THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN KINGDOM 1200-I'iOObut he argued that their religions were inadequate because
they were incomplete; but even to recognise in them partial
truth was an unusual concession in late medieval Europe.
Llull's novels-such as Blanquerna, written in Montpellier in
1283-85, or Felix, written while on one of his visits to Paris
- are structured around a popularised version of the 'art' .:^111
And the aim of such books was not simply to increase Chris-
tian devotion among his Christian readers, but to prompt
them to support his campaign for the conversion of Muslims
and Jews. Simply by lending their support, Christians could
earn merit for themselves. It was a matter of bitter disappoint-
ment that his attempts to secure the aid of sundry popes
and monarchs, including the rulers of France, Naples and
Cyprus, never seemed to secure long term results. His own
language school, founded for Franciscan missionaries with
papal approval around 1276, was based at Miramar in the
north-west of Majorca, and benefited from the patronage of
Llull's old friend King James II of Majorca. But it fell victim
to the chaos of the War of the Vespers. Later, the Council of
Vienne took further his attempts to stimulate the teaching of
oriental languages in the existing universities: there was a
brief upsurge in the study of Hebrew at Oxford, for instance.
But long-term results were few.
His own expeditions into north Mrica, in the hope of ex-
plaining his 'art' and converting large numbers of Muslims
were not successful, either. His books written in Arabic do
not survive; perhaps that very fact is significant of their lack
of impact, though a book-within-a-book written in Catalan,
the Book of the Lover and the Beloved, reveals strong influence
from the Sufi mystical tradition within Islam.^11 Llull's aim
while he was in Tunis (in 1293) was to engage in direct dis-
cussion with the Muslim imams, tempting them into verbal
combat with the suggestion that he would become a Muslim
if they could convince him of the truth of Islam. But the only
result was that he was expelled and forbidden to return. In
Bougie, in 1307, aged seventy-five, he stood up in the main
square, shouting out a denunciation of Muhammad in the
30. Ramon Llull, Blanquema (London, 1923); Felix may he found in
Bonner, Select Works, vol. 2, pp. 64 7-1105.
31. Text in Blanquerna, pp. 411-68; a new translation by E. Bonner is in
A. Bonner, Doctor Illuminatus, pp. 173-237; also trans!. M.D. Johnston,
The Book of the !~over and the BP!oved (Warminster /Bristol, 1995).