Christian friars debated whether provoking Muslim executioners to martyrdom was licit

Evidence

Intellectually able, he had neglected theological study for prayer; his only ambition was martyrdom; there may be a psychological connection between his renunciation of intellectual exercise and his craving for death. … Since his private intention was frankly to seek martyrdom this defence of provocation seems disingenuous; he also more openly argued that to tempt others to kill one was not suicide. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 688

Categorization

• QUESTION: The quaestio on licit martyrdom-by-provocation — worth chasing how this casuistry runs parallel to later Islamic debates on martyrdom operations.
• SEED: A comparison of Christian provocation-martyrdom casuistry with jihadist martyrdom debates would complicate the one-sided ‘fanaticism’ framing of Islam.
• DEEPTHINKING: The psychologized reading — renunciation of intellect as craving for death — plus the casuistic self-deception (‘to tempt others to kill one was not suicide’) is dense material about how religious violence rationalizes itself.