The Renaissance Humanists and the Knowledge of Arabic

Author(s): Karl H. Dannenfeldt

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Studies in the Renaissance, Vol. 2 (1955), pp. 96-117
Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Renaissance Society of America
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The RenaissanceHumanistsand the

Knowledgeof Arabic
was longdelayed
by Europeans
OFARABIC
STUDY
THEPHILOLOGICAL
thenumber,strength,andimconsidering
andslowin development,
portanceof the Moslempeoplesandthe valueof theirculturalconThe Moslemconquestof Spainin
to westerncivilization.
tributions
the earlypartof the eighthcenturydid stimulatean earlydesire
of the Iberianpeninsulato learnthelanguage
amongthe Christians
Infact,theardorof theinterestamongtheSpanish
of theconquerors.
broughtforththe complaintof Alvarusof C6rdoba(IX
Christians
the studyof
century)that the Christianyouthswere abandoning
Latinfor that of Arabic.lLaterthe languageof Islam,a religion
brandeda Christianheresyby the medievalchurch,fell into discredit,thoughinterestwasrevivedin the eleventhandtwelfthcento Europeof Arabicscienceandphiturieswith the transmission
captured
by Spanish(Christians
Toledo,
Latin
translation.
losophyin
mostof whom
centerforthetrans;lators,
in 1085,wastheoutstanding
werenativeJewswhohadbeenMoslemsubjects.2
A new stimulusforthe studyof Arabicwasprovidedby thefailordersnow
Thenewpreaching
armsin thecrusades.
ureof Christian
of the Jews,Moslems,andMonconversion
aimedat the peaceable
among
of theorientallanguages,
Forthisa knowledge
golianTartars.
essential.This did not,however,lead
themArabic,was considered
studyof Arabic,for themotivewasnotoneof knowlto a sustained
in the thirteenthand fouredge for its own sake.The Europeans
teenthcenturieswho acquireda masteryof the languagenumber
Mentionof the workof a few will suffice.
lessthana score.3
The DominicanRaymundMartin,educatedin the schoolof
orientalstudiesfoundedby his orderin Toledoin 1250,4was well
1 Indiculusluminosus,in J. P. Migne,Patrologialatina,CXXI, 555-556.
Charlesand DorothySinger,"The JewishFactorin MedievalThought",in Legacyof
Die hebraischen
IsraelJed. E. R. Bevan(Oxford,1928), pp. 202 H.; MoritzSteinschneider,
des Mittelaltersund die Zudenals Dolmetscher(Berlin, 1893), "Die euroUbersetzungen
SitzungspaischenUbersetzungenaus dem Arabischenbis Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts",
in WienJphilosophisch-historische
berichteder kaiserlichenXkademieder Wissenschaften
Klasse,CXLIX, Abh. iv, 1-88.
Orientalia
im 13. und 14. Jahrhundert",
3 B. Altaner,"ZurKenntnisdes Arabischen
Arabists.
1I (1936), 437-452, could identifyonly seventeen
Christiana
PeriodSica,
4 Otherswho studied Arabic at Toledo were ArnaldusGuardia,Petrusde Cadireta,
PetrusAriam,Petrusde Puteo,Petrusde SanctoFelice,DidacusStephani,Petrusde Canellis.
See Ugo Monneretde Villard,Lo studiodell' Islamin Europanel Xll e nel Xlll secoloJ
Studie testi,cx (Cittadel Vaticano,1944), p. 37.
2

H. DANNENFELDT
KARL

97

as is evidentin his Pvgaofiidea

with Arabicliterature,
acquainted
Mauroset Judaeos(1278).5When Hebrewand Arabic
adrersus
in
in 1281,he becametheinstructor
werebegunat B^arcelona
studies
amongthe
enterprises
Far moreactivein the missionary
Hebrew.
of Arabic
study
the
of
advocate
zealous
most
a
andtherefore
Moslems
(1266years
ninc
For
(1235?-1316).
Lull
wasthe CatalanRaymund
it for
taught
then
and
slave,
Moorish
a
74)he studiedArabicwith
cruspiritual
His
Miramar.
at
monastery
tenyearsin theFranciscan
on
Africa
north
to
him
led
Moslems
of the
sadefor the conversion
walls
the
before
stoning
by
death
his
andfinallyto
occasions
several
king of
of Bougiein Tunis. Beforehis deathhe persuadedthe
Miramar.6
at
Arabic
of
study
for the
to founda monastery
Malorca
(1175?Amongotherscholarswho knewArabicwasMichaelScot
knowledge
his
for
1227
irl
1234?),whomPopeGregeryIX praised
ofbothHebrewandArabic.7
in France,the eminentpublicistof Philipthe Fair,
Meanwhile,
of
PierreDuBois(c. 125Sc. 1312),proposedthe establishment
among
missions
on
coloniesin Palestinein orderto carry
European
century,
earlyin thefourteenth
advocated,
He therefore
theMoslems.
training
the
for
a schoolsystemin Europe
thatthe popeestablished
naturally
He
Orient.
of boys and girls for life and work in the
proposing
stressedthe valueof a knowledgeof orientallanguages,
Chaldaic.8
and
thatthestudentslearnLatin,Greek,Hebrew,Arabic,
RogerBacon(1214?-1294)advoOnly the EnglishFrarlciscan
other
catedthe studyof languages,includingArabic,for reasons
Hebrew,
of
His firstreasonfor thestudy
purposes.
thanmissionary
which
absolutum"
studiumsapientiae
"propter
is
Greek,andArabic
church.
to carryouttheritesof the
includestheknowledgenecessary
of commercial,
maintenance
better
the
for
His secondreasonis
linguistic
wishes
he
Thirdly,
relations.
judicial,and international
reprove
to
fourthly,
and
infidel,
the
of
studiesto aidin theconversion
(Madrid,1917), III, 2515Menondezy Pelayo,Hzstonade los HeterodoxosEspanoles
in den Anfangdes 19.
bis
12.
Europa
in
Studien
arabischen
255; JohannFucck,"Die
ed. RichardHartIslamsissenschaft
und
Semitistik
Beitragezu Jrabistika
Jahrhunderts",
Kenntnisdes
"Zur
Altaner,
B.
99-100;
pp.
1944),
mann and HelmuthScheel (Leipzig,
299.
(1933),
XXI
Zeitschn#,
Biblische
im Mittelalter",
Hebraischen
(can. 11) des Konzils von
Lullus und der Sprachenkanon
6 B. Altaner, "Raymund
Ugo Monneretde Villard,
190-193;
(1933),
LIII
Vienne (1312)", HistorischesJahrbuch,
op. cit., pp. 40-41; Fueck,op. cit., pp. 100-109.
Unircrsitns Pariszensis(Paris, 18897 P. H. Denifle and H. Chatelain,Chartalaritum
1897), I, 1 l0.
TerreSancte,ed. Ch.-V.Langlois,(Paris,1891), secs.
8 PierreDubois,De recuperatione
Pape Bonifacele VIII, quoted
59-64; Supplicationdu pueblede FrcmceC1>roy contrele
ibid.,p. 49.
rtom

98

THE HUMANISTS KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC

thoseincapable
of conversion.9
He feelsthatit is not onlyharmful,
"butvery embarrassing
when amongall the learnedmen of the
Latins,prelatesandprincesdo notfinda singleonewhoknowshow
to nterpreta letterof Arabicor Greeknorto replyto a message,as
is sometimesthe case.For example,I learnedthatthe Soldanusof
Babylon[Egypt]wroteto my lord,thepresentkingof France,and
therewas not foundin the wholelearnedbodyin Parisnorin the
wholekingdomof Francea manwho knewhow satisfactorily
to
explaina letternor to makethe necessary
replyto the message.''l
Baconadmittedthathe himselfdid not writeArabic,butonlyHebrew,Greek,andLatin.ll
In the thirteenth
centuryvariouseffortsto associate
the studyof
Arabicwitheithernewschoolsorestablished
universities
werebegun.
In June1248,InnocentIV arranged
withthe chancellor
of theUniversityof Parisfor the upkeepof ten boyslearnedin Arabicand
otherorientallanguages
who wereto be instructed
in theologyand
then sentto the Orientas missionaries.l2
In 1254a schoolfor the
studyof Arabicand Latinwas foundedby Alfonsoel Sabioin
Seville.l3Irl1281ArabicandHebrewstudieswerebegurlat Barcelona,andtenyearslaterthesamelanguagestudieswereinstituted
at
the monastery
of Xativain Catalonia.14
In 1286HonoriusIV wrote
to thechancellor
of theUniversity
of Parisconcerning
twentyclerks
learnedin Arabicandotherorientallanguageswho hadbeensent
there.15
In 1298RaymundLulladvocated
the foundingat Parisof a
schoolforthestudyof Arabic,Tartar,andGreek.16
Individual
andpapalactionto increase
thestudyof Arabicledin
1312to conciliar
support.
Because
of thepersonal
effortsof Raymund
Lu11,17
the Councilof Viennedirectedtheestablishment
of chairsof
Greek,Hebrew,Arabic,and Syriacat the papalcourtand at the
"studiageneralia"
of Paris,Oxford,Bologna,and Salamanca.
Two
teacherswereto be assignedto give instruction
and alsoto make
9 RogerBacon,Opus majus, ed. J. H. Bridges(London,1900), III, partiii, "de utilitate
grammaticae".
Ibid.,p. 120.
11RogerBacon,Opustertium,ed. by J. S. Brewer(Inndon, 1859), cap. xxv, p. 88.
t2 Denifle and Chatelain,Chartulum,
I, 212-213; CharlesJourdain,"Un college
orientala Parisau treiziemesiecle",Rerue des Sociezes Savantes, 2 ser., VI (1861), 66-73.
3 Memorialhistoricoespanot(Madrid1851), I, 54-55.
14B. Altaner,"RaymundLullus 1ml der Sprachenkanon",
p. 193;.Ugo Monneretde
Villard,Op. Ci/., pp. 40-41.
15 Denifleand Chatelain,
Chartglanxm, I, 638-639.
6 lbid:., II, i, 83-84.
B. Altaner,"RaymundLullusund der Sprachenkanon",
pp. 190-219.

