„People of the Quran – People of the Gospel”. Norwid on the Origin of Islam and the History of the Relations between Christians and Muslims

Abstract

In addition to the western Mediterranean culture, Cyprian Kamil Norwid’s cultural interests also include the world of Islam and the civilization of the East. As emerges from the poet’s surviving letters and notes, his interest focused mainly on the question of the origins of the Muslim religion and the centuries-old history of Christian-Muslim relations. As a descendant of King John III Sobieski , the victor over Turks at Vienna, and an avid reader of Jerusalem Delivered by Tasso, Norwid simply could not neglect this issue in his ruminations and studies. His notes on Islam in Album Orbis were illustrated with many graphics and drawings related to eastern themes. It seems that Norwid’s historical approach to Muslim issues was to a large extent shaped by some patristic sources, and first of all by writings of Saint John of Damascus, rather than by his contemporary scientific or travelogue orientalism.