Lecture “The Diversity of Islam”
2023-06-19 12:00 - 15:00 UTC
John Tola, Lecture “The Diversity of Islam”, as distinguished guest lecturer to the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, Budapest (19 June 2023, 12:00).

Lecture “Napoléon in Egypt. Between Qur’an and Enlightenment”
2023-06-20 11:00 - 14:00
John Tolan, Lecture “Napoléon in Egypt. Between Qur’an and Enlightenment”, lecture to the Hungarian Historical Institute, Budapest (20 June 2023, 11:00).

A European Qur’an? The Muslim holy book in European culture – Presentation by John Tolan
2023-09-27 20:30 - 22:00
John Tolan will present hos book “A European Qur’an? The Muslim holy book in European culture” at Columbia University
Wednesday September 27, 2023
4:30-6:00pm
207 Knox Hall (606 W 122nd St, New York, NY 10027)
Columbia University, New York

Congreso internacional “El Mediterráneo como entorno de nacimiento, desarrollo, expansión y confrontación de creencias religiosas”
2023-10-05 - 2023-10-07
V Congrés Internacional de la Federació Valenciana d’Estudis Clàssics (FeVEC)
Vila-real / Peñíscola,
5-7 de octubre de 2023
Comunicación de John Tolan (Nantes Université) el 6 de octubre : ¿Los sarracenos, acólitos de Venus?
Todas las informaciones :
https://sites.google.com/view/seeccasval/novedades-novetats

Philology and Religious Encounter in Medieval and Early Modern Times
2023-10-09 - 2023-10-11
International Conference
University of Copenhagen
Faculty of Theology
9 – 11 October 2023
At this conference we want to discuss and celebrate philology as a tool of religious encounter. ‘Scriptural Readings – Scriptural Reasonings’ refers to philological practices, i.e. establishing meaning through a variety of grammatical, lexical, and historical exegetical techniques, and the modes of rational argument – reasoning – saturated with these practices.
The premise of this conference is that, as philological practices are essentially comparative, they implicitly contribute to complicated identities. Philology is an important tool in the process of religious differentiation. But embedded in philological practices are also many points of common origin, shared methods and opinions, and values embraced across religious divides.
The conference is organized in collaboration with the NYUAD Humanities Research Fellowship for the Study of the Arab World and the ERC Synergy Project ‘The European Qur’an. Islamic Scripture in European Religion and Culture, 1150-1850’
Registration : https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5YtdumoqzMjGNJYVPd80_5EcBRrT2mghCcu#/registration
Read the program : https://euqu.eu2023/09/12/philology-and-religious-encounter-in-medieval-and-early-modern-times/

Sessions “Practices of Commentary Reading Group: Orality and Written Textuality”
2023-10-16
On October 16, 2023, the first session of the Reading Group on Orality and Written Textuality will take place at the University of Toronto and it will be open to graduate-students, PhD, and Post-Doc researchers from all universities (in hybrid mode).

Il Corano tra testi e contesti – Nuovi strumenti e nuove interpretazioni
2023-10-20
Nell’ambito del progetto di rilevante interesse per l’Ateneo
“Cambiamento o trasformazione? Conoscere, comunicare e trascendere nell’era digitale. Per un nuovo umanesimo”
(Linea d’intervento D.3.2., 2020).
Venerdì 20 ottobre 2023
Sala della Gloria
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – Brescia
Coordinamento organizzativo: Francesca Minonne
Per informazioni: eventi.brescia[a]unicatt.it
Read the program : Locandina_Corano Bs_20.10.2023

Autumn School 2023: ‘ The Qur’an and Its Interpretive Communities’
2023-10-23 - 2023-10-26
Date: 23 – 26 October 2023
Location: VU Amsterdam
The significance of the Qur’an extends far beyond the confines of Islamic theological circles. Its study continues to engross, firstly, the research of academic scholars focussing on early Islam and their attempts to trace the impact of other religions on its origins, the contextual factors influencing its contents and the timing of its collection.
Please register by Friday September 15th 2023 using this link
https://nisis.sites.uu.nl/2023/06/30/registration-form-autumn-school-2023-23-till-26-october/

Read the Call for papers : https://nisis.sites.uu.nl/2023/06/30/call-for-papers-autumn-school-2023-the-quran-and-its-interpretive-communities/

Exhibition in Faenza of antique books about the Ottoman world : Il Turco a Faenza
2023-10-24 17:30 - 20:30
The opening will take place on the 24th of October at 5.30pm at the Biblioteca Manfrediana in Faenza, Italy.