KARL H. DANNENFELDT

99

Latin translations
of literaturein their particularlanguage.The
expenseswere to be met by the papalcuria,thezking of France
(Paris), and ecclesiastical
taxation(Oxford,Bologna,and Salamanca).l8

The missionary
enthusiasm
whichwas responsible
for this conciliardecree,in itselfso full of promise,produced
verylittleby way
of practical
results.18
Whilemoneywascollectedin Englandthereis
no conclusive
proofthatevenGreekandHebrewprofessorships
were
established
at this time at Oxford.20
In Parisa convertedJewwas
appointedin 1319to teachHebrewand Syriac,21
whilePopeJohn
XXIIin 1326askedthebishopof Parisforinformation
on theteaching of the studentsof Hebrew,Greek,Arabic,andSyriacthere.22
It
is extremelydoubtfulif anyinstruction
in Arabicwasestablished
at
Salamanca
untilone chair,"catedra
de lenguas",
wascreatedin the
sixteenthcenturyfor Hebrew,Chaldean,
andArabic.23
Apparently
nothingwas done at Bolognaand Avignon,or laterat Rome,to
carryoutthedecree.
The hopesof the preachingordersfor the conversionof the
Moslemsandfor a mass-conversion
of the Mongolsto Christianity
weredoomedto failure.The Christian
positiongrewsteadilyworse.
TheKhanates
of PersiabecameMoslemin 1316andin a few decades
centralAsiadid likewise.In theneareastthe Moslemswereon the
marchunderthe leadership
of the expanding
OttomanEmpire,and
onlyin SpainwasIslamin slowdecline.Althoughmilitarycrusades
remainedan instrument
of papalforeignpolicyandalsoa partof
papalfinance,theardorof thespiritual
crusadedeclined,andwithit
thenecessity
forstudyingArabic.However,in itsnineteenth
session,
the Councilof Baselin 1434did renew,with no successas regards
Arabic,thestatuteof theCouncilof Vienne.24
In the earlyRenaissance,
ArabicmanuscriptslikeGreekmanul8Denifle and Chatelain,Chartularium,
II, i, 154-155. The Chaldaiclanguageof the
decreeundoubtedlyrefersto the contemporary
Syriacand not Chaldeanas theselanguages
were to be used for missionary
purposesand not Biblicalstudies.
9B. Altaner,"Die Durchfiihrungdes ViennerKonzilsbeschlusses
uber die Eruchalng
von LehrstVihlen
fiir orientalischeSprachen",
Zeieschrifg
far Kirchengeschichze,
LII (1933),
226-236.
9R. Weiss, "}Nngland
and the Decreeof the Councilof Vienne on the Teachingof
Greek,Arabic,Hebrew,and Syriac",Bibliotheqaed&'Humanisme
et Renaissance,
XIV (1952),
1-9.

2t B. Altaner,"X)ieDurchfiihrung",
p. 234.
22Denifleand Chatelain,Chartularium,
II, 293-294.
23 M. Bataillon,"L'Arabea Salamanqueau temps de la Renaissance",
Hesperis,XXI
(1935), 1-17.
24JohannesHaller,ConaliumBlienseJ III (Basel, 1900), 198; Sorgm conaliorum
. . . collectioed. J. D. Mansi,XXIX (Venice,1788), col. 99.

100

THE HUMANISTS KNOWLEDGE OF

ARABIC

scripts wereavailable
for studyonlyin smallnumbers.25
Philological tools like glossaries,
vocabularies,
and-dictionaries
were
almost
non-extant.
An eleventh-century
Latin-Arabic
glossary,
composed
in
Spain,wasusedbyGuillaume
Postel,JosepllJustusScaliger,
and
FranciscusRaphelengius
in thesixteenth
andcarlyseventeenth
centuries.26
Anothersocab?liszclin clrclbico,
now in the Biblioteca
Riccardiana
(No. 217) of Florence,was composedin Valencia,
Spain,in the
secondhalfof the thirteenth
centuryandcontainsabouteightthousandLatin-Arabic
wordsandan Arabic-Latin
index.27
A producto
themissionary
edortsof thethirteenth
century,it is richin wordsof
the crusading
period;arms,clothing,musicalinstruments,
oriental
herbs,plants,and gems; Christiantheological
terms
and
Biblical
namesof personsandplaces.The namesof European
cities,
except
Rome,arelacking.28
A smallArabic-German
glossaryof the early
sixteenth
centuryis stillextantin manuscript.29
ArnoldvonHarffincludeda glossaryin Palestinian
Arabicof overonehundredwords,
thenumerals
to thirty,andthealphabet
in themanuscript
accountof
hispilgrimageto the Holy Landat the close
of the fifteenthcentury.30
Gabrielvon Rattenberg
includeda vocabulary
of abouttwo
hundred
Arabicwordsin the Germanmanuscript
account
of his
pilgrimage
(1527)to theHolyLand.31
Earlyprintedglossaries
werelikewisefew.A veryinexactArabic
alphabet
appeared
in thePeregrinatio
in terrczm
sanctamof Bernhard
vonBreydenbach
in 1486.32
Torrentinus
(HermannvanderBecke)
added
an appendixquaedamcommunicz
vocabulvde idiomateSarracenico
in La;inumtranslclta
de terrasancta,consisting
of twohundred
twenty-five
wordsand numeralsin Palestinian
Arabic,
to his
often
printedElucidctrius
carminum
et historiarum
uelvocabalarias
25Early
in the MiddleAges there had been some Arabic
manuscripts
in the episcopal
library
at York and also at Cluny:LeorlMaitre,
Les Ecolesepiscopalese! monastiquede
l'occideng
depuisCharlemagne
jusqu'2Philippe-Suguste
(768-1180J
1866), pp. 242243.
26R. Dozy, Supplemenxctux Dictionnarres
Jralbes,I (Paris, 1881), viii, Glossarium
Lvhno-rabicgm,
ed. C. F. Seybold, Erganzungshefezur
ZeiZschriftfur SssyrioZogie
(Semitische
St?wdien),
Hefte 15-17 (Berlin,1900). The ms. is now
in Leyden(cod. Scaliger
27C. Schiaparelli,VocabulistaarabiEco
(Firenze,1871) attributesthis ms. to Raymund
Martln.
28 Fucck,op. ci/., pp. 106-109.
29 GeorgesColin, "Un petit
glossairehispaniqueArabo-allemand
du debut du XVIe
siecle",
SI-AnAlus,XI (1946), 275-281.
3QDie Pilgerfahrdes Witters
Afrnoldvon Harg, ed. E. Von Groote(Cologne,1860),
pp.
111-113;
Hans Stumme,"DasArabischeund das Turkischebei
RitterArnoldvon Harff",
Festschrift
ErnstWindisch(Leipzig,1914), pp. 127-137.
31R. Roehrichtand H. Meisner,DeutschePilgerreisen
nachdem HeiligenLande(Berlin,
1880),
p. 402.
32 Christian
F. de Schnurrer,
Bibliozhecfio
=4rabicfio
(Halle, 1811), p. 234.
(ParisJ

