Conference Presentations by Andrea Lee Castonguay
235th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, 2025
The rise of digital mapping and social network visualization tools such as Gephi and ArcGIS among... more The rise of digital mapping and social network visualization tools such as Gephi and ArcGIS among historians has changed our understanding of historical place and space, especially with respect to the premodern world. The imagined communities of historical personage, social bonds, and physical boundaries that used to exist largely our collective minds and expressed through focused but narrow case studies now can be made into a visual map for all to see. As a result of these tools, scholars can take large quantities of historical data found in tabaqat and fatwa collections, such as individual names, family and social connections, their respective place of birth and death, and visually plot out the various geographic spaces these people and communities occupied. Yet in our desire to visualize these various communities and redraw our respective premodern maps with these new tools, we must also stop to ask what distortions we might produce as a result, especially when it comes to selecting source material and combining different data sets. Can we simply strip the past for its parts and leave the various contexts of these pieces to the realm of smaller, non-visual studies? What happens when our visual map creates a much more centralized yet geographically smaller world than we previously imagined? And, in the age of instant visual communication, what happens when the image outpaces the historical analysis? This paper considers these questions from the perspective of information collected from well-known medieval tabaqat and fatwa collections from Iberia and North Africa, the respective maps generated from such data, and interrogates what we gain and what we lose as we enter into this new stage of visualizing the premodern Muslim world.
Medieval Academy of America 98th Annual Meeting, 2023
When it comes to describing extant examples of medieval architectural and aesthetic styles from t... more When it comes to describing extant examples of medieval architectural and aesthetic styles from the Iberian peninsula, established terminology first follows the presumed faith of the builders and patrons of a given edifice (i.e. "Muslim," "Christian," or "Jew"), then goes into a series of sub-categories predicated on the visual style associated with a particular faith (i.e. "Islamic", "mudjar", or "Mozarab," for Muslims and "Arabized" Christians and Jews, "Visigothic," "Romanesque", or "Gothic" for non-Arabized Christians). While numerous studies over the past 30 years demonstrated that the presumed religious associations for each category do not, in fact, correspond to an object's actual decorative use and deployment, these respective religious associations do persist to the extent that they unintentionally obscure larger relationships between aesthetic style and royalty, power, and proximity to royal bodies irrespective of faith. This paper argues that instead of using the faith of patrons and artisans as the dividing line between "Islamic" and "non-Islamic" architectural styles in the Iberian peninsula, we look instead at the division between the rulers and the ruled in order to understand the ways in which "Islamic architecture" was strategically deployed to physically mark spaces reserved for royal and royal-adjacent bodies during the Middle Ages.
MESA Annual Meeting, 2020
The earliest extant geographies of the African continent made distinctions between people based o... more The earliest extant geographies of the African continent made distinctions between people based on skin color. The Ancient Greeks divided Africa into "Libya" and "Ethiopia" ("burnt-face"), with "Ethiopia" beginning at the Upper Nile and stretched to the Nubian desert in present-day Sudan and "Libya" containing the rest of Africa from the Mediterranean to the edge of the Sahara. While the Romans added different subgroups to each category, the dichotomy of black and non-black bodies and their corresponding geography remained relatively unchanged. This division between black and non-black bodies by means of geography continued in the emerging Arabic tradition, though the physical territory of "Ethiopia"-translated into Arabic as "Bilad al-Sudan" ("Land of the Blacks")-grew in scope as a result of the Arab conquests. At the same time, the spread of Islam opened up the possibility of erasing this previous geographical distinction by subsuming them into another geographical entity, the Bilad or Dar al-Islam. However, the formation and expansion of Muslim sates in North Africa during the pre-modern period preserved this geographical distinction between black and non-black bodies. This paper will trace the ways in which the geography of black bodies interacted with the emerging geography of the Moroccan state during the pre-Modern period. It will track the ways in which Classical ideas of blackness in Africa emerged in Arabic geographies and examine how the construction of a specific and unified "Maghrib" came to rely upon the idea of a clear boundary line with the Bilad al-Sudan.
