Rethinking Renaissance Averroism∗

The current historiography on Renaissance Averroism stems from Ernest Renan’s 1852 classic Averroès et l’averroïsme. Using a positivistic conception of the natural antagonism between rational science and religion, Renan’s work concentrated on religiously charged debates. Averroes’ influence, however, was far broader. An analysis of the changes in the depiction of followers of Averroes demonstrates that by the end of the sixteenth century Averroists were labelled as such because of their techniques of interpretation and many of their positions were not considered heretical or religiously dangerous.