ABSTRACT
From the early Middle Ages onwards, objects from various regions under predominantly Islamic rule circulated in Europe as objects of trade, gifts or booty. While the appreciation of the material qualities seems to have played a major role in the reception of Islamicate objects in European contexts, they took on various connotations, depending on the context of their use and on the circumstances of their arrival in church treasuries and elsewhere. Oriental manuscripts with historical texts were deemed potential sources of knowledge; objects with inscriptions became carriers of information about themselves and about the cultures in which they were produced. The knowledge of Oriental languages was one of the cornerstones of the rediscovery of objects and their provenances.
