Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 24 (2016): 203-207

Book Review

Sc h o l a r s  o f  M a m l u k  h i s t o r y  a r e indebted to the late Ulrich Haarmann (1942-1999) for underscoring the 
value of travelogues by European pilgrims 
and diplomats as primary sources. In 
his pioneering article, “ The Mamluk 
System of Rule in the Eyes of Western 
Travelers,” published posthumously in 
2001 in the Mamlūk Studies Review (pp. 
1-24), Haarmann showed that the works 
of Europeans who visited Egypt and 
Syria during the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries included valuable information 
on the social, natural, cultural and political 
history of the later Mamluk period. Their 
writings constitute an important corpus 
that can help modern-day historians to 
supplement and scrutinize the contents of 
works in Near Eastern languages. This is 
especially the case since European authors 
sometimes provide information on aspects 
of everyday life that, while of great interest 
to modern-day readers, were taken for 
granted and therefore left uncommented 
by local historiographers.

While Haarmann referred to a large 
number of relevant sources in his article, 
he never intended it as an exhaustive 
review of the extant premodern European 
literature on the Mamluk Sultanate. It 
is thus not surprising that subsequent 
scholarship has pointed to other texts 
i n  E u r o p e a n  l a n g u a g e s  t h a t  a r e  o f 
considerable value for the study of late 
M a m l u k  h i s t o r y .  O n e  o f  t h e s e  t e x t s , 
the Legatio Babylonica by the Spanish 
envoy Petrus Martyr Anglerius (1457-
1526), has long been available only in the 
Latin original and a very dated Spanish 
translation. It is now accessible to the 
broader scholarly public by means of Hans 
Heinrich Todt’s recent re-edition and 
German translation. This new publication 
is of outstanding quality and deserves the 
full attention of all scholars interested 
in the history of the late Mamluk period, 
especially since the Legatio Babylonica 
includes ample and valuable information 
on a period for which the corpus of 
Arabic sources is very limited, namely, 

Petrus Martyr Anglerius, Legatio Babylonica. Edition, Übersetzung 
und Kommentar von Hans Heinrich Todt, Corpus Islamo-
Christianum 8 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2015), x, 450 pages. ISBN 
9783447103473, Price: € 122.00. 

Christian Mauder

University of Göttingen
(christian.mauder@phil.uni-goettingen.de)



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204  •  chRiStian MaudeR

from the death of the Mamluk Sultan 
Qāyitbāy (r. 872-901/1468-1496) to the 
early reign of Sultan Qanṣawh al-Ghawrī (r. 
906-922/1501-1516).

The book under review, based on the 
author’s PhD dissertation, consists of a 
comprehensive Introduction (pp. 1-160), 
the Latin edition with parallel German 
translation and notes (pp. 161-365), three 
appendices (pp. 366-426), a bibliography 
(pp. 427-443), a list of figures (pp. 444-6) 
a n d  a n  i n d e x  o f  p r o p e r  n a m e s  ( p p . 
447-450).

The Introduction is divided into eleven 
subsections. In the first subsection (pp. 
1 - 3 ) ,  T o d t  e x p l a i n s  w h y  t h e  L e g a t i o 
B a b y l o n i c a  d e s e r v e s  a  n e w  e d i t i o n , 
pointing inter alia to the value of the 
text as a work of Latin literature and as a 
unique source on the history of the Near 
East at the turn of the fifteenth to the 
sixteenth century. Nevertheless, neither 
a text-critical edition of the text nor an 
up-to-date annotated translation had been 
available up to now. Todt addresses these 
desiderata with his publication. 

Todt offers a brief albeit adequate 
overview of the state of research on the 
Legatio Babylonica (pp. 3-8). He then turns 
in the third section of the Introduction 
to the historical context of the text (pp. 
9-24). Here, the editor provides detailed 
information on the conquest of the last 
primarily Muslim-inhabited areas of the 
Iberian Peninsula at the hands of the 
Catholic kings Isabella I and Ferdinand II 
and the religious policy of these Christian 
rulers in the years 1481-1502. These 
developments resulted in the forced mass 
conversion, expulsion, enslavement or 
killing of most of the remaining Muslim 
and Jewish population of the Iberian 
Peninsula.

