Medieval European literati did not believe Islam was idolatrous

Evidence

Educated mediaeval writers fully understood this, although there were poets who spoke of the ‘worship’ of Muhammad, and of other idols, probably because they were not concerned with facts at all; there were soldiers who fed their hate by believing that their enemies were idolatrous; occasionally there were serious writers who knew better but carelessly repeated false or exaggerated statements. The supposition of idolatry in Islam was very rare among the educated, and perhaps did not exist among the learned. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 238

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval Christian distaste, not ignorance, distorted portrayals of Islam; Medieval educated opinion did not regard Muslims as idolaters