The apocalyptic Abessinian: The Transfer of an early Islamic motif to Europe
My presentation deals mainly with the following questions:
-
How was the Christian eschatological anticipation of the End of the World expressed in medieval world maps?
- How could the Horn of Africa in medieval world maps became an eschatological area directed against Islam?
- How could an early Islamic apocalyptic motif find its way to anti-Islamic crusader prophecies?
The goal of my dissertation is to detect cartographic evidence in order to substantiate the notion of an apocalyptic area prevailing in the Horn of Africa. At the same time a critical examination of textual sources is undertaken in order to reconstruct the transfer of an apocalyptic early Islamic motif until its incorporation in Latin prophecies of the 5th crusade and its further embedding in the recuperatio literature after the loss of Acre. Continue reading The Motif of the Apocalyptic Abyssinian I: Giving the Horn of Africa an eschatological meaning in mappae mundi after the fall of Acre 1291