Religion and violence

Son of Hussein Ibn Ali, he took part in the Arab uprising against the Ottomans in 1916. He was named emir of Transjordan under British mandate in 1921. With his father and brothers, he shared the project for the creation of a great Arab state. At the beginning of 1948, he held secret negotiations with the Zionists to take Transjordan after the British withdrawal. During the Arab coalition's war against Israel, which declared its statehood on 14 May, he fulfilled this resolution and annexed Cisjordan, to found the Kingdom of Jordan. He was assassinated by a young Palestinian two years later.

Abdallah ibn Saba' (Al-Husayn ibn Salam before his conversion to Islam): One of the circle of the Companions of the Prophet, according to Muslim tradition, which states that he was a well-known rabbi before his conversion.

Abdul-Hussein Amini (1902-1970): Shi'ite theologian and religious savant.

Prime Minister June-November 1948.

Iranian Shi'ite cleric. When he had been in Iraq, Kashani had criticised the British and had been exiled to Iran. During the Second World War he spent eighteen months in British prisons in Karmanshah and Arak.

Geographer and cartographer based in Antwerp.

Member of the Quraysh tribe, a highly respected person, he took on the direction of the Muslim community after the death of Muhammed and is recognised as the first Caliph by the Sunnis.

Indo-pakistani Sunni theologian, founder of the Jamaat-e islami party.

Fundamentalist Pakistani theologian, founder of the Pakistani party Jammat-e-Islami. For many years he defended the idea of a unified India, but ruled by shari'a. He accepted the partition of India and Pakistan, proposing two modes of action for Muslims living on one side or the other of the frontier: in Pakistan shari'a should be applied rigorously; in India, where Muslims were in the minority, they should proceed in stages.

Adolf von Harnack (1851-1930): Lutheran theologian, specialist in the early centuries of Christianity, Harnack was also a doctor of law, medicine and philosophy. He represented the liberal wing of German Protestantism. One of his principal works was The History of Dogmas in three volumes. A university professor, he also took part in public life as a political adviser to Wilhelm II. His essay, Das Wesen des Christenums (The essence of Christianity) was a response to Alfred Loisy's Catholic exegesis which was a critical starting point he so-called 'modernist' crisis in the Catholic Church.

Adrien van Haemstede (c 1525-1562). Calvinist pastor originally from Zeeland, he sought to obtain clemency from Henri II for his co-religionists faced with persecution, then travelled to Antwerp in support of the cause of Reform, where he may have written his martyrology, then to London, before ending his days in Friesland.

Hajj Agha Hussein Qommi (1865-1946): Iranian Shi'ite cleric.

Theodore Agrippa d'Aubigné (1552-1630). French soldier and man of letters. He was the author of Tragedies, a long epic poem giving an account of the persecution of his Calvinist co-religionists and the wars of religion. Begun in 1572. It was not published until 1615.

Iranian linguist, historian and philosopher. Prolific author and controversial thinker, he took up a position in favour of religious and social reform in Iran.

Preferred wife of the Prophet Muhammed.

Al-Shahrastani (1086-1183): Influential Muslim philosopher, specialist in Islamic heresies. He was the author of the Book of religions and sects (Kitab al-Milal was al-Nihal), which originated the scientific and pragmatic approach to the study of religion.

Author regarded as the most illustrious of Arab historians. He produced a monumental work which is a permanent reference point for the understanding of the early centuries of Islam: History of the kings and the peoples. He is also the author of a Tafsir (commentary on the Qu'ran), which contains certain points on which there remains disagreement amongst Muslims.

Alexander II (c. 1010-1073): Anselm of Lucca was born in Milan and died in Rome on 21 April 1073. He was elected Pope in 1061 under the name of Alexander II. He contributed to the internal reform of the Church. He opposed the emperor Henry IV in order to bolster his authority and extend the influence of Rome in the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, with the exception of Castille. He gave his blessing to William the Conqueror's conquest of England (1066). He developed the idea of peace between Christians and the struggle against non Christians, especially the Muslims, described as 'infidels' and 'heretics'.

History professor and Doctor of Theology, Baudrillart taught both scholars and the Catholic public at the university. He was the grandson of the orientalist Silvestre de Sacy and the writer Paul Clauder's confessor. Amongst other publications, he edited the Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiaistiques (Historical and Geographical Ecclesiastic Dictionary). He was elected to the Académie Française in 1918. Because of his anticommunism, he supported the Nazi offensive against the Soviet Union from June 1914, and died a few months later.

Ali (died 661): Cousin and son in law of the Prophet. For the Shi'ites, he is the first imam and succeeded Muhammed after his death, becoming the political and religious guide of the original Muslim community. For the Sunnis, he is the fourth Caliph after Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman.

cousin and son in law to the Prophet of Islam, Muhammed. After the assassination of Uthman, he was present at the designation of Ali (ruled 656-661) in questionable circumstances, which gave rise to revolts and opposition between them, leading to chroniclers and historians calling this troubled period the fitna or “Great Discord” (655-661).