International Congress on Medieval Studies, 2019
One is hard-pressed to find much about medieval Africa in current histories of the medieval Medit... more One is hard-pressed to find much about medieval Africa in current histories of the medieval Mediterranean. In many seminal works, from Henri Pirenne’s Mohammed and Charlemagne to Chris Wickham’s Framing the Middle Ages and Michael McCormick’s Origins of the European Economy, Africa is only important to medieval Europe and Asia in commercial terms: Africa’s relationship to both Rome and Constantinople is framed in terms of secure access to African grain in order to feed metropolitan populations; Africa’s connection to the presence of pirates and secure shipping routes from one end of the Mediterranean to the next; Africa’s relationship to the ‘Abbāsid Caliphate and Ottoman Empire in terms of the ability to meet demand for slaves and gold. Based on the paucity of extant material, one can be forgiven for coming away with the impression that medieval Africa was merely a place where certain physical goods germane to Late Antique and medieval Mediterranean societies originated—such as grain, papyrus, red slip ware, salt, gold, and slaves—and a place where other medievals, mainly Europeans and Asians, fought one another for access or control of those physical goods. As important as Africa was to commerce, it is this image of Africa as only a commercial player that marginalizes the continent and its people in medieval history.
This paper demonstrates that it is possible to move away from the framework of Africa as a marginalized commercial appendix by centering Africa and Africans in the religious history of the Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean. More so than commerce, religion was the force which bound people together and set them apart in the premodern world. How people worshipped, the areas in which they delineated between different communities within the same faith, and how these communities interacted with one another for control of the world was the narrative that dominated the Mediterranean. Africa was the place where both Christian and Muslim religious beliefs were made, defended, and disseminated to the broader world. It was in Africa where one finds the earliest Christian communities, the earliest saints’ lives, and the earliest instances of martyrdom. It was in Africa where disagreements between proto-Catholics and Donatists on the key doctrinal matters produces one of the biggest splits in the early Christian church and the most influential theologian of the medieval age, Augustine of Hippo. It was in Africa where early Muslims traditionally found sanctuary to form an umma’—a community of believers— before the Hijra to Medina in 622. It was in Africa where early Muslim sects successfully establish rival polities and religious communities in direct opposition to the caliphs in Damascus and Baghdad, who sought to define the parameters of correct belief. And it was in Africa where the Maliki madhhab, one of the four Sunni schools of law, established itself in the early ninth century, gained adherents and ultimately dominated the religious landscape through alliances with political actors. By retelling the history of medieval Africa through religion, one corrects the misalignment of previous scholarship while opening up a new understanding of the Mediterranean.
American Oriental Society Annual Meeting, 2019
The practice of minting coins in the name of the 'Abbāsid caliph was a means of conferring politi... more The practice of minting coins in the name of the 'Abbāsid caliph was a means of conferring political legitimacy and religious authority upon the minter. While this topic has been explored in the central Islamic heartlands, there has been little exploration of the underlying theological framework of this action in areas traditionally outside the domains of the 'Abbāsid caliph. The few studies that do exist on Andalusī and Ifrīqiyan coins minted in the name of the 'Abbāsid caliph either concluded that the name used was fictitious and therefore a usurpation of religious authority, 1 or, conversely, that the use of the 'Abbasid caliph's name by Mālikī Muslims was seen as an adherence to the theological principles of Sunnī Islam. The inclusions of the 'Abbāsid caliph's name on Andalusī, Moroccan, and Ifrīqiyan coins in the 5th/11th century represented a major theological shift in the Islamic West. Before this, the Mālikī madhhab (legal school) had its own caliph, the Andalusi Umayyad caliphate, and members of the Mālikī 'ulamā' in the Islamic West not recognize 'Abbāsid or Fāṭimid claims or their corresponding theologies. The downfall of the Andalusi Umayyads produced a major theological shift, namely the recognition of the 'Abbāsid caliph and his corresponding theological claims by Mālikī Sunnī Muslims. This theological shift is most evident on the coins minted by the Moroccan Almoravids, the Andalusi Ṭawā'if (Ta'ifa) kings, and the Ifrīqiyan al-Mu'izz bin Bādīs in the middle of the 5th/11th century. The rapidity at which 'Abbāsid authority was recognized and affirmed by these Mālikī Sunnī dynasties in the Islamic West points to the theological need for a real caliph, no matter how distant, and the extent to which Mālikī theologians swiftly reworked their theology in the span of a generation to allow the 'Abbāsids to fill that role.
