Christian kings asserted power over Muslim subjects without theological justification

Evidence

In none of this, however, is there any sense of a need to justify or rationalize the place of subject Muslims in Jaume’s kingdom. In these laws, as in the countless submission treaties contracted with the Muslim communities of his realms, the royal authority of the conquering king over his conquered Muslim subjects is invoked without any recourse to theological underpinnings. As in much civil and ecclesiastical law in this period, the legal status of Muslims is closely associated with that of Jews; here, as usual, no rationalization is offered for this association. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 924

Categorization

• XREF: Complicates the vault’s assumption that medieval Christian-Muslim enmity was principally theological — here dominance is legal/practical, paralleling Anidjar’s argument that religion/blood categories do political work.