The cross-bearing command shifted from spiritual metaphor to literal crusade

Evidence

Venerable, which derived from the literary form of his choice, a refutation of Islam addressed to Muslims in Latin; he considered it suitable for translation, but apparently did not arrange for a translation to be made. An excess of rhetoric does not obscure a genuine apostolic fervour, tempered by smugness. ‘I approach you, I say, not as our people often do, with arms, but with words, not by force, but by reason, not in hatred, but in love…’ — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 668 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Here we leave the world of epic (where the Christian army invariably wins) and enter that of hagiography; in the wake of the loss of Jerusalem and the failed third Crusade, perhaps conversion miracles seem more plausible than crusader victories. The Saracen military victory is complete, the only Christian survivor being an (again, nameless) “Preudome” captured while praying to his icon of Saint Nicolas, which the Saracens mistake for a “mahommet.” — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 706 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Muslim anti-Christian polemics emerged as reactions to crusade and mission; Medieval Christian refuters of Islam self-consciously opposed words to arms as missionary method — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 668; Failed crusades shifted medieval imagination from military victory to conversion drama — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 706 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Medieval Christian refuters of Islam self-consciously opposed words to arms as missionary method #complicates (0.90) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 668
• Failed crusades shifted medieval imagination from military victory to conversion drama #complicates (0.90) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 706