Since fall 2023, the Medieval Institute has been honored to host Dr. Manolis Ulbricht, who holds a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Postdoctoral Fellowship. This prestigious multi-year fellowship supports a researcher from the European Union to spend one to two years outside the EU conducting research before returning to an EU-associated institution for the remainder of the project. Dr. Ulbricht is spending his time here studying Qur’anic translations and anti-Islamic texts from the Byzantine world. His project, Documenta Coranica Byzantina (DoCoByz): Byzantino-Islamica in the Age of Digital Humanities, traces the exact transmission lines of the Greek translation(s) of the Qur’an (Testimonia Coranica Christiana) in order to document their reception and (re)use within Greek-Orthodox polemics (Episteme Islamica Orthodoxa), and to distill diachronically the common topoi and stereotypes of anti-Islamic argumentations and synchronously comparing them with the pre-13th century Latin polemics (Traditio Islamica Medievalis).

We sat down with Dr. Ulbricht to learn about his project (and his love of Byzantine Chant), and why he chose the Medieval Institute for the first portion of his fellowship.

What primary area of study are you working on right now as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Postdoctoral Fellow, and what brought you to Notre Dame specifically?

I am a scholar of Byzantine Studies with a particular focus on religious history, cross-cultural interactions, and interreligious exchanges across the Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean. My primary research centers on Christian-Muslim relations from the rise of Islam to the Fourth Crusade (7th–13th centuries), particularly examining the Eastern Mediterranean’s transformation From Oriens Christianus to Islamic Near East, which is also the title of my latest book.

As part of my EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship, Documenta Coranica Byzantina (DoCoByz)—hosted by the Universities of Nantes (France) and Copenhagen (Denmark)—I study Greek translations of the Qur’an and Byzantine polemical discourses against Islam, analyzing their influence on Latin traditions. My project traces the transmission of Qur’anic translations in Byzantium and how they influenced Eastern Christian knowledge on Islam. A key component of this work is the development of an online database featuring digital editions of Christian translations of the Qur’an and anti-Islamic polemics, making these texts more accessible to scholars and the wider public.

The University of Notre Dame is widely recognized as one of the premier institutions for Byzantine Studies in North America. Its library collections, particularly in the fields of medieval history and religious studies, are world-renowned, and I wanted to take full advantage of their resources. Additionally, Medieval Institute director Thomas Burman’s scholarship on medieval Latin translations of the Qur’an and Latin-Muslim relations aligns perfectly with my DoCoByz project. Working alongside Professor Burman has provided valuable insights and strengthened the comparative dimension of my research.

Your work is at the intersection of multiple languages and cultures. How did you come to study such a variety of languages and interdisciplinary fields?

I come from a multicultural family background—my father is German, my mother Greek—and both passed down their respective languages and cultural traditions. Growing up bilingual, I first learned French in school before studying English as my second foreign language. Then I had the opportunity to spend a year in Venezuela, where I became fluent in Spanish.

During high school, I was fascinated by Semitic languages and ancient cultures. I tried to teach myself Hebrew and Arabic. My academic focus ultimately shifted toward Arabic Philology, Islamic Studies, Theology, and History, and learning Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, and Latin.

When it came time to choose a graduate research topic, I sought a subject that would bring together my linguistic and cultural skills. This led me to the Vaticanus graecus 681, a manuscript containing fragments of the earliest known translation of the Qur’an, which is in Greek. To fully grasp Qur’anic Arabic, I spent two years in Syria, studying Qur’anic exegesis (tafsīr), Islamic theology (kalām), and recitation (tajwīd) at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. During this time, I also deepened my engagement with Eastern Christianity, conducting research in monasteries across Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt. This combination of Western academic training and direct field experience in the Middle East has shaped my approach in a way that integrates textual, linguistic, and lived religious traditions.

While a scholar of Byzantine texts, you are also a chanter in the Byzantine tradition. Could you tell us about your experience with Byzantine chant?

Since childhood, I have been captivated by Byzantine chant, particularly in our Greek Orthodox parish in a small village in Thessaly. I was fascinated by how the melodies unfolded from one mode into another, creating rich sound effects through numerous modulations.

My formal training in Byzantine hymnology and psalmody began in Berlin, where I studied under a Greek chanter from Alexandria. I continued my training in Greece, eventually earning my first teaching diploma in Byzantine Church Music from the Corelli Conservatory on Rhodes and later a second diploma from the National Conservatory of Athens.

I pursued further studies at the Scholeion Psaltikis in Athens while also exploring the Arabic and Ottoman Maqām system. Living in Syria, I encountered a new challenge—chanting Byzantine hymns in Arabic. The experience was surreal: the musical notation read from left to right, while the Arabic text flowed right to left.

My extensive stays at Greek Orthodox (Rūm Orthodox) monasteries in Lebanon and Syria introduced me to the monastic world of Byzantine chant and the complex liturgical life of Eastern Christianity. I still remember my initial shock when told that an upcoming liturgy on Mount Athos would last twelve hours! Over time, however, long vigils became a spiritual and musical journey. After the first three or four hours, you lose all sense of time, and the music carries you through the quiet night until the first light of dawn appears over the Aegean Sea.

Now, in South Bend, I face a new challenge: chanting in English. I am grateful to the Greek Orthodox parish of Saint Andrew and its community for warmly welcoming me into their choir.

How does your study of Byzantine Music and Music Theory complement your scholarly work?

I have come to realize how profoundly Byzantine music complements my academic work. Byzantine Christians understood the Qur’an not only as a book but also as an oral, performative tradition, akin to Byzantine hymnody. The modal and rhythmic structures of Byzantine chant, its liturgical function, and its oral transmission provide essential insights into textual interpretation.

My knowledge of Byzantine music has allowed me to explore its theoretical and modal structures in relation to the Eastern Mediterranean Maqām system. Byzantine chant, with its intricate system of Modes (ēchoi) and melodic patterns, shares remarkable structural affinities with Maqām theory. As shown in my recent article in my edited volume From Oriens Christianus to Islamic Near East, a comparative analysis of the Byzantine Second Mode and the Maqām Huzām, these connections reveal a broader intellectual and social exchange between Byzantium and the Islamic world.

Through this research, I integrate the study of Byzantine Music and Music Theory into my broader philological and historical work, demonstrating how the study of sound, melody, and performance can illuminate textual and theological interactions across traditions.

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Originally published by Medieval Institute at medieval.nd.edu on June 02, 2025.