Military failure made hostile views of Islam dominate European discourse

Evidence

In this atmosphere, it is the hostile view of Islam of people like Fidentius of Padua that is to dominate European discourse on Islam, rather than the positive portrayal of De statu Sarracenorum or of Burchard of Mount Sion. The “beast” whose imminent demise Innocent III had predicted showed few signs of weakness or defeat; thirteenth-century Muslims proved impervious not only to Christian arms (everywhere but in Spain) but also to Christian missionaries. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1093

Categorization

• QUESTION: This is a strong genealogical anchor for the vault claim that a hostile Islamophobic discourse won out historically — worth chasing the specifics of Fidentius of Padua’s text.
• XREF: Directly grounds the vault’s existing claims (via Anidjar/Aziz/Razack) about an entrenched Islam-West opposition: here is the historical moment when the hostile framing displaced the irenic one, because of crusade failure. — connects to: Anti-Muslim stereotyping tracked England’s military capacity against the Ottomans.
• SEED: Potential article angle: how the ‘loser’ side of a defeated proselytizing project bequeaths its enemies the most durable stereotypes — the hostile view won not from strength but from the failure of the ‘positive’ one.