KARLH. DANNENFELDT

101

in
irl Arabic,appeared
poeticus(1498).A few words,supposedly
which
Poliphili
Hypnerotomachiadrawingsof the
the remarkable
Colonnahadprintedin Venicein 1499.33
Francesco
andearlyfifteenth
Theknowledgeof Arabicin thelatefourteenth
doctorsand phimedical
few
a
to
centurieswas mostlyconfined
of theirscience
much
of
source
in the original
losophersinterested
of
a knowledge
valued
who
andto Italianmerchants
andphilosophy,
century
fifteenth
The
Arabicfor the risingtradewith the Levant.
did see, however,the beginningof a sustainedinterestin Arabic
misamongscholars,for to the earlierand continuingwidespread
humanists.
the
of
interest
sionaryinterestwasaddedthephilological
Manyof thesebecamenot only trilingualbut even pentalingual
throughthe additionof ArabicandAramaicto theirLatin,Greek,
collectionof Arabicmanuand Hebrew.However,the systematic
tools,bothprintedandin
of philological
scriptsandtheproduction
cameonlywiththelateRenaissance.
manuscript,
whotaught
GiorgioValla(1447-1500),
Of theItalianhumanists,
at Milan,Pavia,andGenoa,wasamongthe earliestto evincean interestin Arabic.His librarycontainedpossiblyfive booksin that
humanistand scholar,GiovanniPico
The outstanding
language.34
tookup the studyof Arabicin 1486.
(1463-1494),
Mirandola
della
studies,but turnedto Aramaic
Hebrew
in
engrossed
been
had
He
in those
of manuscripts
number
a
of
acquisition
the
on
Arabic
and
it had
1498
in
for
interest,
his
reflects
also
library
His
languages.35
and
Bible
the
to
"related
were
which
of
three
Arabica
in
sevenbooks
nephew,
Pico's
characters".36
Arabic
with
Hebrew
in
mayhavebeen
Poliphili (Venice, 1499), fol. l9a, ill. 11, an
33FrancescoColonna,Hypnerotomachia
elephant'scoveringwith a Greekand Arabicinscription;fol. 68a ill. 37, Arabic,Hebrew,
Greek,and Latin abovethe three-folddoorway.Cf. also AbertIig, Ueberden kunsthistoPoliphiZi(Vienna,1872), pp. 85, 97, 103.
rischenWerthder Hypnerotomachia
34J. L: Heiberg,Beitragezur Geschiche Georg VJlla'sund seinet Bibliozhet,XVI.
(1896), p. 126.
ffirBibliothekswesen
Beiheftzum Centralblatt
Pico della Mirandola,Opera(Basel, 1572), I 367, 377-378- G. Tiraboschi
35 Giovarmi
Modenese(Modena,1781-1786), IV, 95-108. One of his teacherswas Guglielmo
Bibliotecct
a Jewishhumanistwho becamea Christianin
Raimondode Moncada(FlaviusMithridates),
orderto get a good education.In 1476 he taughtHebrewand Arabicat Palermo.Laterhe
taughtthe Semiticlanguagesand Greekat Tubingen,Louvain,Cologne,and in 1485 was
back in Rome. On this theologian,philosopher,poet, and translatorsee R. Starrabba,
"GuglielmoRaimondoMoncada,Ebreoconvertitosicilianodel secoloXV", JrchivioStorico
Siciliano,n.s., III ( 1878), 15-91; r. Carini,"G. R. de Moncada",ibid., n.s., XXII ( 1898),
Uberse=ngen, II, 986-987; BernhardWalde,
Die hebraischen
485-492; M. Steinschneider,
AbhandChristliche Hebraisten Deutschlands am sIusgang des Mittelalrers,Alttestamentliche
lungen, VI (Munster,1916), p. 153; UmbertoCassuto,"Werwar der OrientalistMithriVI (1936), 230-236; Gustav
der />den in IDevzschZand,
f>'rdie Geschichte
dates?"ZeixschrifX
und
fur Geschichre
Monatschrift
des Hebraischenin Wittenberg",
Bauch,"Die EinE;ihrung
des {dentgms, n. F., XII (1904), 78-80.
Wissenschoft
1936), p. 48.
36 PearlKibre,The Library of Pico della Mirandola (New York,

102

THE HUMANISTS KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC

the learnedGiovanniFrancesco
Pico (147W1533),
alsoknewArabic.37The growingVaticanLibraryof Xche
fifteenthcenturyalso
reflectsthe interestin Arabic,fortheinventory
of 1481showsa total
of twenty-two
codices"inArabico".38
Oneof the outstanding
earlyorientalists
of ItalywasTeseoAmbrogio(1469-1540),
who is saidto haveknowneighteen
languages
andto havespokenten.He is theauthor
of thefamousInzrodgstio

in Chaldvicamling?zam,Syriacamq?ze Afrrneniam,
ewdecemaliazs
linguas,characterumdigerentiumalphabetacirciterquadragintaet
eorgmdem invicem conformatio (Pavia,1539) which includesa
sectionde Afrabis,Punicisqueconsonantibus,
withan Arabictransla-

tionof a partof theXchird

chapterof Luke.Thisworkproveda very
valuablephilologicaltool for otherorientalists.89
AnotherItalian
humanistwho contributed
greatlyto theexpansion
of Arabicstudies
was AgostinoGiustiniani(1479-1536).This bishopof Nebbiain
Corsica,
well-versed
in Latin,Greek,Hebrew,Chaldean,
andArabic,
wasknownasa greatcollectorof Greekandorientalmanuscripts.
In
1516,PietroPorropublishedfor him in Genoatwo thousandcopies
of a polyglotPsalter,thejustlycelebrated
Psalterium
Nebiense.This
workgaveexcellentserviceto thoseinterested
in orientallanguages,
forit presented
thepsalmsin parallelcolumnsia Hebrew,Chaldean,
Greek,Arabic,andin threeLatinversions.40
Partof the Italianinterestin Arabicstemmedfromthecffortsto
effecta unionof the westernchurchwiththe Christian
churches
of
the east.Indeed,the firstbookto be printedin Arabictypewasthe
Septemhoraecanoniccte,
addressed
to the EgyptianJacobites
and
undertaken
at thedirection
of PopeLeoX. It waspublished
in 1514,
the onlyArabicworkto appearfromthe pressat Fano.41
The concourseof orientaldignitariesand envoysin Romealsostimulated
interestin the Arahiclanguage.Especially
influential
in Romewas
thelArabtravelerand geographer,
Leo Africanus(al-HassanibnMuhammad
al Wazzan),who wascaptured
in 1517bypirates,sent
37 LeandroAlberti,Descrittione
di tutraltdia (Venice,1577), fol. 361a.
38GiorgioLevi della Vida, Ricerche sulla formazionedel piu anticofondo dei manoscritti orientali della Biblioteca VaticanaEStudi e tesii XCII (Citta del Vaticano, 1939), pp.
31-33.
39Angelo de Gubernatis,Materiauxpourservira I'histoiredZes
esdes
en 7talze
(Paris,1876), pp. 38-39 G. Mazzuchelli, Gli scrittorid'ltalia (Brescia,orienFales
1753-1763), I i
608-611.
'
40Gubernatis,op. cit., p. 33; JacquesLe Long, Dzscours hisZoriquesur les pencipales
editionsdes Bibles Polygtoaes (Paris, 1713), pp. 32-37.
41 The complete title reads Septem horae canonicae, a laicis hominibus reciFangae, juxt
ritgmAlexandrinorum seu ZacobitarumAlexandrino Parriarchaesubditorum Jrabicae, editae
a Gregorio Georgio Veneto, sub auspiciisLeonis X Pontificis Mcttimiin urbe Fctno;Schnurrer,
op. cit., p. 231, No. 235.

KARL H. DANNENFELDY

103

to Rome,andtheretemporarily
converted
to Christianity.
Hisworks,
especially
his De totiusXfricaedescriptioneandhis De ?virisquibusdem illustribusapudSAfrabes,greatlyincreased
Europe's
knowledge
of the Moslemsand North Africa.42
Leo also wrotearl ArabicSpanishvocabulary
for the instruction
of his pupilJacobWIantino,
the celebrated
Hebrewphysician43
He alsotaughtArabicin Rome,
the humanistcardinalGillesof Viterbo(Aegidius)beingoneof his
pupils.44

NumerousotherItalianhumanistsacquiredsomeknowledgeof
Arabic.Johannes
AnniusViterbiensis
(ca. 1432-1502),
the editorof
the collectionof forgeriesknown as the ARntiquitatum
1variarum
vol?zminaXVII, knew Arabic,45
as did AlexiusPedemontanus
(d.
1550).46
Hieronymous
Aleander(148s1542),theItalianscholarwho
opposedLutherat ie Diet of Worms,diligentlyappliedhimselfto
the studyof Arabic,Chaldean?
and Hebrewbeforehe wastwentyfouryearsold.47Otherswho knewArabicwereSanctesPagninusof
Lucca(1470-1541),
theDominican
Hebrewscholarandgrammarian
whotaughtatRomeandLyons;48
Bernardino
Baldi(1553-1617),
the
mathematician;49
and the SicilianhumanistAntonioFlamminio
(Biaxander,
fl. late 15thand early16thcenturies),whoseArabic
manuscripts
werelateraddedto thoseof theVaticanLibrary.60
Gian
Francesco
Burana,
theVeronesephilosopher
anddoctorof medicine
who editedthe worksof Aristotle(Venice,1552),is saidto have
knownLatin,Greek,Hebrew,and Arabic.5l
AngelusCaniniusof
Anghiari(d. 1557)was famousfor his profoundknowledgeof
Greek,Latin,Hebrew,Syriac,andotherorientallanguages.
Caninius
taughtat Venice,PaduaBologna,Rome,in Spain,andat Paris,at
whichlatterplaceAndreasDudith,the Hungarianhumanist,was
oneof hispupils.HisworkentitledInstiationeslingvram Syriacae,
42 X Hisroryand Descnption
of Africa,tr. JohnPory (1600), HakluytSociety(London
1896), 3 sols. The De vitis (1527) may be foundin J. A. Fabriciusf
BibliothecaGroteca,
XIII
(Hamburg,1726), 259-294.
43HartwigDerenbourg,"LeonAfricainet JacobMantino",Revuedes tsdes Jui?wes,
VII
(1883)>283-285.
44 J. Widmanstetter,
Libersacrosancti
Euncngelii
(Vienna I555), foI. 125. Widmanstetter
consideredAegidiusalmostthe only Christiantrulyversedin Arabicletters.
45Paul Colamies,7tv1ive! Hispanifio
orientalissive lomm ee Hispanoramqsi linguam
Awebraeam
vel aliasorientalesexcudersnavitae(Hamburg,1730), pp. 9-10.
46 7bid.,p. 72; Mazzuchelli,
op. czz.,I, 464-465.
47 C.
the dedicationby AldusManutiusto his 1504 editionof Homer'slliad; J. Paquier
L'h?zmanisme
e! 1vrrforme:leromeAZeandre
(Paris,1900),pp. 20-21.
48 Colomies, ot. az^.,pp. 52-56.
49 Encictopdiaitatiana,v(1930))943;G.Tiraboschi, Storiadellanletrer{uraltalianar,
VII,
iii (Firenze,1812),1063.
50 G. Levi dellaVida,Op. Cit., pp. 111, 159ff.
51Mazzuchelli,Op. ciR., n, iv, 2424;Gubernatis,
Op. ciR., p. 45; lomies, op. ck., p. 57.

