The papacy manufactured Muslims as a holy-war enemy to unify Christian Europe

Evidence

This chapter outlined some of the key shifts in the European image of Islam from the eighth to the eighteenth centuries. This journey through history shows us that at first, between the eighth and eleventh centuries, Muslim incursions into Europe were viewed no differently from other pagan invasions. In fact, the Saracens were believed to be descendants of Abraham and therefore from the same “family” as Christians and Jews. Yet once other pagans integrated into Christian Europe, the powerful Muslim enemy became an “other” that had to be vanquished through holy wars. The papacy sought to unite a fractious Europe under the banner of Christianity as a way to advance its power. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 93

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes Selod/Rana’s accounts of state co-opting communal identity; also the papacy parallel to Kumar’s later imperial chapters. — connects to: OAS targeted elite Muslims to force reliance on the Europeans — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1575; Crusaders justified conquest by recasting Muslims as pagan Roman idolaters — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 125; Sixteenth-century Catholics equated Luther’s reforms with the Turkish threat — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 156 (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• The essay critically assesses the contemporary scholarship on Christian Islamophobia, arguing that it often overlooks the internal Christian divisions and portrays Christianity as a monolithic… #complicates (0.70)
• Islamophobia scholarship often treats medieval Christianity as a united whole against Muslims #corroborates (0.60) — Ali Qureshi, The Fall of Constantinople, 25
• Orthodox authorities perceived an invasion by the Latins as worse, for they would not afford them autonomy which might be hoped under Muslims. The land might remain under Christian rule, but the… #complicates (0.60)
• Medieval depictions of Islam as heresy served to justify violence and resist conversion #qualifies (0.50) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 139
• Secularists and Christians alike deployed Muslims as foils #expands (0.50)
• The Pope endorsed a myth of Islam’s inherent violence. #expands (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 190