Carole Hillenbrand, (born 1943), is a British Islamic scholar who is Emerita Professor in Islamic History at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and Professor of Islamic History at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. She is the Vice-President of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies and a Member of the

Council for Assisting Refugee Academics The Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) is a charitable British organisation dedicated to assisting academics in immediate danger, those forced into exile, and many who choose to remain in their home countries despite the serious risks they face ...

Early life

Hillenbrand was born in 1943 in England. In 1962, she enrolled at

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

, where she studied modern languages. She then attended Somerville College at Oxford, where she studied Arabic and Turkish.

Academic career

Hillenbrand gained a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1965 and a BA in Oriental Studies from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1972. She earned her PhD at the

in 1979. Her thesis, ''The history of the Jazira 1100–1150: the contribution of Ibn Al-Azraq al-Fariqi'', analysed and translated a pair of British Library manuscripts of a text by the 12th-century

Artuqid The Artuqid dynasty (alternatively Artukid, Ortoqid, or Ortokid; , pl. ; ; ) was a Turkoman dynasty originated from tribe that ruled in eastern Anatolia, Northern Syria and Northern Iraq in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. The Artuq ...

historian

ibn al-Azraq al-Fariqi Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Azraq al-Fāriqī () () was a chronicler from Mayyafariqin, present-day Silvan. His major work, ''Ta'rikh Mayyafariqin wa-Amid'' ("the history of Mayyafariqin and Amid"), is written in Arabic. His ethnic origins aren't ...

. Her research interests include: the Crusades; Islamic political thought; medieval and modern concepts of jihad; Arabic and Persian travel literature. Dr. Hillenbrand serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals including the ''

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies The ''Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies'', often abbreviated to ''JAIS'', is an international, peer-reviewed academic journal. It was founded in 1995 by Joseph N. Bell from the University of Bergen, Norway, and Petr Zemánek from Charles Univ ...

'' and the International Advisory Board of The UMRAN – International Journal of Islamic and Civilizational Studies,

University of Technology, Malaysia , image_name = UTM-LOGO.png , image_size = , caption = Seal , latin_name = , motto = Kerana Tuhan Untuk Manusia , mottoeng = In the Name of God for Mankind , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , affiliatio ...

. Invited by an interviewer in 2018 to venture an opinion on whether the Muslims who had encountered westerners in the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

during the time of

the crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

had seen the best of

Western Christendom Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic C ...

in their midst, Hillenbrand agreed that - with notable and distinguished exceptions - they almost certainly had not: "The most important thing that most of the crusaders who remained in the Holy Land learned ... was to use soap".

Honours

* 2005: Hillenbrand was the first non-Muslim to be awarded the

King Faisal International Prize The King Faisal Prize ( ar, جائزة الملك فيصل, formerly King Faisal International Prize), is an annual award sponsored by King Faisal Foundation presented to "dedicated men and women whose contributions make a positive difference". T ...

for Islamic Studies.Back cover of her book of 2015, ''Islam: A New Historical Introduction'' * 2009: New Year Honours as Hillenbrand was appointed as

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE). * 2016: Awarded the

Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding The British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding is a prize granted by the British Academy for "outstanding scholarly contributions to global cultural understanding". The prize is £25,000. It was created in 2013 as the Nayef Al-Ro ...

by the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

for her book ''Islam: A New Historical Introduction''. * 2018: Hillenbrand was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours "for services to the Understanding of Islamic History". In this year she is also got an Honorary Fellow of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

Works

* ''The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives'' (2000)Hillenbrand, Carole, ''The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives'', Edinburgh University Press, 1999 *''Islam: A New Historical Introduction.'' London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. (2015)

Footnotes

External links

CV
of Carole Hillenbrand {{DEFAULTSORT:Hillenbrand, Carole Living people Academics of the University of Edinburgh Women scholars of Islam Historians of the Crusades Officers of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing (living people) Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford 1943 births