Hrotsvitha recast the Muslim king as a demon-worshiping pagan to justify Christian armed resistance

Evidence

For Hrotsvitha, ‘Abd al-Rahmân’s homosexual desire is directly inspired by the demons whose idols he worships: his subsequent urge to destroy the beautiful young boy he cannot possess shows him as a quintessential despot. Hrotsvitha affirms that the military success of this Saracen king implies no merit of his own; it is a divine punishment decreed by the “secret Judge.” Over and against this demonically inspired despot whose “barbaric rite” consists of idolatry, homosexuality, and the destruction of his enemies, is the righteous boy Pelagius, soldier (miles) of the celestial king. It is common in the martyrologies to portray martyrs as soldiers (milites) or gladiators (athleti) of Christ, fighting against the demonical forces of paganism. Yet Hrotsvitha goes a step further when she evokes armed struggle to resist the evil forces of paganism. The valiant people of Galicia spurn the pagan law: they are Christ’s devotees and “rebels against the idols.” It is this resistance—both political and religious—that inspires a demonic fury in the king and has him set out, “sword aflame,” to subdue the rebellious province. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 598

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the earlier passages in this book (and ch.5 generally) on how Latin authors racialized and demonized Saracens as pagans; also echoes to the ‘complaints’ article’s pattern of moral panics as political signaling.
• SEED: Angle: how a saint’s passion narrative quietly built the ideological scaffolding for crusade — violence justified not by self-defense but by depicting the enemy’s desires as demonic.