The fourth section is dedicated to 
a study of the biography of the Petrus 
Martyr Anglerius (pp. 25-48). Born in the 
Italian town of Arona on the shores of the 
Lago Maggiore in 1457, Petrus Martyr held 
numerous diplomatic, educational and 
administrative posts at various localities 
in northern and central Italy, thereby 
using to full advantage his thorough 
education in the antique Latin cultural 
heritage which he had received in Milan 
and Rome. In 1487, he moved to Spain, 
where he joined the court society of 
Isabella I. Having participated in military 
activities against the Muslims of Granada, 
he became a priest in 1492 and thereafter 
served as a tutor to young noblemen and 
as the queen’s personal confessor. After 
his return from his diplomatic embassy 
to Egypt, Petrus Martyr received several 
promotions, including that to the post of 
Prior of Granada in 1503. After Isabella’s 
death in 1504, Petrus Martyr continued his 
service to the crown in various religious, 
literary, diplomatic and administrative 
capacities, reaching the pinnacle of his 
career in 1524 with his promotion to 
Bishop of Jamaica. Suffering from weak 
health, however, the newly appointed 
Bishop was unable to travel to his oversea 
diocese and died in 1526, most likely 
in Granada. Among his literary works, 
Petrus Martyr’s multivolume history of 
the Spanish conquest of the Americas, De 
Orbe Novo Decades, has received by far the 
most attention, although the author is also 
known for his collection of letters as well 
as a number of other works, including the 
Legatio Babylonica.

The short fifth section (pp. 49-51) deals 
with the background of Petrus Martyr’s 
mission to Egypt and the content of the 
account of his trip, the Legatio Babylonica. 



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Petrus Martyr Anglerius’s Legatio Babylonica  •  205

In reaction to the measures taken by 
Isabella and Ferdinand against the Muslim 
inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, the 
Mamluk Sultan al-Ghawrī had threatened 
to force European merchants to convert to 
Islam, to banish them from their territory 
or to kill them outright. Moreover, he 
a n n o u n c e d  h i s  i n t e n t i o n  t o  d e s t r o y 
Christian pilgrimage sites within his 
realm. Isabella and Ferdinand responded 
by sending an envoy to Egypt to dissuade 
the Mamluk ruler from these plans, ensure 
favorable conditions for Christian pilgrims, 
and point out the economic and military 
advantages that friendly relations between 
Spain and the Mamluk Sultanate would 
have for the Muslim side. They appointed 
Petrus Martyr for this mission.

The Legatio Babylonica contains the 
detailed account of his undertaking. It 
consists of three letters. The first of these 
letters deals with the envoy’s trip from 
Granada to Venice and his sojourn in 
this city. The second letter describes the 
crossing of the Mediterranean and Petrus 
Martyr’s arrival in Alexandria. Petrus 
Martyr’s trip to Cairo, his diplomatic 
activities in this city, and his return to 
Europe form the contents of the third and 
by far longest part of the work. Here, the 
author provides not only a detailed report 
of his negotiations with the Mamluk Sultan 
al-Ghawrī, but also informs his readers 
about the history and the political system 
of the Mamluk Sultanate as well as the 
natural history of Egypt and its famous 
sights such as the Pyramids of Giza.

The sixth section of the Introduction 
(pp. 52-75) includes a thorough historical 
reconstruction of Petrus Martyr’s mission 
to Egypt, which lasted from August 1501 
(departure from Granada) to September 
1502 (return to Toledo) and included a 

sojourn in Egypt of about three months 
between late December 1501 and late 
March 1502. Among other things, Todt 
elucidates in painstaking detail the route 
that the Spanish envoy took to and from 
Egypt.

