Riccoldo da Monte di Croce (†1320): Missionary to the Near East and Expert on Islam

Riccoldo da Monte di Croce, a Dominican friar, traveled to the Holy Land in 1288, living in Muslim Baghdad where he learned Arabic and studied the Qur’an. Returning to Florence after 1300, he wrote extensively on non-Christian peoples and religions. Riccoldo’s Liber peregrinationis details his travels, offering ethnographic insights and theological discussions. His Epistolae ad ecclesiam triumphantem laments the fall of Acre to Muslims and the subsequent enslavement of Christians, whereas his Libellus ad nationes orientales explores Eastern religions based on firsthand
interactions. Riccoldo’s major work, Contra legem Sarracenorum, is a detailed refutation of the Qur’an, which significantly influenced Western European studies of Islam. In this volume 16 authors offer various perspectives on Riccoldo’s works and his influence on Christian European
writers and thinkers. The contributions were originally presented at a conference held on 7–8 September 2017 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities in Stockholm.