Saba Alkuwari

I am a PhD researcher at the University of St Andrews Reformation Studies, where I started my research in 2023 under the supervision of Prof Andrew Pettegree and Dr Arthur der Weduwen.

My current research, Publishing and Reading Philipp Melanchthon in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, examines the production of Melanchthon's books in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, focusing on four main topics.

My research analyses bibliographic data to understand the extent of Melanchthon's publications throughout his career. I present new evidence of his early training in the printing industry before joining Luther's movement in Wittenberg. I also reveal how Wittenberg University's relatively free academic environment played a role in making him one of the best-selling authors so early in his career, as publications including his contributions were published quickly and regularly in all main printing centres. The thesis also reveals his relationship with printers outside Wittenberg.

The remainder of my research analyses Melanchthon's success with printers in Catholic cities to understand how he evaded Catholic censorship despite being prominently listed as a banned author in the new Catholic indexes. My work questions how it was still possible to publish Melanchthon in Catholic cities after the publication of the definitive Roman index. I also explore Melanchthon's role as patron by analysing works for which he wrote a preface, especially for his students' and other emerging authors' new publications. Finally, I examine his legacy by determining which of his works -religious or more secular scholarship - continued to be published after his death. The discussion mainly focuses on books that explicitly include Melanchthon's name in the title to conclude whether these publications were critical of him or defended his legacy, with the latter mainly being published by his followers known as the Philippists.

Education

I earned my first MA in art and archaeology (and history of the Middle East from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS); I earned a second MA in cultural, intellectual, and visual history of the Renaissance from the Warburg Institute. In addition, I worked in the culture and museums sectors, organizing exhibitions and contributing to museum publications, catalogues, and databases. For years I served as a curator of Arabic manuscripts and have also worked intensively with early Arabic and early European books. My examinations of primary sources at work sparked my interest in researching the development of classical learning in the Middle East and West and understanding the history and development of education in both regions, particularly the role of the printing press alongside the Humanism movement during religious and education reforms in sixteenth-century Europe.

Workshops & Seminars

Wittenberg University, Philipp Melanchthon, and the making of the third best-selling author in the sixteenth century, Early Modern and Reformation Seminar Programme, University of St Andrews (4 December 2025)

Biblical Humanism and Book Production in the Reformation: The case of Philipp Melanchthon and his relationship with the humanist printers and publishers in the first half of the sixteenth century, Early Modern Scholarship and Religion Seminar, University of Cambridge (21 November 2025)

Print Culture, German 'Humanisms' and the Reformation: The case of Thomas Anshelm, Philipp Melanchton and Tübingen University, St Andrews Early Modern PG Workshop, University of St Andrews (30 September 2024)

Blog

Between England and Wittenberg: Erasmus' De Copia and Philipp Melanchthon's Letter to the Printer of Hagenau, USTC Blog, University of St Andrews (14 November 2024)