Latin biographies of Muhammad

The earliest Latin biographies originated in Spain before the mid-9th century. They had a limited circulation and influence.[1] All other Latin biographies are ultimately based on the tradition of the Chronographia of Theophanes the Confessor (d. 818), translated into Latin in the 9th century by Anastasius Bibliothecarius, which contained a chapter on the life of Muhammad.^[2]

While Latin biographies of Muhammad in the 11th to 12th century are still in the genre of anti-hagiography, depicting Muhammad as an heresiarch, the tradition develops into the genre of picaresque novel, with Muhammad in the role of the trickster figure, in the 13th century.

The Vita Mahumeti by

Twelfth-century versions include Otia Machometi by Walter of Compiègne (c. 1155) and Vita Machometi by Adelphus.^[4] Thirteenth-century works of the romance type, written in Old French, include the Romance of Muhammad (1258), based on the Otia.

List of works

• Storia de Mahometh (before 848)
• Tultusceptru de libro domni Metobii (9th/10th century)
• Embrico of Mainz, Vita Mahumeti (11th century)
• Adelphus, Vita Machometi (12th century)
• Walter of Compiègne, Otia de Machomete (12th century)
• Vita Mahometi of Uncastillo (1221/1222)
• De Machometo (13th century)
• Liber Nycholay (13th century)
• Where Wicked Muhammad Came From (13th century)
• Bonaventura da Siena
  (13th century)