Professor Charles Burnett

Contact details

Name:

Professor Charles Burnett

Position:

Professor of the History of Islamic Influences in Europe

Institute:

Warburg Institute

Location:

WOBURN SQUARE, LONDON WC1H 0AB

Phone:

020 7862 8949

Email address:

Charles.Burnett@sas.ac.uk

Website:

http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/institute/cburnett.htm

Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Ancient History, Cultural memory, History of the book, International Relations, Manuscript studies, Medieval History, Music, Palaeography, Philosophy, Regional history

Regions:

Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, United Kingdom

Summary of research interests and expertise:

Arabic and Islamic influences in Europe. The transmission of philosophy, science, medicine and magic from the Islamic world to Medieval and Renaissance Europe principally via translations from Arabic into Latin made in Spain, Sicily, and the Crusader States, The parallel transmission of Greek works into Latin. The cultural milieu of the translators. The importance of Arabic authorities in the curricula of the medieval universities. The printing of translations from Arabic in the Renaissance. The beginnings of Arabic studies in Europe. The European reception of the Qur'an. Attitudes towards Islam.
The theory of music in the Middle Ages. The music of the spheres.
The introduction of humanism into China and Japan by the Jesuits. European knowledge of, and reaction to the fortune of Christians in the Far East.

Languages:

	Spoken	Written
German	Intermediate	Good
Italian	-	Good
Latin	-	Fluent
Portuguese	-	Intermediate
French	Good	Good
Spanish	-	Good
Japanese	Intermediate	Intermediate

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
01-Jan-2012	Greek Into Latin from Antiquity until the Nineteenth Century Edited Book Warburg Institute and Nigno Aragno
01-Jan-2012	Medieval Arabic Thought: Essays in Honour of Fritz Zimmermann. Edited Book Warburg Institute
01-Jan-2012	Plato Amongst the Arabic-Latin Translators of the Twelfth Century Il Timeo, Esegesi greche, arabe, latine, ed. Francesco Celia and Angela Ulacco, Greco, Arabo, Latino, Le vie del sapere, Studi, Pisa. pp. 269-306
01-Jan-2012	New Testimonies for the Text of Raymond of Marseilles ’On the astrolabe’ Co-Author. Scriptorium
01-Jan-2012	Laurence Wuidar, Musique et astrologie après le Concile de Trente Institut historique belge de Rome, Études d’histoire de l’art 10, Brepols: Brussels and Rome, 2008, 222 pp. Annals of Science
01-Jan-2011	‘De meliore homine. ‘Umar ibn al-Farrukh?n al-?abar? on Interrogations: A Fourth Translation by Salio of Padua?’ Adorare caelestia, gubernare terrena: Atti del colloquio internazionale in onore di Paolo Lucentini (Napoli, 6-7 Novembre 2007), eds Pasquale Arfé, Irene Caiazzo, and Antonella Sannino, pp. 295-325.
01-Jan-2011	Geomancy in the Islamic World and Western Europe Zhouyi Studies (English Version), 7, pp. 176-80
01-Jan-2011	William of Conches and Adelard of Bath Articles Guillaume de Conches: Philosophie et science au XIIe siècle, ed. B. Obrist and I. Caiazzo, pp. 67-77 http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/medieval/abstracts-f.php
01-Jan-2011	Communities of Learning in Twelfth-Century Toledo Communities of Learning: Networks and the Shaping of Intellectual Identity in Europe, 110-1500, Turnhout, 2011, pp. 9-1818.
01-Jan-2010	Numerals and Arithmetic in the Middle Ages Monographs Interrelating articles on the different forms of numerals used in the Middle Ages, and the methods of calculation in which they were used.
01-Jan-2009	Arabic into Latin in the Middle Ages: The Translators and their Intellectual and Social Context Monographs Substantial articles on the translators of Arabic into Latin from the late tenth century until the mid-thirteenth century, and their cultural and intellectual contexts
01-Jan-2000	Abu Ma‘sar on Historical Astrology, The Book of Religions and Dynasties (On the Great Conjunctions), ed. and transl. K. Yamamoto and C. Burnett Monographs The major textbook of the Middle Ages on predicting events concerning nations and religions.
01-Jan-1997	The Introduction of Arabic Learning into England (The Panizzi Lectures, 1996) Monographs An account of the introduction of Arabic science and philosophy into ENgland, via translations from Arabic into Latin, and of how these texts where used in the Royal Court and became part of the curriculum of Oxford University.
01-Jan-1997	The Second Sense: Studies in Hearing and Musical Judgement from Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century, edited by C. Burnett, M. Fend and P. M Gouk Conference papers An edited volume of conference papers focusing on theories of hearing, the comparison between hearing and seeing, the iconography of hearing and how hearing contributes to the appreciation of music.
01-Jan-1996	Magic and Divination in the Middle Ages: Texts and Techniques in the Islamic and Christian Worlds Monographs A collection of articles, both previously published and newly published, on magic and divination.
01-Jan-1995	Jesuit Plays on Japan and English Recusancy (with Masahiro Takenaka) Monographs Editions and translations of plays written in the early seventeenth century on the them of Japanese Christian martyrs and performed in the Jesuit school of St Omer by children of English Catholics.
1985	Pseudo-Bede, De mundi celestis terrestrisque constitutione: a Treatise on the Universe and the Soul, edition, translation and commentary London: Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts 10
1984	A Checklist of the Manuscripts Containing Writings of Peter Abelard and Heloise and Other Works Closely Associated with Abelard and his School Revue d’histoire des textes, 14–15 (with David Luscombe and Julia Barrow)
01-Jan-1982	Hermann of Carinthia, De essentiis, critical edition, translation and commentary Monographs An edition and translation of a work on the universe and on man, written by a highly intelligent scholar who had direct access to both Latin and Arabic sources.

