
The Conciliarist Idea of Islam in the Quattrocento: Prelude and Legacy
Abstract
Published in the journal Religions (vol. 15, no. 9, 2024), this article by Marco Demichelis, Assistant Professor in History of the Islamic World and Islamic Thought at the University of Bologna, examines the impact of Conciliarism (1414-1439), the movement that asserted the authority of a general council over the Pope, on the Christian vision of Islam in the fifteenth century.
The author first retraces the evolution of the Latin view of Islam, shaped by the Corpus Toletanum, compiled in the twelfth century around Peter the Venerable and including the first Latin translation of the Qur’an, and by the impact of the Crusades. For three centuries, Islam was read through Christian categories, with Qur’anic Christology playing a central role in this reading. On the Greek side, Gregory Palamas, a captive of the Ottomans, then Patriarch Gennadios Scholarios and George of Trebizond engaged in dialogue with the Turks and with Sultan Mehmed II.
After the fall of Constantinople (1453), Nicholas of Cusa and John of Segovia proposed an alternative to the crusade advocated by Pius II. Cusanus’s De pace fidei put forward the idea of one religion in a variety of rites, before his Cribratio Alkorani returned to a refutation of the Qur’an, while John of Segovia defended a “way of peace and doctrine”.
Although Conciliarism failed, and the “Christological paradigm” did little to change the Church’s actual attitude, still shaped by the crusading mindset, the author shows that the peaceful approach of Cusanus and Segovia paved the way for a different view of the Ottoman world: that of Erasmus, then the Turcophilia of the Renaissance, attentive to the religious tolerance, diplomatic power and military discipline of the Ottomans. In his view, the weakening of the notion of heresy was one of the indirect outcomes of this “moment of vision” between Christianity and Islam.
The article is freely available on the journal website (DOI 10.3390/rel15091110).
Résumé
Paru en anglais sous le titre « The Conciliarist Idea of Islam in the Quattrocento: Prelude and Legacy » dans la revue Religions (vol. 15, n° 9, 2024), cet article de Marco Demichelis, maître de conférences en histoire du monde islamique et de la pensée islamique à l’Université de Bologne, examine l’effet du conciliarisme (1414-1439), courant qui affirmait l’autorité du concile général sur le pape, sur la vision chrétienne de l’islam au XVe siècle.
L’auteur retrace d’abord l’évolution du regard latin sur l’islam, marquée par le Corpus Toletanum, réuni au XIIe siècle autour de Pierre le Vénérable et qui comprenait la première traduction latine du Coran, et par l’impact des croisades. Pendant trois siècles, l’islam est lu à partir de catégories chrétiennes, et la christologie coranique joue un rôle central dans cette lecture. Du côté grec, Grégoire Palamas, captif des Ottomans, puis le patriarche Gennadios Scholarios et Georges de Trébizonde dialoguent avec les Turcs et avec le sultan Mehmed II.
Après la chute de Constantinople (1453), Nicolas de Cues et Jean de Ségovie proposent une autre voie que la croisade prônée par Pie II. Le De pace fidei de Nicolas de Cues avance l’idée d’une seule religion dans la diversité des rites, avant que sa Cribratio Alkorani ne revienne à une réfutation du Coran, tandis que Jean de Ségovie défend une « voie de la paix et de la doctrine ».
Si le conciliarisme a échoué, et si le « paradigme christologique » a peu changé l’attitude concrète de l’Église, toujours marquée par l’esprit de croisade, l’auteur montre que l’approche pacifique de Cues et de Ségovie a préparé un autre regard sur le monde ottoman : celui d’Érasme, puis la « turcophilie » de la Renaissance, attentive à la tolérance religieuse, à la puissance diplomatique et à la discipline de l’armée ottomane. L’affaiblissement de la notion d’hérésie compte, selon lui, parmi les effets indirects de ce « moment de vision » entre christianisme et islam.
L’article est en libre accès sur le site de la revue (DOI 10.3390/rel15091110).
ملخّص
نُشر هذا المقال بالإنكليزية في مجلة «Religions» (المجلد 15، العدد 9، 2024)، تحت العنوان الآتي:
The Conciliarist Idea of Islam in the Quattrocento: Prelude and Legacy
وفيه يدرس ماركو ديميشيليس، الأستاذ المساعد في تاريخ العالم الإسلامي والفكر الإسلامي في جامعة بولونيا، أثرَ الحركة المجمعية (1414-1439)، وهي التيار الذي أكّد سلطة المجمع العام على البابا، في النظرة المسيحية إلى الإسلام في القرن الخامس عشر.
يستعيد المؤلّف أولاً تطوّر النظرة اللاتينية إلى الإسلام، كما طبعتها «المجموعة الطليطلية» التي جُمعت في القرن الثاني عشر حول بطرس المبجّل وتضمّنت أول ترجمة لاتينية للقرآن، وأثرُ الحروب الصليبية. فعلى مدى ثلاثة قرون، قُرئ الإسلام بمقولات مسيحية، وأدّت صورة المسيح في القرآن دوراً محورياً في هذه القراءة. ومن الجانب اليوناني، حاور غريغوريوس بالاماس، أسير العثمانيين، ثم البطريرك جناديوس سكولاريوس وجورج الطرابزوني، الأتراكَ والسلطان محمد الثاني.
وبعد سقوط القسطنطينية (1453)، اقترح نيقولاوس الكوزاني وخوان دي سيغوفيا طريقاً غير الحملة الصليبية التي دعا إليها البابا بيوس الثاني. فقد طرح الكوزاني في كتابه «في سلام الإيمان» فكرة دين واحد في تنوّع الطقوس، قبل أن يعود في «غربلة القرآن» إلى الردّ على القرآن، في حين دافع خوان دي سيغوفيا عن «طريق السلام والتعليم».
ومع أنّ الحركة المجمعية أخفقت، وأنّ «المقاربة المتمحورة حول المسيح» لم تغيّر كثيراً موقف الكنيسة الفعلي الذي ظلّ أسير ذهنية الحروب الصليبية، يبيّن المؤلّف أنّ المقاربة السلمية لدى الكوزاني وسيغوفيا مهّدت لنظرة مختلفة إلى العالم العثماني: نظرة إيراسموس، ثم «الولع بالأتراك» في عصر النهضة، الذي التفت إلى التسامح الديني لدى العثمانيين وقوّتهم الدبلوماسية وانضباط جيشهم. ويرى أنّ إضعاف مفهوم الهرطقة كان من النتائج غير المباشرة لهذه «اللحظة الكاشفة» بين المسيحية والإسلام.
والمقال متاح مجّاناً على موقع المجلة.
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