“The Maghreb as Archipelago: Religious, political, and tribal islands in North Africa c. 600-1000 CE”
Despite its immense geography and its various peoples, the Maghreb — defined by Encyclopedia Brit... more Despite its immense geography and its various peoples, the Maghreb — defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as “the region of North Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea”—is often depicted as a complete, uniformed whole, whether the focus is religion, ethnography, or politics. North Africa in both Late Antiquity (c. 300-750 CE) and the Classical Islamic period (c. 750 - 1250 CE) is painted in broad strokes, with little room for complexity or variation. For instance, a homogenous Christian Antiquity is the assumed default for the region c. 600 CE despite well-publicized spiritual differences among the population and its fellow Antique Christians across the Mediterranean and a similar homogeneous Islam is assumed by year 750 CE despite spiritual differences along the way. However, the source material paints a different picture. Instead of a uniformed island wedged between the Mediterranean and the sand sea of the Sahara, the Maghreb c. 600-1000 CE appears as an archipelago of faiths, tribes, and polities that, despite their seeming isolation, form in relation to one another and define themselves as much as by what their local neighbors are doing as those farther afield. Moreover, it is this archipelago that ultimately gave rise to the major North Africa dynasties of Classical Islam, notably the Fatimids (909-1171 CE), Almoravids (1048-1149 CE) and Almohads (1121-1269 CE), and the famous trans-Saharan caravan routes that brought salt, slaves, and gold into the Mediterranean basin. By mapping out these various political, religious, and ethnic Maghreb archipelagos in time and space from 600-1000 CE, this paper will demonstrate how the archipelago, rather than the island, is the appropriate model for describing the region and is one strong enough to challenge the narrative of a unified, homogenous, whole.
Re-thinking the Almoravids, Re-thinking Ibn Yasin: Investigating Almoravid theology in al-Bakrī’s Kitab al-Masālik wa-‘l-Mamālik and Qāḍī Iyāḍ’s Tartīb al-Madārick wa Taqrib al-Masālik.”
Within historical sources, the Almoravids are synonymous with uncivilized tribal brutality, forei... more Within historical sources, the Almoravids are synonymous with uncivilized tribal brutality, foreignness, and a naive understanding of Islam that leads to grave theological error. Almohad theologians accused the Almoravids of anthropomorphizing God, Ibn Athīr emphasized the presence of facial veiling among Saharan males as an inversion of gender norms, and Ibn Khaldūn argued that the Almoravids fell from power after succumbing to decadence. Due to a heavy reliance on these and other, detailed but non-Almoravid era sources, modern scholarship has hitherto failed to recognize the orthodox positions espoused by its founder ‘Abd Allāh ibn Yāsīn, such as the centrality of a Muslim’s submission to religious authority over secular authority, the application of Qur’anic punishments for specific misdeeds, and the application of Islamic law to warfare and property. Through a careful exploration of our only extant Almoravid-era source material, al-Bakrī’s Kitab al Masālik wa-‘l-Mamālik and Qāḍī Iyāḍ’s Tartīb al-Madārick wa Taqrib al-Masālik,” this paper will demonstrate how integral these Islamic
practices were to the development of Almoravid theology and identity and how this identity continued until the movement’s downfall in 1149.
Projects by Andrea Lee Castonguay
In continuing with our original mission and the broader aims of Medieval Institute Working Groups... more In continuing with our original mission and the broader aims of Medieval Institute Working Groups, Religion and Pluralism in the Medieval Mediterranean will explore questions pertaining to the study of religions, religious interactions, the formation of identity and community, and the state of the fields of religion, literature, history, and material culture in the medieval Mediterranean. We are interested in examining questions and studies related to Latinate, Byzantine, Arian, Sunni, Shi'ite, Ibadi, Coptic, Syriac, and Ashkenaz, Sephardim, and Mizrahi Jewish cultures; intellectual history including philosophy, the reception of Classical ideals in a post-Classical environment, and the relationship between the divine and the natural; and the ways in which these cultures left their physical marks on the Mediterranean landscape. Our group will continue to invite participants to consider the ways in which the medieval Mediterranean world was shaped by religious pluralism and the interaction of religions (principally Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and how that reality is reflected in contemporary scholarship. Through this working group, participants will continue to appreciate contemporary scholarship on various aspects of the medieval Mediterranean across a wide range of disciplines while expanding their own academic, professional, and intellectual networks.