Research Projects & Supervisions

Research projects:

Details
Astrolabes in Medieval Jewish Society A three-year project analysing all the astrolabes from the Middle Ages for which there are indications that they passed through Jewish hands, and all the texts on constructing and using astrolabes written in Hebrew
Catalogue of Commentaries on Aristotle from British Sources A catalogue of all the commentaries in British manuscripts on the works of Aristotle
Islam and Tibet A four-year project on the relations between Islam and the Tibet from the 8th to the 14th century involving two full-time researchers.
The production and reading of musical sources A project, on which I am co-investigator, addressing the relationship of notes, words and images in manuscripts and printed secular music written between 1480 and 1530.

Current PhD topics supervised:

Dates	Details
From: 01-Oct-2012 Until: 30-Sep-2015	Arabic Manuals on Treasure Hunting This thesis investigates the genre of treasure hunting, whose methods include astrology, magic and historical knowledge. The text derive mainly from Egypt, where there was a could chance of finding treasure.
From: 01-Oct-2011 Until: 30-Sep-2015	The Relationship between commentaries and Illustrations in Medieval Commentaries on Ovid's Metamorphoses Both illustrations and commentaries interpret a text. In this thesis the select few manuscripts that include both illustrations and commentaries to Ovid's Metamorphoses are investigated. The majority of these contain versions of the commentary of Pierre Bersuire.
From: 01-Oct-2009 Until: 31-Dec-2012	Astronomy and Cosmology in Antioch in the mid Twelfth Century An analysis (including complete editions and translations) of the first translations into Latin of Ibn al-Haytham's On the Configuration of the World and Ptolemy's Almagest, produced in Antioch in the mid-twelfth century.

Past PhD topics supervised:

Dates	Details
From: Until:	Duns Scottus's Metaphysics The metaphysical thought in the Sentences of the fourteenth-century theologian Duns Scottus
From: Until:	Avicenna's Psychology in the Latin West The translation of the book on psychology ('On the soul') from Avicenna's Shifa', and its influence on medieval Western philosophers.
From: Until:	Medieval Concepts of the World Year The different values given to long periods of time (called 'world years'), their origins and diffusion.
From: Until:	Hermes Trismegistus in the Middle Ages The references to Hermes Trismegistus (particularly, the Asclepius) in Latin theologians of the later Middle Ages
From: Until:	Magic at St Augustine's, Canterbury The practice of magic and the presence of magical texts in manuscripts at the Benedictine monastery of St Augustine's, Canterbury.
From: Until:	musica humana The tradition of describing the harmonic relationship of body and soul which developed into the idea of the music produced by the human voice.
From: Until:	About ten more PhD topics medieval philosophy, Latin philology, history of science.

Professional Affiliations

Professional affiliations:

Name	Activity
COST Action Medioevo Europeo	Networking, organising conferences, setting up data bases etc.
SOURCEM	Coordination of research projects in France

Collaborations:

Name	Type	Activity	Start date	End date
Keiji Yamamoto	Writing books together	Editing and translating the major Arabic and Latin astrological texts of the Middle Ages
Gerrit Bos	Writing books together	Editing and translating the Arabic, Hebrew and Latin versions of Maimonides's medical works.
Tzvi Langermann	writing books together	Editing and translating the Arabic, Hebrew and Latin versions of Averroes, On Theriac

Relevant Events

Related events:

Date	Details
	Conferences on the topics of my research, and in connection with the research projects that I direct Frequent keynote speaker, presenter of conference papers, and academic organiser, and occasional appearance on a radio programme.

Consultancy & Media

Available for consultancy:

Yes

Media experience:

Yes