Mahomet in the Aula Gotica: Secularizing Islam in the Middle Ages

In 2002, a puzzling image of ‘Maomet’ was uncovered along with an extensive series of frescoes in the Aula Gotica of the church of Santi Quattro Coronati, once part of the private residence of the Cardinal Stefano Conti, the nephew of Pope Innocent III.  Beyond the poles of understanding or misunderstanding, fidelity and distortion, the talk explores the deeply ambivalent approach to Islam among European elites in the thirteenth century, one that might be called an effort to secularize Islam.

Please register here. 

If you wish to join our mailing list and be sent details of upcoming ISMR seminars directly, please email emmie.price-goodfellow@york.ac.uk (Emmie) or wingardt@tcd.ie (Tess).