Ramon Llull sought common ground before attacking in religious dialogue

Evidence

I will not go into the details of the different military strategies (by land and by sea) that Llull recommends. I note, however, that in his chapter “De Almirallia” he advocates the prohibition of all maritime trade with Muslim lands; the admiral of the crusading king’s fleet is to capture any Genoese, Catalan, or other Christian ship that attempts to brave this interdict. Moreover, the crusading fleet is to conduct raids all along the North African coast, capturing castles, sacking towns, and so on, thus destabilizing the region, making the coast uninhabitable. The author of the irenic dialogue of the Libre del gentil has become the advocate of Christian piracy. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1340 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Llull’s apparent evenhandedness masks a strategic defense of Christianity; Llull’s apparent neutrality encodes Christian triumphalism through planted arguments; Dominicans held Christian truth unprovable by necessary reasons; Llull rejected this (+12 more)

Broader Connections

• Ramon Llull’s later crusade treatise endorsed Christian piracy and raiding #complicates (0.88) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1340
• Llull asserted the articles of faith cannot be proven but only approached through faith #complicates (0.82)