Lecture: Christian-Muslim Entanglements in Arabic Occultism

[Paul Ferguson]

"Historians have long been aware of the transmission of Arabic occult knowledge to the world of Latin Christendom. Far less well understood, however, are the encounters between Islam and Christianity within the domain of occult science inside the medieval Islamicate world itself...Focusing on alchemical writings, this paper argues that these topos-laden narratives reveal little about the actual historical transmission of the occult sciences. Instead, they speak volumes about how Muslim authors imagined their diffusion in Islamicate lands"


Date
    12 May 2026
Time
    16:00 -17:30
Location
    Oudemanhuispoort
Room
    D1.18B 


https://aihr.uva.nl/content/events/2026/...rassi.html