Part of the Lyell Lectures
28 and 30 April and 5, 7 and 11 May 2026
At the Weston Library and online
Free, booking required
Registration for the lectures will open on 30 January 2026.
About this lecture series
These lectures examine the books produced by Muslim minorities in Christian Iberia from the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the seventeenth century. Even after the forcible conversion of Muslims at the beginning of the sixteenth century, these minorities continued to use, copy and clandestinely preserve Muslim books. Manuscripts were bought and taken outside Spain, collected and read by groups from Italian Humanists to Early Orientalist in Northern Europe.
This lecture series will analyse the itineraries of some of these Muslim Iberian manuscripts through libraries and centres of knowledge, as well as how they were used and interpreted outside their Iberian context. These phenomena include the personal contacts and collaboration between expelled Iberian Muslims and European Christian scholars, and raise the question of how Morisco literature affected Early Modern understanding of Islam.
Following the series, recordings of the lectures will be available on the Lyell Lectures series page.
Schedule
Lecture 1: Tuesday 28 April 2026, 17.15 – 18.30
Lecture 2: Thursday 30 April 2026, 17.15 – 18.30
Lecture 3: Tuesday 5 May 2026, 17.15 – 18.30
Lecture 4: Thursday 7 May 2026, 17.15 – 18.30
Lecture 5: Monday 11 May 2026, 17.15 – 18.30
Speaker
Professor Mercedes García-Arenal is a Research Professor at Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid.
Event information
Registration for the Lyell Lectures 2026 will open on 30 January 2026.
Attend in person
You can attend the lectures in person in the Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre at the Weston Library. How to get here.
The Weston Library is wheelchair accessible. More about accessibility at our site.
Please note: only bottled water is permitted in the lecture theatre. No food or other drinks are allowed.
Attend online
You can also register to attend the lectures online via Zoom. You only need to book one ticket to cover all of the lectures.
You will receive instructions for joining the Zoom webinar in your order confirmation email.
Source: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk
