Exceptionally, volume 22 focuses on one topic only: the manuscript corpus from the period of Ilkhanid rule in Baghdad (13th and 14th century CE). Entitled The Mongols’ Baghdad: Knowledge Transmission through Manuscript Cultures before and after the Conquest, guest editors Bruno De Nicola and Nadine Löhr aim to challenge with this volume the well-established narrative of Baghdad’s cultural decline after the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1258 CE. They consider the corpus a valuable resource for reconstructing intellectual and cultural trends from a multidisciplinary perspective. Accordingly, focusing on legal, medical, astronomical, literary or theological texts, the case studies offer insights into a great variety of topics: the change in linguistic and literary interest of the ruling elites (B. De Nicola), the processes of editing, disseminating and canonisation (S. Kamola, T. Mimura), the resilience of theological networks (S. Brinkmann) and the continuity of legal scholarship (K. Ivanyi). The rich layers of marginal notes in two specific manuscripts are utilized by G. Gharib and N. Löhr: the one to trace the extent of manuscript destruction and continuity, the other to map the scholarly environment in which scientific traditions were maintained. From historical sources and surviving medieval buildings A. Petersen reconstructs which urban infrastructure may have persisted after Mongol conquest.

"medieval worlds" provides a forum for comparative, interdisciplinary and transcultural studies of the Middle Ages. Its aim is to overcome disciplinary boundaries, regional limits and national research traditions in Medieval Studies, to open up new spaces for discussion, and to help developing global perspectives. We focus on the period from c. 400 to 1500 CE but do not stick to rigid periodization.
medieval worlds is open to submissions of broadly comparative studies and matters of global interest, whether in single articles, companion papers, smaller clusters, or special issues on a subject of global/comparative history. We particularly invite studies of wide-ranging connectivity or comparison between different world regions.

Apart from research articles, medieval worlds publishes ongoing debates and project and conference reports on comparative medieval research.

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