Juan De Segovia and the Fight for Peace

Anne Marie Wolf is associate professor of history at the University of Maine at Farmington.

"Wolf deserves credit for tackling with admirable thoroughness and insight this obscure and complex personality, and for shedding further light on the complex currents of religious thought that characterized the Christian West at a time of increasing anxiety and conflict with Muslims, both at home and abroad." —Renaissance and Reformation"What makes Wolf's approach a new and innovative one is her attempt to combine Juan de Segovia's role as a participant, discussant, and historiographer of the Council of Basel (1431-1449) and as a leading Christian and theologian in fighting Islam, and to explain [his] attitudes towards matters of ecclesiology . . . and interreligious dialogue . . . as two sides of the same coin. This a priori hypothesis is turned into an a posteriori proof by Wolf's detailed and well-written analysis." —Medievalia et Humanistica"This is an important book in linking medieval with modern thought and efforts to create understanding between Christianity and Islam. . . . Anne Marie Wolf has mastered Segovia's writings, and she also presents the reader with recent work not only on Segovia but also on his larger theological context and place in church history. . . . Wolf succeeds in presenting a believable and sympathetic portrait of a European thinker who has either been ignored or slighted in his afterlife." —The Journal of Religion"Wolf provides new insights in this book, in particular on Segovia's use of the Bible and his original call for peace between Christianity and Islamic world. Due to its keen interpretation of Segovia's life and works, it shall remain at the core of this research field for a long time to come." —The Catholic Historical Review "There is a great deal to admire about this book as an intellectual biography. Wolf writes in pellucid prose. She carefully navigates between earlier scholarship on Juan de Segovia, the Christian polemical tradition against Islam, and the social history of Christian-Muslim interaction." —Speculum"Anne Marie Wolf's analysis of the life and thoughts of fifteenth-century Castilian conciliarist and Church reformer Juan de Segovia is an accessible and engaging intellectual history of a figure that historians have traditionally found difficult to classify. Wolf's book constitutes an excellent contribution to our growing understanding of the range of Christian perceptions of Islam in the later Middle Ages—a topic which, as she points out, remains far less studied and understood than Christian portrayals of Judaism in that era." —American Historical Review"Wolf's study has many merits, such as its meticulous presentation of Juan de Segovia's pivotal experiences as a scholar in Salamanca and as a member of the Council of Basel and its approach to the secular priest's grounds for his future perspective regarding non-Christian populations." —Sixteenth Century Journal"Ann Marie Wolf's new book is a much-needed study that approaches Juan from a fresh perspective . . . . Juan de Segovia and the Fight for Peace is an engaging and important contribution to intellectual and ecclesiastical history of the fifteenth century. Wolf portrays the Spanish theologian's struggle for peace between Christians and Muslims vividly and affectionately. Anyone who is interested in interfaith dialogue in the late Middle Ages cannot afford to miss this book." —Parergon"Wolf's study of Juan de Segovia deftly weaves together the Castilian's education, career as a staunch conciliarist, and peaceful approach to Islam . . . . In Wolf's atmospheric and meticulous study, Segovia remains compelling as a scholar who drew upon his personal experience, biblical study, and conciliarist politics to form a peaceful response to a problem that persists even today. It is certain to become essential reading for scholars of premodern Christian-Muslim relations." —Renaissance Quarterly"A theologian, translator of the Qur'an and lifelong advocate for forging peaceful relations between Christians and Muslims, Juan de Segovia was a prominent thinker in fifteenth century Europe. The author presents a chronological narrative that follows the thought and career of Segovia, who departed from the dominant views of his day to advance arguments he knew would subject him to criticism." —Notre Dame Magazine"Wolf succeeds in drawing out Juan's significance in the various phases and spheres of his life." —The English Historical Review