104

THE HUMANISTS KNOWLEDGE OF AMBIC

Afssyriacae
et Thalmudficae,
una c?wmAethzopicaeet Afrabicaecollatione (Paris,1554)presenteda methodfor the apprehension
of

orientallanguages
whichwasmuchesteemed
byscholars.52
An Italianchurchman
famousforhis knowledgeof orientallanguagesandof GreekwasLeonardAbelof Malta(1541-1605).
Papal
interpreter
of Arabicin Rome,bishopof Sidon,andnuncioto the
orientforfouryears(1583-87),Abelcollectedmanyorientalmanuscriptsincludingone hundredfifty in Arabic.He madethe first
Arabictranslation
of the UnionDecreeof the Councilof Florence
andwasactivein gettingorientalsupportforthecalendar
reformof
PopeGregoryXIII.He left unpublished
an Arabicgrammaranda
workentitledDe Christianorgmorientalixm5tt#.6'3 OtherItalian
scholarswho knewArabicwereGiuseppeTramezzino
of Venice,64
VirgilioZavarisi,a poet and jurisconsult
of Verona,66
and Julius
CaesarScaliger,
thefatherof JosephJustusScaliger.56
In Spainnumerous
humanistsaddedArabicto theirknowledge
of the classicallanguagesand Hebrew.This was,of course,partly
becauseof the presenceof theMoslemswithinthe stateandalsoof
the continuation
of the earliermissionary
tradition.However,these
factorswerebeingnullifiedsincetheideaof a pacificcrusade
became
lessimportant
to the Spaniard
as the Moslemscameunderthe control of the stateand the Inquisition.
Although,in France,Lefevre
d'Etaples,
Charlesde Bouelles,andothersrevivedLullismwith its
Christian
antagonism
to Islamearlyin the sixteenthcentury,to the
Spaniards
the problemhadbecomeby thattimeone for the police
andclexicalinquisitors,
an internalpoliticalmatter,notoneof great
religioussignificance.
This samepoliticalantagonismtowardthe
Moslemsin Spaingreatlyaffectedthe studyof Arabicin Spain,for
besidesthe suspicionleveledby the CatholicChurchagainstanyone
interested
in ArabicandIslam,the vastdestruction
of Arabicbooks
and manuscripts
meanta seriousloss of Arabicliteratureand of
philological
toolsforthestudyof Arabic.Because
of prohibitions
and
pressures,
the Moslemsthemselves
werefastlosingtheirknowledge
of Arabic.In 1462,Isade Gebir,theMoslemmuftiof Segovia,
recog521bid.,pp. 80-83; PierreBayle,Dictionnaire
hisZoriqae
et critiqzze,
II (1740), 37-38; G.
Tiraboschiop. cit., p. 1062.
53Levi della Vida, Op.@., pp. 200-204; J. Schmids"ZurGeschichteder Gregorischen
Kalenderreform",
HistonschesJahrh?ch,III (1882), 588-593; Colomies,op. C1t., pp. 123124;Mazzuchelli,Op. Cit., I, 22-23.
54 Guirnatis, op. cit., p. 189.
55lbid.,p.187.
56Colomies,op. cit. pp. 85-94; Scaligaanaou Bon>Mors,ed. by T. le Fevre and P.
Colomies(Cologne,1695),pp. 239, 242.

105

KARL H. DANNENFELDT

nized this ignoranceof Arabicamongthe Moslemsby issuing,in

Spanish,a summation
of Islamicdoctrines.57
Nor wasArabicbeing
taughtin the schoolsanduniversities
asformerly.
At Salamanca,
the
problemis complicatedby the loss of universityrecords,58
but
MarineoSiculo,the Sicilianhumanistwho spentmostof his life in
Spain,wrotein 1497that at Salamanca
Greekand Hebrewwere
taught,but Chaldeanand Arabicand the other"barbarous
languages"wereneglectedas unnecessary.59
In 1543therewerethree
studentsof Arabicat Salamanca.60
At the Universityof Alcala,
foundedby the munificentCardinalCisneros(Ximenes)in 1508,
therewerechairsof Greek,Hebrew,Arabic,andChaldean,
butthe
lattertwo chairswereto be filledonly whenthereweresufficient
personswho,throughzeal of faithandloveof God,wishedto disseminate
God'swordin thoselanguages.61
Amongtheearliestof theSpanishhumanists
to knowArabicwas
Fernandode Cordoba(ca. 1425-ca.1486). His eruditionwasextraordinaryandhe spokeandwroteLatin,Greek,Hebrew,Chaldean,
and Arabic.62
The greatLatin scholar,Elio Antoniode Nebrija
(Lebrija,1444-1522),who aftera long periodof studyin Italyreturnedto Spainto spreadthe humanisticlearning,also knew
Aral}ic.63
Afterthe militaryconquestof Granada
in 1492,thepeacefulconsrersion
of the Moslemswas againattemptedfor a decade.The
venerable
andhumanistic
Hernando
deTalavera,
thefirstarchbishop
of Granada,
realizedthatan ignorance
of the vernacular
of thepeo
ple of his new archdiocese
wasa barrierto rapidconversion
of the
Moslems,orderedthatArabicgrammars
anddictionaries
shouldbe
written"in orderthatall the priestsand sacristans
who live in the
mentioned[towns]recentlyconverted,
wouldbe ableto learnthe
57"Suma de los principalesmandamientosy devedamientosde la Ley y Cunna,"
MemoriaZ
historicoespanot;CoZleccion
de docrxmentos,
oprztscrzllos
y ozratigrwedades,
v (Madrid,
1853), pp, 247-421.
58 M. Bataillon,"L'arabea Salamanque
au temps de la Renaissance"Hesteris XXI
(1935), 1-17.
n
59 In his De Hispaniae
/udibus (1497), quotedby Bataillon,op. cit., p. 3.
60 Paul Groussac,
"Le Commentateur
du Laberinto",
RevueHispanique,XI (1904), 222.
61 Antoniode la Torre,"La Universidad
de Alcala",Revistade Jrchivos,Biblionecas
y
Maseos,XXI (1909), 51. This sameCardinalXimenesin 1499orderedthe publicburningof
five thousandArabicbooksin the Plazade la Babal Ramblaat Granada; Alvaro Gomez de
Castro, lRerebusgeszisa Francisco
ZimenioCisnetio(Compluti, 1569), fol. 30b.
62 Bonilla y San Martin, Fernando
de Cordoba
y los onginesdel Renacimiento
flosoficoen
Espana(Madrid, 1911), pp. 49-50, 54.
63PaoloGiovio,Elogiadoceorsm
virorum(Basel,1571)>p. 148 No. LXIIII; Colomies,

op.az.,pp.223-228.

'

106

THE HUMANISTS KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC

Arabiclanguage".64
Talavera
himselflearnedtherudiments
of Arabic
in his old age,sayingthathe wouldhappilygivehis eye to know
the languageso he couldteachit to others.65
His effortsto spreada
knowledgeof Arabicresultedintheworkof theHieronymian
monk,
Pedrode Alcala,who publisheda Spanish-Arabic
dictionary,
the
Vocabxlis aravigoen lezracgzstellangz,66
in Granadain 1505.Here
the twenty-two
thousandwordsaregroupedunderthe lettersof the
alphabet
in thethreedivisionsof verbs,names,andadverbs
andsubarranged
alphabetically
undereachIgroup.
As thetitlepointsout,the
Arabicwas printed,not in the characters
properto thatlanguage,
but in Castiliancharacters.67
Pedrode AlcalaalsowroteJrte para
ligeramente
saberla lenggaaragiga,
whichwaspublished
in Granada
in 1505,witha second,revisededitionthatsameyear.t8
Bothof these
worksarebasedon solidphilological
methodsandareevidences
of
humanistlearningin Spain.
Earlyin the sixteenthcenturytheattempts
atpeacefulconversion
garreway to forcedconversionor exile, and the interestof the
Spaniards
in Arabicalsodeclined.Somehumanists,
however,learned
thelanguageof Islamforphilological
reasons.
Amongthemwasthe
opponentof Erasmus,Don Diego Lopezde Stuniga(d. 1530).69
JuanLuisVives (1492-1540),the friendof Erasmusand tutorof
Princess
Maryof England,cameoutstronglyforie studyof Arabic,
butherethe interestis againpromptedby the desireto convertthe
Moslems.
Faith[he says]is throughwhatis heard,forwhichlanguageis the instrument.
Thereforeearnestlywould I wish that in most of our statesschoolsof languagesshouldbe establishednot only for thosespecialthree [Greek,Latin,
Hebrew]but also of Arabic,and of thoselanguageswhichmay be the vernacularof the Agarenes[Moslems,Hagarenes],whichmen of no easy-going
kindshouldteach,not for the glorythenceto be snatched,andfor applause,
butmen most ardentin the zeal of piety,preparedto spendtheirlives for
64In the manuscript"Brevesumade la santavida del reverendissimo
y
donfrayFernandode Talavera,"as quotedin Don JoseAmadorde los Rios,bienaventurado
Historia critica
deta literwuraespanolv(Madrid,1861-1865),VII, 358.
65 lEd.
46RobertRicard,Sudes et docgmentspogr l'histoiremissionnsrede IZEspagne
e du
Poftugal(Louvain,1930), pp. 220-228;Fueck,op. cit., 113-118.
67A facsimilecopy has been printedby the HispanicSocietyof America,New York,
1928.
68 Shnurrer,op. a., pp. 16-18; Msoprinted,m
facsimile,by the HispanicSociety of
America,
New York, 1928, and by Paul A. de Lagarde,Petri Hispmnide lingua arabic
(G{;ttingen,
1883).
69Colomies,op. cit., pp. 222-223.

