“This language is more universal than any other”: Values of Arabic in early modern Italy

The Arabic language enjoys a complex status, due to the systematic coexistence of very different registers: literary Classic Arabic, spoken dialects, and various levels of so-called Middle Arabic. Knowledge of Arabic in Europe during the centuries of pre-modern and early-modern era usually would entail a (partial) competence in only one of these levels. Moreover, all these variants represented contact with or access to different communities and areas of knowledge. By identifying the main values embodied by Arabic for people in the Latin West who aimed at its mastery, and by recognizing the potential transmitters of such competence, this chapter aims at showing that by the end of the sixteenth century, in Italy and particularly in the Roman context, all these areas of knowledge and paths of access merged into a synthesis represented by the Medici Press project (1584-1614). A few documents are presented here, which relate to the Press’ activities and show a remarkable awareness of this matter.