Perceived infidel irrationality licensed treating Muslims and Jews as children or animals

Evidence

Because of this irrationality, it was entirely appropriate to use coercion and force with these infidels: to treat them forcefully, as one would treat children or animals, compelling them to submit to Catholic authority, to listen quietly to missionary sermons, and so on. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1363

Categorization

• XREF: Remarkably direct medieval seed of the vault’s claim that dehumanization licenses coercion against Muslims — a key origin point for the Islam-West opposition genealogy.
• SEED: Could anchor an essay tracing the ‘treat Muslims like children needing force’ framing from medieval missionary failure to modern civilizational rhetoric.