Failed crusades shifted narrative hopes from victory to conversion miracles

Evidence

A great variety of uses of the polemical images of Islam occur over the course of the century. Through this variety can be traced a certain change in mood: a number of writers express optimism about the possibilities of Christian victory over Islam (through military victory, through missionary activity, or both); the optimists will at times portray Islam as only slightly different from Christianity and portray Muslims as ready to convert to Christianity given a proper mix of political allegiance and rational argumentation. This optimism grows rarer at the end of the century. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 898 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Here we leave the world of epic (where the Christian army invariably wins) and enter that of hagiography; in the wake of the loss of Jerusalem and the failed third Crusade, perhaps conversion miracles seem more plausible than crusader victories. The Saracen military victory is complete, the only Christian survivor being an (again, nameless) “Preudome” captured while praying to his icon of Saint Nicolas, which the Saracens mistake for a “mahommet.” — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 706 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A military defeat’s myth-debunking enabled the religious settlement project to go mainstream; Failed millenarian prophecy redoubles proselytising among core believers — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1810; Failed crusades shifted medieval imagination from military victory to conversion drama — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 706 (+15 more)

Broader Connections

• Failed crusades shifted medieval imagination from military victory to conversion drama #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 706
• Christian optimism about converting Muslims faded as crusades and missions failed #contradicts (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 898
• Recurring false rumors of enemy conversion fueled repeated Christian crusade hopes #complicates (0.95)
• Crusaders found Muslim prophecies to confirm their own victory expectations #complicates (0.85)
• Medieval crusade rhetoric framed Muslims as objects of conversion or extermination #complicates (0.85) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 625
• Medieval crusade advocates fabricated prophecies to promise certain victory. #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1087
• Failed crusades eroded European hopes of defeating Islam by 1300 #complicates (0.80)
• Christian polemic tools served both reconquest triumph and crusade despair #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1004
• Crusade legitimacy rested on interpreting military victory as divine vindication #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 609
• The Crusades were less coherent religious triumph than convenient enemy-making #complicates (0.75)
• Crusade defenders justified violence by power replacing miracles as Christians gained strength #complicates (0.75) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 648