The Crusades had a wide variety of impacts on societies throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. One such notable impact was its role in the development of knowledge between cultures. This book argues that the Nubian kingdom of Dotawo and the Latin Christians became increasingly more connected between the twelfth and early fourteenth centuries than has been acknowledged. Subsequently, when Solomonic Ethiopian-Latin Christian diplomatic relations began in 1402, they were building on the prior connections of Nubia, either wittingly or unwittingly: Ethiopia became the ‘Ethiopia’ that the Latin Christians had previously been aiming to develop relations with. The histories of Nubia, Ethiopia, and the Crusades were directly and indirectly entwined between the twelfth century and 1402.
By placing Nubia and Ethiopia within the wider context of the Crusades, new perspectives can be made regarding the international activity of Nubia and Ethiopia between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries and the regional role reversal of Dotawo and Solomonic Ethiopia from the early fourteenth century. Prior to the fourteenth century, Nubia had been the dominant Christian power in the region before Solomonic Ethiopia began to replace it, including by adopting elements of discourse which had previously been attributed to Nubia, such as its ruler being the recognised protector of the Christians of north-east Africa. This process should not be viewed in isolation of the wider regional geo-political context.
Nubia, Ethiopia, and the Crusading World, 1095-1402 will appeal to all those interested in the history of the Crusades, Nubia, and Ethiopia, particularly concerning inter-regional physical and intellectual connectivity.
Author(s): Adam Simmons
Series: Advances in Crusades Research
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 252
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
A Note to the Reader – Defining Nubia and Ethiopia
Introduction
Nubia, Ethiopia, and the Crusading World: The State of the Field
Navigating the Source Corpus
Notes
Chapter 1: The Definition of Ethiopia through Time and Place
What Was ‘Ethiopia’? The Legacies of Greek Geography and Navigating the Parallel Kush
The African Biblical ‘Ethiopia’
Abyssinia and a New Ethiopia
Building an Ethiopian Narrative in Ethiopia
The Emergence of the ‘New’ Ethiopia
Notes
Chapter 2: Knowing Nubia and Ethiopia on the Eve of the Crusades
Between Late Antiquity and the First Crusade: An Intellectual Rupture?
The Crusades’ Introduction to Nubia and Ethiopia in Context
Negotiating ‘Ethiopia’ and ‘Ethiopians’ on Crusade
Towards the Early Tides of Change
Notes
Chapter 3: Sources of Knowledge between Nubia, Ethiopia, and the Latin Christians in the Holy Land and Egypt
Recreating a Framework for Undocumented Avenues of Knowledge Regarding Nubia and Ethiopia
The Question of Christian Africans in the Holy Land
Nubians and Ethiopians as Facilitators of Latin Christian Knowledge Development
Notes
Chapter 4: Competing Nubian and Ethiopian Prester Johns
The Belief in an African Prester John
The Nubian (Proto-)Prester John
Merging the African Prester Johns and Relocating to Ethiopia
Cementing the Prester’s Ethiopian Identification
Notes
Chapter 5: Latin Christian Uses of Developing Knowledge of Nubia and Ethiopia
Preaching
The Latin Christian Need for Military Aid
Incorporating Nubia into Crusader Strategy from the Thirteenth Century
Notes
Chapter 6: The Nubian and Ethiopian Response
The Twelfth Century
The Thirteenth Century
The ‘Ethiopian’ Embassy of 1300–c. after 1314
Following the (Un)Inspiring Results of the Early Fourteenth-Century Embassy
Notes
Conclusion
Moving Beyond This Study
Notes
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Archival Material
Published Sources
Secondary Sources
Books
Articles and Book Chapters
Unpublished PhD Theses
Index
