Crusade chroniclers cast living Muslims as pagan idolaters to justify war

Evidence

This is a potent ideological cocktail. The Saracen pagan king, inspired by the demons whose idols he worships, lusts after pure Christian boys and decapitates them when they do not surrender their bodies to him. In fury, he directs his flaming sword against those Christian provinces such as Galicia whose people rebel against the cult of the idols. The interior Christian minority and the exterior Christian enemy are both threatened by this diabolical power. Hrotsvitha makes no call to war, does not urge Christian knights to aid their oppressed Spanish brethren. But it is easy to see how this view of the pagan other could (and would) subsequently be used to justify war against Saracen “pagans”—and against Wendish or Lithuanian pagans closer to Gandersheim. Many earlier authors assumed that the Saracens or Arabs continued to observe the same cults as had their pagan ancestors. Yet Hrotsvitha is the first Latin author to describe this paganism in lurid detail and to use it to justify resistance against Saracen rule. This strategy will become common two centuries later, as the writers on the first Crusade glorify and justify the killing of Saracens by Christian knights. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 600 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In the interim, many Latin chroniclers and Western theologians developed the view that the Saracens were pagans who bore a striking resemblance to the Roman idolaters of antiquity against which the earliest generations of Christians struggled. This construction of Islam as paganism was particularly prominent around the time of the First Crusade, serving as one of the major propagandistic tools used by crusaders to justify their efforts to conquer the Holy Land. The struggles of ancient Christians against Roman idolaters were now replicated in the battles waged by Christians against Saracen pagans. Crusaders could find comfort in knowing that the risks they undertook were not in vain but were part of an ongoing battle in Christian history to eradicate those enemies of Christ who worshipped false gods and idols. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 125 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The medieval Muslim-idol legend originated as Crusade war propaganda; Crusade chroniclers cast Muslims as pagan idolaters to justify retaking Jerusalem — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 612; Crusaders justified holy war by calling Muslims pagan idolaters — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 648 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Crusade chroniclers cast Muslims as pagan idolaters to justify retaking Jerusalem #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 612
• Crusaders justified holy war by calling Muslims pagan idolaters #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 648
• Crusaders justified conquest by recasting Muslims as pagan Roman idolaters #corroborates (1.00) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 125
• Casting Islam as paganism let crusaders frame their war as revived martyrdom. #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 664
• Christians fantasized Muslims as pagan idolaters to justify crusading violence #corroborates (1.00)
• Depicting Muslims as idolaters supplied the first textual justification for crusade #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 600
• Crusade chroniclers cast Muslims as pagan Romans to claim martyrdom. #complicates (0.90)
• Crusade chroniclers depicted Muslims worshiping Muhammad as an idol #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 641
• Crusade chroniclers fabricated idealized enemies to justify holy war #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 640
• Crusade chroniclers equated preaching and passive martyrdom with waging war #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 615
• Crusade chroniclers fabricated Muslim portraits by repurposing early Christian martyr narratives #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 604
• Crusade chroniclers blurred the distinction between preaching martyrs and waging war #complicates (0.70)
• Medieval crusade rhetoric framed Muslims as objects of conversion or extermination #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 625