Pavel Blazek

One of the main differences between medieval Islam and medieval Christianity was the contrasting doctrine of marriage. Whereas medieval Christianity recognised only monogamous marriage and taught its indissolubility, medieval Islam, following the Koran, permitted divorce as well as polygamy. This basic doctrinal difference exercised a profound influence on the social and legal practice of marriage in medieval Christian and Islamic societies. While in the Dar al-Islam divorce was common, as were, among the Islamic upper classes, multiple marriages, in Christendom monogamous marriage till death do us part became (with exceptions) the legal and social norm by the Central Middle Ages.

It is not surprising that this fundamental difference soon become one of the key elements of the medieval western image of Islam. Islamic polygamy and divorce, usually interpreted by medieval authors as the proof and result of “Mahometan licentiousness”, looms large in the writings of medieval Christian anti-Islamic polemicists, as it does in accounts by western travellers to Islamic countries. These also often report and discuss other points of difference between Christian and Islamic marriage, such as in gender roles and in the position of women.

The project explores and assesses these numerous and diverse medieval Christian responses to Islamic marriage. It asks how they shaped and participated in the broader western image of Islam and Islamic culture and how they reflected contemporary western identities.

While being primarly intended as a contribution to historical studies and specifically to the history of Islamic-Christian relations, it is hoped that the project will be of relevance and interest also to other areas of the Humanities and Social studies, in particular to the ongoing Christian-Islamic dialogue within Theology and to debates, within contemporary Philosophy, Sociology and Cultural Anthropology, on issues of cultural identity and diversity. It is also hoped that the project will contribute to the intense debate on the role and position of women in Islam and Islamic culture.