Cousin and son in law of the Prophet Mohammed. After the assassination of Uthman, he was involved with designation of Ali (r 656-661) in circumstances that remain unclear, a major inspiration for the revolts and opposition which have led chroniclers and historians to call this troubled period the fitna or ‘Great Discord (655-661)

Prime Minister from June 1950 to March 1951.

Amjad al-Zahawi (1882-1967): Iraqi Sunni, mufti of Baghdad and president of the Association for the Relief of Palestine (jam'iyyat inqath filastin)

Augustine (354-430). Bishop of Hippo, the most important Christian thinker of Latin antiquity.

Philosopher and Christian theologian born in Roman North Africa. He is one of the most important thinkers of early Christianity and, together with Ambrose of Milan, Jerome of Stridonium and Gregory the Great, one of the Fathers of the Latin Church. His influence on Latin Christianity is huge. Coming from a Berber family, he studied in Carthage, and it was during a stay in Italy, in Milan, that he met Ambrose. He then decided to abandon Manichaeism and convert to Christianity (386). He became Bishop of Hippo after his return to North Africa (395). It was here that he died during the siege of the city by the Vandals. He left behind a considerable body of work defending and explaining the Christian faith. His three principal works (The City of God, Confessions, On the Trinity), are classics of theology, philosophy and literature.

Bartolomeo de las Casas (1484-1566). Dominican priest working in the Antilles and then in America who denounced the cruel treatment of the Indians by the conquistadores. His Très brève histoire de la destruction des Indes made a notable contribution to the ‘black legend' of the Spanish yoke

Benedict XV (18451922): Member of an aristocratic Genoan family, he studied law before entering the priesthood. He was ordained as a priest in 1878. The following year he enrolled in the Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics which prepared Italian aristocrats for diplomatic roles in the Holy See. In 1907 he became Archbishop of Bologna and in 1913 he was created Cardinal. This enabled him to participate in the Conclave of 1914, during which he was elected as Pope. On 3 September 1914 he declared the Holy See's neutrality in the conflict which had become a world war. His efforts in favour of peace, in 1914 as in 1917, failed. A doctor in canon law, he initiated what was to become the Canon Law Code of 1917. In 1919 he authorised Italian Catholics to take part in politics, which had been forbidden to them in theory since 1874.

Blaise de Monluc (c1500-1577): Soldier who distinguished himself in the Italian wars in the service of François I, then during the wars of religion in which he served the King. After his retirement from the army he wrote his memoires (Les Commentaires) and was made Marshall in 1574.

Hossein Tabatabai Borujerdi (1875-1961): Ayatollah who was the marjaa taqlid (source of imitation) of that time. A theologian, he was one of the most respected figures in Shi'ite Islam.

John Calvin (1509-1564): Reformer, theologian and writer of French origin, he organised Protestant reform in Geneva. His major work, 'The institution of the Christian religion' was the basis of Protestant theology.

Charles IX (1550-1574): King of France 1560 to 1574, second son of Catherine de Medici and Henri II. He remained under the influence of his mother, the regent, for a long time. He took measures to try to appease relations between Catholics and Huguenots – the Edict of St Germain (1570), the marriage of his sister to Henri de Navarre (who became Henri IV) – but he didn't stop the massacre of St Bartholomew. He died a few months later.

Frankish chief in the Tournai region, he fought first for the Romans against the Visigoths and the Germans. He then turned on the Romans and, after battles and matrimonial alliance, he consolidated his power over a vast territory, Married to a Christian, he was baptised between 498 and 506, together with his warriors. He was therefore able to rely on the support of the Gallo-roman population, who had also been Christianised, against his neighbouring rivals. After further victories he established his capital at Paris and fostered the judicial unification under Salic law. In 511 a synod of bishops established the Gallic Church.

Djevdet Pasha or Djevdet Bey: Brother in law of Enver Pasha, he was the Ottoman representative in Van from September 1914. He was responsible for the Armenian genocide in the region, acting on strict orders from the Government.

Jean IV de Brosse (1505-1564): Count of Penthièvre, Duke of Étampes and Chevreuse, and governor of Brittany (1453-1565).

A Polish Jew, she converted to Catholicism and joined the Carmelite order in1933. She was murdered in Auschwitz extermination camp in 1942. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1987 and she was canonised in 1998. She is considered a martyr of the Catholic church.

Elizabeth I (1533-1603). Queen on England 1558-1603). Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn,( who was condemned to death for adultery). She became Queen of England after the premature deaths of her half-brother Edward VI(1547-1553) and her elder half-sister Mary I (1553-1558).

