Muslims resisted both Christian military and missionary efforts throughout the thirteenth century

Evidence

The obduracy of Muslims, who throughout the ages have proved almost unconvertible, was several times stressed, and both theory and missionary practice recognised it. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 742 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

By the end of the thirteenth century and in the following centuries, as the Ottomans obtained hegemony over Anatolia and pushed their way into Europe, few Europeans were optimistic about Christian chances to defeat Islam or to wrest the Holy Land from Muslim control; the calls to crusade were in general for the defense against Ottoman advances into Europe. 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 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval Christian kings legally compelled Muslim and Jewish subjects to attend missionary sermons; Failed crusades eroded European hopes of defeating Islam by 1300; Thirteenth-century crusading and missions failed to convert Muslims or reclaim the Holy Land (+19 more)

Broader Connections

• Thirteenth-century Muslims proved impervious to both Christian arms and missionaries #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1093
• Medieval Christians saw Muslims as stubbornly resistant to conversion #corroborates (1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 742
• Arabic-trained missionaries failed to convert many Muslims in the thirteenth century #complicates (0.90)
• Thirteenth-century Christianity repeatedly fantasized mass Muslim conversions that never happened #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1037
• Anti-Islamic polemic froze into its framework by the thirteenth century #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 382
• Medieval missionaries saw Christian disunity as the main obstacle to Muslim conversion #complicates (0.70)
• Medieval missions to Islam targeted Christians, not Muslim converts #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1465
• Thirteenth-century chroniclers imagined Muslims, heretics, and traitors in a common anti-Christian alliance #complicates (0.70) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 947
• Medieval anti-Islamic polemics aimed to fortify Christians rather than convert Muslims #complicates (0.70)
• Thirteenth-century anti-Islamic polemics were still recycled by Luther and later eras #complicates (0.70) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 63
• Medieval Christian missionaries reconceived Muslim doctrines as partial truths to bridge toward conversion #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 995
• Europe’s anti-Islam polemics stagnated after the thirteenth century #complicates (0.70)
• Medieval missionaries found it easier to attack Islam than to prove Christianity’s truth #complicates (0.70) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1261
• Muslims held cultural and intellectual dominance in Spain through the thirteenth century #complicates (0.70)
• Medieval Christianity repudiated Muslims at a distance but Jews from within #complicates (0.70) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 228