Risk (Genoa, 1154)
The word "risk" entered the languages of western Europe in the mid-12th century. The Latin resicum first appeared in notarial archives in Genoa, and was used to describe a payment awarded to those who invested in dangerous trans-Mediterranean shipping. It comes from the Arabic word al-rizq, which in the Qur'an referred to the means of subsistence provided by God. In this presentation, we'll look at the very earliest attested uses of the Latin resicum and think together about how the word entered Latin, what it meant in these earliest contracts, and why the word and its cognates was embraced with such enthusiasm in the European languages.

No shoes allowed: Jewish Tradition between Spain and the Maghreb
Sephardi Jews living in the early modern Maghreb struggled to preserve their old traditions while adjusting to their new Islamic surrounding. This short talk will discuss a specific rabbinical answer from the mid-15th century, which tried to offer a general principle for Jewish cultural adaptability. More broadly, it will look at responsa literature as a fundamental source for the study of Mediterranean scholarly networks.