Christian Arabophile scholars contrasted Arabic reason with Latin authority

Evidence

One such scholar, Adelard of Bath, proclaimed “I learnt from my masters, the Arabs, to follow the light of reason, while you are led by the bridle of authority; for what other word than ‘bridle’ can I use to describe authority?” — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 853

Categorization

• XREF: Direct medieval ancestor of the modern ‘Islam as rational/science-embracing vs. West as oppressive’ trope discussed in the vault — but here voiced BY a Christian, complicating the simple Islam-West binary.
• CANDY: Quotable one-liner from a 12th-century Latin Christian that could surprise: the ‘Arabs are rational, we are authoritarian’ framing predates Orientalism and was originally a Western self-critique.