Christian optimism about converting Muslims faded as crusades and missions failed

Evidence

A great variety of uses of the polemical images of Islam occur over the course of the century. Through this variety can be traced a certain change in mood: a number of writers express optimism about the possibilities of Christian victory over Islam (through military victory, through missionary activity, or both); the optimists will at times portray Islam as only slightly different from Christianity and portray Muslims as ready to convert to Christianity given a proper mix of political allegiance and rational argumentation. This optimism grows rarer at the end of the century. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 898

Categorization

• QUESTION: The optimists’ willingness to portray Islam as ‘only slightly different’ is a striking psychological move worth chasing — does ease of conversion inversely track real contact with the other religion?
• XREF: connects to: Militant restriction crusades failed for a decade despite widespread sentiment. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1108