John Tolan
Born in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) in 1959, John Tolan is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at Nantes Université, affiliated with the Centre de recherches en histoire internationale et atlantique (CRHIA, EA 1163) and the Maison des sciences de l’homme Ange-Guépin, which he has directed. Educated at Yale (BA in Classics, 1981), he earned his PhD in History from the University of Chicago (1990) and his HDR at EHESS (2001). He directed the ERC Advanced Grant programme RELMIN (“Legal Status of Religious Minorities in the Euro-Mediterranean World, 5th-15th centuries”, 2010-2015) and currently co-directs the ERC Synergy programme EuQu — The European Qur’an. An elected member of the Academia Europaea and of the Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona, his work covers the intellectual and cultural history of the Mediterranean world, Jewish-Muslim-Christian relations in the Middle Ages, the figure of Muhammad in medieval Latin literature, and the legal status of religious minorities. His publications include Saracens: Islam in the Medieval European Imagination (Columbia UP, 2002), Saint Francis and the Sultan (OUP, 2009), Faces of Muhammad (Princeton UP, 2019), England’s Jews (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023), Islam: A New History from Muhammad to the Present (Princeton UP, 2025), and he co-edited with Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi Le Mahomet des historiens (Cerf, 2025).
Resources of this researcher
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videos
“Le Mahomet des historiens”, by Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi and John Tolan
- Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi
- John Tolan
Two-voice lecture by Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (Directeur d’études at EPHE-PSL, Chair of “Exegesis and Theology of Shi’i Islam”) and John Tolan (Professor Emeritus of Medieva...
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publication
Muhammad according to Historians
- Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi
- John Tolan
Co-edited by Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (Directeur d’études at EPHE-PSL, Chair of “Exegesis and Theology of Shi’i Islam”) and John Tolan (Professor Emeritus of Medieval Histor...
Resources related to
History
publication
MIDÉO No. 41: The Literal Meaning between Christian Worlds and Muslim Worlds
- Jean Druel
- Emmanuel Pisani
Entitled after its thematic dossier The Literal Meaning between Christian Worlds and Muslim Worlds, issue 41 of the Mélanges de l’Institut dominicain d’études orientales (MIDÉO) address...
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Experiencing a Mosque Through Photography: Islam As an Ordinary Religion
- Guillaume Chatagny
Abstract Published in 2021 in Visual Ethnography (vol. 10, no. 2) under the title "Experiencing a Mosque Through Photography: Islam As an Ordinary Religion", this article by Guillaume Chatagny, ...
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Islam Seen through the Work of Aziz al-Azmeh
- Wasim Salman
Abstract Published in Arabic in issue 50 (2024) of Islamochristiana (PISAI, released in April 2025), this essay by Wasim Salman, president of PISAI and director of the journal, examines the rela...
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Islamic Visions of Jesus: Revelation, Prophecy, and Eschatology
- Antonio Cuciniello
Abstract Published in the collective volume Jerusalem in Memory and Eschatology: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem, edited by Emma O'Donnell Polyakov (Blo...
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The First Council of Nicaea (325) and the Christian-Muslim Dialogue on God’s Unity and Trinity
- Dirk Ansorge
Abstract Published under the original title "Das erste Konzil von Nizäa (325) und der christlich-muslimische Dialog über Gottes Einheit und Dreifaltigkeit" in issue 2/2025 of CIBEDO-Beiträge, th...
publication
Religious Freedom in Italy. An Unfinished Path (1848-2024)
- Alessandro Ferrari
Published under the original title La libertà religiosa in Italia. Un percorso incompiuto (1848-2024), this synthesis by Alessandro Ferrari, professor of ecclesiastical law and comparative religiou...
article
The Table as a Social Language: Food and Norms in al-Ǧāḥiẓ
- Faisal Kenanah
Abstract Published in French in the journal Mots et mondes. Revue d'études littéraires, linguistiques et sociolinguistiques (Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh), in the issue "Nourriture et signif...
publication
The Recognition of a Hummingbird. Essays on Interreligious Dialogue and Missionary Work (2007-2025)
- Rémi Caucanas
Published in May 2026 by PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome), this collection brings together the essays of Rémi Caucanas on interreligious dialogue and missionary wor...