Moi, Muḥammad Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, témoin de la peste noire

Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s Riḥla is probably the only work of medieval travel literature whose protagonist claims to have personally witnessed the plague pandemic known as the Black Death. The passages describing the scourge include the story of a rogatory – and inter-religious prayer held in Damascus in July 1348. This is probably the most often mentioned passage of the Riḥla, the most quoted in the studies on the Black Death in the Middle East, as well in those on relations between religious groups in the Mamluk empire. This article is an endeavour to contribute to both the studies on Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s Riḥla and the Black Death by analysing the story of the Damascus prayer in its historical context and literary aspects