I would recommend checking out George Saliba's work. He is a Professor of Islamic Science at Columbia. I only read one of his books -- Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance -- and it was an eye-opener for me.
Re:The Language of the Roman Empire
by loggedinmyphone on Wednesday May 16, 2018 @05:33PM
(#17086690)
Church offices aren't hereditary and church lands don't belong to individual clergy. Time and money are necessary to scholarship, but not sufficient.
Re:The Language of the Roman Empire
by contoraria on Wednesday May 16, 2018 @06:40PM
(#17087037)
Indeed. I bet you have time and money. bazinga
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habsburg_(Burg)
> Da er zu wenig Geld für den Bau der Burg hatte, bat Radbot seinen Bruder, Bischof Werner von Strassburg, um Unterstützung
> Because of insufficient funds to construct the castle, Radbot begged his brother, Bischop Werner of Strassburg for support.
Whether or not that's a legend, it was not unbelievable, which is the whole point.
That castle was situated at an impasse of a river, where they likely extorted money, I mean "took taxes". The rest is convoluted history. I guess you heard the name.
Re:The Language of the Roman Empire
by loggedinmyphone on Wednesday May 16, 2018 @08:21PM
(#17087554)
If you're interested in more examples of worldly clergymen check out Thomas Wolsey in the novel "Wolf Hall", Thomas a Becket in the movie "Becket" (1964), and of course Cardinal Richelieu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu
A good introductory to this and the history of western science is Bill Bryson’s ‘a brief history of everything’and the one he edited on the Royal Society.
Some of course were deeply religious, it I think it’s correct to treat their Christianity as incidental. I dont know if it’s the same with the ‘islamic’ scholars. I’d like to think so and I’d like to know more about them.
Anyone recommend any laymen focused books on Islamic scholarship in antiquity?