With Davide Scotto and Michele Petrone, post-doc researchers of the Università di Napoli “l’Orientale” – The European Qur’an ERC Project

International Congress “Christian Readings of Muslim Exegetical Sources in Interreligious Perspective”
2023-11-15 - 2023-11-16
15-16 November 2023, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sala de Graus de la Facultat de Lletres
Organized by Ulisse Cecini Ramón y Cajal Fellow of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, (RYC2020-029328-I/ AEI / 10.13039/501100011033), Department of Ancient and Medieval Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona, in cooperation with:
– “The European Qur’an”, ERC Synergy Grant project (Grant agreement n° 810141)
– The TALDOSSIER Research Project of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, (PID2020-112592GB-I00), Department of Ancient and Medieval Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona
– The ISLAMOLATINA Research Project of the Catalan AGAUR, (2021SGR00152), Department of Ancient and Medieval Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona
– Institut d’Estudis Medievals, Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Online Webinar EuQu Project - John Tolan International Conference Quranic and Prophetic Life Studies
2023-11-22 15:30 - 17:00
John Tolan, invited by the Isfahan University in Iran, will be giving an online webinar on the “European Qur’an Project” on November 22, 2023, at 15h30 (Paris Time).

Practices of Commentary Reading Group: Orality and Written Textuality
2023-12-15 18:00 - 19:30
The Practices of Commentary reading group brings humanities researchers of different
backgrounds together to discuss matters of common interest. The group meets once a month in a
hybrid mode (i.e., both in person and online). Every session is led by a graduate student
researcher who introduces in 5 to 10 minutes an article, a book chapter (or chapters), or a book
on a selected theme. 1 A discussion then follows, open to all participants
Friday December 15 , 2023, from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. (Eastern time). Michele Petrone (University of Napoli l ’ will lead the group in a discussion o f the following article: Knight, M. Oral Features of the Qur’ān Detected in Public Recitation in: Oral Tradition , 32/1 (2018): 141 190

