2025 Howard S. Schwartz Memorial Annual Lecture Series
“1325: Mansa Musa, Al-Saheli, and How Medieval Africa Helped Shape Modernity”
Suzanne Preston Blier, Allen Whitehill Clowes Professor of Fine Arts and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
During the famed 1325 Hajj journeys of Mali Emperor Mansa Musa and Granada poet Al Saheli, their travels Individually or together cross three continents – Europe (Spain), Asia (Arabia), and Africa (Egypt, the Sahara, Mali and Morocco), providing key insight into these centers and related events. These men and this journey offer vital insight into how Medieval Africa helped to foster the changes that shaped modernity.
