More about the Society

Since scholars and individuals from a variety of disciplines formed the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean (SMM) in 1997, interest has not merely been clear from the wide range of articles produced and the growing commitment of the increasingly diverse and specialised contributors from universities and institutions across Europe, the Middle East and North America. The flourishing membership and the expertise of the expanding editorial board of Al-Masāq Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean are also testimony to the society’s gathering momentum. This interdisciplinary approach has been at the heart of the society’s determination to discuss the Medieval Mediterranean within a historical context: encouraging the pursuit of high quality independent and collaborative scholarship within a defined common cultural framework.

The journal Al-Masāq is currently published bi-annually by Routledge Taylor & Francis but so successful has it been in attracting varied and original articles that, as from 2009, three issues will be produced each year. The journal has focussed on the Mediterranean Basin as a geographical crossroads and region of unparalleled cultural interchange, bringing together the many themes which constitute its significance in the Medieval period. It was by the establishment of trade routes carrying religion, culture and technology that the region grew in importance. The unity and coherence of the Mediterranean and its influence are major truths that remain unchallenged. The Society also issues a bi-annual newsletter with the latest information about members and their research projects and theses, new websites of interest, upcoming lectures, conferences and museum displays.