Lecture by John Tolan : “The Qur'an in European Culture, 12th-18th Centuries”
2024-01-25 18:15 - 20:00
A public lecture delivered by Professor John Tolan, IHSS Visiting Fellow at Queen Mary University of London.
Thursday, 25 January
18:15 – 20:00 GMT
Montague Lecture Theatre (GC601), Graduate Centre, Queen Mary University of London
Mile End Road London E1 4NS United Kingdom
About the Lecture:
The Qur’ān refers to umm al-kitāb, the “mother of the book” (Q 13:39, 43:4), the primordial scripture from which Torah, Gospel and Qur’ān were derived. The relations between the holy books of Jews, Christians and Muslims have ever since been a subject of discussion and dissention among followers of the three Abrahamic religions. I am interested in on how European Christians perceived and represented the Muslim holy book between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries. This research is part of a major European research initiative, the ERC synergy project “The European Qur’ān” (euqu.eu), which attempts to place European perceptions of the Qur’ān and of Islam into the fractured religious, political, and intellectual landscape of the period from the twelfth to the early nineteenth centuries. My presentation will conclude with an overview of this project and introduce the members of the Nantes EuQu research team, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students.
Medieval Christian authors writing in Latin often portrayed the Qur’ān as a bogus revelation made by “Mahomet”, a charlatan who feigned prophecy and concocted fake miracles in order to trick “Saracens” into believing him. Various twelfth-century authors affirm that he wrote his book of “laws” (which some of them called the “Alcoran”) and tied it to the horns of a bull, who “miraculously” appeared as Mahomet was preaching to the Saracens. The iconography of the bull with the Alcoran on his horns had a long life, in manuscripts and printed books from the 13th to 17th centuries. This piece of medieval “fake news” was meant both to denigrate a rival religion and to explain its success.
At the same time, some European Christians took a more scholarly approach to the Qur’ān. Englishman Robert of Ketton went to Spain to learn Arabic and study astrology; Peter, Abbot of Cluny, hired him to translate the Qur’ān into Latin. The translation, finished in 1143, became the most important single text in Latin for the study of Islam; four centuries later, in 1543, is was published in Basel with a preface by Martin Luther, making it widely available to European intellectuals. In the liminal texts (introductions, prefaces, annotations, etc.) that accompanied Ketton’s translation in medieval manuscripts and the 16th-century printed editions, we see a profound ambivalence towards the Muslim holy book. While it was standard to denounce it as a bogus revelation by a false prophet, at the same time it was taken seriously. The page layout in many of the manuscripts and in the printed editions were similar to those used for biblical texts, visually according to the “Alcoran” the status of scripture. Moreover, like biblical texts, the text was accompanied by rubrics and glosses meant to help the reader understand the text. While some of these commentaries oriented the reader to hostile interpretations of the Qur’ān (pointing out, for example, the differences between Qur’ānic and Christian conceptions of Christ), others expressed agreement and admiration. The Qur’ān provoked hostility and incomprehension in its European readers, but also at times sparked curiosity and admiration.
About the Speaker:
John Tolan is Professor of History at the University of Nantes. He is member of the Academia Europæa, member of the IEA, and principal investigator of ERC synergy project “The European Qur’ān” (“EuQu”).
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-quran-in-european-culture-12th-18th-centuries-tickets-773809714687?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwAR2-2uC40pZ-JAWNM59f-Vx4rdnTvS70r-WTRTf6UIVLp552ugbCzzrlffM

4th session of Practices of Commentary's reading group Orality and Written Textuality.
2024-01-26 15:30 - 17:00
The 4th meeting will be on Friday January 26th, 2024, from 10:30a.m. to 11:45 a.m. (Eastern time).
The Practices of Commentary reading group brings humanities researchers of different backgrounds together to discuss matters of common interest. The group meets once a month in a hybrid mode (i.e., both in person and online). Every session is led by a graduate-studentorresearcher who introduces in 5 to 10 minutes an article, a book chapter (or chapters), or a book on a selected theme.
Information for the fourth session:
Date & Time:FridayJan.26th, 2024; 10:30-11:45 AMEST;
Location: 170 Saint George St., Toronto, ON M5R 2M8;
Room: 213Jackman Humanities Building, 2ndfloor;

Journée d’études “Route par ailleurs” (III, 13): frontières, marges et confins pour une littérature de l’inclusion - Seminario Intrecci 6 - Margini e sconfinamenti
2024-02-01
Jeudi 1er février 2024
Maurizio Busca (Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale), anciennement post-doctorant au sein du projet ERC Synergy Grant « The European Qur’an » (EuQu) participera à la journée d’études organisé à l’université de Verona. Le titre de son intervention sera : « L’evoluzione delle percezioni e delle rappresentazioni dell’Islam nei secoli XVI-XVII: gli apporti della letteratura di viaggio »
Lire le programme : https://www.dlls.univr.it/documenti/Seminario/documenti/documenti319101.pdf
Toutes les informations : https://www.dlls.univr.it/?ent=seminario&id=6188

Conférence Le Coran est l'Islam, le Coran et l'Islam. Perceptions concurrentes dans la littérature de voyage (fin XVe - XVIIe siècles)
2024-02-08
Dans le cadre du cycle de conférences “Voyages” organisé par le Centre d’Etudes sur le Moyen âge et la Renaissance, Maurizio Busca (ancien post-doc EuQ et enseignant à Université del Piemonte Orientale (Italie) donnera une conférence intitulée :

Le Coran est l’Islam, le Coran et l’Islam. Perceptions concurrentes dans la littérature de voyage (fin XVe – XVIIe siècles)

À l’Université Catholique de Louvain le 8 février 2024.