Enver Pasha or Ismail Enver (1881-1922): An Ottoman official trained at the military academy of Istanbul, Enver Pasha was made Chief of Staff of the Macedonian army in 1902. He was a member of the Committee of Union and Progress at the beginning of the Young Turk revolution in July 1908, with a view to re-establishing the 1876 Constitution. He fought the counter-revolutionary movement in 1909 and pushed for the abdication of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Sent to Berlin, he established close relations with his German counterparts in order to modernise the Ottoman army. He distinguished himself in the Second Balkan War in 1913, after having organised a coup which gave power only to unionists. He became one of the members of the triumvirate which governed the Empire until October 1918. He was amongst the promoters of Pan- turkism. He was one of those principally responsible for the massacre of Christians (Pontiques, Syrians) in the Empire and that perpetrated against the Armenians. He took refuge in Germany and then Soviet Russia, and was condemned to death in July 1919. His attempts to create Islamic revolutionary committees failed, and he fled to Turkestan where he was killed during a confrontation with a Red Army detachment.

Faisal (1883-1933): Son of Sharif Hussein Ibn Ali, he failed to take Medina from the Turks in January 1917, but succeeded with a surprise attack in taking the port of Aqaba. On 1 October 1918, he made a triumphant entry to Damascus with Lawrence, where he hoped to be proclaimed king. However he failed to unify the Sham Arabs around his name and his project to obtain a conditional agreement with Weizmann was very badly received by the Arabs and immediately rejected by the British and French at the peace conference. He did receive some support from the British, but this was not sufficient to keep him in Damascus, from which the French army expelled him in July 1920. London granted him the throne of Iraq under British mandate.

Faraj Fuda (1946-1992): Writer, chronicler and militant for the rights of man. His writings aimed to defend secular society based on the separation of religion and the state. His work was in opposition to the growing influence of Islamism in the Arab world, which led to his assassination in 1992.

Tenth sovereign of the dynasty founded by Mohammed Ali and penultimate King of Egypt. He succeeded his father Fouad I on 28 April 1936 and reigned until 26 July 1952, when he was overthrown and replaced by his son Fouad II. He died thirteen years later in exile in Italy.

Iranian Shi'ite cleric who became an Ayatollah. At the beginning of the 1980's he represented Khomeini in the Revolutionary Guard.

François de Beaumont, baron des Adrets (1512/13-1587): soldier from Dauphiné and lieutenant to the Prince of Condé, leader of the Protestants. He converted to Catholicism in the 1560s

Franz-Ferdinand (1863-1914): Archduke of Austria and Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, he was the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1889. In spite of the fact that he had favoured greater autonomy for the national minorities in the Empire, he was assassinated by a Serb nationalist during a visit to Sarajevo on the occasion of the Austro-Hungarian army's manoeuvres in Bosnia. This event set off a chain reaction which ended in the summer of 1914 with the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary and Germany, both on Serbia and the Entente powers (Russia, the United Kingdom and France).

Gaspard de Coligny (1519-1572): Protestant aristocrat, Admiral (1552) of France and war leader, present in Paris f in 1572 for the marriage of Henri de Navarre and Marie de Valois, was the victim of an attempted assassination on 22 August by a supporter of the Duc de Guise, which achieved its aim on 24 August.

Grandson of Queen Victoria, George V reigned over the United Kingdom, her dominions, and the Indian Empire, from 1910 to 1936.

Grandson of Queen Victoria, George V reigned over the United Kingdom, her dominions, and the Indian Empire, from 1910 to 1936.

His name at birth was Ugo Boncompagni and he was Pope from 1572 to 1585. His principal task was to put into operation the decrees of the Council of Trent in which he participated between 1561 and 1563. He pursued Catholic Reform in combating problems of discipline amongst the clergy, in compiling a catalogue of forbidden books (Index librorum prohibitorum), and in founding seminaries and colleges. Gregory XIII also founded the Gregorian calendar which was instituted on 24 February 1582 by the Bull Inter gravissimas, and deleted ten days from the old Julian calendar.

Jewish, born in Belarus under the Russian Empire, Haïm Weizmann studied chemistry in Germany and Switzerland. He taught at the University of Geneva, then at Manchester. During the war, he used his scientific knowledge to help the British army, with the manufacture of explosives. He was one of the key actors in the Zionist movement which obtained a promise from London to support the creation of a ‘Jewish national homeland' in Palestine. He established himself in Jerusalem in June 1918, negotiated a conditional agreement with Faisal (January 1919), attended the San Remo Conference (1920) and worked to develop Zionism under the British mandate. He was elected as the first President of the state of Israel.

Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949): Egyptian teacher and founder of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949): Born on 14 October 1906 and assassinated on 12 February 1949. Egyptian teacher, he decided to organise a movement to represent an Islam embracing all aspects of life: the Muslim Brotherhood.

Elder son of Ali and Fatima, first grandson of the Prophet of Islam. According to Shi'ite tradition, he succeeded his father as second imam in 661. He died in about 669-670, probably poisoned.

Henri III (1551-1589): King of France 1574 to 1589, last king of the Valois dynasty. He aroused the hostility of intransigent Catholics by the way he managed the court and his government, as well as his opposition to the League. In 1588 he ordered the assassination of the leader of the League, Duke Henri de Guise. Described as the 'villain Hérodes' (anagram of Henri de Valois – the 's' seems to have been added because of the 's' in Valois) by the supporters of the League, he was assassinated in August 1589 by the Dominican Jacques Clémont.

