644 salvation
ideology of civic HUMANISMto engage in an impassioned
and intense defense of republican institutions and Floren-
tine freedom. The immediate historical and most produc-
tive setting for this were the difficult years of the War of
the Eight Saints (1375–78) against both the PAPACYand
the expansionist policies of the VISCONTIof MILAN.
Coluccio’s humanist ideal assigned to people, intel-
lectuals in particular, the duty to defend the dignity and
necessity of political intervention by scholars and citizens
in the affairs of this world. One should read the classics
to learn how to accomplish this most effectively. One
should not withdraw into an intellectual exile. Classical
culture thus influenced if not permeated the writings
from his Florentine chancery further enriched the style of
Florence’s embassies, adding a solemnity and competence
enhancing the civil and political prestige of the city. He
encouraged the study of Greek and Hellenic culture in
the educational system and welcomed the Byzantine
humanist Manuel CHRYSOLORASto the city in 1397.
In his philological and rhetorical studies Salutati
transcribed and studied Cicero’s letters and was the first
to attribute to Julius Caesar the Gallic Wars.Coluccio
wrote treatises on many of the themes important to
humanist culture, from the defense of poetry and classical
studies to the philosophical contrasts between an active
life and a contemplative or monastic life, educational
reform, and a comparison between fate and free will. Like
PETRARCH, he demonstrated how the classical pagan
myths and allegories could be useful and instructive to
Christians. He collected a great library and made it avail-
able to young scholars. He died on May 4, 1406.
See also BRACCIOLINI,POGGIO;BRUNI,LEONARDO;
TRAVERSARI, AMBROGIO.
Further reading:Ephraim Emerton, Humanism and
Tyranny: Studies in the Italian Trecento(Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1925); Stephanie H. Jed, Chaste
Thinking: The Rape of Lucretia and the Birth of Humanism
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989); Berthold
L. Ullman, The Humanism of Coluccio Salutati(Padova:
Antenore, 1963); Ronald G. Witt, Hercules at the Cross-
roads: The Life, Works, and Thought of Coluccio Salutati
(Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1983).
salvation (soteriology) SeeREDEMPTION.
Samanids They were a dynasty of emirs who were
autonomous from, but loyal to, the ABBASIDcaliphs in
BAGHDAD. They began their dynasty in Transoxiana from
875 but soon took over the region around Khurasan in
eastern IRANfrom 900. They were the descendants of a
local landowner from the Balkh region in northern
Afghanistan, Saman-Khuda (819–864), who was a recent
convert to Islam. Basing their power on an aristocratic
class, they organized a complex state system. They
benefited from the slave trade and the general economic
prosperity of Transoxiana, which they protected from the
predations of TURKSfrom Central Asia. Their capital
BUKHARAbecame a great intellectual center of Persian lit-
erature. The Samanids were supported by Turkish merce-
nary units. However, after a series of palace revolutions,
they would be deposed in the late 10th century by two
dynasties of Turkish origin. The GHAZNAWIDStook over
around Khurasan in eastern Iran and the Qarakhanids
seized power in Transoxiana. The last fugitive Samanid
pretender to the throne was killed in 1005.
See alsoBUYIDS;SAFFARIDS;SAMARKAND.
Further reading: Iraj Bashiri, ed. and trans., The
Samanids and the Revival of the Civilization of Iranian Peo-
ples: Collected Research Materials (Dushanbe: Irfon,
1998); Clifford Edward Bosworth and Yolande Crowe,
“Samanids,” Encyclopedia of Islam8.1,025–1,031; Clifford
Edward Bosworth, The Islamic Dynasties (Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press, 1967), 101–102; Richard
Frye, The Golden Age of Persia: The Arabs in the East(New
York: Barnes & Noble, 1975).Samarkand (Marakanda, Mawaraal-Nahr) Medieval
Samarkand was a city in central Asia or Uzbekistan on
the Zeravshan River about 120 miles from BUKHARA.
Called Afrasiyab, it was the main town of Sogdiana, and
under Turkish rule from the fifth century. It retained its
Sogdian language and culture until the 10th century, and
Buddhism, Manichaeism, and Christianity all coexisted
there. The Arab conquest of 712 and 713 did not elimi-
nate the Christian community. It became something of a
NESTORIANmetropolis between 712 and 728 and propa-
gated that version of Christianity in central Asia. In the
eighth through 10th centuries, Samarkand developed into
an important commercial and industrial center famous
for its steel, PAPER, and rug industries. Under the rule of
the SAMANIDSin the ninth and 10th centuries, the city
became a brilliant cultural and artistic center. In 1220 it
was destroyed by JENGHIZKhan, but during the 13th cen-
tury the inhabitants who survived rebuilt it. An impor-
tant Christian community still existed into the late 13th
century. A Latin bishopric was created at Samarkand for a
DOMINICANfriar in 1329.
Christianity was later persecuted when TAMERLANE
and the TIMURIDS made Samarkand their capital from
1369 and promoted the building of still extant and
impressive MOSQUESsuch as the Bibi Khanum Mosque.
They also left impressive tombs, a MADRASA,and an obser-
vatory from the 15th century.
See alsoKHWARIZMSHAHS; MONGOLS AND THEMONGOL
EMPIRE.
Further reading:Wilfrid Blunt, The Golden Road to
Samarkand(New York: Viking Press, 1973); René Grous-
set, The Empire of the Steppe: A History of Central Asia,
trans. Naomi Walford (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers
University Press, 1970); Vadim Evgenevich Gippenreiter,