Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Dominicus Hispanus
- 2 Ramon de Penyafort and His Influence
- 3 The Mendicant Orders and the Castilian Monarchy in the Reign of Ferdinand III
- 4 Ramon Marti, the Trinity, and the Limits of Dominican Mission
- 5 Narrative and Counter-Narrative: Dominican and Muslim Preaching in Medieval Iberia
- 6 The Poor Clares of Alcocer and the Castilian Crown (Thirteenth to Fifteenth Centuries)
- 7 Friars and Nuns: Dominican Economy and Religious Identity in Medieval Castile
- 8 Networks of Dissent and the Franciscans of the Crown of Aragon
- 9 Faction, Politics, and Dominican Inquisitors in the Fourteenth-Century Crown of Aragon
- 10 Sutzura e Viltat Carnal: The Place of Sin and Lust in the Treatises of the Franciscan Francesc Eiximenis (c.1400)
- 11 Valencian Dominicans Beyond the Convent of Santo Domingo
- 12 Ferdinand of Antequera and Santo Domingo el Real de Toledo: Patronage, Advice, and Spiritual Favour (c.1390–1416)
- Index
5 - Narrative and Counter-Narrative: Dominican and Muslim Preaching in Medieval Iberia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Dominicus Hispanus
- 2 Ramon de Penyafort and His Influence
- 3 The Mendicant Orders and the Castilian Monarchy in the Reign of Ferdinand III
- 4 Ramon Marti, the Trinity, and the Limits of Dominican Mission
- 5 Narrative and Counter-Narrative: Dominican and Muslim Preaching in Medieval Iberia
- 6 The Poor Clares of Alcocer and the Castilian Crown (Thirteenth to Fifteenth Centuries)
- 7 Friars and Nuns: Dominican Economy and Religious Identity in Medieval Castile
- 8 Networks of Dissent and the Franciscans of the Crown of Aragon
- 9 Faction, Politics, and Dominican Inquisitors in the Fourteenth-Century Crown of Aragon
- 10 Sutzura e Viltat Carnal: The Place of Sin and Lust in the Treatises of the Franciscan Francesc Eiximenis (c.1400)
- 11 Valencian Dominicans Beyond the Convent of Santo Domingo
- 12 Ferdinand of Antequera and Santo Domingo el Real de Toledo: Patronage, Advice, and Spiritual Favour (c.1390–1416)
- Index
Summary
Abstract
The historiography on the impact that the sermons of acclaimed Valencian Dominican preacher Vincent Ferrer (d. 1419) had on non-Christian communities has focused overwhelmingly on the targeting and conversion of Iberia's Jewish communities. The evidence for his preaching to Muslims is meagre by comparison and often apocryphal (notably his alleged conversion of thousands of Muslims in Nasrid Granada). This chapter analyses the sermons Ferrer addressed to mixed audiences of Christians, Muslims, and sometimes Jews during his evangelical campaigns throughout Castile and Aragon between 1411 and 1418. It explores how Ferrer represented Muslims, Islam, and the Prophet Muhammad in order to assess his knowledge about Islam, and considers how he adapted the message of his sermons depending on the presence of Muslim congregants. Finally, in the absence of explicit proof of Muslim responses to Ferrer’s preaching, it identifies and evaluates the sources available for studying the Muslim reception of Christian mendicant preaching and Muslim attitudes toward the Friars.
Keywords: Vincent Ferrer, medieval preaching, interfaith relations, medieval Spain
Introduction
Among the enduring legends surrounding the celebrated Dominican preacher Vincent Ferrer (d. 1419) is his conversion of ‘thousands’ of Muslims to Christianity. One famous incident, judging by the recurring allusions to it even on contemporary websites, concerns his alleged invitation to preach the Gospel to the Muslims of Granada. According to his sixteenth-century hagiographer, the Dominican Vicent Justiniano Antist, Ferrer's reputation as a charismatic preacher had reached the ear of Muhammad VII (r. 1392–1408), the sultan of Nasrid Granada. This sultan had ‘a great desire to know the saint and to hear about the faith of Jesus Christ from his own mouth’. Muhammad VII sent an ambassador to invite Ferrer to Granada, and the Dominican friar preached to the sultan with such fervour that after only three sermons he brought him to the brink of asking to be baptized. These plans were thwarted, however, because:
Unfortunately the devil […] made Sultan Muhammad change his mind out of the fear that the Muslim jurists instilled in him, that he would lose his kingdom and arouse the people's fury if he converted. Thus, Muhammad summoned Vincent Ferrer and kindly bid him to leave the kingdom and return to Christian territory.
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- The Friars and their Influence in Medieval Spain , pp. 107 - 142Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018