KARL H. DANNENFELDT

107

Christ,that throughtheir instruction,Christshouldbe proclaimedto those

nations,whohavelearnedverylittleor almostnothingof Him.79

Vivesalsofelt that if the Christians

and Moslem-s
had a common
language,
conversions
of theinfidelwouldfollow.7l
The SpanishhumanistDiegoHurtadode Mendoza(1503-75),a
son of one of the noblestfamiliesin Spain,learnedhis Arabicin
Granadabeforegoingto the University
of Salamanca.
He collected
manyGreekand Arabicmanuscripts
whichhe latergave to the
Escorial
Library.72
By 1583thatlibrarycontained
twohundredsixtyone Arabicmanuscripts.73
The humanistHernanNunezde Toledo
(Nonnius Pincianus,1475-1553),known as "El Comendador
Griego",learnedArabicat Granada
as a Semiticlanguagerelatedto
the Hebrewwhichhe alreadyknew.74
AriasMontano(Benedictus
AriasMontanus,
1527-98),theeditorof theAntwerpPolyglotBible,
alsoknewArabicandoftenfollowedhis signature
with Talmid,
an
Arabicword meaning"disciple".75
He, too, bequeathedto the
EscorialLibrarya collectionof manuscripts
in Hebrew,Greek,and
Arabic.76
Eventhe womanhumanistLuisiaSigaeaToletanalearned
Arabicfrom her father.77
FranciscoSanchezde las Brozas(15231601),professor
of Greekat Salamanca
andone of the greatestof
Spanishhumanists,
hadalsosomeknowledgeof Arabic.T8
Northof the Alps and the Pyrenees,wheretherewas not the
closecontactwith Moslemcivilizationthatone foundin Italyand
Spain,therewaslessearlyinterestin Arabicamongthe humanists.
Vives, lVetradendisdRiscipZinis,
III, i, in Operaomnia(Valentia,1785), IV, 300.
tl lbid., pp. 299-300: "Wouldthat the Agarenesand we had some languagein common; I believethatwithina shorttimemanyof themwouldcastin theirlot with us."The
Englishtranslationsare those of FosterWatson,Vives: On Education(Cambridge,1913),
pp. 92-93. While writingof languageteachingVives gives an exampleof voiceproduction
"fromthe hiddendepthof the throat"as in Arabic.Opera,VI, 313.
72 Colomies,op. cit., pp. 229-230; N. Antonio, Bibliotheca Hispana Nova (Madrid,
1783), I 290-292,
3 MichaelCasiri,BiDZiotheca
Jrabico-Hispana
Escanalensis(Madrid,1760), I, PrBefaFio,
quotingJ. H. Hottinger,Bibliotheca
OrientaIis
(1583).
74 Colomies,op. ci., pp. 232-235; N. Antonio,Op. Cit., I, 382-384; P. Groussac,
op. cit.,
p. 173.
5Jose AndresVasquez,Xrtas Montano (Madrid,1943), pp. 119, 59. For an example
see Felix Neve, "Memoirehistoriqueet litterairesur le Collegedes Trois-Langues
a l'Universitede Louvain",Memoires Couronnese Memoires des SavantstZrangers,xxvIII (Bruxelles, 1856), 405.
6 Ch. Graux,Essaisut les originesdu fonds Grecde l'Escurial,
Bibliotheque
de l'l#;coIt
des Hauteslttudes,XLVI (Paris,1880), p. 307.
77 Colomies,
op. ct., pp. 236-237; N. Antonio,op. ci., t1t, 71-72, A. Bonillay San
Martin,"Clarorumhispaniensium
epistolaeineditae"Rev?weHispanique} VIII (1901),
296299.
8 DocumentosineditosparaZahistoriadRc
Espana,II (Madrid,1843), 128.

108

THE HUMANISTS KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC

However,anotherfactorenteredthe northernRenaissance
to direct
scholarsto the studyof Arabic.Thiswastherapiddevelopment
of a
methodicalandintensivestudyof Hebrewgrammarandliterature
by non-Jewish
scholarsas an importantaid to an adequateunderstandingof the Hebrewof the Old Testamentandof manyother
documentsrelatingto Christianity.
In turn manyof the obscure
Hebrewwordsandphrases
usedin theCabalaandvariousrabbinical
authorities
couldbestbe understood
onlyby comparison
withother
Semiticlanguages,
especially
ArabicandAramaic.
Sebastian
Munster,
the Hebrewscholar,complainedthat, becauseof the "extranea
vocabula",
in orderto readtherabbinical
commentaries
intelligently,
one mustunderstand
manylanguages,
"Talmudicam,
Chaldaicam,
Ismaeliticam,
Arabicam,
Graecam,
Germanicam,
Italicam,Hispanicamet Gallicam".79
Hebrew,Aramaic,andArabicwerethusoften
addedto the humanistic
toolsof GreekandLatinalreadypossessed
by Biblicalscholars.80
In Germany,
JohannWessel(1419-89)is knownas an earlystudentof Hebrew,but thathe alsolearnedArabicand Chaldaic,as
sometimesstated,is not evidentin his writingsand mustbe considereddoubtful.8lIn 1501(?) ConradCeltis,an earlyGerman
humanist,sent,as a curiosityno douSt,an Arabicmanuscript
containingseveralSurasof the KoranandsomeTurkishprayersto his
friend,WillibaldPirckheimer.82
A Germanhumanistespecially
knownfor his studyof Arabicwas JohannAlbrechtWidmanstetter (Oesiander,
Widmestadius,
Lucretius,1506-57).Widmanstetter
learnedGreek,Hebrew,Arabic,andSyriacwhilein Italy,wherehe
hadgonein 1527.His Arabiche acquired
fromErasmus'
opponent
DonDiegoLopezde Stuniga,theSpanishhumanist,
andfromsome
Africanslivingin Rome.83
In thesummerof 1531he fora whileeven
thoughtof goingto Africato hearLeoAfricanus,
whohadbecome
apostate
andhadreturnedto Islamandhis own courltry.
Whilein
Romehe alsoheardlectmres
on theKoranby Benjamin
Arignarlus.84
79 Quotedin JosephPerles,Beitr2gezur Geschicheder Hebraischen
und Jramaischen
Studien(Munich,1884), p. 29.
8 Certainscholarspublishedworksespeciallydesignedto explainthe difficultrabbinical
words.The bestknownof theseis the Thishites(Isnain Algavia,1541) of EliasLevita,"in
quo 712 vocum quae sunt pariim Hebraicae,Chaldaicae,Arabicae,Graicaeet Latinae,
quaeque
in Dictionariisnon facileinveniuntur
ususdocteostenditur".
81 C. Ullman,Reformers
beforezheReformation,
trans.by R. Menzies(Edinburgh,1855),
II,287.
82Emil Reicke,Witlibald Pirstheimers BrietwechseZ,
I (Munich,1940), 144-149 How
littlewas known of the Arabiclanguageis shown by the fact that Benedictus
Chelidonius,
another
humanist,refersto dlis Arabicmanuscript
as beingwrittenin "assyriis"(Chaldean).
83 r. A. Widmanstetter,
LiberSacrosanciEvangelii(Vienna,1555), fols. 6, 12.
84 lbid., fol. 12i Altgemeine
detsche Biographie,
XLII, 357.

