for Hispanists and medievalists alike.” -Thomas W. Barton, The Medieval Review
Book Description
Argues that Dominican friars sought to maintain interfaith barriers rather than secure religious conversions on the medieval Iberian frontier.
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