Ramon Llull (1232-1316): A Vernacular Writer Between Christianity and Islam

Project Information

Christianus Arabicus

Grant agreement ID: 746221

DOI

10.3030/746221

Project closed

EC signature date 16 March 2017

Start date 2 October 2017

End date 1 October 2019

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 158 121,60

EU contribution

€ 158 121,60

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Christianus Arabicus (Ramon Llull (1232-1316): A Vernacular Writer Between Christianity and Islam)

Reporting period: 2017-10-02 to 2019-10-01

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Ramon Llull’s Cent noms de Déu (Hundred Names of God) has always been considered an anti-Islamic work because of its prologue, where he explains the Islamic worship to the Names of God to polemicize against it. With this IF, I have instead demonstrated that we must consider it as a bridge between Christian and Islamic devotion. It was in fact used for the private worship of lay Christians, both in its short forms (the simple list of the Names) and in the long one (i.e. the hundred poems/chapters which constitute the work, which are actually a comment for each Name). The new critical editions of this work, in Catalan and in Latin, as well as the English translation will help disseminating this work, as it can be of interest to many different fields of study. My research has contribute new materials to Philosophy/Theology by investigating the Christian and Islamic interpretations of God's Names and to Literary History understanding why Llull gave such an importance to a work which is not actually a proper poem but rather versified prose, analogous to the Arabic saj’ and to the early Office of the Hours liturgical text. It is as well important for Linguistics for the analysis of its degree of Occitanisation, which helps to understand how far Llull’s poetic language was from that troubadour lyric which he abhorred, finally to Musicology by examining how this work was chanted. The overall results clearly show the interdisciplinary and cross boundary value of Llull's production. The acquired knowledge during this IF has helped advancing my main research on why Llull used poetic forms albeit he despised them and has provided new materials for understanding the circulation of culture and of ideas in the Mediterranean area in the XIII-XIV centuries as well. The peculiar mixing of Christian and Islamic devotions of the Hundred Names of God reflects the epithet Llull used to define himself, i.e. Christianus arabicus. Even if Llull’s desire was the full conversion of all the unbelievers, he appreciated many aspects of the Islamic culture, which he tried to introduce into Christianity, and which is one of the main reason why he composed his Hundred Names. Llull’s attitude towards Islam is completely different from that of his medieval contemporaries, and it is important for contemporary society to be aware that in the European Middle Ages there were alternatives plans about the possible coexistence of different religions and on how to build a peaceful dialogue among them.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work performed during this project was divided into three phases:
1) after having prepared a full transcription of all the manuscripts of Llull’ Hundred Names (16 in Catalan and 2 in Latin), I have given a linguistic and palaeographic analysis of them. This consists of understanding their material composition, where they were made and why there are preserved in different libraries. To complete and check the goodness of the transcriptions and of the descriptions, I have visited almost all the libraries where the manuscripts are preserved. As Llull’s Hundred Names is a versified work, I have conducted a linguistic and metric analysis of his poems according to the most ancient manuscripts, copied by Guillem Pagès, his first-known collaborator.
2) To understand the text, I needed to study the devotion to God’s Names in Christianity and Islam, conducted during secondment. While the Islamic devotion to the Beautiful Names of Allah is quite known and studied, I have found a new research line in Christianity. Medieval European popular devotion included a prayer to the Names of God, which is echoed in Llull’s Hundred Names and in other literary works (epics and narrative). I have as well conducted a comparative study of the topic according to both monotheisms, thus gaining new knowledge to understand the circulation of the ideas in the medieval Mediterranean area.
3) Finally, the last period was devoted to the collation and the preparation of the critical editions. This critical phase consists in comparing all the differences among the manuscripts to detect how and why a scribe made a mistake, which helps understanding which text he was copying. In the case of Llull we have the chance of having manuscripts that were compiled during his life-time, one of which with the text of his Hundred Names. It was our duty to confirm that this manuscript belonged to these first-generation codices and understand why, after 1311, he slightly changed the structure of the work to adapt it for private devotion. This last version was the most spread in Llull’s posterity but the text we propose is the closer to his wills in the moment of composition, and it represents better the version he exposed to the Popes, as he three times affirms.
The multidisciplinary content of this project obliged me to contact many specialists (musicologists, Islamologists, theologians and philosopher), whom I have exposed my ideas on this work. This way it was possible to test the new ideas, confirm their validity and disseminate my research.
During the IF I have organised two congresses, and attended nine congresses and two seminars as a speaker, where I have explained the content of my research. I have given fifteen hours lessons on the interreligious dialogue and Ramon Llull, and I have attended nine other congresses, eleven seminars and two workshops, which helped my training. Another fundament training activity consisted in learning Arabic, which is an important step to understand Llull’s sources. Besides, having the chance to live in a multilingual society helped me develop many linguistics skills. I have as well followed up two pre-doctoral students and one PhD, which has helped me growing as a future professor.
The main outcome, i.e. the critical editions will become reference material for the study of Llull, and the translation into English of the text (online publication) will help disseminating it to a larger public. I have as well published a popular edition of the text and focused on some peculiar aspects of the work, published as short and easy readable texts in an online website for the dissemination of Literary Studies.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Through this fellowship, I have changed the state of the Art on Llull’s Hundred Names. We cannot read it anymore as only an anti-Islamic work, but rather as a bridge, which connects Christian and Islamic devotions. In a broader sense, my IF helped to find new Llullian sources and to see how the Islamic ones shaped his way of thinking as well. Participating into the innovative activities that my host institution is proposing on Llull are good skills to learn and can be applied for the dissemination of other literary authors, maintaining high scientific standards. Besides, during the IF I have localised and analysed a new fragment of the Hundred Names and another Llullian manuscript which was not known before, thus contributing new material to study.
Even if the main public of this research is mainly made of academics, I think that the results can be have a wider societal implication as it deals with cohabitation of different religions, respect for the culture of the others, multilingualism as a key for mutual comprehension. It can as well help in getting rid of old prejudices about the Middle Ages and construct a more trustful image of Europe’s past. Understanding the foundations on which our society is built, can help make it more solid and eager to understand the other, instead of rejecting it.

Arabic 99 Names of God/ Kircher wheel of the 72 Names of God