Luther considered the Vatican a greater enemy than Islam

Evidence

Europe, by contrast, was going through a bitter and violent conflict between Protestants and Catholics. The first half of the sixteenth century saw the emergence of the Reformation. This internal dissent within Christianity created a climate where Islam came to be seen as yet another schism, albeit a dangerous one. Thus, even while Martin Luther, who led the Protestant Reformation, had negative things to say about Islam, he viewed the Vatican as the greater enemy. For Luther, only after the defeat of Catholicism could Islam be beaten. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 80

Categorization

• XREF: Shows the ‘enemy’ ranking is historically contingent on internal European conflicts — supports the reader’s interest in how domestic battles shape the Muslim threat’s salience. — connects to: Luther classed Muslims with Jews and Catholics as rejecting justification by faith — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 150; Luther weaponized images of Islam to attack Catholicism as well as Turks — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 154; Luther portrayed Islam as a faith that spreads only by violence — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 151 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Christians judged the inner religious enemy worse than the foreign one #corroborates (0.80) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 59
• Byzantine Orthodox preferred Muslim conquest over theological compromise with Latin Christians #expands (0.70) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 25
• In regards to the doctrinal differences of the Latins, some Orthodox had particularly staunch views. Patriarch Michael I Cerularius would state that Latin interpolations in the doctrine of the… #exemplifies (0.70)
• Medieval Christian infighting outweighed the shared threat of Islam #exemplifies (0.65) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 45
• The papacy manufactured Muslims as a holy-war enemy to unify Christian Europe #corroborates (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 93