Maronite Historians Of Medieval Lebanon

262 Pages·1959·8.32 MB·English

by  Kamal Salibi

A M E R IC A N U N I V E R S I T Y OF B E I R U T
Publication of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
ORIENTAL SERIES NO. 34

MARONITE HISTORIANS
OF MEDIÆVAL LEBANON
BY
KAMAL S. SALIBI
With a preface by
BERNARD LEWIS
BEIRUT
1 9 5 9

PREFACE
The historical literature of a nation or community is not only
a source of information on the facts of its past. It is also—perhaps
more especially—a mirror in which is reflected the changing self-
image of that community—the ways in which, at different times,
it has conceived the nature of its corporate identity, its relations
with other societies, both past and contemporary, its place in the
two fundamental visions of the human predicament—the historical
and the philosophic.
At the very beginning of his endeavours the historian faces
and answers—usually unconsciously—certain basic questions.
What, for example, is the entity that defines his enquiry and
delimits the scope of his work? Is he writing the history of a place
—of a city, a province, a country, or a region; of an institution—
a church or a state, a kingdom or an empire; or of a group of
human beings? And if this last, are they defined by descent or by
habitation, by language or by faith?
The vast historical literature in Arabic shows many answers
to these questions, ranging from the ancient chronicles of prophets
and kings to the modem histories, formed by new, Western concepts
of identity and cohesion, of nations and fatherlands.
Special interest attaches to the traditional historiography of
the Maronites, a community whose role in the intellectual and
political evolution of the Middle East is out of all proportion to
their numbers. In this monograph Dr. K. S. Salibi, with a rare
combination of scholarship and insight, has examined the his­
torical literature of the Maronites, both mediaeval and modem,
8 PREFACE
and through it has been able to describe and explain the evolving
attitudes of this community to their ancestors and their neighbours,
to Rome, to Christendom, and to their ancient homeland. It will
be of value not only to students of historiography and of the
Maronites, but to all who are interested in the development of
social and political ideas in the Middle East.
London, 1st June 1959.
Bernard Lewis
AUTHOR’S NOTE
These studies are the revised form of a Ph.D. thesis in Middle
East history presented to the Faculty of Arts at the University of
London in June 1953. The original title was Studies on the traditional
historiography of the Maronites on the period 1100-1516.
The topic was suggested by Professor Bernard Lewis, who also
supervised my work at the School of Oriental and African Studies
(London). Professor Lewis very kindly introduces the present
volume.
Professor Charles Miller (then at the American University of
Beirut), Dr. Anahid Melikian, and Professor Asad Rustum (Leba­
nese University) read my text at various stages of the work. Miss
Nida Baroody carefully went through the completed work, offering
valuable criticism and suggestions. Mgr. Mikhail Rajji (Bkerke),
Mgr. Zacharia Melche (Dayr ash-Sharfeh), R.P. Ignace Abdou
Khalifeh (Bibliothèque Orientale), Dr. César Chidiac (private
collection), and the directors and staff of the libraries of the School
of Oriental and African Studies, the American University of
Beirut, the British Museum, and the Vatican were all most helpful.
Miss Jean Elizabeth Blair (London), Mrs. Badih Kettaneh, and
Miss Katherine Mansour typed the drafts, Miss Mansour also
helping in the index. Mr. Marun Kisrawani, Mr. Edward Vitale,
Mr. Nazih Zaydan, and Mr. George Sayegh read with me the
proofs, and Mr. Jad Karam drew the map.
My colleague Professor Nicola Ziadeh encouraged me to
revise the work and submit it to the Publications Committee of
the American University of Beirut, which voted the printing costs.
To all those mentioned and to the many others who have
helped me, I wish to express my thanks.
10 au th o r’s note
In these studies I have consistently transliterated the classical
Arabic masculine plurals in the nominative form, regardless of case
(thus bam, never banl). This does not apply to colloquial masculine
plurals (e.g. muqaddam, pi. muqaddamin, never muqaddamm). Unless
otherwise stated, the English translations from Arabic, Latin,
Italian, and Old French are mine.
American University of Beirut,
June 10, 1959. Kamal S.S aubi