Christlich-muslimische Außenbeziehungen Im Mittelmeerraum. Zur räumlichen und religiösen Dimension mittelalterlicher Diplomatie

Abstract

Christian-Muslim Diplomacy in the Medieval Mediterranean. On the Spatial and Religious Dimensions of International Relations

While medievaldiplomacy in general has lately attracted the attention of severalGermanscholars, themorespecific subject of political relations between IslamicandChristian powers is far less studied and has not yet received the same attention in Germany as it has elsewhere. One of this article's aims is therefore to open up the field of intercultural diplomacy for future research by surveying recent scholarship and approaches. More importantly, the paper focuses on five systematic questions: Did the quality of political relations between Christian and Islamic powers in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean undergo long-term shifts? Did religion play a significant role within this sphere, either as an obstacle or as a facilitator? Which particular traits distinguished interreligious diplomacy from intrareligious political relations? To what extent were these particularities due to the specific conditions of the medieval Mediterranean? And did this historical region therefore make a distinct contribution to the history of diplomacy? Although religion undoubtedly presented an important normative framework for intercultural relations, functional pragmatism, the creation of intermediary institutions and the prominent role of certain societal groups must be seen as equally important features. The medieval Mediterranean thus presents itself as a source of innovative impulses for the field of premodern political relations, which deserves further study.