Medieval Christendom defined itself by expelling threatening forces beyond its perimeter

Evidence

What purposes did these medieval Christian constructions of Islam serve? Christians increasingly saw in Islam a formidable threat to Christianity’s claims of superiority and hegemony in Europe and beyond. Faced with the Muslim world’s competing theological claims, impressive military accomplishments, expanding empire, and superior intellectual and scientific advancements, medieval Christian authors responded polemically and aggressively. In the context of the Crusades and the Reconquista, theologians depicted Islam initially as idolatry and ultimately as heresy in order to justify violence and aggression against Muslims. In those circumstances in which Christians lived under Muslim rule, these same depictions were aimed at providing Christian dhimmis with the ideological tools to resist converting to Islam or, in the case of ninth-century Cordoba, to embrace martyrdom. By the end of the Middle Ages, centuries of military aggression, political hostility, and anti-Muslim discourse had taken their toll. Muslims became the feared “Other” in the European Christian imagination. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 139 (#expands, via linked claim)

Having seen the dissenting attitudes present during the fall of Constantinople, we can see the theological divisions within Christianity were so great, not even the threat of a Muslim invasion would convince them to accept theological compromise. With this information, I will now show how it bears significance on the discussion found in modern scholarship on Islamophobia, which, when describing the history of Islamophobia, often and frequently ignore such tensions. These authors end up reading Christianity as being more unified than it is. By examining these historical portrayals of Islamophobia, I hope to argue that while Islam has been viewed as an enemy by Christendom, the theological dissension within Christianity sometimes caused Christian churches to view each other as worse than a foreign enemy. Relative to the threat of a Muslim invasion, the thought of accepting another’s creed could be seen as more disruptive. — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 45 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval Christian infighting outweighed the shared threat of Islam — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople: A Critical…, 45; Islam’s demonization varied with its military threat to Christendom — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 65; Medieval depictions of Islam as heresy served to justify violence and resist conversion — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 139 (+5 more)

Related

• Medieval Christian infighting outweighed the shared threat of Islam (similarity 0.88)
• Medieval depictions of Islam as heresy served to justify violence and resist conversion (similarity 0.88)
• Theological explanations blamed Christian corruption and cast Muslims as God’s punishing instrument (similarity 0.87)
• Islamophobia scholarship often treats medieval Christianity as a united whole against Muslims (similarity 0.86)
• Islam’s demonization varied with its military threat to Christendom (similarity 0.85)
• Christians treated all non-Christian monstrous figures as interchangeable enemies (similarity 0.85)
• Christian institutions constructed the Muslim enemy to maintain their own power. (similarity 0.84)
• The essay critically assesses the contemporary scholarship on Christian Islamophobia, arguing that it often overlooks the internal Christian divisions and portrays Christianity as a monolithic… (similarity 0.84)
• Medieval theological justification for opposing Muslims has faded in Europe. (similarity 0.84)
• Islam served as Europe’s constitutive outsider against which its civilization defined itself (similarity 0.84)
• Reformation polemics redeployed medieval constructs of Islam unchanged (similarity 0.83)
• Medieval Christians respected Islamic civilization even while they knew Muslims as others. (similarity 0.83)
• Islam threatened Christianity because it mounted a rival revelatory claim (similarity 0.83)
• The Crusades were less coherent religious triumph than convenient enemy-making (similarity 0.82)
• Historical scholarship overstates Christianity’s unity against adversaries. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Medieval Saracen monsters were placed geographically at Christian territory’s edges #exemplifies (0.85)
• Medieval Christian infighting outweighed the shared threat of Islam #complicates (0.60) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 45
• Medieval depictions of Islam as heresy served to justify violence and resist conversion #expands (0.60) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 139
• Islam’s demonization varied with its military threat to Christendom #qualifies (0.55) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 65
• Prideaux related the rise of Muhammad and the bishop of Rome’s claim to reign over all churches. Hence, the Antichrist seems at this time to have set both his Feet upon Christendom together, the… #exemplifies (0.55)
• In colonial America, many Protestants associated Islam and Catholicism with the Antichrist. Indeed, Prideaux related the rise of Muhammad and the bishop of Rome’s claim to reign over all churches.… #expands (0.55)
• Islamophobia scholarship often treats medieval Christianity as a united whole against Muslims #qualifies (0.50) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 25
• When John Dickinson, delegate to both the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention, described the advancement of nations, he (mistakenly) noted that the Portuguese arrival in India… #exemplifies (0.50)