The Maronite College in Rome, strategically positioned at the intersection of various political, religious, and cultural forces, was founded as part of the Roman Catholic Church's Counter-Reformation efforts. Its primary objectives were to strengthen ties between the Maronite Church and Rome, reform the clergy, and expand the Church’s missionary reach into the Ottoman-controlled Levant and beyond.

Alumni of the Maronite College were pivotal in advancing the study of Middle Eastern languages and championing Arabic culture throughout Europe. The College quickly gained a reputation as 'the most important center for Arabic studies in the city [Rome]' (Girard, 2017). Many graduates went on to secure prestigious academic positions across Europe, including at the Vatican, and universities in Rome, Florence, Pisa, Padua, Ravenna, Madrid, Coimbra, Valletta, Vienna, Prague, and Paris. Their scholarly endeavors significantly contributed to the emergence of some of the earliest European experts in Oriental languages. Notable figures include Fr. António Baptista Abrantes, the first Portuguese professor of Arabic, and Fr. Marcelino José da Silva, who studied under Pablo/Paolo Hodar (Būlus al-Haddār) in Portugal before becoming the Bishop of Macau (von Kemnitz, ca. 2012). Additionally, Teseo Ambrogio degli Albonesi, recognized as the first Italian scholar in Syriac, studied under Elias bar Abraham. Elias, whom Albonesi encountered while serving as a delegate of the Maronite Patriarch at the Fifth Lateran Council (1512–1517), was instrumental in introducing Syriac studies to Europeans (Wilkinson, 2012). Elias was affiliated with the Roman house of the Lateran Canons in S. Maria della Pace near Piazza Navona (Fiano, 2011).

Among the notable alumni of the Maronite College were several influential scholars who made significant contributions to the study of Oriental languages. Petrus Benedictus (Pietro Benedetti, Buṭrus Mubārak) taught Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac at the University of Pisa from 1698 to 1707, advancing the academic understanding of these languages in Italy. Andrea Scandar (Andrāwus ibn Simʿān Iskandar) began his tenure as a professor of Oriental languages at Gymnasio Romano, or la Sapienza, in 1718, furthering the scholarly exploration of Eastern languages in Rome. Simone Assemani (Simʿān al-Simʿānī) was appointed as a professor of Oriental languages at the Seminary of Padua in 1785 and later became a professor of Ancient Testament at the University of Padua in 1807, reflecting his dual expertise in both Oriental studies and biblical scholarship. Similarly, Antoine Assemani joined la Sapienza as a professor in 1790, contributing to the institution's academic prestige and its focus on Oriental languages.

Abraham Ecchellensis (Ibrāhīm al-Ḥāqilānī) served as a professor of Oriental languages at the Pisa Academy from 1633 to 1637 (Gemayel, 1984). In 1640, he taught Syriac and Arabic at the Collège des lecteurs royaux in Paris while also serving as scriptor orientalis at the Vatican Library (Rietbergen, 1989). Gabriel Sionita (Jibrāʾīl al-Ṣahyūnī) taught Arabic and Syriac first at the College Sapienza in Rome and later in Venice. In 1614, he traveled to Paris with Joannes Hesronita (Yūḥannā al-Ḥaṣrūnī) and became a professor of Arabic at the Collège Royal, later known as the Collège de France (Van Rompay, 2011b).

Theodorus Honorati/Onorati (Tādrus al-ʿAẓm) was appointed as a professor of Oriental languages at the Prague College in 1754 (Gemayel, 1984). Pablo/Paolo Hodar (Būlus al-Haddār) taught Arabic in Madrid, Alcobaça, and Lisbon, eventually becoming a professor of Oriental languages at Coimbra University in Portugal (López García, 2014; von Kemnitz, ca. 2012). Giuseppe Aloysius Assemani (1710–1782) served as a professor of Syriac at the Collegium Sapientiae and later as a professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Academy in Rome (Brock, 2011).

The multidisciplinary contributions of these alumni, who dedicated approximately a century to the study of Oriental material, were extensively consulted by Enlightenment thinkers in 18th-century Europe. Giuseppe Simon Assemani’s Bibliotheca Orientalis remains a significant reference, exemplifying how these scholars shaped the intellectual landscape of the Enlightenment (Contadini, 2021).

