''De Machometo'' ('On Muḥammad') is a brief anonymous
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
tract on the life of
Muḥammad from a
Christian point of view. It begins in the reign of
Pope Boniface IV (608–615). Its account is cobbled together from a variety of sources, including the fifth dialogue of
Petrus Alphonsi's ''Dialogi in quibus impiae Judaeorum confutantur'', the
Corozan legend and possibly the ''Libellus in partibus transmarinis de Machometi fallaciis'' from
Vincent of Beauvais's ''
Speculum historiale''. The composite account is very similar to the account of Muḥammad found in the ''
Golden Legend''.
It is known from at least four manuscripts:
*
Copenhagen, Royal Danish Library, Acc. 2011/5, ff. 193r–194r (pp. 379–381), from the late 14th century
*Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.1.17, ff. 79rb–79rv (incomplete), from
*London, British Library, MS Royal 13.E.IX, ff. 93r–94r, from 1395–1425
Detailed record for Royal 13 E IX
/ref>
*London, British Library, MS Sloane 289, ff. 92v–95v, from the mid-15th century
''De Machometo'' follows William of Tripoli
William of Tripoli ( 1254–1273) was a Dominican friar active as a Christian missionary, missionary and papal nuncio in the Holy Land. He wrote two works about Islam, towards which he displayed an unusually Irenicism, irenic attitude for his time. ...
's ''De statu Sarracenorum'' in both the Copenhagen and Cambridge manuscripts. The text has never been edited
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
.
Notes
Bibliography
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{{refend
Biographies of Muhammad
Medieval Latin texts