Lire le flyer : https://euqu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Calendrier-conferences-CEMR-2023-2024-1.pdf

5th session Orality and Written Textuality Reading Group
2024-02-14 16:30 - 18:00
Lieu :Room 213, Jackman Humanities Building
Davide Scotto (University of Pavia) will present his forthcoming article: Davide Scotto, “From the textus receptus to the ‘Abrahamic’ interpretation of the Qur’an. Louis Massignon’s working method,” Annali di Scienze Religiose, 17, 2024 [forthcoming].

Conférence “La figure du prophète de l’islam, Muhammad, de l’Orient à l’Occident”
2024-02-21 10:30 - 14:30
DITIB France organise une conférence sur le thème de “la figure du prophète de l’islam, Muhammad, de l’Orient à l’Occident.”
L’événement aura lieu le 21 février 2024, de 10h30 à 14h30, dans la salle du Haut Conseil de l’Institut du monde arabe (1, rue des Fossés-Saint-Bernard, PL Mohammed-V, 75005 Paris).
Les intervenants sont John Tolan, professeur émérite de l’Université de Nantes, et Denis Gril, professeur émérite de l’Université Aix-Marseille.
Inscriptions : https://ditibfrance.fr/conference/

Conférence : Mohammed (p.b.s.l.), du protestantisme aux lumières : une aventure européenne de l’Islam
2024-02-21 19:00 - 20:30
Le 21 février 2024 à 19h à La Sorbonne
L’association EMIN organise une conférence autour de la thématique de l’aventure européenne de l’Islam, en présence de nos invités M. John Tolan, un historien franco-américain qui dirige un projet de recherche soutenu par le “European Research Council” à Nantes et M. Pierre-Olivier Léchot, théologien à Paris.
Inscriptions : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfTNEI1A5RcBcpgZykU3jqAtADg5ThPURZ5pPMW2L4p6SZt3Q/viewform?fbclid=IwAR2-vYefUJlMvSPA5RtgoLjd5nx9MqkRSahI6fuLbRT_dCqobLkLQtMKgr8&pli=1

Journée d'étude "La traduction du Noble Coran" le 22 février 2024
2024-02-22
La Grande Mosquée de Paris organise une journée d’étude sur la traduction du Noble Coran le jeudi 22 février 2024, de 9h30 à 17h (à la Grande Mosquée de Paris, salle Émir Abdelkader, 5e arrondissement de Paris).
La journée d’étude a pour but d’échanger sur les différents aspects et défis liés à la traduction du Noble Coran, à l’heure où la Grande Mosquée de Paris souhaite entreprendre une nouvelle traduction en langue française.
Les interventions et les débats du jour seront l’occasion de mettre l’accent sur les diverses approches, les implications culturelles et linguistiques, ainsi que les questions théologiques liées au travail de traduction, tenant compte des spécificités de notre époque en général et en France en particulier.

John Tolan, professeur émérite d’histoire et PI du projet ERC EuQu, participera à la journée d’étude. Le titre de son intervention sera : « Traduire le Coran en Europe, XIIe-XVIIIe siècles. »
Inscription gratuite :
https://www.grandemosqueedeparis.fr/event-details/journee-detude-la-traduction-du-noble-coran
Présentation et programme : https://fb33fe53-40c4-4c26-ae7d-75753cb5db76.usrfiles.com/ugd/fb33fe_35c62e4204824755a889e0c6abeccc01.pdf
Toutes les infos : https://www.grandemosqueedeparis.fr/post/journ%C3%A9e-d-%C3%A9tude-la-traduction-du-noble-coran-le-22-f%C3%A9vrier-2024?fbclid=IwAR0FTKB1o9MuwRJfS1wnz6gi11CzNinSfgs0qy0ZZcdWgFM8bErIx_Y7gP4

Journée d’étude – Journées d’étude du Mé’doc
2024-02-28 - 2024-02-29
28 et 29 février 2024
UCLouvain – Salle Ladrière

