Crusade chroniclers framed the wars as prophesied, not novel.

Evidence

The goal of the chronicler/polemicist, in other words, was to show that the Crusade was not new, that it had been predicted by earlier Christians, and that it would play an important role in the apocalyptic scenario of the last days: this mission is dramatically embodied in the Chanson d’Antioche, an epic describing the first Crusade through the conquest of Antioch. The anonymous author of the Chanson makes the Crusade central to Christian eschatology by having Christ himself predict it. The narrative opens with the Crucifixion: Christ, speaking to the good thief crucified at his side, predicts the eventual arrival of the crusaders: A “new people,” he foretells, the Franks, will avenge the Crucifixion, liberate the Holy Land, and eliminate paganism. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 667 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Crusade chroniclers retroactively framed the Crusades as prophesied by Christ himself — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 667; New crusades are political and cultural wars, not religious conflicts; Anti-Muslim crusades are political and cultural wars, not religious ones — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 60 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Crusade chroniclers retroactively framed the Crusades as prophesied by Christ himself #corroborates (0.98) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 667
• The clash of civilizations narrative is a constructed frame, not a given fact #corroborates (0.94)
• New crusades are political and cultural wars, not religious conflicts #complicates (0.88)
• Anti-Muslim crusades are political and cultural wars, not religious ones #complicates (0.85) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 60