The alumni of the Maronite College made notable contributions to the establishment and cataloging of Oriental libraries across Europe, including, but not limited to, the Vatican Library, the Laurentian Library in Florence, El Escorial in Spain, the Bibliothèque Royale in Paris, the Ambrosiana in Milan, and the Naniana in Venice.

Moreover, these alumni enriched the Maronite College's collection with unique manuscripts from the East and produced printed works through the Stamperia ex collegio maronitarum and other presses of the time. Among these works were essential grammars for Syriac and Arabic, and a book of Syriac liturgy. Thus, the collection became a hub for scholars of Eastern studies (Girard & Pizzorusso, 2017). The alumni also published across various disciplines, including Christian theology, Oriental traditions, Arabic and Syriac languages, linguistics, and church history, establishing the Maronite College as a center for Syriac studies in Rome in the late 16th century (Wilkinson, 2012).

At the time, Oriental presses were rare in Europe (Aboussouan, 1982). However, Maronite alumni applied their linguistic skills at these presses, starting with the Medici Oriental press in 1584, the Savariana Press in 1619, the Maronite College’s Oriental press in 1614, and later at the Propaganda Fide press in 1626, among others (Girard & Pizzorusso, 2017). The Roman Catholic Church, guided by the Tridentine doctrines, used these presses to produce Arabic and Syriac texts for missionaries and Oriental Christians (Krimsti, 2018).

In the field of cataloguing, notable alumni included Abraham Ecchellensis (Ibrāhīm Al-Ḥāqilānī, 1605–1664), who taught Syriac and Arabic at the Sapienza College in Rome, became a professor of oriental languages at Pisa, and later became a professor of Syriac and Arabic at the Collège des lecteurs royaux in Paris. He authored a Syriac grammar entitled Linguae syriacae sive chaldaicae in 1628, intended for students of the Maronite College. He was involved in the Paris Polyglot, to which he contributed the Syriac and Arabic text of the book of Ruth and the Arabic text of three Maccabees (Van Rompay, 2011a). In 1658, he authored the first catalogue of Syriac and Arabic manuscripts of the Biblioteca Vaticana’s holdings, an invaluable reference that, in 1660, landed him the newly established position of the scriptor orientalis of Syriac and Arabic at the Vatican Library (Rietbergen, 1989). This newly established position, a function added to the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scriptores, “meant a clear recognition not only of the new nominee's personal merits but, one may say, of the importance of the Near East for the cultural history of the European-Christian world” (Rietbergen, 1989).

Another key figure was Giuseppe Simone Assemani (Yūsuf Simʿān al-Simʿānī, 1687–1768), appointed First Custodian of the Vatican Library in 1739. He contributed significantly to Syriac studies with his four volumes Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana. This was meritoriously “the first European history of Syriac literature, and it remains an important resource even today, thanks to the many extensive excerpts of Syriac texts” (Brock, 2011a).

Similarly, Stephanus Evodius Assemani (Istifān ʿAwaḍ al-Simʿānī, 1711–1782) compiled catalogs of Eastern manuscripts of the Medicean-Laurentian Library in Florence. Upon his uncle Giuseppe’s death, he became the first custodian of the Vatican Library (Oussani, 1907). Two of his most important works are the Acta Sanctorum Martyrum orientalium et occidentalium and the third Syriac volume of the six-volume edition of Ephrem (Brock, 2011a; Levi Della Vida, 1962).

In Spain, Miguel Casiri (Mikha’il al-Ghazīrī, 1710–1791), after teaching Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldean in Rome, was invited by the Spanish government to serve as an interpreter of oriental languages for King Ferdinand VI and as a librarian in Madrid and El Escorial (Glesener, 2021).. His most renowned work, Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana Escurialensis, catalogs the 1,805 codices of El Escorial that survived the fire of 1671. In 1749, he was appointed director of the El Escorial Library (Moscoso García, 2017). Casiri’s contributions laid the groundwork for Oriental studies in Spain, leading to the creation of an Arabic chair at the Royal Studies of San Isidro by Charles III in 1770 (Ávila, Font, & De La Torre, 2007; Rodríguez Mediano, 2017).

Likewise, Faustus Naironus (Murhij bin Nīmrūn al-Bānī, 1628–1708) was custodian of the Biblioteca Alessandrina and professor of Syriac at La Sapienza. He wrote a book entitled Evoplia fidei catholicae romanae historico-dogmatica (The Historical-Dogmatic Armour of the Roman Catholic Faith), published in Rome in 1694 (Girard, 2019). He is remembered for editing a New Testament in Syriac, a Garshuni edition of the Gospels, and for publishing Italy’s first pamphlet on coffee (Gemayel, 1984).

