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Primary sourceBookc. 960

Antapodosis

Liutprand of Cremona · c. 960

A Latin history by Liutprand of Cremona, dedicated to an envoy of Abd al-Rahman III and containing Western reports about al-Andalus.

Dedicated to Abd al-Rahman's envoy Recemund, this work provides Western reports on al-Andalus during his reign.

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Manuscript page of Latin handwriting in brown ink on pale parchment, with a decorated initial letter D and a large capital E at left margin, and page number 51 at top right.
Liutprand of Cremona, Antapodosis, second half of the 10th century. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Clm 6388, fol. 51r.

About this source

What it is

Antapodosis is a Latin historical work written around 960 by Liutprand of Cremona, a Western bishop and diplomat. It was dedicated to Recemund, bishop of Elvira, who served as an envoy for Abd al-Rahman III. A surviving manuscript page is held in the Bavarian State Library in Munich.

Why it matters

Because Liutprand dedicated his history to Recemund, the text connects to Abd al-Rahman III's diplomatic network and includes Western accounts of events touching al-Andalus, including raids by Muslim forces based at Fraxinetum. It shows how rulers across medieval Europe and the Mediterranean exchanged envoys and information, and how a Western writer viewed the wider Muslim world of his time.

Look closer

  • Why might a Latin historian dedicate his work to a bishop who served as an envoy for a Muslim caliph?
  • What can the handwriting and decoration of the manuscript page tell us about how such texts were produced?
  • What kind of information about al-Andalus might a Western author have gotten wrong or left out?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Abd al-Rahman III on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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