Western superiority over Muslims traces to the Middle Ages but changed form.

Evidence

One could retort that the same is true about Muslim attitudes toward Christianity or about Arab attitudes toward the West. True enough, but that is not the subject of this book. A sentiment of Western superiority over Muslims and over Arabs runs deep in European and North American culture: this sentiment has its roots in the Middle Ages. “Roots” is a deliberately vague term: I do not mean to suggest that twentieth-century Europeans and North Americans have passively inherited a prejudice that has remained unchanged since the thirteenth century. Thirteenth-century Europeans defined their perceived “superiority” primarily as religious (though cultural and other concerns were inseparable from religion); their twentieth-century counterparts tend to see themselves as culturally or intellectually superior: more “enlightened,” more technologically advanced, and so on. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 56 (#expands, via linked claim)

And then everything changed, and Muslims, instead of invading and domi­ nating Christendom, were invaded and dominated by Christian powers. The resulting frustration and anger at what seemed to them a reversal of both natural and divine law have been growing for centuries, and have reached a climax in our own time. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1785 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Western view of Islam was fixed by 1350 and persists today; Modern Western scholars retained medieval judgements about Muhammad.; Western attitudes to Islam have shifted across history rather than forming a constant clash. (+12 more)

Broader Connections

• Europeans’ sense of superiority over Muslims shifted from religious to cultural grounds across centuries #expands (0.95) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 56
• Muslim fury stems from a centuries-old reversal of dominance over Christendom #complicates (0.75) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1785