14th Century Authors as Readers north and south of the Mediterranean

This session focuses on evidences on late medieval authors’ act of reading and studying. The two speakers analyze two cases dating back to the 14th century, relating to two different geographical and cultural contexts: the French monarchy and the Mamluk sultanate. Michèle Goyens examines the multiple traces left by the translation work on the pseudo-Aristotelian text Problemata, carried out by Évrart de Conty, active at the court of Charles V of France. Élise Franssen deals with al-Ṣafadī’s Tadhkira, reconstructing the author’s reading and his library from his notes.

Speakers: Professor Michèle Goyens (KU Leuven) and Élise Franssen, Post-doctoral researcher, (Université de Liège).

Chair: Benoit Grevin