The Qur’an returns “freely” in Pamplona
Pamplona 1143. The English theologian, astronomer, translator and Arabic Robert of Ketton (Robertus Ketensis, in Latin) translated the Koran for the first time into Latin. Although we know very little about the early years of his life, it seems that Ketton studied in Paris. In 1134 he embarked on a long journey to the East that would last for four years. It was in the Byzantine Empire, Palestine and Damascus, and later became known as an Arab translator.
For 1141 it was in the Iberian Peninsula, divided between Muslims and Christians, the peninsula was a suitable place for Arab translators. We know that in 1143 he was in Pamplona, where he was named archideacon. In fact, he preferred to translate scientific to theological texts. He knew the work of Euclid and translated the works of Al Battani and Avicena. The Koran was latinized to order.
In 1142 he received the visit of Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny. The abate was collecting information about Islam to write Liber against sectam sive haeresim Sarracenorum and paid Ketton to return the Qur'an.
The translator did not make a faithful translation of the text, not by negligence, but with intent. The title of this first Latin version clearly shows that the intention of the translation was to underestimate Islam: Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete (law of the false prophet Muhammad). Exaggerating the harmless details and giving a cruel and obscene tone, he completed an absolutely negative interpretation of the Koran.
In 1157 he was named Tudela Canon and little is known about the last years of Ketton. But his translation had a long shadow. When in the following centuries the Qur'an was translated into European languages, the Ketton version was taken as the basis and not the original one. For example, in 1547 Andrea Arrivabe used the translation of Ketton to give the Quran in Italian, in 1616 Salomon Schweigger based the first translation in German and later, the Dutch version of the German version. Thus, this false translation made in Pamplona has influenced for centuries the image that the West has had of Islam.
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