Henri IV (1553-1610): King of France from 1589. First king of the Bourbon dynasty. He converted from Protestantism to Catholicism and re-established peace in France (Edict of Nantes) and abroad, notably with Spain. His political genius, his character of the bon vivant, but also his assassination, made him one of the most popular figures in the history of France.

German Jewish philosopher who was one of the founders of the neo-Kantian school at the university of Marburg. He was also one of the founders of the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaft des Judentums, in 1902.

German intellectual who studied theology and then philology. A Francophile Catholic and ally of Christian Democracy, he was one of the main spokesmen for Marc Sagnier, founder of Sillon, in the first decade of the twentieth century. He was one of the principal experts on the ‘integral nationalism' of Charles Maurras and Action Française.

Hossein Ala (1881-1964): Iranian politician, Prime Minister from 1951 to 1957.

Politician closed to Mossaddegh, under whom he became Foreign Minister. After the fall of Mossaddegh, Fatemi was arrested and executed.

Hussein ibn Ali (c1853-1931): Hashemite Arab suspected of disloyalty to the Ottomans, he took advantage of the revolution of 1908 to be named emir and sharif of Mecca. After the Ottoman Empire's declaration of war against the Entente powers and the sheikh-al-Islam's call to jihad, he entered secret negotiations with the British, who promised him an Arab kingdom from the ashes of the Empire. He proclaimed the independence of Hejaz from the Ottomans in 1916 and encouraged his sons to lead the revolt. He later discovered that the British had signed a secret agreement with the French (the Sykes-Picot Accord) to share control of the Arabian Middle East, and that Balfour had promised the Zionists a ‘homeland' in Palestine. He refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles or the Anglo-Hashemite Treaty. For this he lost the support of the British who now backed Ibn Saud. In 1924 after the abolition of the Caliphate by the Turkish parliament, he proclaimed himself Caliph. But he received little recognition and was expelled from Mecca by Ibn Saud. He took refuge in Transjordan with his son Abdullah, where he died.

Brother of Hassan and therefore also the son of Ali and Fatima; grandson of the Prophet. He is considered as the third of twelve imams recognised by the Twelver Shi'ites. According to the traditional Muslim narrative, Sunni and Shi'ite, he was killed by Yazid, one of the sons of Mu'awiyya, at Karbala.

Brother of Hassan and thus also the son of Ali and Fatima, grandson of the Prophet of Islam. He is considered the third of the twelve imams recognised by the Twelver Shi'ites. According to accounts in the Muslim tradition, Sunni as well as Shi'ite, he was killed by Yazid, one of the sons of Muawiya, in Karbala.

Sunni historian, born to an Arab-speaking tribe of Anatolia. He studied in Mosul. He fought in the jihad against the Franks in what was later called the Third Crusade. He wrote an account of these events. His main work is entitled Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, which can be translated as “The whole of History” or “Global History”.

Philosopher, diplomat and politician. He was known for his work Muqaddima (Prolegomenons), which was in fact his Introduction to Universal History and modern sociology.

One of the most respected and relevant linguists in the Arab Muslim world. His main work, which is also a testament, the Lisan al-Arab, remains an indispensable source for the understanding of the origin and etymology of Arabic words.

Ibn Saud (1875-1953): Tribal chief and emir of the Najd in the heart of the Arabian Peninsular. He was supported by an armed corps, the Ikhwan (‘Brotherhood') in weakening a neighbouring tribe, the Rashidi. During the war he fostered relations with the British, who were aware of his growing power. In 1924 he expelled Hussein Ibn Ali from Mecca, then took Medina and Jeddah (1925). He proclaimed himself King of Hejaz (1926), then founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1931), however he failed to be recognised as Caliph of the Sunnis. The British assisted him in eliminating the Ikhwan, who had risen up against his authority. But Ibn Saud was able to strengthen relations with the United States to counter balance his dependence on London. The agreement with President Roosevelt took the name of the ‘Quincy Pact', from the name of the warship on which the two men met in February 1945. Oil revenue enabled him to begin to establish a financially powerful state which used some of its resources to promote Wahhabism globally.

Taqi ad-Din Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328):traditionalist theologian and expert in law, denying all innovation in religious practice. He attempted to organise jihad against the Ilkhanid Mongols, who he accused of unbelief. His work constitutes one of the principal theological references of Wahhabism and Salafism today.

Italian Dominican chronicler of the middle ages. He was Archbishop of Genoa from 1292-1298. Notably, he was the author of a chronicle of the town of Sienna and of the Golden Legend, a hagiography centred on the Christian martyrs persecuted by the Romans. This work greatly influenced spirituality, literature and the Christian arts in the following centuries.

priest at Saint=Etienne du Rouvray, close to Rouen, assassinated by jihadists on 26 July 2016 while saying mass. According to Jan de Volder, historian of KUL (Catholic University of Louvain), he was the “first martyr of the twenty-first century”

Jean Calas (1698-1762). Protestant merchant, accused of having murdered his son. He is known only through the judicial controversy of his condemnation

John Calvin (1509-1564). French, he was the most important francophone figure of the reformation. He was active principally in Geneva (from 1536 to 1538, then from 1541 until his death). He produced a number of theological texts. His way of seeing the organisation of the Church had a great influence on French, Dutch and Anglo-Saxon Protestantism.

