Martyrdom turned imposed passivity into triumphant agency

Evidence

Should we consider this voluntary martyrdom as the last desperate act of a few Christians who saw their culture, language, and religion dissolving into the mass of Muslim culture, as a last-ditch effort to affirm and resuscitate Christian Latin culture? If indeed this was their goal, they failed miserably: the strife caused by the martyrs probably encouraged Christians to convert to Islam, rather than discouraging them. The fifty-odd dead, mostly monks and priests, represented that many fewer priests and bishops for al-Andalus, where they were already in short supply. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 540 (#complicates, via linked claim)

One of the principal tasks of the polemicist or war propagandist is to convince the people of the alterity of the enemy. Should we consider this voluntary martyrdom as the last desperate act of a few Christians who saw their culture, language, and religion dissolving into the mass of Muslim culture, as a last-ditch effort to affirm and resuscitate Christian Latin culture? If indeed this was their goal, they failed miserably: the strife caused by the martyrs probably encouraged Christians to convert to Islam, rather than discouraging them. The fifty-odd dead, mostly monks and priests, represented that many fewer priests and bishops for al-Andalus, where they were already in short supply. Eulogius himself, according to Alvarus, had been named bishop of Toledo in 851; he chose martyrdom over episcopal duty. Indeed, the martyrs were motivated more by a yearning for personal salvation than by a desire to help the Christian church as a whole. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 540 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The martyred hero’s immortalized body blocks successors from reshaping the cause — Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism…, 342; Embellished martyr narratives can accelerate revolutionary mobilization — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 195; Martyr deaths converted liberal Maidan participants to adopt far-right tactical repertoires — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and…, 507 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Voluntary martyrdom backfired by driving Christians toward conversion to Islam #complicates (0.78) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 540
• Martyrdom movements can backfire and accelerate conversion to the oppressor’s faith #complicates (0.75) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 540