Crusading against Islam unified fractious European Christendom

Evidence

This schism between Orthodox and Latin Christianity is significant for any discussion of the historical dynamics of Christianity. In contemporary scholarship about the history of Christian Islamophobia, many authors when describing the period largely ignore this inter- Christian tension. Some authors of this bent are Anidjar, Kumar, Todd, and Allen. For instance, in Anidjar’s book The Jew, the Arab: A History of the Enemy, he argues his case with the claim from another author that Muslims were a “common enemy” against all of Christendom (Anidjar 2003). — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 25 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: In an effort to oppose the Ottomans, Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (the future Pope Pius II) tried to exhort all Christians to mount an offensive against the Ottomans. Like the crusades, some hoped Christian polities would look past their differences and come to the aid of the Orthodox Byzantine Christians in this dire hour. Another figure was King George of Kunštát and Poděbrady of Bohemia who—seeing the Ottomans surround Constantinople—also tried to promote the idea of a Pan-Christian resistance to the onslaught of the Muslim forces.; Peter of Cluny framed Islam as the sum of all earlier Christian heresies; Alfonso X built a unified Christian imperial ideology on anti-Muslim polemics (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• The essay critically assesses the contemporary scholarship on Christian Islamophobia, arguing that it often overlooks the internal Christian divisions and portrays Christianity as a monolithic… #complicates (0.82)
• Islamophobia scholarship often treats medieval Christianity as a united whole against Muslims #complicates (0.80) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 25