Jean Crespin (1520-1572). French author and printer/publisher, native of Arras and resident in Geneva from 1550. He was a prolific publisher in French, mostly of militant works about religion.

Jesuit introduced to the court of the Emperor of China. A great scholar, he was sent on missions by Louis XIV. Correspondent of the philosopher Leibnitz.

Shepherdess from Lorraine who said she had heard voices (Archangel Michael, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, using Christian terminology) telling her to go to the aid of the Dauphin of France. After having faced out the incredulity of her questioners, she was able to fight for him and after the siege of Orleans she persuaded him to be crowned under the name of Charles VII, at Rheims (1429). She later suffered defeat and was arrested and tried. She was declared a heretic by an English military tribunal and burned in Rouen on 30 May 1431. She was rehabilitated 25 years later and canonised by the Catholic Church in 1920.

A Church father, known as ‘Golden mouth' (Chrysostom in Greek), because of his eloquence. He left a substantial body of work, including his treatise Against the Jews .

John Foxe (1517-1587). An English ecclesiastic and theologian with Puritan sympathies. During the reign of Mary Tudor, he went into exile in Basel, where he worked in a printer's. On his return to England he enjoyed the protection of the Duke of Norfolk but remained at the margins of the official Church. John Foxe is best known as an historian and specifically as the author of Actes and Monuments, a very influential anti-Catholic Protestant martyrology. David Loades and Mark Greengrass edit a remarkable website dedicated to the different versions of Foxe's martyrology (www.johnfoxe.org )

Jesuit who followed Joachim Bouvet to China.

Jurji Zaydan (1861-1914): Successful Christian Lebanese writer living in Egypt. An editor with an encyclopedic knowledge, he aimed to reform the individual and collective behaviour of his readers.

known as ‘Justin Martyr': first thinker who systematised the doctrine of Christianity. Author of two Apologies and Dialogue with Typho, in which he defined Christianity in relation to Judaism.

Muhammed Hussein Kashif al-Ghita (1877-1953): Ayatollah who was one of the principal Shi'ite marjaa (source of reference).

Ruhollah Khomeini (1902-1989): Shi'ite Iranian cleric who became Ayatollah. He developed the theory of the velayat-e faqih, or “authority of the jurist theologian”, which governed Iran after the fall of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

teacher of Latin letters and influential Christian thinker, close to the family of Emperor Constantine; author (amongst others) of Divine Institutes.

King of France, known for strengthening the French crown, especially through the development of royal justice. At the time of his grandson Philip the Fair, in 1297, he was canonised to become ‘St Louis' and served as a model for future kings of France.

Martin Luther (1483-1546): Theologian and instigator of what is known as the ‘Protestant' Reformation. On the basis of his reading of the epistles of St Paul, which owed much to St Augustine (354-430), he concluded that God's salvation was achieved through free will alone, not by virtue of good deeds (this fundamental principal of the Reformation is known as ‘justification by faith alone'). Luther's movement led to schism and the formation of a new Church independent of the Roman Church led by the Pope.

Marguerite de Parma (1522-1586). Illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Duchess of Parma and Plaisance, appointed governor of the Netherlands by her brother Philip II of Spain. She opposed ending refusal to consider the claims of the Dutch nobility and towns in 1565 and increased the repression of heretics. After the iconoclast crisis of 1566, Philip II decided to send the Duke of Alba to the Netherlands to deputise and then replace Marguerite de Parma.

Mary I (1516-1558). Queen of England 1553-1556). Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, she was brought up in the Catholic faith and married Philip, King of Spain. Once on the throne of England, her harsh repression of the Protestants earned her the name of ‘Bloody Mary'.

Matthieu de Launoy (1541-1607). A French Catholic priest who converted to Protestantism about 1560 and became a pastor in Sedan. Banished after a trial for adultery, he took refuge in Paris. He reconverted to Catholicism and became one of the most virulent members of the League.

A Polish Catholic, e joined the Franciscans in 1907 and was ordained as a priest in 1918. He died in Auschwitz in 1941, sacrificing his life to save another prisoner, who had a family. He was beatified in 1971 by Pope Paul VI and canonised in 1982 by Pope John Paul II. He is considered a martyr of the Catholic Church.

Michel Servet. (1511-1553). Spanish doctor and theologian, close to Protestant reform, many of whose leaders he knew. He is known on the one hand for his work on the circulation of the blood, and on the other for his theological views, especially on the Trinity.

Muhammed Mahmoud al-Sawwaf (1914-1992): Iraqi 'alim, head of the Muslim Brotherhood in his country.

