Crusaders found Muslim prophecies to confirm their own victory expectations

Evidence

After a disclaimer that he will not prophesy since he is neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, Fidentius tells of a book called the Liber Clementis: a book of prophecy containing discussions between Jesus and Peter, written in Greek, translated into Arabic, and brought to Fidentius by a Syrian monk. … This same book, Fidentius says, contains the following prophecy of Christian victory: “There will come,” said Christ, “a lion cub, and he will liberate the Christian people from the hands of the sons of the wolf, and he will overcome them and force their remnant into the desert from which they came, and the Christians will subjugate the sons of the wolf for forty times beyond that which the sons of the wolf subjugated the Christians. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1087 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

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 (#complicates, via linked claim)

The only comment that needs to be added here is to point out the author’s firm conviction that the cause of Islam will triumph in the end: he expects to see that day himself. One notes the important role in the community of rich merchants and the extreme mobility of these people: they think in terms of movement between Segovia, Ar´evalo, ´Avila, Saragossa, and even Mecca. Also evident is their determination to reinstitute the full discipline of Islamic ritual law as soon as possible. The underlying concern is whether one can fulfill one’s obligations as a Muslim under these present conditions. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 852 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Failed crusades shifted narrative hopes from victory to conversion miracles; Successful conquering kings could cite victory itself as divine proof; Medieval crusade advocates fabricated prophecies to promise certain victory. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1087 (+16 more)

Broader Connections

• Medieval crusade advocates fabricated prophecies to promise certain victory. #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1087
• Muslims under Christian rule sustained hope of Islam’s eventual triumph. #complicates (0.90) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 852
• Crusade chroniclers retroactively framed the Crusades as prophesied by Christ himself #complicates (0.90) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 667
• Crusade chroniclers invented pagan astrologers predicting Christian victory #complicates (0.90)
• Medieval believers read military victory as divine judgment on the merits of faiths #complicates (0.90)
• Monotheistic medieval peoples read military victory as proof of divine favor #complicates (0.85)
• Crusade legitimacy rested on interpreting military victory as divine vindication #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 609
• Crusade chroniclers retroactively framed the conquest as predicted by Christ at the Crucifixion #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 667
• Crusaders pinned hopes on a prophecy of a Nubian king destroying Mecca #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1027
• Crusade preachers reframed Islam’s self-correction claim as anti-Christian destruction #complicates (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 142
• Christian chroniclers imagined Muslim rulers as gentle converts easily won by saintly preaching #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1098
• Medieval Christian leaders reinterpreted Islam through apocalyptic biblical prophecy #complicates (0.80)
• Medieval Christians believed prophesied rise of Islam predicted its imminent end #complicates (0.75) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1047
• Recurring false rumors of enemy conversion fueled repeated Christian crusade hopes #complicates (0.75)
• Both Christian and Muslim chroniclers claimed their divine leader led celestial armies to victory #complicates (0.75)