Twelfth-century authors framed Islam by applying stock accusations used against earlier Christian heresies.

Evidence

Muslim law is a travesty of Christian law, a negation of it, an anti- Christianity: “Let everything be now permitted that was before prohibited.” The reasons for the instigation of this new law are the Magus’s diabolical anti-Christianity and Mammutius’s desire for power and sex. Accusations of sexual debauchery were often made against heresiarchs; Jerome makes such charges against Simon Magus, Nicolas of Antioch, and Priscillian. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 790

Categorization

• XREF: Grounds the vault’s genealogical claim (via Anidjar/Aziz/Razack) that Western Islamophobia recycles pre-existing intra-Christian heresy rhetoric rather than responding to empirical Islam.
• ADDENDUM: Directly supports the framework in the existing Islam-West opposition mapping: shows medieval tropes were borrowed templates, not fresh observations.