A number of

biographies of Muhammad A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

were written in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

during the 9th to 13th centuries.

Overview

The earliest Latin biographies originated in Spain before the mid-9th century. They had a limited circulation and influence. All other Latin biographies are ultimately based on the tradition of the ''Chronographia'' of

Theophanes the Confessor Theophanes the Confessor (; 759 – 817 or 818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking up the religious life. Theophanes attended the Second C ...

(d. 818), translated into Latin in the 9th century by

Anastasius Bibliothecarius Anastasius Bibliothecarius (c. 810 – c. 878) was the chief archivist and librarian () of the Holy See and also briefly a claimant to the papacy. Early life He was a nephew of Bishop Arsenius of Orte, who executed important commissions a ...

, which contained a chapter on the life of Muhammad. While Latin biographies of Muhammad in the 11th to 12th century are still in the genre of anti-hagiography, depicting Muhammad as an

heresiarch In Christian theology, a heresiarch (also hæresiarch, according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary''; from Greek: , ''hairesiárkhēs'' via the late Latin ''haeresiarcha''Cross and Livingstone, ''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' 1974) ...

, the tradition develops into the genre of

picaresque novel The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...

, with Muhammad in the role of the

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...

figure, in the 13th century. The ''Vita Mahumeti'' by Embrico of Mainz is an early example of the genre. The text, in rhyming leonine hexameters, was modelled on the verse

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

of contemporaries such as Hildebert of Le Mans. It was most likely written between 1072 and 1090. It is in the tradition of the ''Chronographia'' of Theophanes, including the account of Muhammad's epilepsy and his body being eaten by pigs after his death. Twelfth-century versions include ''Otia Machometi'' by Walter of Compiègne (c. 1155) and '' Vita Machometi'' by Adelphus.Ed. B. Bischoff, "Ein Leben Mohammads (Adelphus?) (Zwölftes Jahrhundert)", ''Anecdota Novissima'', 1984. Thirteenth-century works of the

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

type, written in

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

, include the ''Romance of Muhammad'' (1258), based on the ''Otia''.

List of works

*''Storia de Mahometh'' (before 848) *''Tultusceptru de libro domni Metobii'' (9th/10th century) * Embrico of Mainz, ''Vita Mahumeti'' (11th century) *Adelphus, '' Vita Machometi'' (12th century) * Walter of Compiègne, ''Otia de Machomete'' (12th century) * ''Vita Mahometi'' of Uncastillo (1221/1222) *'' De Machometo'' (13th century) *''

Liber Nycholay The ''Liber Nycholay'' (or ''Book of Nicholas'') is a Latin biography of Muhammad A number of Life of Muhammad, biographies of Muhammad were written in Middle Latin, Latin during the 9th to 13th centuries. Overview The earliest Latin biographie ...

'' (13th century) *''

Where Wicked Muhammad Came From ''Where Wicked Muhammad Came From'' () is an anonymous Latin biography of Muhammad from the late 13th century. Although it contains some authentic Islamic elements, it consists mostly of legendary material or reworkings intended to ridicule and den ...

'' (13th century) *''

Book of Muhammad's Ladder The ''Book of Muḥammad's Ladder'' is a first-person account of the Islamic prophet Muḥammad's night journey ('' isrāʾ'') and ascent to heaven ('' miʿrāj''), translated into Latin (as ) and Old French (as ) from traditional Arabic">-4; we ...

'', trans.

Bonaventura da Siena Bonaventure of Siena () was a Tuscan scribe and translator who worked at the court of Alfonso X of Castile in the 1260s, when Alfonso was claiming the Holy Roman Empire. His most famous work is a translation of the ''Book of Muhammad's Ladder'' int ...

(13th century) Biographies of Muhammad are also included in: *

, ''Chronicle'', trans.

, in ''Chronographia tripartita'' (870s) *''

Apology of al-Kindi ''Apology of al-Kindi'' (also spelled al-Kindy) is a medieval theological polemic making a case for Christianity and drawing attention to alleged flaws in Islam. The word "apology" is a translation of the Arabic word ', and it is used in the se ...

'', trans.

Peter of Toledo Peter of Toledo was a significant translator into Latin of the twelfth century. He was one of the team preparing the first Latin translation of the ''Qur'an'' (the '' Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete''). While not much is known of his life, from his ...

(1142), for the ''

Corpus Cluniacense The ''Corpus Cluniacense'' or ''Corpus Islamolatinum'', sometimes erroneously the ''Corpus Toledanum'', is a collection of Latin writings about Islam compiled in 1142–1143. At its centre are translations from Arabic of five Islamic literature, ...

'' *

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 ...

, ''Notitia de Machometo'' () and ''De statu Saracenorum'' (1273)

Overview

List of works

See also

References

Further reading