Bede read Saracen defeats as divine punishment for their wickedness

Evidence

In the year of our Lord 729, two comets appeared around the sun, striking terror into all who saw them. One comet rose early and preceded the sun, while the other followed the setting sun at evening, seeming to portend awful calamity to east and west alike. Or else, since one comet was the precursor of day and the other of night, they indicated that mankind was menaced by evils at both times. They appeared in the month of January, and remained visible for about a fortnight, pointing their fiery torches northward as though to set the heavens aflame. At this time, a swarm of Saracens ravaged Gaul with horrible slaughter; but after a brief interval in that country they paid the penalty of their wickedness [perfidia]. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 441 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Their punishment seems to be more for their religious error than for their devastating raids on Christian Gaul; indeed, for Bede, the brutality of the Saracens is probably the direct consequence of their perfidia. After all, his Ecclesiastical History tells of other groups of perfidi who wage violent war until they are converted: the Kentish before the arrival of Augustine of Canterbury, the Angles, Picts, and others. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 445 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Bede explained Saracen violence as caused by their religious error — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 445; Christian chroniclers framed Saracen conquest as divine punishment for imperial hubris — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 467; Bede read comets and Saracen raids as twin portents of divine calamity — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 441 (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• Bede read comets and Saracen raids as twin portents of divine calamity #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 441
• Bede explained Saracen violence as caused by their religious error #expands (0.95) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 445
• Christian chroniclers linked Saracen raids to apocalyptic celestial omens #corroborates (0.95)
• Medieval literature equated Saracens with demons condemned to hell #complicates (0.85)
• Crusade-era writers invented Saracen idolatry to justify their own violence #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 423
• The Fall of Acre inaugurated Christian theodicy crises blaming Saracen ascendancy on Christian sin #complicates (0.75) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1239
• Medieval Europeans treated Saracen and pagan as interchangeable words #complicates (0.75)
• The word ‘Saracen’ came to mean ‘pagan’ for medieval writers #complicates (0.70) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 697
• Medieval European epics invented Saracen idolatry to justify crusader violence #complicates (0.70) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 589
• Imagined Saracen idolaters justified violence actually aimed at internal Christian enemies #complicates (0.70)
• Saracen idols structured the dramatic conflicts of medieval liturgical plays #complicates (0.70)
• Medieval European authors widely portrayed Saracens as idolaters of a pagan pantheon #complicates (0.70)