Specific political motives, not a linear intolerance narrative, shaped medieval Islam portrayals

Evidence

Only by carefully examining the specific contexts in which medieval authors worked can we understand what motivated them to portray Islam as they did. Among the various motivations exposed are the desire to justify a war against or an alliance with a Muslim state, an attempt to dissuade Christians from converting to Islam, and a need to justify the rule of Christian princes over Muslim subjects. Only by paying close attention to the contexts and motivations of individual writers can we understand what they say about Islam, not by attempting to string them together to produce a narrative of growing intolerance. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1374

Categorization

• XREF: Methodological mirror of Milgrom’s institutional turn: reject grand narrative, read local incentives and contexts. — connects to: Medieval Christian distaste, not ignorance, distorted portrayals of Islam