Moreover, these Maronite scholars advanced the appreciation of Arabic science and culture, emphasizing the intellectual heritage of the Middle East. Their publications included Abraham Ecchellensis’ Synopsis Propositorum Sapientiae Arabum Philosophorum (1641), which introduced Arabic philosophical ideas to a Latin-speaking audience, and De Proprietatibus ac Virtutibus Medicis Animalium, Plantarum ac Gemmarum (1647), a translation of Arabic medical treatises. Ecchellensis’ Semita Sapientiae (1648) and Chronicon Orientale (1651) further exemplify this cultural exchange by translating and disseminating Arabic knowledge in Europe. Similarly, the works of other scholars, such as Vittorius Scialac’s Totum Arabicum Alphabetum (1624) and Gabriel Sionita’s Testamentum et Pactiones Initae (1630), also contributed to European understanding of Arabic language and culture.

In addition, these scholars were instrumental in documenting and analyzing material culture, such as coins, seals, and other artifacts. A notable example is Simone Assemani’s Museo Cufico Naniano (Padua: Stamperia del Seminario, 1787–88), which explored Arabic and Kufi calligraphy and Islamic numismatics. Maronites and other Oriental Christians also played a fundamental role in interpreting Islamic material culture in Europe, whether in public or private collections (Mörike, 2021). These efforts significantly enhanced the understanding of medieval Islamic art, culture, and history through material objects (Contadini, 2021). Thus, the historiography of these alumni should encompass their diverse contributions beyond church history (Mörike, 2021).

Their intellectual production was transformative, influencing geographical knowledge and shifting power dynamics by integrating Eastern knowledge into European languages. This process not only contributed to a more inclusive and diverse geographical scholarship but also highlighted the essential role of multilingual scholars in bridging different language communities (Davies, 2021).

The impact of the Maronite College alumni on the geopolitics of the 17th and 18th centuries Mediterranean region was profound. Through their scholarly endeavors, these scholars bridged significant cultural and intellectual gaps between Europe and the Ottoman-controlled Levant. Their work not only enhanced European understanding of Middle Eastern languages and cultures but also influenced diplomatic and intellectual exchanges across the Mediterranean. For instance, their translations and studies of Oriental texts facilitated the dissemination of Eastern knowledge, which in turn enriched European academic and cultural landscapes. This intellectual production contributed to shifting geopolitical dynamics by fostering a more informed and nuanced engagement with the Middle East, thus playing a momentous role in the broader geopolitical interactions of the period.

Photo Credits

Fig. 7.1: Ecchellensis, A. (1651). Chronicon orientale [Petri Rahebi], nunc primum latinitate donatum ab Abrahamo Ecchellensi… Cui accessit ejusdem supplementum historiae orientalis. Parisiis: ex typ. Regia. Second edition: Venice, 1729. Courtesy of USEK Library, Pat. 206.
Fig. 7.2 : Ecchellensis, A. (1641). Synopsis propositorum sapientiae Arabum philosophorum, inscripta Speculum mundum repraesentans, ex Arabico sermone latine iuris facta ab Abrahamo Ecchellensis. Parisiis: excudebat Antonius Vitray. Courtesy of USEK Library, ePat. 200.
Fig. 7.3: Scialac, V. (1624). Totum arabicum alphabetum, ad unam tabellam cum suis vocalibus et signis, facilitatis causa, reductum. Romae: apud Stephanus Paulinum. Courtesy of USEK Library, ePat. 210.
Fig. 7.4: Sionita, G. (1630). Testamentum et pactiones initae inter Mahommedem et christianae fidei cultores. Parisiis: excudebat Antonius Vitray. Courtesy of USEK Library, ePat. 185.
Fig. 7.5: Ecchellensis, A. (1647). De Proprietatibus ac virtutibus medicis animalium, plantarum ac gemmarum, tractatus triplex… nunc primum ex Arabico idiomate Latinitate donatus. Parisiis: S. et G. Cramoisy. Courtesy of USEK Library, ePat. 166.
Fig. 7.6: Ecchellensis, A. (1648). Semita sapientiae sive ad scientias comparandas (auctore Bourhan al-Din) methodus, nunc primum Latine juris facta ab Abrahamo Ecchellensi. Parisiis: apud Aadrianum Taupinart. Courtesy of USEK Library, ePat. 165.
Fig. 7.7: Ecchellensis, A. (1661). Eutychius, patriarcha Alexandrinus, vindicatus et suis restitutus Orientalibus, sive Responsio ad Joannis Seldeni Origines…. Romae: typis S. C. de prop. Fide. Courtesy of USEK Library, Pat. 1214.

