Volume 22, entitled The Mongols’ Baghdad: Knowledge Transmission through Manuscript Cultures before and after the Conquest, focuses on the manuscript corpus from the period of Ilkhanid rule in Baghdad (13^th and 14^th century CE). Guest editors Bruno De Nicola and Nadine Löhr aim to challenge with this volume the well-established narrative of Baghdad’s cultural decline after the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1258 CE. Focusing on legal, medical, astronomical, literary, historical or theological texts, the case studies offer insights into a great variety of topics: the change in linguistic and literary interest of the ruling elites, the processes of editing, disseminating and canonisation; the resilience of theological networks; the continuity of legal scholarship; the extent of manuscript destruction and continuity; the scholarly environment in which scientific traditions were maintained and the urban infrastructure which may have persisted after Mongol conquest. The introduction provides some historical context that delinates the political, intellectual, and cultural milieu of Baghdad under Mongol rule.

Submissions for our upcoming volumes are always welcome.

Medieval Worlds 22:  The Mongols’ Baghdad