Arabic studies in the city of Seville and its University: an approach to their long history (13th-21st centuries)

Abstract

This work constitutes a historical-natured, diachronically projected survey of the evolution of the studies of the Arab people’s language and culture carried out in Seville and its University. After the conquest of the city in 1248, Alfonso X The Wise founds herein the first center dedicated to the teaching and learning of Arabic: the Estudio General de Latino y Arábigo (General Study of Latin and Arabic). After the failure of this first center, the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor creates in the 17th century the Colegio Trilingüe (Trilingual School) of Seville, where Francisco Bernardino González would stand out as the author of Intérprete Arábigo (Arabic Interpreter) and Epítome de la Gramática Arábiga (Epitome of Arabic Grammar), both remarkable models of a dictionary and a grammar for learning Arabic. In the 19th century, Pascual de Gayangos becomes the leading exponent of the Arabic letters of his time and educates the next generation of Arabists, including disciple León Carbonero y Sol, a key figure in Arabic studies at the University of Seville. The 20th and 21st centuries culminate with the final implementation of Arabic studies in this University.