L’un des doctorants du projet européen ERC Synergy Grant “The European Qur’an” (EuQu), Pierre Courtain, participera à la journée d’étude du Mé’doc

Mercredi 28 février, le titre de sa communication est :
“Les Dominicains comme acteurs de l’élaboration d’un Coran européen au XIIIe siècle.”
Lire le programme : https://rmblf.be/2024/02/19/journee-detude-journees-detude-du-medoc/

Conférence Mahomet l’Européen
2024-03-07 15:00 - 17:00
Université internationale de Rabat – Maroc

John Tolan, professeur émérite de Nantes Université, PI du projet ERC “The European Qur’an” (EuQu), donnera une conférence à l’université internationale de Rabat le 7 mars 2024.
Mahomet l’Européen : Histoire des représentations du prophète en Occident.
https://www.uir.ac.ma/
https://euqu.eu2024/02/26/conference-mahomet-leuropeen/

EuQu International Workshop at UCPH - Interreligious Connectivity - Digitally Explored
2024-04-17 - 2024-04-19
Location and date: University of Copenhagen, 17–19. April 2024
Organizers: Jacob Langeloh and Jan Loop
Digital technologies are revolutionizing how we store, access, and exchange knowledge. In this workshop, we explore how these technologies can be used to improve our understanding of historical interreligious encounters. The goals are 1) to showcase ongoing projects, 2) to evaluate best practices, 3) to provide an entry point to scholars who want to start using digital methods in their research, and 4) to offer a platform to start new networks and collaborations.

Workshop Al crocevia di tre mondi. Il “Corano di Flavio Mitridate”
2024-05-13 - 2024-05-14
EuQu Workshop
Al crocevia di tre mondi. Il “Corano di Flavio Mitridate” (ms.Vat.Ebr.357, fol.51r-156r) e lo studio dell’Islam nell’Italia del Quattrocento
13&14 May 2024
Universita L’Orientale – Napoli
This workshop is organized by Benoît Grévin and Giuseppe Mandalà.
Read the program

Call for papers "Recited Ink: Written Representations of the Oral Aspects of the Qur’ān"
2024-05-21 - 2024-05-22

The Materiality of Pious Texts
2024-06-23 - 2024-06-27
36th CIHA World Congress in Lyon
Matter Materiality | Matière Matérialité
Dates: June 23–27, 2024 – Lyon
Panel title:
The Materiality of Pious Texts: The Qur’an and Devotional Manuscripts
Panel organisers:
Alya Karame (Collège De France) alya.karame[a]college-de-france.fr
Umberto Bongianino (University of Oxford) umberto.bongianino[a]ames.ox.ac.uk
Submission:
Please submit the following by 15 September 2023 via this link:
https://livebyglevents.key4register.com/key4register/AbstractList.aspx?e=148
The Comité Français d’Histoire de l’Art (CFHA), the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA) and the Laboratoire de Recherche Historique Rhône-Alpes (LARHRA) are thrilled to invite to the 36th Congress of the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art in Lyon in 2024 around the theme Matter Materiality.
The CIHA congress gathers every four years researchers from all over the world around a strong theme of the field of art history. The congress is open to advanced and junior scholars of all professional backgrounds. It offers a unique experience of sharing with the international scientific community.
Read more

The “Excluded Third” in the Co-Production of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
2025-06-10 - 2025-06-13
The European Project ERC Synergy Grant “The European Qur’an” (EuQu) is organizing in cooperation with its scientific partner CORE (Co-produced Religions) a conference to be held in Villa Vigoni, Loveno di Menaggio (Como Lake, Italy) on the 10-13 June 2025.
Read more

Samarcanda, International Conference, Oct 2-3, 2025
2025-10-08 00:00 - 2025-10-18 00:00

The European Qur'an - Final Meeting, Granada October 2025
2025-10-27 - 2025-10-28

Seminar: Translating Arabic texts to Malay in Pre-modern Indonesia
2025-12-12 10:30 - 12:00 | Palazzo del Mediterraneo, Napoli
