Hermann the Dalmatian’s Purported Role in the Translation of the Quran into Latin

Abstract

This paper, part of a forthcoming reassessment of certain claims about Hermann the Dalmatian (c. 1105/1110‒after 26 February 1154), an illustrious scholar, philosopher and translator of scientific and religious works from Arabic to Latin, addresses Hermann’s purported co-authorship of the first Latin translation of the Quran. Examination of the literature has revealed that this widely accepted claim, which has been uncritically disseminated via Croatian scholarly literature and the popular media, appears to be based on misreadings of the sources and conjectures.