Christian chroniclers imagined Muslim rulers as gentle converts easily won by saintly preaching

Evidence

Jacques elaborates on Francis’s mission in his Historia occidentalis, affirming that the mere presence of the saint transformed the Egyptian sultan from a ferocious beast into a gentle listener; he listened to Francis for days. Finally, afraid that Francis would succeed in converting his subjects, the sultan had him escorted with honor to the crusader camp, asking him, “Pray for me, that God might deign to reveal to me the law and the faith that most appeal to him.” — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1098

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts with the rabid-Islam hostility model in the vault; shows medieval Christian views were not uniformly demonizing.