Medieval crusader chronicles fabricated enemy atrocities from martyrdom tropes

Evidence

We came to the temple of Solomon [i.e., the Dome of the Rock], where they [the Saracens] used to sing their rites and festivals. But what happened there? If we speak the truth, we will be beyond belief. Suffice it to say that in the temple and porch of Solomon one rode in blood up to one’s knees, and up to the horses’ reins. This was truly a judgment [of God], that that place should receive their blood, since it endured for such a long time their blasphemies against God… . I say that this day saw the weakening of all paganism, the confirmation of Christianity, and the renovation of our faith. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 647 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The story of Thiemo presents a vivid portrait of the enemy that the crusaders went off to fight, as they imagined him; or at least as their chroniclers imagined them. The picture is shocking both for its hostility and for its wild inaccuracy, its Technicolor horror: a king who worships golden idols, seeks out Christian pilgrims, and delights in ripping off their limbs and drinking their blood. This portrait (like Hrotsvitha’s portrait of ‘Abd al-Rahmân) is pieced together with images from the stories of the early martyrs of the church, stories very familiar to clerical authors through the daily monastic reading of the martyrologies. Not that all readers of this story believed it. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 604 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

This melodramatic scene has been largely overlooked by historians: it is, after all, useless in attempting to reconstruct the events of the Crusade. It is crucial, however, for seeing how Tudebodus makes sense of the Crusade: unobstructed by mere facts, he can fabricate the enemy he desires. The passage brings together several key elements in his justification of the Crusade. One is the apocalyptic element: the time has come for Christians to take back the Holy Land and defeat pagans everywhere. This is evident not only through careful exegesis of the prophets, but even through the pagan arts of astrology and necromancy. In addition, Curbaan’s mother emphasizes God’s protective relationship with his army. She describes the crusaders in biblical language, as both the new apostles coming into Christ’s inheritance and as the army of Israel, whose enemies the Lord disperses. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 640 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval wars killed infidels rather than converting them; Chansons de Geste projected internal violence onto imaginary pagan enemies; Apocalyptic writers dehumanized conquerors to render them abhorrent (+23 more)

Broader Connections

• Crusade chroniclers fabricated idealized enemies to justify holy war #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 640
• Crusade chroniclers fabricated Muslim portraits by repurposing early Christian martyr narratives #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 604
• Crusade chroniclers equated preaching and passive martyrdom with waging war #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 615
• Crusader massacre of Jerusalem was written as divine vengeance for alleged blasphemies #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 647
• Medieval martyrdom narratives could carry erotic fantasy content #complicates (0.85) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1630
• Medieval depictions of Islam as heresy served to justify violence and resist conversion #complicates (0.80) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 139
• Egyptian anti-Semitic texts reproduced medieval blood-libel and Holocaust denial tropes #complicates (0.75) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1279
• Medieval Muslim monsters were assembled from classical, biblical, and ethnic-other sources #complicates (0.70) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 150
• Crusader martyrdom doctrine originated in borrowing from Muslim jihad #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1777