The seventh section (pp. 76-98) is 
dedicated to a study of the biographies 
of Petrus Martyr’s two most important 
i n t e r l o c u t o r s  i n  M a m l u k  E g y p t ,  t h e 
dragoman and low-ranking amīr Taghrī 
Birdī and Sultan al-Ghawrī. Whereas 
Todt’s short overview of the career of 
the Mamluk Sultan provides hardly any 
new information on this well-known 
political figure, his discussion of Taghrī 
Birdī’s life and background constitutes 
in itself a valuable contribution to our 
knowledge of the social history of the late 
Mamluk period. Among other things, Todt 
shows that Taghrī Birdī was most likely 
born in Catalonia into a Jewish family 
before coming to Egypt in the wake of a 
shipwreck. This information on Taghrī 
Birdī’s background is of considerable 
i m p o r t a n c e ,  g i v e n  t h a t  i n  n u m e r o us 
instances Petrus Martyr highlights the 
Mamluk dragoman’s connection to the 
Iberian Peninsula as an important basis for 
their good collaboration in Egypt.

T h e  e i g h t h  s e c t i o n  ( p p .  9 9 - 1 0 3 ) 
provides an in-depth analysis of Petrus 
Martyr’s account of his negotiations with 
al-Ghawrī, paying special attention to the 
argumentative, rhetoric and narrative 
strategies featuring in this portion of the 
Latin text.

Continuing the focus of the preceding 
section, the ninth part of the Introduction 
(pp. 104-21) studies the literary character 
of the Legatio Babylonica. It contextualizes 
the text within the genre of diplomatic 
r e p o r t s  a n d  d e a l s  w i t h  i t s  n a r r a t i v e 



Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 24 (2016)

206  •  chRiStian MaudeR

strategies in engaging with the foreign as 
well as with its language and style.

The tenth section (pp. 122-157) provides 
detailed bibliographical information and 
comments on the preceding editions 
and translations of Legatio Babylonica, 
beginning with the Latin editio princeps of 
1511 and ending with the Latin edition cum 
Spanish translation of 1947. Reproductions 
of the cover pages of all editions and 
translations dealt with allow the reader 
direct insights into the history of the text 
and its publications.

Introductory remarks on the translation 
and edition proper makes up the eleventh 
and final section (pp. 158-160) of the 
Introduction. Todt explains that text-
critical annotations can be kept to a 
minimum, given that early prints of the 
work offer a generally very reliable text 
with few variants. The author has slightly 
adjusted the Latin text, however, using a 
more common orthography, additional 
punctuation marks, and chapter and 
paragraph breaks to make it more readable. 
His endnotes provide helpful information 
on linguistic peculiarities, uncommon 
names, and technical terms.

The edition and translation of the text 
make up the bulk of the volume. The 
Latin text and the corresponding German 
translation are presented on opposite 
p a g e s ,  w i t h  p a r a g r a p h  a n d  s e n t e n c e 
numbers allowing for easy navigation and 
comparison. Petrus Martyr’s eloquent 
Latin is, as the editor himself notes, of 
high linguistic quality and a considerable 
degree of complexity. Readers who are 
not thoroughly familiar with the Latin 
literature of the early sixteenth century 
w i l l  t h e r e f o r e  o f t e n  r e l y  o n  T o d t ’ s 
translation. They can do so without the 
slightest reservations, given that the 

translation, as an in-depth comparison 
of several sample passages showed, is a 
very precise and linguistically absolutely 
a p p r o p r i a t e  r e n d e r i n g  o f  t h e  L a t i n 
original. Todt deserves ample praise for 
this masterpiece of philological precision 
and stylistic beauty.

In terms of content, the sections of 
the text (pp. 258-271) that deal with the 
reign of Sultan Qāytbāy, the chaotic 
period following his death and Sultan 
a l - G h a w r ī ’ s  a s c e n s i o n  t o  t h e  t h r o n e 
deserve special attention, given that they 
include numerous pieces of information 
not included in our Arabic standard source 
for this period, Muḥammad Ibn Iyās’ (d. 
after 928/1522) Badāʾiʿ al-zuhūr fī waqāʾiʿ 
al-duhūr. Any future study of this still 
little understood period will have to take 
Petrus Martyr’s statements into account, 
especially since the European envoy 
received his information from people 
directly involved in the events.

