The anti-Islamic struggle legitimated royal control over church appointments

Evidence

Alfonso affirms his right to subject Muslim and Jewish inhabitants of the peninsula to his reign in his vast program of legal texts, in particular in his Siete partidas, a huge compilation of law composed at Alfonso’s behest. Alfonso made no attempt to implement the Partidas during his reign, so its provisions do not necessarily reflect real legal practice. Yet for that reason it provides a clear picture of how Alfonso envisioned his rule over his subjects and in particular (for our purposes) his Muslim subjects. For Alfonso, the struggle against Islam justifies royal control over the church: the kings have the right to ratify the election of the bishops, according to the Partidas, since it is the kings who defeated the Moors, transformed their mosques into churches, and replaced the name of Muhammad with that of Christ. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 976 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

These churchmen can’t “bark,” according to Alvarus, because their worldly interests are closely tied to those of their Muslim rulers. Indeed, the prominent role played by leading churchmen in the Umayyad administration may explain the lack of polemics against Islam. (John of Damascus wrote his apologetical works only after quitting the government of Umayyad Damascus and retiring to the monastery of Mar Sabbas.) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 515 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Furthermore, the Pasha knew that he also had to contend with the moral authority that the Sultan had in the land of Islam. It was one thing for Greek Christian subjects to rebel against the Ottoman authority, but quite another thing for a Muslim vali to rebel against the Defender of the Faith. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 235 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The reconquest struggle justified royal control over the church — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 976; Hostile polemic against Islam remained separate from practical royal administration — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 928; Churchmen’s ties to Muslim rulers suppressed anti-Islamic polemics — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 515 (+16 more)

Broader Connections

• The reconquest struggle justified royal control over the church #corroborates (0.95) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 976
• Churchmen’s ties to Muslim rulers suppressed anti-Islamic polemics #complicates (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 515
• Dispersed religious authority in Islam prevented church-state clashes #complicates (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 296
• Early Islamic empire required separating clerical from political authority #complicates (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 322
• The Sultan’s religious authority deterred Muslim governors from rebellion #complicates (0.75) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 235
• Islamic religious leaders accepted modernization while challenging state power #complicates (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 3519
• A Muslim royal household under Christian protection could anchor contact between communities #complicates (0.70) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 542
• Influential evangelical leaders mobilized institutional machinery against Muslim-Christian dialogue #complicates (0.70) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 510
• Incoming outsiders pushing bureaucratic order worsened Muslim-Christian relations in Granada #complicates (0.70) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 172
• Religious and civil authority colluded to deny freedom to Christianized captives #complicates (0.70) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 189
• Illicit contact with Christendom forced Islamic jurists into contested legal rationalizations. #complicates (0.70) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 701