De Machometo Explained

De Machometo ('On Muḥammad')^[1] is a brief anonymous Latin tract on the life of Muḥammad from a Christian point of view. It begins in the reign of Pope Boniface IV (608–615).^[2] Its account is cobbled together from a variety of sources, including the fifth dialogue of Petrus Alphonsi's Dialogi in quibus impiae Judaeorum confutantur, the Corozan legend and possibly the Libellus in partibus transmarinis de Machometi fallaciis from Vincent of Beauvais's Speculum historiale. The composite account is very similar to the account of Muḥammad found in the Golden Legend.

It is known from at least four manuscripts:

• Copenhagen, Royal Danish Library, Acc. 2011/5, ff. 193r–194r (pp. 379–381), from the late 14th century
• Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.1.17, ff. 79rb–79rv (incomplete), from
• London, British Library, MS Royal 13.E.IX, ff. 93r–94r, from 1395–1425^[3]
• London, British Library, MS Sloane 289, ff. 92v–95v, from the mid-15th century

De Machometo follows William of Tripoli's De statu Sarracenorum in both the Copenhagen and Cambridge manuscripts. The text has never been edited.

Bibliography

• F. E. A. . Arnold . The Source of the Alexander History in B.M. MS Sloane 289 . Medium Ævum . 1964 . 33 . 3 . 195–199 . 10.2307/43627115 . 43627115.
• Timothy . Bolton . A Newly Emergent Mediaeval Manuscript Containing Encomium Emmae reginae with the Only Known Complete Text of the Recension Prepared for King Edward the Confessor . Mediaeval Scandinavia . 19 . 2009 . 205–221 .
• Book: Daniel, Norman . Islam and the West: The Making of an Image . 1980 . Edinburgh University Press . 978-0-85224-109-7 .
• Book: Jill . Whitelock . The Seven Sages of Rome (Midland Version) . Oxford University Press . 2005.
• Book: Wood, Sarah . Piers Plowman and Its Manuscript Tradition . York Medieval Press . 2022.

Notes and References

1. This is the short title used in and . The full title in the Copenhagen manuscript is Tractatus quomodo Machometus decepit Saracenos secundum diuersas opiniones ('a treatise about how Muḥammad deceived the Saracens according to different opinions'), which appears at the beginning and in the explicit.

2. the incipit is Tempore Bonifacie pape iiii Romani pontificis.

3. https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=5567&CollID=16&NStart=130509 Detailed record for Royal 13 E IX