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Die Bedeutung Arabischer Manuskripte in den Konfessionellen Auseinandersetzungen des 17. Jahrhunderts: John Selden, Johann Heinrich Hottinger und Abraham Ecchellensis

In 1642, English scholar Johan Selden published a short passage of the universal history written by Eutyhchius, the Melkite Patriarch of Alexandria (933-940) which described the election and ordination of bishops in Alexandria in the first three centuries AD. The excerpt attacked the legitimacy of the established church hierarchy in general and the supremacy of bishops over presbyters in particular. This article follows the controversial reception of Selder’s publication, focusing on Reformed Swiss historian Johann Heinrich Hotitnger and Maronite orientalist Abraham Ecchellensis, and argues that confessional competition was a major incentive for Arabic studies in the mid-seventeenth century.