Medieval polemicists claimed Avicenna plagiarized his medical works from Saint Isidore

Evidence

Originally believed to be an account of Charlemagne’s military campaigns, it was later discovered to be a forgery based on the Chanson de Roland. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 909 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

But Lucas adds a brief but significant episode gleaned from his reading of an anonymous eleventhor twelfth-century Life of Isidore: Muhammad came to Spain, debarking near Córdoba, to preach his doctrine. Isidore, returning from Rome, ordered his men to arrest Muhammad, but alas the devil warned Muhammad, who fled to Africa. Lucas imagines his hero confronting the prophet of Islam and making him flee, a satisfying scene that Lucas had to include, though probably aware of its implausibility. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 937 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Ricoldo seems to have discovered this text with the sense of a special revelation made to him personally after a period of excessive religious anxiety; on the other hand, we also get the impression that he expected a revelation, and preferably one more sensational than this. Basically the one he received, or persuaded himself that he had received, is a credit to his good sense. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2160 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Rejecting literalist Koranic exegesis did not make Avicenna reject Islam; Medieval polemicists framed their textual findings as personal divine revelations — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2160; Medieval Christian polemicists attacked Muslim miracle claims with natural-philosophy arguments (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• A purported account of Charlemagne’s campaigns was exposed as a forgery #exemplifies (1.00) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 909
• A medieval chronicler invented a confrontation between Isidore and Muhammad #exemplifies (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 937
• Medieval polemicists framed their textual findings as personal divine revelations #complicates (0.85) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2160
• Medieval polemicists hoped rational argument could unify the faiths #complicates (0.80)
• Medieval Christian polemicists uniquely claimed proof via another religion’s scriptures #complicates (0.75) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 297