KARL H, DANNENFELDT

109

He alsosoughtto win PopeClementVII to his

planto introduce
Arabicand Syriacstudiesinto Christianschools.
Althoughthis
schemewon the supportof the archbishop
of Capua,Nikolausvon
Schonberg,
the deathof Clementin September
1534meantfailure.
In 1544,after Widmarlstetter
had returnedto Germany,Petrus
Ghalinus,a deaconof Damascus,
was sentfromRometo aid the
scholarin his Arabicstudies.AlthoughGhalinus
wassoonseparated
fromWidmanstetter
by intrigue,he left with his pupilan
Arabic
manuscript
of theVaticancollection.85
Duringhis lifetimeWidmanstettercollecteda remarkable
libraryof
manuscripts
and
books.Whenacquiredby DukeAlbertVoriental
for the MunichLibrary
theynumbered
morethanthreehundredHebrew,Syriac,andArabic
manuscripts
and five hundredprintedbooks.86
Widmanstetter
left
unprinted
his own Latintranslation
of the Koranand an Arabic
grammar.87

AnotherGermanhumanist,AndreasMasius(1515-73),
learned
hisGreekandHebrewat Louvainandsome
timelaterat someunknownuniversity
became"doctorjuris
He spentmuch
timein Romewithhishumanistfriendsutriusque".
andthere,perhapsbetween
theyears154s46,beganhis Arabicstudiesunder
theFrenchArabist,andMoisede Mardin.88 GuillaumePostel,
ConradGesner(15161565),the Swisswriterand naturalist,
studiedArabicand in 1555
included
the Lord'sPrayerin Arabicamongthe
twenty-twolanguagesin his Mithridates.89
In 1567,MichaelNeander(1525-95)
published
the first bibliography
of booksdealingwith Arabic.90
Several
otherGermanscholars,
not properlyhumanists,
much
to the placingof Arabicon solidphilological contributed
grounds.91
At
Heidelberg,
Immanuel
Tremellius(1510-80),a converted
Jew,
knew
Arabic
andtaughtit to his student,Franciscus
Junius(du Jon,15451602).
The lattertranslated
intoLatinthe booksof theNew TestaJosephAumer,
85
Die arabisch
en Handsch
rifzender K. Hof- und Staars-Sblioth
et in
Muenchen,
cod. 649, vol. I, i 0{ Cataloguscodicum
manuscriptorum
BibliothecaeRegiae
Monacensis
(Munich,1866).
86 GerhohSteigenberger,
Historisch-Literarischer
Versuchron Entstehungund Jufrahme
der
turfurstlichenBibliothetin Muenchen(Munich,
1784), p. 23; Max Muller,Johann
SIbrecht
ron Widmanszeffe7t,
1506-1557.Sein LebenlxndW>rten(Bamberg,
1907), p. 80.
87,OB, XLII, 360.
88 MaxLossen,Bnefe von
Andreas
Mastgsgnd seinenFreanden;1538 bis 1575 (Leipzig
1886),
pp. 23, 56f, 161-164, 185, 195f, 201f, 351-353,
408, 421, 436f, 453-455, 471; J. G.
de
Chaufepie,Nouvevtudictionnaire
historiqueet critique(Amsterdam,1750-1756),
227,
III, 219,
230, 232; Biographienationalede
Belgique,XIII (1894), 120-125.
89 ConradGesner,Mithrid4es,
szve de diferenxiisling?zaram,
t?amtJefer?am,
s?amq<aae
hodie
apacddiversasnationesin toto orbetetrargmin gsg
sgnt, observationes
(Zurich,1555;
2nd
ed., 1610).
90In his Sance linguaeHebraeae
91J. Fueck,op. nt., pp. 128-131. erotemata(Basel,1567), pp. 387-540.

110

THE HUMANISTS KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC

mentfroman Arabicmanuscript.
Moreoutstanding
as an Arabic
scholarwashisownstudent,JacobChristmann
(155G1613),
whoin
1582publishedhis Alphabetum
Arabicumcum isagogescribendi
legendique
Afrabice,
theArabiclettersbeingprintedfromwoodcuts.92
Christmann
stronglyfelt theneedof goodArabicgrammars,
andin
thededication
of anotherwork,he askedtheCDount
PalatineJohann
Kasimirto establisha chairof Arabicso thatphilosophy
andmedicinemightbe learnedfromthe originalArabicsources.He felt that
the Arabicmanuscripts
in the PalatineLibraryweresufficient
for
the compositionof a good grammarand dictionaryto establish
Arabicstudies.In 1609,fouryearsbeforehis death,Christmann
did
introduce
thestudyof ArabicintotheUniversity
of Heidelberg.93
Meanwhile
in Francea similarsituation
prevailed.
Amongthefew
humanists
herewhotookaninterestin ArabicwasFranSois
Rabelais
(1494?-1553),the humoristand satirist.He studiedGreek,Latin,
Hebrew,andapparently
someArabic.In theBriefreDeclaration,
in
writingof the Catadupes
of the Nile, Rabelaissays,"L'evresque
de
Caramith,
celuyqui en Romefut mon precepteur
en languearabicque".94
Exceptfor thisbriefnoticethereis nothingin his works
to indicatea knowledgeof Arabic.The medical,astronomical,
and
mathematical
termsof ArabicoriginwhichRabelaisusesare not
fromthe originalsbut fromLatinversions.95
In the libraryof the
Abbeyof Thelemethereareno Arabicbooks,yetGargantua's
letter
to Pantagruel
containsthe followingadvice:"I insistyoulearnlanguagesperfectly!Greekfirst. . . ; thenLatin;thenHebrewforthe
sakeof the Holy Scriptures;
thenChaldeeandArabic,too".96
Also,
on theIslandof theMacreons
Pantagruel
andhis companions
found
"severalold ruinedtemples,obelisks,pyramids,monuments,and
ancienttombs,withvariousinscriptions
andepitaphs,
somein hieroglyphics,othersin Ionic,in Arabic,in Hagareneor Moorish,in
Slavonic,and in still othertongues".In truehumanisticfashion,
"Epistemon
carefully
copiedthem".97
Againit is necessary
to introduceherea greatlinguistwho, althoughnot properlya humanist,did muchfor the advancement
of
92Schaurrer,
op. cz., pp. 19-20.
93Fueck,Op. C>!., p. 130.
94

Les oeurres de MaistreFranfois Rabelais, ed. by Ch. Marty-Laveaux,

III (Paris,1873),

202.

L. Sainean,La Ictnguede Rabelais (Paris,1922-1923),II, Chap.III.

96 Garganouaand Pant8grueZ,II, Viii (LeClerq's
translation).
97 Ibzd., IV, XXV. Note ffiatRabelaiscarefullydistinguishes
betweenArabicand Moorish;
cf. Rerue des >des Rabelaisiennes,
VII (1909),
333-335; Revge dg SezzzemeSzecle,I (1914),
95

489-490.

KARLH. DANNENFELDT

lll

Arabicstudies.This was GuillaumePostel(1510-81),who learned

In 1536the humanisGreekandHebrewwhilestudyingin Paris.98
ticallyinclinedKing FrancisI sentPostelto the Orientto collect
WhiletherePostellearnedTurkishandArabic
orientalmanuscripts.
theprinterDaniel
to Italyin 1537,triedto persuade
and,on returning
Bombergof Veniceto foundan orientalpresswithArabictype.He
alsolearnedfromAmbrogioto usethe termPunicforMaghribene
professor
to Paris,Postelbecarne
(NorthAfrican)Arabic.Returning
de
College
founded
newly
the
at
Arabic
and
Hebrew,
Greek,
of
charXll
L;ngumrum
outstanding
his
published
there
Franceand
alphabet?m(1538),whichcontaineddiscusaczerumdifMerentigm
sionsof the alphabetand languageof Hebrew,Chaldean,Syrian,
velPunica),Ethiopian(Indica),Greek,
Arabic(Afrabica
Samaritan,
aut IllyGeorgian,Serbian(Tzervian), Albanian(Hieronymiana
Arabic,
to
devoted
section
the
in
andLatin.Here,
ric), Armenian,
and
world
the
throughout
Postelwritesfirstof the spreadof Islam
Ibn
sciences.
the
in
especially
praisesthe richesof Arabicliterature,
two
or
one
on
more
Sina (Avicenna,98s1037), he writes,"says
AftercommentpagesthandoesGalenin fiveorsixlargevolumes".
he turnsto the
Arabic,
betweenHebrewand
ing on therelationship
enableone
would
which
valueof learningArabic,a worldlanguage,
Tartars,
Turks,
Persians,
Syrians,
withMoors,Egyptians,
to converse
to
reverts
Postelthen
andIndians,andto reada veryrichliterature.
eneall
pierce
the old medievaltheme:"Hewho knowsArabiccan
and
mies of the Christianfaithwith the swordof the Scriptures
refutethemwiththeirown dogma,andthroughthe knowledgeof
withthe wholeglobe".
one languagealone,cancommunicate
Jrabica,another
Postel'sGrctzmartica
Irl1538or 1539appeared
Bombergnow financeda
greatstep forwardin Arabicstudies.99
and(Donstantinople,
secondtriptotheOrient.AftervisitingPalestine
he hadcolmanuscripts
oriental
the
gave
Venice,
to
returned
Postel
to Vienna,
went
he
Later
Paris.
to
on
went
and
Bomberg,
to
lected
taught
and
Testament,
New
Syrian
his
with
Widmanstetter
helped
wandermore
After
Academy.
Vienna
new
the
in
period
fora shert
andothervicissitudes,
authorities,
withecclesiastical
ings,difficulties
Hisorientalmanu1581.
in
death
his
until
nearParis
Postelremained
ElectorPalatine,
the
Heinrich,
Otto
of
scriptscameintothepossession
sar Z uie er {es ogaragesde
98FrancisJ. T. Desbillons,Nouveagx eclaircissements
(Cambridge1920)
GuillaamePoseel(Liege, 1773), GeoffreyBuder,Studiesin Statecrmft
'
pp. 3844 117-131.
op. n., pp. 18-19.
99Schnurrer,

