Crusade chroniclers fabricated idealized enemies to justify holy war

Evidence

This melodramatic scene has been largely overlooked by historians: it is, after all, useless in attempting to reconstruct the events of the Crusade. It is crucial, however, for seeing how Tudebodus makes sense of the Crusade: unobstructed by mere facts, he can fabricate the enemy he desires. The passage brings together several key elements in his justification of the Crusade. One is the apocalyptic element: the time has come for Christians to take back the Holy Land and defeat pagans everywhere. This is evident not only through careful exegesis of the prophets, but even through the pagan arts of astrology and necromancy. In addition, Curbaan’s mother emphasizes God’s protective relationship with his army. She describes the crusaders in biblical language, as both the new apostles coming into Christ’s inheritance and as the army of Israel, whose enemies the Lord disperses. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 640

Categorization

• XREF: Author’s own historiographical claim — that chroniclers ‘fabricate the enemy they desire’ — is the medieval precursor to how modern Orientalist/Western discourse constructs an idealized threatening Islam, echoing the vault claims from Anidjar/Aziz/Razack about discursive construction of the enemy.
• QUESTION: Tudebodus wrote the mother’s speech — is the apocalyptic/astrology framing original to him or a common topos across crusade chroniclers (Raymond d’Aguilers, Fulcher)? Worth verifying.