Crusading ideology openly defined slaughtering Muslims as an act of Christian love
Evidence
The essence of Crusading was to ‘slay for God’s love’. Occasional comments of more serious writers reveal a similar attitude. Fidenzio’s whole purpose in writing was to encourage the Crusade, but his mind is most revealed by a chance comment on the unmentionable scelera carnalia which Islam seemed to encourage: ‘And if there were no other cause but this, it would be the duty of Christians to fight against them, and to cleanse the earth …” The Muslims, said Benedict of Alignan, were not worthy of disputing with, ‘but rather to be extirpated by fire and the sword’. As St Bernard had written: ‘a Christian glories in the death of a pagan (i. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 651
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: Connects to the ADDENDUM article ‘On Sacrifice’ — religiously sanctioned killing as piety here parallels ritual sacrifice as love/loyalty.
Related
- Crusade ideology framed killing Muslims as a joyous religious duty (similarity 0.95)
- Medieval crusade apologists condemned Islam for the very coercion Christendom practiced. (similarity 0.80)
- Medieval Christians branded Islam as violent yet embraced crusading violence themselves (similarity 0.79)
- Crusade defenders justified violence by power replacing miracles as Christians gained strength (similarity 0.78)