112

THE HUMANISTS KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC

and wereplacedin the PalatineLibraryat Heidelbergwherethey

wereusedbymanylaterArabicscholars.100
Oneof theforemostscholarsof FranceandtheNetherlands
was
JosephJustusScaliger(154W1609).
His vast and variedlearning
extendedalso to Islam,Moslemchronology,
andArabic,although
theextentof hisknowledgeof Arabichasbeendebated.ll
However,
his chronological
studiesandhis editionof Manilius'
Astronomicon
giveevidenceof his orientalstudies.102
ScaligeralsocollectedArabic
manuscripts,
whichhe laterbequeathed
to theLeydenLibrary.l03
He
himselfstates:"Oh,thatI had possessed
the Arabiclanguageas I
knowtheSyriarl
or Chaldearl'',
and"WhereI understand
theleastof
any language,as of Germanor of Arabic,immediately
I knowthe
grammatical
rulesand analogyof it".l04LaterThomasErpenius,
professor
of orientallanguages
atLeyden,honoredScaligeras"Arabizantiumprincipem''.105
A friendof Scaliger's
and anotherlateFrenchhumanist,Isaac
Casaubon(1559-1614),studiedHebrew,Aramaic,andArabicwith
greatdiligence.I6
OtherFrenchmen
who contributed
to the spread
of Arabicin thesixteenth
centurywereArnoldus
Insulanus,
Johannes
Martinus,
andStephanus
LIubertus.
ArnoldusInsulanus
(Arnoultde
l'Insele)was professorof medicine,especiallyArabicmedicine,at
the Universityof Parisand laterwas the firstto hold (1587-1613)
the chairof Arabicat the Collegede France.I07
Johannes
Martinus,
likewisea professor
of medicine,wasknownfor his scientificlearning and his knowledgeof Latin,Greek,Hebrew,and Arabic.l08
100Chaufepile,
Noureau diaionnaire, III,221-222, Levi della Vida, op. ci., pp. 327 ff.,
with a shortinventoryof ten of theseArabicmss.,pp. 293-294.DuringtheThirtyYears'War
the famous PalatineLibrarywas presentedto Pope GregoryXV and transferredto the
Vatican.
101L. Sainean,op. ci., II, 497-502.
802In his monumentalOpusde emendficzione
tremporum
(Geneva,1629), see especially
pp. 707-717, Computxs arabicxs ecclesiae antiochenae; pp. 762-769, Notae in compurxm
Hegirae Mghammedis; and lndex orientalium vocum. In his editionof Manilius'Sstronomicon (Leyden, 1600), see pp. 473-487, de quarumdam stellarum abivis appellationibus,
pp. 505-506, Duodecim signorum. CL.also the funeralorationof Daniel Heinsiusin 7Xhe
A?,ltobiographyof loseph Scaliger, ed. Geo. W. Robinson(Cambridge,
Mass.,1927), p. 76.
103Carcllog?,ls
Bibliothecae P?,lblicgeUniversitatis Lugd?,lno-Bataacle
(Leyden,1716), pp.
409-491, Nces.212-268; Catalogus codicum arabicorumBibliothecae Academiae LugdunoBaravae, 2nd ed., ed. M. J. de Goeje and M. Th. Houtsma(Leyden,1888-1907), Nos.
2 12-268.
04 Scaligerana,pp. 240-241.
105In Erpenius'Praefano to his and Scaliger'sProverbiorumarabicorumcenouriaeduae
(Leyden,1614).
lsaacn Casa?,lboniepastolae (Rotterdam,1709), pp. 31, 126-127, 132, 194.
107P. Colomies,GattiaorienStis (LaHaye,1665),p. 67.
Ibid.,PP.93-94e

H. DANNENFELDT
KARL

113

Hubertus,professorof Arabicat the Collegede France

Stephanus
1600to 1614,learnedhisArabicin theOrient.109 wereto
from
centurythatie Netherlands
It was in the seventeenth
butin the
for Arabicstudies,l10
center
the mostimportant
become
hucenturythat land alreadyproducedan outstanding
sixteenth
Clenardus
manistnotedfor his Arabicstudies.This was Nicolas
CleLouvain,
of
University
the
at
While
1495-1542).1ll
(Cleynarts,
he
turnedfromtheologyto the studyof languages.Greek
nardus
Adrianus
Matthaeus
from
from RutgerRescius,Hebrew
learned
he taught
Theselanguages
andfromJanvanCampen(Campensis).
thebooks
in
was
It
Chaldean.
andalsotookup thestudyof
privately
that
Ezra,
Aben
of
iose
especially
of the Jewishcommentators,
became
He
language.l12
to the Arabic
foundreferences
Clenardus
forthestudyof therelatedSemitic
Arabic
of
value
the
of
convinced
of Arabicat theUniHebrew.Hopingto finda professor
language,
of
of Paris,he wenttherein thesummer 1530.He wasgreatly
versity
to I>}uvain
notto findArabicbeingtaughtandreturned
disappointed
Daniel
Europe.
in
thathe couldneverlearnthatlanguage
convinced
again
Louvain,
theVenetianHebrewprinter,on a visitto
Bomberg,
Venice
in
were
Clenardusby tellinghim that there
encouraged
whoknewArabic.Bombergalsopromised
certainJewishphysicians
Greatwas Cleto send Clenardussomepageswrittenin Arabic.
butof
joy,for,he writes,"AtthattimeI thoughtof nothing
nardus'
Bomberg
withtheArabiclettersandwords''.ll3
acquainted
becoming
brought
rleverkept his promise,but a scholarat the university
thepsalms
hima copyof ie PsalFerium Nebiense,whichcontained
set
in Arabic.Althoughhe knewnot a letterof Arabic,Clenardus
and
aboutteachinghimself,usinghisknowledgeof Hehrew,Greek,
psalm,
variouspropernamesin theeighty-third
Latin.He compared
Casaubon:
Isaac
was
taught
Hubertus
Ibid., pp. 146-148. Among those whom
109
Epistolae, pp. 31, 132, 194.

he! Arabisch in

Beoefenavr! 2Jan
1t0WilhelminaM. C. Juynboll,Zwentiende-eeuwsche
1931).
(Utrecht,
Nederland
et travauxde Nicolas Cleynaerts",in
111M. Thouissen,"La croisadepacifique-Vie
et des beaux-artsdVeBelgique, 2d ser.,
leares
des
sciences,
des
royale
l'academie
Bulletins de
surla vie et les travauxde Nicolas
"ttude
Roersch,
A.
and
Chauvin
V.
XIII (1862), 539-576;
l'academie roy/e des sciences,
par
publies
memoires
autres
et
couronnes
Clenard,"Memoires
F. Neve, "Relaiiond'un
1-203;
(1900-1901),
LX
Belgique,
de
des leZtrese! des beaux-arts
varria,XVII (1845), 5-20;
OrienZalia
ecoles,"
ses
et
Fez
de
ville
la
sur
voyageurChretien
au XVle siecle (Bruxelles,n.d.), I
Julesde Saint Genois,Les voyageurs BeZgesdu XllIe
Clenardo (Coimbra,1926),
Porgal:
em
hBmanismo
O
211-227; M. GoncalvesCerejeira, and Boucherr,Nicolans Clenardas (Antwerp,1942)
Deheegher,
llocht, Olbrecht,Philippen,
Clenard (Bruxelles,1940).
AlphonseRoersch,Correspondancede Nicolas
219.
ClenardiepisioZarumZibriduo (Antwerp,1566), p.
112
13

Nic.
lbid., p. 220.

114

THE HUMANISTS KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC

andaftermuchhardlaborlearnede consonants,
drewupa vocabularyandevena kindof grammar.
Meanwhilea friend, a PortugueseFranciscannamed Roch
Almeida,assuredClenardus
thathe couldfindinstruction
in Arabic
at the University
of Salamanca
in Spain.He soonavailedhimselfof
an opportunity
to go to Spainin thecompanyof Fernandus
Columbus,a sonof the discoverer.
Butat Salamanca
therewasno onewho
taughtArabic,thoughHernanNunez,the professor
of Greekand
rhetoricthere,knew the language.Nunez,however,triedto discourageClenardus
by saying:"Whatconcernhaveyou with this
barbarous
language,Arabic? It is quitesufiicient
to knowLatinand
Greek.In my youthI wasas foolishas you,and,not contentwith
addingHebrewto the othertwo langllages,
I alsotookup Arabic;
butI havelonggivenup iese lasttwo,anddevotedmyselfentirely
to Greek.Letmeadviseyouto do thesame.''1l4
Yeton thepleadings
of Clenardus,
he presentedhim with a manuscript
containingthe
fourgospelsin Arabic,andlaterwiththesmallArabicgrammar
of
Pedrode Alcala.Nunezalsoexplained
thevowelpointsto Clenardus
and aidedhim otherwise.This was Clenardus'
firstArabiclesson.
Laterhe acquired
a copyof thegrammar
of Albucasim.
In 1533Clenardus
wentto Portugalandat Evoracontinuedhis
studyof Arabic.Herehe hadthe assistance
of a physician,
Antonius
Philippus,a marlwell versedin Arabicand Arabicmedicine,but
completely
ignorantof Arabicgrammar.
Byfrequentvisitsto Philip
pusandbycorrespondence
withhim,Clenardus
perfected
hisknowledgeof Arabic.Thetwomenusedin theirstudiesanArabictextof
Avicennaandan Arabicversionof the Commenzaries
of Galenon
the Atphorisms
of Hippocrates.
By meansof thesetextsClenardus
alsoarranged
andcompleted
thedictionary
he hadbegunatLouvain.
Feelingthathe wasnow readyto returnto Louvainandintroduce
thestudyof Arabicthere,he leftPortugal
to makea tourof southern
Spain,hopingto securesomeof the Arabicmanuscripts
nowin the
handsof theInquisition.
He alsowishedto buyaneducated
Morisco
slaveto aid him in Arabicconversation
and to accompany
him tO
Brabant,
wherehe wishedto printbooksin Arabic.As he wroteto
his friendLatomusin July1539,"Iamdreaminga royaldream.The
HebrewbookswhichBombergprintsin Venicego everywhere
to
findthe Jews,to Egypt,to Africa,to India.It will be the samewith
the Arabicbooksthatwe will printat Louvain.We shallprintthe
114

7bid.sp. 235.