Mohammed Morsi: Born in 1951 to a peasant family, he studied at Cairo University and completed his degree in the United States (1978-1985). He was already involved at the heart of the Muslim Brotherhood. He rose through the organisation and became a member of the steering committee. He was a major actor in the legislative elections in 2005 and 2010 and, for that reason, he was jailed for three days (28-31 January 2011) by Mubarak's regime. On being freed, he became president of the Liberty and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. He was elected President of the Republic on 24 June 2012 and overthrown a year later, on 3 July 2013, by a popular revolutionary movement supported by the army. He was arrested, tried and condemned to death, a judgement overturned by the Court of Cassation in November 2016.

His father was a cleric who was obliged to abandon clerical dress by the reforms of Reza Shah. At the same time as studying theology in a seminary, he studied in the German technical university in Tehran. He chose the pseudonym of Navvab Safavi as a reference to the Safavid dynasty which established Shi'ism as the state religion in Persia, and from he claimed descent.

Muhammed Mossaddegh (1879-1067): One of the most admired figures in contemporary Iran. Prime Minister from April 1951 to 17 July 1952, then from 22 July 1952 to August 1953, he began the nationalisation of Iranian oil, until then in British hands.

Hosni Mubarak: Born in 1928, Egyptian army officer and Minister of Defence from 1972, he was elected President of the Arab Republic of Egypt after the assassination of Sadat in 1981. Under his authoritarian regime no candidates were allowed to oppose him in the various elections which were totally controlled by his party (1987, 1993, 1999, 2005). He escaped an assassination attempt in 1995. He was forced to resign on 11 February 2011, after the revolutionary rising on 25 January. Imprisoned, tried and condemned, he was freed at the beginning of 2017.

From Mecca, he converted to Islam in 630, according to accounts in the Muslim tradition, and became scribe to the Prophet Muhammed during the last to years of the Prophet's life. Under the third Caliph, Uthman, he was made governor of Syria. He became the principal opponent, then successor to Ali Ibn Abi Talib. He was the founder of the Umayyad dynasty and of the first empire under Muslim authority.

Gamal Abdel-Nasser (1918-1970): Egyptian army officer who was the prime mover in the revolution of 1952, followed by the abolition of the monarchy. He acquired the status of an international statesman at the time of the Bandung Conference (1955), followed by the Suez crisis (1956). He was president of the Republic of Egypt from 1956 to 1970 (and of the United Arab Republic from 1958 to 1961).

Muhammed Neguib (1901-1984): Egyptian army general, first President of the Republic of Egypt, a post he occupied from June 1953 to November 1954.

Son and successor of Alexander III, he ruled the Empire autocratically from 1894-1917). After having negotiated an alliance with Germany, he instead allied with France and the United Kingdom under the Triple Entente as a result of his defeat against Japan. His policy of modernisation left him deeply in debt. He overcame the threat of revolution in 1905, but blocked the development of democracy. He took no account of the unpreparedness of his army in 1914. In February 1917 he abdicated in favour of his brother, the Grand Duke Michael, but the latter renounced the throne. He was arrested with other members of the Imperial family and executed on 17 July 1918. He was canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.

The Pahlavi ruled over Iran from 1925 to 1979.The founder of the dynasty was Reza Shah who ruled from 1925 to 1941. His son, Muhammed Reza Shah succeeded him in 1941, when the Allies forced Reza Shah to abdicate because of his closeness to Nazi Germany. He was overthrown by the Islamic revolution of 1979.

The followers of Protestantism, who spoke of the ‘evangelical Reformation', and who therefore self-identified as evangelical, often called Roman Catholics by the insulting term ‘Papists', in reference to their submission to the Pope.

Dramatist, poet and novelist, Paul Claudel Was also a diplomat (United State, Denmark, Germany, Brazil, Japan...) In 1886 he had a religious experience in Notre Dame Cathedral. After this conversion he regarded himself as a Catholic writer. His main inspiration came from the Bible. He was elected to the Académie Française in 1946.

Philip II (1527-1598). Born in Valladolid, he received a strict education and was known for his aesthetic piety. He was given political responsibilities at a young age. In 1556, a few months after the abdication of his father Charles V, he inherited a vast empire, including Spain and her colonies. As King, he imposed a political regime of centralisation and unification, went to war with France and then England, and repressed a revolt in the United Provinces. He embodied both the ‘Golden Age' of Spain and her weaknesses which undermined her power: the cost of war, the beginning of the loss of the American colonies, and the exiling of the Moriscos. During the course of his reign he confronted the Protestant powers of Europe, especially England, but his attempt to invade the country by sea (the ‘invincible Armada') failed in 1588.

Pierre Bayle (1647-1706). French philosopher son of a pastor. Free of all theological dogma, to an extent he inaugurated the philosophy of the French Enlightenment. In his Commentaires philosophiques, he urges freedom of conscience for all Christian denominations, and also for Judaism and Islam.

Pierre-Daniel Huet (1552-1610): Great scholar and churchman (he became a bishop);he was a pioneer in the field of comparative religion.

