Asturian chroniclers adopted apocalyptic martyr-culture propaganda against Muslim rule

Evidence

This chronicle clearly shows the exportation to the Asturian north of the strident attitude of the supporters of the martyr movement. Alvarus had predicted the imminent demise of Muslim rule in Spain; now a Mozarabic chronicler in Oviedo hooks his apocalyptic hopes onto the military prowess of an Asturian king. This prophecy also has parallels with Eastern texts like the pseudo-Methodius: Muslim conquerors have been sent by God as punishment for the sins of Christians but will eventually be overthrown by a heavenly ordained Christian king. Yet the Prophetic Chronicle, unlike pseudo-Methodius, does not predict the end of time, contenting itself (as had Alvarus) with the end of Muslim rule in Spain. While the vision is similar to Alvarus’s, the methods are much cruder: Alvarus erected intricate exegeses of various prophetic texts, working closely with the previous interpretations by Gregory the Great and others. The Prophetic Chronicle proffers clumsy prophecies based on deliberate misreadings of Ezekiel. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 560

Categorization

• XREF: The exile-writ-large literary form echoes Edward Said’s exile writing and the overall theme of Saracens.
• SEED: Article angle: how medieval political chronicles used deliberately distorted scripture as political propaganda, foreshadowing modern politicized hermeneutics.