Another notable scholar, Pierre Dipy (Buṭrus Dīb al-Ḥalabī, 1622–1709), served as interpreter for King Louis XIV of France for the oriental languages and was chair of Syriac and Arabic at the Royal College. He also worked at the Royal Library in France, the predecessor of today's Bibliothèque Nationale de France, where he compiled the first catalog of the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish manuscript collections of the Royal Library holdings. He also collected manuscripts from the East for its fonds. His contributions to Oriental studies in France were foundational (Gemayel, 1962). In the 18th century, Joseph Ascari took over the cataloging of the Arabic collection.

Furthermore, Simone Assemani (Simʿān al-Simʿānī, 1752–1821), born in Rome and Giuseppe Assemani’s grand-nephew, worked for a while at the Imperial Library in Vienna. He later worked at the Naniana Library in Venice, where he created the Catalogo de' codici manoscritti orientali della Biblioteca Naniana (Part I), published in 1787, and Museo cufico naniano (Part II) in 1788, both published in Padova (D’Ottone Rambach, 2018). In 1785, he was appointed professor of Oriental languages at the seminary in Padua. Many years later, he was assigned to teach Sacred Scripture and Oriental languages at that university (1807), a position he held until his death (Gemayel, 1984).

Lastly, Michel Maronita (Mīshāl al-Mārūnī) was recruited in 1609 by Cardinal and Archbishop of Milan Federico Borromeo, who founded the Ambrosian Library in Milan, to manage its Oriental manuscripts (Girard & Pizzorusso, 2017). Michel Maronita assumed an important role with his brief mission to the Near East to obtain manuscripts. His name is also significant in Arabic studies, as he was the teacher of many graduates of the Ambrosian Library, the most famous of whom was Antonio Giggi (Geggie), who produced Thesaurus Linguae Arabicae (Tottoli, R. 2023).

In conclusion, Maronite scholars and men of letters, educated in the rich tradition of the Christian-Syriac-Arab world, navigated a complex cultural landscape. While deeply connected to a religion that had shifted its focus to Western Europe and become Eurocentric, they faced a culture that often viewed the Near East as foreign and antagonistic (Rietbergen, 1989). Recognizing that the Christian heritage of the Near East was integral to Christianity itself, these scholars sought to reconnect European scholarship with its own roots by reintroducing it to this rich, yet often overlooked, cultural background. They understood that the Arab-Islamic tradition had developed valuable knowledge that European culture could not afford to ignore. Their work aimed to bridge this gap, offering Europe access to the scholarly achievements of a neighboring culture that shared common origins (Heyberger, 2010).

Building on these efforts to transfer knowledge from the East to Europe, Maronite scholars not only facilitated cultural exchange but also ensured the long-term preservation of these treasures. After transferring these manuscripts and cultural materials to Europe, Maronite scholars and their European counterparts worked diligently to preserve, catalog, and explore them for the advancement of human knowledge. These materials remain accessible for study and are not hidden or merely displayed, reflecting their continued role in intellectual and cultural development.

Photo Credits

Fig. 6.1: Assemani, S., & Assemani, J. (1756-1759). Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae codicum manuscriptorum (Vols. 1–3). Rome. Reprinted in Paris (1926-1929). Courtesy of USEK library, 015.45634031.A8447 vols. 1-3.
Fig. 6.2: Assemani, S. (1787-1792). Catalogo de’ codici manoscritti orientali della Biblioteca Naniana (Vols. 1–2). Padua. Courtesy of USEK library, Pat. 714, vols. 1-2.
Fig. 6.3: Casiri, M. (1760-1770). Bibliotheca arabico-hispaňa Escurialensis (Vols. 1–2). Madrid. Courtesy of USEK library, Pat. 1854, vols. 1-2.
Fig. 6.4: Ascari, J. (18th century). [Notices for the Manuscripts of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France]. BnF Ar 2938 (1332). Fol. 1r. Taken from: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10884492v
Fig. 6.5: Assemani, S. (1742). Bibliothecae Mediceae Laurentianae et Palatinae codicum manuscriptorum orientalium catalogus (Vols. 1-4). Florence. Courtesy of USEK library, 015.45511031.A8447b, vols. 1-4.

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