Friedrich Gustav Piffl (1864-1931): Born in Bohemia, son of a bookseller, he served for a year in the Austrian army. After that, he enrolled in the Teutonic College of Saint Mary in Rome to become a priest. He was ordained in 1888, after which he studied philosophy. He was made Archbishop of Vienna in 1913, and created Cardinal in spring 1914. He gave active support to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor throughout the war and kept his position as Archbishop after the dismantling of the Empire and the creation of the Austrian Republic.

Josef Pilsudski (1867-1935): leader of the Polish Socialist Party (1893-1908) in the Polish region of the Russian Empire, he fought for the liberation of Poland. After Polish independence was proclaimed in 1919 he became both Chief of State (1919-1922) and the supreme commander of the army, with the title of Marshal, from 1920. He pushed back the Soviet advance but failed in his plan to extend Polish territory, after which he retired from political life for a while. He returned to power in 1926 as President of the Council, and ruled the country autocratically from 1930 to 1935.

Polycarp of Smyrna, a direct disciple of John the Apostle, was burnt alive in the middle of the second century.

An illiterate Siberian peasant, on the margins of the Russian Orthodox Church, he lived a life of debauchery. Reputed to have mystical healing powers, he was recommended to the Tsarina to care for, if not cure, her haemophiliac son. He alienated himself from the Court and the Church and in 1916 he was assassinated by a member of the Imperial family.

Richard Verstegan (c 1550-1640), born Richard Rowlands. Verstegan was born in London and died in Antwerp. He converted to Catholicism while studying at Oxford, after which he was subject to the restrictions imposed on Catholics by Elizabethan rule. After the execution of the Jesuit Edmund Campion in 1581, Verstegan contributed to the publication of a pamphlet which presented the priest and other members of the ‘English mission' as martyrs. He lived in exile in France, then Italy. About 1586, he established himself in Antwerp at the invitation of Alexander Farnese and became a pensioner of the King of Spain. For many decades Verstegan served as a man of letters, engraver, editor and informer. He played a key role as an English Catholic exile and in the secret operations of the ‘English mission'.

Iranian Shi'ite cleric who became an Ayatollah. He developed the theory of velayat-e faqih, or 'authority of the jurist theologian' which governed Iran after the fall of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

Anwar Sadat (1918-1981): Egyptian army officer, we was one of the principal artisans of the 1952 revolution. He succeeded Nasser after the latter's death and remained President until his assassination in October 1981.

Saladin (1137-1193): First Ayyubid sultan, he united Egypt, Hejaz, Syria and Mesopotamia under his authority and made himself the champion of jihad, even though he fought Muslims more often than Christians. He began the dismantling of the Fatimid caliphate. He took Jerusalem from the Franks in 1187, then signed a compromise peace with them in 1192.

Salah al Sharif (1869-1920): Jurist of the Maliki rite, having studied at the Zaytuna in Tunis, Salah al Sharif came from an Algerian family. He became professor and, at the beginning of the Twentieth century, was opposed to the reformist tendencies of Mohammed Abduh. He went to Tripoli, Istanbul and then Damascus, where he taught from 1909. Close to Enver Pasha, he preached jihad against the Italians after their conquest of Tripolitania. In 1914 he contributed to Ottoman -German propaganda to justify jihad for all Muslims against the Entente powers. He also called on Germany to liberate its colonies. On 21 November 1918 he left for Switzerland, where he died.

Born in 1949 in Bombay, he is a British writer with 'Indian origins'. His narrative style, blending myth and fantasy with daily life is realist, and has been described by some specialists as 'magical realism'.

We have little information about Hossein Imami. It seems that at the time of these events he was 21 years old and working in the bazaar in Tehran. He was condemned to only two years in prison.

Egyptian intellectual. Having spent time in the United States, he became the principal theoretician of the Muslim Brotherhood after the death of Hassan al-Banna.

Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966): Born on 9 October 1906 in the south of Egypt. Egyptian poet, essayist and literary critic, he travelled to the United States where he developed a vision in strong opposition to the way of life and values which were the foundation of liberal democracy. On his return to Egypt, he was involved at the heart of the Muslim Brotherhood and became the principal eminence grise of the organisation. He opposed Nasser, which led to him spending a decade in prison, where he was executed by hanging on 29 August 1966, after having been set free for a few months. His thought was the basis of a radical Islamic ideology which bears his name: qutbism.

Title taken by the sovereigns and monarchs of Persia, then Iran (from 1935).

Portuguese officer and professor of mathematics, Sidonia Pais was made a government minister in 1911, then ambassador to Germany between 1912 and 1916. On 8 December 1917 he led a coup d'état and dissolved the Assembly. As fourth President of the Republic, his opponents called him ‘President-King'. He was assassinated in December 1918 by a militant republican.

French Protestant and refugee in Geneva, where he became a pastor and published many historical, poetic, and theological works.

Greek philosopher, who is traditionally held to be the wise man par excellence. He had numerous pupils (including Plato). His teaching was exclusively oral. He is therefore only known through what his disciples say.

Christian of Spanish origin, persecuted in the third century. He is often represented on a grill, the instrument of his torture and death. He is considered a martyr by Christians.

