Medieval polemic framed Muslim polygamy as a breeding strategy against Christendom

Evidence

In the chanson, ‘Godefroid de Bouillon’, the Caliph, hearing that the First Crusade threatens Islam, commands every Muslim to bring the number of his wives up to six (in order that there shall be more children to fill the armies). Ed. Hippeau, p. 88. The idea recurs from time to time, either, as here, that Muslims have many women, in order to have children who will fight against Christendom; or, more reasonably, that Muhammad married many wives in order to have sons. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2185

Categorization

• CANDY: A fun, odd medieval propaganda trope — crusade-era chansons claiming the Caliph deliberately ordered polygamy to breed an army against Christendom.
• XREF: connects to: Polemical categories like adultery fail when applied to another religion’s marriage law; Christian horror at Muslim divorce masked an unspoken fear of polyandry; Medieval fixation on genital washing mirrored Christian obsession with Islamic sexual sin (+2 more)