Aragon’s crown claimed authority over Muslims without theological justification

Evidence

Within Christendom, we have seen already, subject Muslims were tolerated. The approach of canon law was sober and careful. The gloss on Gratian required that Jews and Muslims be recognised as neighbours in the evangelical sense. In practice this meant a very restricted freedom. A peaceful prince should not expel Muslims from his lands without cause; nothing inhuman should be done to them; it might even be possible to form alliances with presumably non-subject Muslims, if this were for purposes of defence. These are licences of very limited effect. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 660 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

These polemical ideas, in particular the hostile biography of Muhammad, were used to deny any political legitimacy to Muslim rule in Spain and to justify the social and political subjugation of Muslim subjects of Spanish Christian rulers. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 71 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Eighth-century Spanish chroniclers narrated the Muslim conquest without theological explanation.; Christian kings asserted power over Muslim subjects without theological justification — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 924; Aragonese nobles protected Muslim religious freedom out of material self-interest — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 459 (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• Christian kings asserted power over Muslim subjects without theological justification #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 924
• Medieval Spanish rulers used anti-Islam polemic to justify rule over subject Muslims #corroborates (1.00)
• Some medieval Christian conquerors needed no polemic against Islam #contradicts (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 919
• Anti-Muslim polemic justified the subjugation of Spanish Muslims and denied their rule legitimacy #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 71
• Aragonese royal law subjugated Muslims with no theological justification at all. #expands (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 924
• Anti-Muslim polemics legitimated Christian subjugation of Spanish Muslims #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 71
• Medieval canon law tolerated subject Muslims only under severe restriction #corroborates (1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 660
• Aragonese nobles protected Muslim religious freedom out of material self-interest #complicates (0.80) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 459
• Denigrating Muhammad legitimized Christian political rule over Muslim Spain #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 939
• Christian rulers denigrated Muhammad to justify their own hegemony over Moorish Spain #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 937
• Medieval Christians granted Islam authority only as self-incriminating evidence #complicates (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1414
• Aragon’s 1526 conversion decree made Islamic worship illegal retroactively #complicates (0.80) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 489
• Muslim rulers of Spain courted bishops because most subjects were Christian #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 490
• The 1492 conquest of Granada did not force any Muslims to convert #complicates (0.80) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 100
• Class hostility, not royal policy, drove Christian violence against Aragonese Muslims #complicates (0.80)