Francisco J. Cintrón Mattei
Education
M.M.S. Medieval Studies, University of Notre Dame; B.A. History, Minor in Classical Civilizations, Ohio University
Year of Matriculation
2020
Contact
Areas of Interest
Medieval Iberia; Al-Andalus; Mediterranean History; Interfaith Relations; Canon Law; Islamic Law; Eastern Christianity
Profile
Francisco’s research centers on the history of law and religious minorities in the medieval Mediterranean, especially the Iberian Peninsula. He is interested in the societal transformations brought about by the Islamic conquests, and specifically the survival of late antique legal norms and institutions among non-Muslims under Muslim rule in the Early Middle Ages. His dissertation examines the Arabic translation of Latin canon law compiled in the Collectio Hispana (preserved in RBME, ms. árabe 1623) to uncover the social, cultural, and institutional development of the Christians of Muslim Spain (Al-Andalus) between the eighth and eleventh centuries. Other ongoing projects include studies on Christian-Arabic linguistics, the lived experience of legal pluralism in Iberia, and the comparative history of canon law in the Latin West and Islamic East.
Recent Scholarly Activity
- "A Christian Imamate in Al-Andalus: Reconsidering the Mozarabs through the Arabic Collectio Hispana," Medieval Academy of America, March 21, 2025
- “Following the Sunna of the Canons: Arabic Canon Collections and Christian Legal Language in the Islamic Mediterranean.” Hispania Sacra 76:154 (2024): 1-13.
- “Insights into the Judicial Organization & Social Authority of an Ecclesiastical Judiciary in al-Andalus.” In Canon Law and Christian Societies between Christianity and Islam: An Arabic Canon Collection from Al-Andalus and its Transcultural Contexts, eds. Matthias Maser, Jesus Lorenzo & Geoffrey K. Martin, 269-94 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2024).
- Gerda Henkel Foundation Research Fellowship: "Christian Society under Muslim Rule: Canon Collections from Muslim Spain" (2019–20)
- J. William Fulbright Research Fellowship: "The 'Colección Canónica Hispana' in al-Andalus: Law and Society among Arabized Christians" (2018–19)