Muslims and Jews in Exempla Collections: A Case Study on Stephen of Bourbon's Tractatus de materiis praedicabilibus.

This article assesses the overall impact of images of Muslims and Jews presented in the Tractatus de materiis praedicabilibus, a thirteenth-century exempla collection by Stephen of Bourbon (d. c. 1261), a Dominican friar from Lyon. By reading exempla within the context of the collections used by preachers when composing their sermons, we can better understand a key stage in the dissemination of ideas about Muslims and Jews. In keeping with Dominican priorities, Stephen's approach to Islam focused on crusade and mission. However, conversion is largely absent from his material on Jews, which is primarily scriptural or Marian in its focus. It is clear from this survey that approaches to Muslims and Jews remained separate. Also, Stephen did not use the full range of anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim polemic in circulation in the thirteenth century, instead focusing on material that resonated with his interests as a Dominican and an inquisitor. As Stephen's Tractatus demonstrates, each exempla collection represents only one aspect of a heterogeneous response to both Jews and Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]