The first of the three appendices (pp. 
366-413) deals with the Latin inscriptions 
Petrus Martyr mentions in his text, which 
are of limited interest to the non-specialist. 
T h e  s e c o n d  a p p e n d i x  ( p p .  4 1 3 - 4 1 6 ) 
discusses the historical background of the 
fact that Petrus Martyr refers to parts of 
Cairo as “Babylon,” while the third one (pp. 
416-425) contains editions of letters and 
other documents related to the envoy’s 
mission.

T o d t ’ s  t h o r o u g h  i n t r o d u c t i o n  t o 
the text provides the reader with all 
information necessary. The edition itself 
and his translation are of very high 
scholarly quality, leaving little room 
for improvement. It should be noted, 
however, that Todt’s book is the work 
of a Latinist who writes primarily with a 
Latinist readership in mind. Hence, the 



Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 24 (2016)

Petrus Martyr Anglerius’s Legatio Babylonica  •  207

Introduction includes several lengthy 
untranslated Latin quotations that not 
every reader will find easily accessible. 
Moreover, Todt’s transliteration of Arabic 
and Turkish words and names is at times 
idiosyncratic (e.g., “Bajazet II.” [pp. 89, 95] 
instead of “Bāyezīd II.”) and sometimes 
does not comply with the rules of the 
German Oriental Society that the author 
seeks to apply (cf. p. 159).1 

Readers should, moreover, keep two 
additional points in mind which, however, 
cannot be fairly blamed on the editor. 
First, Todt did his best in his notes to 
compare Petrus Martyr’s account of the 
history of the late Mamluk Sultanate 
t o  t h a t  o f  I b n  I y ā s  ( w h i c h  i s  w i d e l y 
available in French, German and English 
translations). But he was obviously unable 
to incorporate relevant material from 
other, thus far untranslated works of the 
Arabic historiographical tradition, such 
as the chronicles of Aḥmad Ibn Ṭūlūn 
(d. 953/1546), Ibn al-Ḥimṣī (d. 934/1527) 
or Ibn Sibāṭ (d. in or after 926/1520). For 
historians of the Near East of the late 
middle period, even Todt’s thorough 
annotations are no substitute for a detailed 
knowledge of the primary Arabic sources.

1.  Pedro Mártir de Anglería: Una embajada 
española al Egipto de principios del siglo XVI: la 
Legatio Babilonica de Pedro Mártir de Anglería: 
estudio y edición trilingüe anotada en latín, español 
y árabe. Estudio, edición latina, notas y traducción 
al español de Raúl Álvarez-Moreno. Traducción 
al árabe de Ebtisam Shaban Mursi. Revisión de la 
traducción al árabe de El Sayed Ibrahm Soheim, 
Madrid 2013.

Second, Todt was unable to take into 
account another recent re-edition of 
Petrus Martyr’s text published together 
with a (valuable) Spanish and a (highly 
anachronistic and problematic) Arabic 
translation in Madrid in 2013.1 Although 
Todt’s Introduction and notes are generally 
more detailed and comprehensive than 
those included in the recent Spanish 
edition, readers who want to make sure 
that they are fully familiar with the latest 
scholarship on Petrus Martyr and the 
Legatio Babylonica will wish to consult 
both recent publications.

These minor points notwithstanding, 
Todt’s re-edition and translation of the text 
with the accompanying comprehensive 
Introduction is a philological achievement 
o f  e x e m p l a r y  c h a r a c t e r .  S c h o l a r s 
interested in using Petrus Martyr’s text 
as a source for their study of the history 
of the late Mamluk period could not have 
hoped for a better basis for their work. It 
is hoped that Todt’s work will incite new 
interest in this era in general and the 
chaotic five-year period between Sultan 
Qāytbāy’s death and Sultan al-Ghawrī’s 
ascension in particular – a fascinating 
period that still awaits a detailed historical 
analysis.