KARL H, DANNENFELDT

115

Koranwith a Latin translation

and a refutationwhichyou theologianswillprovideforus.''1l5
At Granadahe did securehis educatedslave,butthe
Inquisition
refusedto givehimanyArabicmanuscripts
unlesshe wouldestablish
his schoolthere.This Clenardus
wouldnot do. Meanwhile
he had
obtaineda copyof theKoranandwasstudyingit.
He
now
resolved
to go to Fez in Morocco
to gethismanuscripts.
This
41, butwhilehe wasill on the returnjourneyto he didin 1540
Granada,
his preciousmanuscripts
werestolen.Onceagainat Granadahe decided
to returnto Africa,buthe diedin November1542,andwas
buriedin
the Alhambra.
His Arabicwritings,entrustedto a friend,arelost.
BeforeClenardus
died,he hadwrittena letterto CharlesV andhad
almostcompleted
an autobiographical
Letterto all Christians
which
describe
in detailhis questfor a knowledgeof Arabic
and
his
desire
to useit forthefurtherance
of Christianity.l16
Anotherhumanistof the Neierlandswho learnedArabicwas
Franciscus
Raphelengius
(1539-97),the son-in-lawof the printer
Christopher
Plantin.Raphelengius
learnedHebrewand Greekat
Paris,and latertaughtGreekat Cambridge.
In 1564he joinedthe
PlantinPressat Leydenand soonthereafter
becameinterestedin
Arabic.1lF
He wasstillengagedin compilinganArabiclexicon
timeof his death.Thiswasfinallypublishedby his sonsin at the
In Englandtherewereonly a few humanistsof the 1613.ll8
sixteenth
century
who knewArabic.The earliestwasprobably
Robert
feld(d. 1537),whoseworksshowalsoan earlylinglish Wakeenthusiasm
forHebrew.In 1524he published
in Londonhis Oratiode laudib?s
etutilirate
triumlinguctrum,
Afrabicae,
Chaldaicae,
erHebraicae,
ie
firstbookto be printedin Englandwith Hebrewand
Arabic
characters.1l9
The EnglishdiplomatandhumanistRichardPace(1482?1536)apparently
alsoknewArahic,120
whilethephysician
anddivine
Richard
Argentine(Sexten,d. 1568)madea pleafortherestoration
5 Ibid., p. 33.
6Zbid.,pp. 212-217; 218-258.
1l7W. Juynboll,op. cit., pp. 36-45; Correspondancede
Rooses,
III (Antwerp,1911), 244. In 1595 Raphelengius Christophe Plantin, ed. Max
publishedan eight-pageSpecimen
characterum
arabicorBm containingthe Arabicalphabetand the
fiftieth psalm in Arabic
with
an interlinearLatintranslation.
Schnurrer,
op. cit., pp. 27-28
ll9Dictionarv ofi National Biography, xx, 446-447; F.
Neve, "Memoirehistoriqueet
litteraire
sur le Collegedes Trois-Langues
a l'Universitede Louvain,"Memoires
Cosronnes
et Memofres
des Savants Strangers, XXVIII (1856), 231-233.
120
Pietro
Verrua, Umanisti ed attri "st?wdiosiviri" itaZianie
stranieri di q?wae di D
dalle
AUl,pi
e dfalMare (Geneva,1924), pp. 80-81;
A. Wood,Xtfienae Oxonienses (London,
1691-1692),
I, 39-40.

THE HUMANISTS
KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC

116
of
the studyof Arabicat Oxford
A chairof Arabic,however,wasnot foundedatandCambridge.12l
Cambridge
until1632andat Oxfordnotuntil1636.Twoscholars
whoaidedin thetranslation
of the
BibleunderKingJameswereknown
for
their
knowledge
of
Arabic.
WilliamBedwell(1561-1632),
land,compiledin sevenfolio fatherof trueArabicstudiesin Engmanuscript
volumes(neverpublished)
thefirstArabiclexiconproduced
in England,l22
whileRichard
(1560?-1637)
wasrecognized
as a scholarof Latin,Greek, Brett
Hebrew,
Aramaic,
andArabic.123
A definitelimitingfactorin theearly
studyof Arabicwasthelack
ofArabictype,for it wasnot until
the
end
of the sixteenthcentury
thatbookswereprintedin any
number
in
Arabic.124
Mentionhas
beenmadeaboveof the one book
which
appeared
at
Fano
in 1514
andof the Psalterof Giustiniani
(1516).
Postel
had
used
very
poor
Arabic
typeforhis LJnguarum
XII . . . alphabetum
andhis Grammatica
Arabica(1538).The firstgoodArabic
typewasfoundedfor
theMedicipressin Rome
established
by
Cardinal
Ferdinandde'
Medici
in the eighties,with the assistance
of GiovanniBattistaRaimondi.125
In 1591it printedthe fourgospels
in Arabic,in 1592a
grammatical
tract,in 1593Avicenna's
Canon,
andin 1594Euclid's
Elements.126
On the deathof Raimondiin 1614
the Medicipress
ceased
to function,thoughits placewas
taken
by
a new oriental
press
in Rome,the work of the French
ambassador
to the curia,
Fransois
Savaryde Breves.In 1615thispresswas
moved
to Paris.127
In
theLowCountries,
Raphelengius
hadfoundedArabictype,butit
was
used in few printings.In Germany,
PeterKirstenhad also
founded
Arabictypeearlyin the sixteenthcentury
to publishArabic
medical
works.128
Severalconclusions
maybe drawnfromthissurveyof the
of
spread
the knowledgeof Arabicamong
the Renaissance
humanists.
some
waysthe acquisition
of a knowledgeof ArabicparalleledIn
the
difficulties
in acquiringa knowledgeof Greek
in
the
early
Renaissance.
Theearlyscholars
of bothlanguages
weredependent
on learn121 DNB, I, 552. The
manuscript,Ad Oxonienseser
benefiiczo
pro linguaArabica
principumrestituenda,
is in the BodleianLibrary,Cantabrigzenses
122DNB, II, 119-120.
MS.e Mus.200.
23DNB,
II, 1192;A. Wood,op.
cit., 517.
124Fueck,
op. cit., pp.
125Gubernatis,P Ctt.,137-143.
pp 494 d126Schnurrer,
op. cit., pp. 343, 344-351, 22,
458-459.
127M. de Guignes,
"Essai
sur l'originedes caracteres
royale"
, Noriceset extraitsdeshistorique
orientauxde l'imprimerie
manuscritsde la BibliotAleque
du Roi (L'acadlemie
inscriptions
et
royale des
I ( 1787), xx-xxi.
128Fueck,belles-lettres),
op. cir.,pp. 141-143.

KARL H. DANNENFELDT

117

ing the languagefromsomeone who alreadyknewit; many

were
self-taught;
concerted
effortshadto bemadeto producedictionaries,
vocabularies,
andgrammars;
manuscripts
hadto becollectedatgreat
expensefrom far places,librariesestablished,
and fonts of type
founded.
Therewere differences
too. As Arabicwas a living language,
spokenand writtenby millions,it was considerably
easierto gain
facilityin thatSemiticlanguage.Doctors,merchants,
and
statesmen
had very practicalreasonsfor studyingArabic,but aside
from
philological
reasons,the interestof the humanistsin this language
wasgenerally
different
fromthatwhichmotivated
thestudyof Greek
bytheRenaissance
humanists.
True,someof thosewholearnedArabicwerewell awareof its valuein openingup a vastbodyof
excellentliterature
in manyfields.Bedwell,for example,wrote,"There
nootherlanguage(GreekandLatinexcepted),my reader, is
which
containsmore soundlearningand encyclopacdic
monuments''.l29
However,
thereligioususesof Arabicto elucidate
theHebrewwords
inChristian
religiousliterature
anddocuments
andto facilitatethe
pacific
crusade
againstIslamseemto have
in theviews
ofmostof thosewhostudiedthisorientalpredominated
language.In thislastarea,
theRenaissance
humanists
continuedanearliermedievaltheme.
ElmiraCollege

KARLH. DANNENFELDT

129 In the prefaceto his D. Iohannis

apostoli er euangelistac Epistolac Catholicae omnes
Arabicae
(Leyden, 1612), p. 4.