Euclidean Geometry in Two Medieval Islamic Encyclopaedias

Two early encyclopaedic treatises, written in Arabic, include extensive discussion of geometry. Although both the Rasā'il Ikhwān al-Safā' and the Kitāb al-Shifā' fall within the Euclidean tradition, their style and content differ radically. The Neo-Pythagorean and Neo-Platonic Ikhwān al-Safā' place mathematics at the head of their encyclopaedia, but develop their discussion of geometry using a "sub-Euclidean" approach. Ibn Sīnā, whose orientation is broadly Aristotelian, includes an epitome of Euclid's Elements in its entirety, yet modifies the text at numerous points.     

Ways of Seeing: The First Medieval Islamic and Christian Depictions of Roderick,Last Visigothic King of Spain

In the early eighth-century palace of Qu.(s)ayr ‘Amra in Syria, an image survives of Roderick, last Visigothic king of Spain, whose passionate love affair with the beautiful La Cava precipitated the Muslim invasion of his country in 711. Startlingly, this Umayyad painting predates the earliest written historical source narrating the invasion, the Cronica mozarabe of 754, and of Hispanic origin, which recounts the barest details of the Muslim conquest. The written account was later developed by medieval Christian and Arabic historians who had opposing views of this momentous event, creating a legend of extraordinary power and longevity, which has evolved in many different artistic forms from the Middle Ages to the present day. This essay assesses current scholarly opinion regarding the interpretation of this Arabic visual image of the Visigothic king and considers its implications in relation to the development of the legend of Roderick and La Cava in written form during the medieval period.     

Trade and Textiles from Medieval Antioch

This article examines the significance of textiles called “cloth of Antioch”, which are named in late seventh/thirteenth and early eighth/fourteenth century church inventories from England. The practice of naming a type of cloth for a geographic place-name was common in this period, but did not necessarily mean that a textile with a particular name had been produced there. Antioch was a known centre of textile production, although references are scant. The English church inventories that mention Antioch cloth are from St. Paul's Cathedral, London; Canterbury Cathedral; and Exeter Cathedral. Such church inventories are a source of important information about textiles that would have been consumed in medieval England. One can associate the Antioch textiles with important individuals at court. The English royal family emphasised their associations with the city of Antioch in this period, which may explain why important members of the court donated Antioch textiles. The textiles are also mentioned in Scottish and the Vatican treasury inventories, however, which indicates that the cloth was known elsewhere, even if it did not have the same resonance in other places