T E Lawrence (1888-1935): Arab-speaking British archaeologist, he passionately espoused the life of the Bedouin in the Arab Peninsula, at the margins of the ‘modern' urbanised west of the Ottoman Empire. At the same time he worked for the British military, which led to his temporary arrest in spring 1914. After the declaration of war, as a reserve lieutenant, he joined the Intelligence Service which was working to use the Sharif of Mecca to divide the Ottoman Empire. He participated in several of Faisal's actions and entered Jerusalem with the British army (December 1917). He supported Faisal's position during the peace conference in vain. He left the army with a feeling of failure, before joining up again under an assumed name, and was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Sunni jurist. He was the founder of the Hizb al-tahrir party after a split within the Muslim Brotherhood.

Tertullian (c150-c220): A Roman born in Carthage, he was one of the thinkers whose writings served to fix doctrine within Christianity in the Roman world. He was, for example, the first to introduce into Latin the notion of the ‘Trinity', and define it. His considerable influence makes him one of the Church Fathers.

Roman born in Carthage, one of the thinkers whose writings serve to fix doctrine in primitive Christianity in the Roman world. For example, he is the first to introduce into Latin the notion of the ‘Trinity', and to define it. His considerable influence makes him one of the Church Fathers.

Tertullian (c150-220). Latin author from Carthage who converted to Christianity t the end of the second century. He is considered to be one of the first theologians in the Latin language.

Théodore de Bèze (1519-1605): called to Geneva by Calvin at the end of the 1550s to direct the academy there, he was his right hand man. After the death of Calvin in 1564, he was considered the principal figure of Calvinist Protestantism. From Geneva, where he was teacher and pastor for most of the following decades (with the exception of short stays in France), he focused on advising Protestant war leaders and ensuring the cohesion of the community through his significant correspondence. He published political treatises (On the rights of magistrates over their subjects, 1574) and no doubt contributed to L'Histoire ecclésiastique.

Théodore de Bèze (1519-1605). Called to Geneva by Calvin at the end of the 1550's to take charge of the academy there, he was his right hand man. After the death of Calvin in 1564, he was considered the principal figure of Calvinist Protestantism. From Geneva, where he was teacher and pastor for most of the following decades (with the exception of short stays in France), he focused on advising Protestant war leaders and ensuring the cohesion of the community through his significant correspondence. He published political treatises (On the rights of magistrates over their subjects, 1574) and no doubt contributed to L'Histoire ecclésiastique.

Pastor, writer, theologian, who was Calvin's right hand man in Geneva. After Calvin's death he was Geneva's leading churchman.

Théodore de Bry (1528-1598). Engraver and Protestant editor originally from Liège, established successively in Strasbourg, Antwerp, London, and, lastly, in Frankfurt

Church teaching (dogma) established at the Nicene Council of 325 and at Constantinople in 381 that the One God is manifested in three persons (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). This doctrine is contested by some Protestants known as anti-Trinitarians (or Unitarian).

the second Caliph (634-644), killed in 644 by a Persian Christian slave.

Urban II (1042-1099): Born in Chatillon-sur-Marne in 1042, Urban II succeeded Victor III to the Papacy. He carried on Alexander II's policies calling for the promotion of peace between Christians and the struggle against non Christians. At the time of the Council of Clermont-Ferrand in 1095 he exhorted Christians seeking salvation to deliver Jerusalem from the rule of the Seljuks, which had been established in 1078 and was oppressing the Christians. His call was answered, and a military and popular campaign was supervised by Adhemar de Monteil.

Was chosen as the third Caliph. He was amongst the first disciples of the Prophet of Islam. Knowing he was from a rich family from Mecca, his adversaries accused him of nepotism and he had to contend with growing opposition from the people of Medina.

French philosopher and dramatist, he is seen as the principal figure of the eighteenth century Enlightenment.

Wilhelm II (1859-1941): Member of the Hohenzollern dynasty, Wilhelm II became emperor in 1888. He favoured the technological, industrial and economic development of society. He immediately changed the direction of foreign policy towards colonial conquest which ended up losing the goodwill of the United Kingdom and to the breaking of the alliance with Russia. He was not in favour of the declaration of war that his Chancellor pushed him to in 1914. He abdicated on 9 November 1918 and took refuge in the Netherlands, avoiding being put on trial for responsibility for the war.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924): Son of a Presbyterian pastor, he did not become a lawyer but taught law. In 1902 he was elected president of Princeton University and this role provided experience which went beyond the academic. As the Democrat governor of New Jersey, he was elected President of the United States in 1912. He banned child labour, gave women the right to vote and prohibited the sale and distribution of alcohol. Re-elected in 1916, for keeping the United States out of the war, it was he who took the decision to enter it at the beginning of 1917. He hoped to build the foundations of a new, stable world order according to two principles: the right to self-determination, and collective security. He was one of the four principal figures at the Paris Conference drawing up the Treaty of Versailles and founding the League of Nations. But his work was disowned by Congress on his return to the United States.

Yasser Arafat (1929-2004): Palestinian politician, founder and head of Fatah, the movement which took over the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1968.