References

• Brock, S. P. (2011). Assemani, Joseph Aloysius (1710–1782). In Gorgias encyclopedic dictionary of the Syriac heritage: Electronic edition (e-GEDSH). Gorgias Press. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/entry/Assemani-Joseph-Aloysius
• Brock, S. P. (2011). Assemani, Josephus Simonius Giuseppe Simone Assemani (1687–1768). In Gorgias encyclopedic dictionary of the Syriac heritage: Electronic edition (e-GEDSH). Gorgias Press. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Assemani-Josephus-Simonius
• Brock, S. P. (2011). Assemani, Stephanus Evodius (1711–1782). In Gorgias encyclopedic dictionary of the Syriac heritage: Electronic edition (e-GEDSH). Gorgias Press. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/entry/Assemani-Stephanus-Evodius
• Contadini, A. (2021). Changing perceptions of Middle Eastern objects and cultures in eighteenth-century Europe. In I. Dolezalek & M. Guidetti (Eds.), Rediscovering objects from Islamic lands in Enlightenment Europe (pp. 23–53). Routledge.
• Davies, A. (2021). The politics and geopolitics of translation: The multilingual circulation of knowledge and transnational histories of geography: An Anglophone perspective. Terra Brasilis, 15. https://doi.org/10.4000/terrabrasilis.8004
• Dmitriev, K., & Orfali, B. (2018). Early Arabic studies in Rome, Venice and Kazan. In Language, identity and cultural exchange: Early Arabic studies in Europe and the Middle East project. Retrieved from https://agya.info/research/research-projects-by-year/language-identity-and-cultural-exchange-early-arabic-studies-in-europe-and-the-middle-east-1
• Fiano, E. A. (2011). Albonesi, Teseo Ambrogio degli Theseus Ambrosius (1469–ca. 1540). In Gorgias encyclopedic dictionary of the Syriac heritage (e-GEDSH): Electronic edition (e-GEDSH). Gorgias Press. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Albonesi-Teseo-Ambrogio-degli
• García-Arenal, M., & Rodríguez Mediano, F. (2017). Sacred history, sacred languages: The question of Arabic in early modern Spain. In J. Loop, J. A. Hamilton, & C. Burnett (Eds.), The teaching and learning of Arabic in early modern Europe (pp. 133–162). Brill.
• Gemayel, N. (1962). Rôle des Maronites dans l’acquisition des manuscrits orientaux et dans la rédaction de leur catalogue en France. In Exposition le livre et le Liban jusqu’à 1900 (pp. 213–217). Paris.
• Gemayel, N. (1984). Les échanges culturels entre les Maronites et l'Europe, du Collège Maronite de Rome 1584 au Collège de 'Ayn-Warqa 1789 (2 vols.). Liban.
• Girard, A. (2017). Teaching and learning Arabic in early modern Rome: Shaping a missionary language. In J. Loop, J. A. Hamilton, & C. Burnett (Eds.), The teaching and learning of Arabic in early modern Europe (pp. 189–212). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004338623_009
• Glesener, T. (2021). Gouverner la langue arabe: Miguel Casiri et les arabisants du roi d’Espagne au siècle des Lumières. Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, 76(2), 227–267.
• Levi Della Vida, G. (1962). Assemani, Stefano Evodio. In Dizionario biografico degli italiani (Vol. 4). Retrieved from https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/stefano-evodio-assemani_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
• López García, B. (2014). Review of Portugal e o Magrebe (séculos XVIII/XIX): Pragmatismo, inovação e conhecimento nas relações diplomáticas by E. M. von Kemnitz. Revista de Estudios Internacionales Mediterráneos (REIM), 17, 139–142.
• Mörike, T. (2021). Beyond manuscripts Maronite Christians as object interpreters in early modern Europe. In I. Dolezalek & M. Guidetti (Eds.), Rediscovering objects from Islamic lands in Enlightenment Europe (pp. 101–121). Routledge.
• Oussani, G. (1907). Assemani. In The Catholic encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01794a.htm
• Rietbergen, P. J. A. N. (1989). A Maronite mediator between seventeenth-century Mediterranean cultures: Ibrāhīm Al-Ḥakīlānī, or Abraham Ecchellense (1605–1664) between Christendom and Islam. LIAS, 16(1). https://repository.ubn.ru.nl/bitstream/handle/2066/105311/105311.pdf?sequence=1
• Van Rompay, L. (2011b). al-Ṣahyūnī, Jibrāʾīl Gabriel Sionita (ca. 1577–1648). In Gorgias encyclopedic dictionary of the Syriac heritage: Electronic edition (e-GEDSH). Gorgias Press. https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/entry/al-Sahyuni-Jibrail
• von Kemnitz, E.-M. (ca. 2012). Paulo Hodar. In Dicionário de Orientalistas de Língua Portuguesa. Retrieved from https://orientalistasdelinguaportuguesa.wordpress.com/paulo-hodar/
• Wilkinson, R. J. (2012). Syriac studies in Rome in the second half of the sixteenth century. Journal for Late Antique Religion and Culture, 6(1), 55–74. http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/clarc/jlarc