Rape and forced-prostitution accusations in medieval martyrologies are literary topoi

Evidence

In the Muslim sect any sexual act at all is not only not forbidden, but allowed and praised. So, as well as the innumerable prostitutes that there are among them, there are many effeminate men who shave the beard, paint their own face, put on women’s dress, wear bracelets on the arms and feet .. . The Muslims, therefore, forgetful of human dignity, are shamelessly attracted by those effeminates, and live together with them as with us husband and wife live together publicly. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 797 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In the same work, Eulogius later remarks how Flora had shown him her neck, wounded from a lashing by Muslim authorities, “touching it gently with my hand—because I did not think I ought to caress the wound with kisses—I departed from you and for a long time I sighed thinking about it.” (21, CSM 472, trans. Wolf, Christian Martyrs, 66). All this suggests an element of twisted sexual fantasy behind the imagined rape of Flora. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1630 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Eulogius’s account of Flora’s imagined rape encodes erotic fantasy; Medieval martyrdom narratives could carry erotic fantasy content — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1630; Medieval polemicists depicted Islam as licentious through both prostitution and effeminacy — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 797

Broader Connections

• Medieval polemicists depicted Islam as licentious through both prostitution and effeminacy #corroborates (1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 797
• Medieval martyrdom narratives could carry erotic fantasy content #corroborates (0.95) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1630