What is the function of art in a time of crisis? Can art and social responsibilities be combined ... more What is the function of art in a time of crisis? Can art and social responsibilities be combined together to create new forms of expression and policies? How is art being used to address the current crises in our world today? Perhaps one of the most pressing challenges that we face today is the issue of refugees. The United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that there are over 20 million refugees in the world due to various conflicts and instances of persecution. They arrive in waves, literally washing up on Europe’s shores in rickety boats unfit for the voyage, and then must travel overland as best as they can to countries that will have them. In 2015, Germany accepted over 1.1 million refugees and plans to accept more in the coming years. In Morocco, the waves of migrants and refugees from other African nations caused His Majesty, Mohammed VI, to call for a formal migration policy in 2013. We believe that art can help us face the problems that arise out of these various political, religious, and economic crises. By bringing an international group of artists together here in Fez on 7-10 January 2017, we will create a forum for sharing art, encourage cross-collaboration across geographical borders, and discussing positions on the role of art in the time of crisis.
Ink, Silk and Gold: Islamic Art from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Ink, Silk and Gold: Islamic Art from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Jun 23, 2015
"Ink, Silk, and Gold "presents nearly one hundred works of Islamic art spanning the eighth to the... more "Ink, Silk, and Gold "presents nearly one hundred works of Islamic art spanning the eighth to the twenty-first centuries from the impressive collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This exhibition offers a chronological and regional story of the dynamic and complex artistic traditions originating from across the vast expanse of the Islamic world—Spain to Indonesia—and represents almost all forms of media, including silver inlaid metalwork, Qur’an pages inscribed with gold, brocaded velvets and luster-painted ceramics. More than 130 years after the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston began collecting Islamic art, this exhibition marks the first time these objects have been comprehensively studied, restored and presented to the public.
Reviews by Andrea Lee Castonguay
Speculum, 2024
This is the first academic monograph centered on the idea that the Muslim Zirid dynasty of Ifriqi... more This is the first academic monograph centered on the idea that the Muslim Zirid dynasty of Ifriqiya and the Christian Norman dynasty of southern Italy and Sicily were far more connected than previously thought. In Dynasties Intertwined: The Zirids of Ifriqiya and the Normans of Sicily, Matt King argues that if we are to understand properly the Norman conquest of Sicily in the eleventh century and the later, short-lived Norman kingdom of Africa in the twelfth, we cannot do so without first examining the Zirids and their own dynastic and political trajectory. King claims that these two dynasties cooperated nearly as often as they vied against one another, a view that previous scholarly foci obscured until now. Throughout the book, King focuses on how the actions of one ruler or dynasty were often mirrored by the other.
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Conference Presentations by Andrea Lee Castonguay
This paper demonstrates that it is possible to move away from the framework of Africa as a marginalized commercial appendix by centering Africa and Africans in the religious history of the Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean. More so than commerce, religion was the force which bound people together and set them apart in the premodern world. How people worshipped, the areas in which they delineated between different communities within the same faith, and how these communities interacted with one another for control of the world was the narrative that dominated the Mediterranean. Africa was the place where both Christian and Muslim religious beliefs were made, defended, and disseminated to the broader world. It was in Africa where one finds the earliest Christian communities, the earliest saints’ lives, and the earliest instances of martyrdom. It was in Africa where disagreements between proto-Catholics and Donatists on the key doctrinal matters produces one of the biggest splits in the early Christian church and the most influential theologian of the medieval age, Augustine of Hippo. It was in Africa where early Muslims traditionally found sanctuary to form an umma’—a community of believers— before the Hijra to Medina in 622. It was in Africa where early Muslim sects successfully establish rival polities and religious communities in direct opposition to the caliphs in Damascus and Baghdad, who sought to define the parameters of correct belief. And it was in Africa where the Maliki madhhab, one of the four Sunni schools of law, established itself in the early ninth century, gained adherents and ultimately dominated the religious landscape through alliances with political actors. By retelling the history of medieval Africa through religion, one corrects the misalignment of previous scholarship while opening up a new understanding of the Mediterranean.
practices were to the development of Almoravid theology and identity and how this identity continued until the movement’s downfall in 1149.
Projects by Andrea Lee Castonguay
Reviews by Andrea Lee Castonguay