Franciscan missions aimed at martyrdom, not conversion of Muslims.

Evidence

Mission to the Saracens, for the Franciscans, was part of the vita apostolica, serving to bring the friars to glorious martyrdom and, incidentally, to convert unbelievers. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1109 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

For many thirteenth-century Latin writers, one of the bright lights of their age was Francis of Assisi. Francis and his followers, the Friars Minor, or Franciscans, sought to rekindle the “apostolic life,” a life of poverty, ascesis, and preaching modeled on that of the apostles. Mission to the infidel (in particular, to Muslims) played a significant role in this apostolic life; Francis himself preached to the Egyptian Sultan al-Kâmil in 1219 … Their goal (the topic of chapter 9) was not merely to live the apostolic life but to die the apostolic death: the apostles, after all, found martyrdom at the hands of infidels, and thirteenth-century Franciscans found that when sufficiently provoked (through public insults to Muhammad and the Koran, for example), many Muslim rulers obligingly conferred the crown of martyrdom upon them. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 73 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Almohad authorities responded mildly to Franciscans until forced into executing them.; Franciscan mission to Muslims prioritized seeking martyrdom over conversion — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1109; Franciscan missionaries deliberately provoked Muslim authorities to secure martyrdom — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 686 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Franciscan mission to Muslims prioritized seeking martyrdom over conversion #corroborates (0.95) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1109
• Medieval Franciscan missionaries deliberately provoked martyrdom by insulting Islam #complicates (0.85) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 73