Peter of Cluny framed Islam as the sum of all earlier Christian heresies

Evidence

His goal is to comprehensively refute the Koran; he makes extensive use of earlier polemical tracts, especially the Liber denudationis, but also Peter the Venerable (and the Corpus toletanus) and Ramon Martí. He follows Peter the Venerable in portraying Islam as the sum of all previous heresies: “the excrement of all the ancient heresies, which the Devil had sparsely sprinkled in each, Muhammad revomited it all together.” — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1259 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Peter the Venerable had been conscious that his work of promoting a translation of the Koran and investigating the religious tenets of Islam was not likely to meet with approval. He tried to enlist the support of Bernard of Clairvaux, and failed. He tried to justify his initiative in the context of the long-term interests of Christendom, but he had little response. Like his great Greek predecessor John of Damascus, whose work was coming to be known in the West at this time, he saw Islam as a Christian heresy, the last and greatest of the heresies, and the only one that had not been answered. — R. W. Southern, Western Views of Islam in the Middle…, 205 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Peter the Venerable conceived of Islam as the last unanswered Christian heresy — R. W. Southern, Western Views of Islam in the Middle…, 205; Medieval Christians typologically framed Islam as recapitulating earlier heresies — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 133; Medieval polemicists portrayed Islam as a compilation of earlier Christian heresies. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1259 (+18 more)

Broader Connections

• Medieval polemicists portrayed Islam as a compilation of earlier Christian heresies. #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1259
• Peter the Venerable conceived of Islam as the last unanswered Christian heresy #qualifies (0.95) — R. W. Southern, Western Views of Islam in the Middle…, 205
• Peter of Cluny placed Muhammad in a devil-driven line from Arius to Antichrist #expands (0.95)
• Medieval Christian polemic framed Islam as incomplete faith, not false one #complicates (0.85) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 263
• Orthodox Islam and Christianity each deemed the other’s core doctrine heretical #complicates (0.85) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 784
• Medieval Christians imagined heretic-Muslim-traitor alliances spanning all of Europe #complicates (0.80)
• The medieval Christian image of Islam was self-referential and internally self-correcting #complicates (0.80)
• Peter the Venerable reasoned force proves Islam’s own insecurity and falseness #complicates (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 698
• Peter the Venerable saw Christendom’s toleration of Jews as a model for Muslims #complicates (0.80)
• Medieval Christian polemic framed Islam alongside heresy and Judaism #complicates (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1045
• Early modern Christians read Islam as divine punishment for Eastern schisms #complicates (0.75) — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 130
• Crusading against Islam unified fractious European Christendom #complicates (0.75)
• Medieval Christian polemicists framed Islam as a religion of compelled violence #complicates (0.75) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 710
• Christian and Muslim accounts of pre-Islamic religion shared a single source tradition #complicates (0.75) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1525
• Islam’s triumph made God appear to enforce the Quran against Christians #complicates (0.75) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 737