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WESTERN EUROPEAN AWTUDES TOWARD THE
MUSLIMS BEFORE THE CRUSADES

Thai: for “:6 D09". of Ph. D.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
James C Waltz
I963

Date

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thesis entitled

WESTERN EUROPEAN A‘I‘TITUDES
TOWARD THE MUSLIMS
BEFORE THE CRUSADES

presented by

James C. Waltz

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

__9Ph DJ. _ degree in_1§$_H' 0.221.-

Maj'or professor

May 13, 1963

 

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ABSTRACT
WESTERN EUROPEAN.ATTITUDES

TOWARD THE MUSLIMS
BEFORE THE CRUSADES

by James C. White

Henri Pirenne's ideas regarding the significance of Mhslim.eXpan-
sion into the Western Mediterranean have provoked much thought and
writing regarding various aspects and impacts of that expansion. IAn
important but unexplored question relevant to that expansion is:
what were the attitudes of western Europeans toward the NMslims prior
to the crusades?

Very pronounced attitudes toward Muslims existed in the Byzantine
Empire. Both Jehn.of Damascus and The0phanes wrote at some length
about Muslims and discredited Mhhammad's claim.of revelation; John
further ridiculed Islamic teachings, viewing Islam as a Christian
heresy.

Investigation of documents written in western Europe from.the
time of the Elli: to the eve of the crusades reveals that Muslims
were rarely mentioned in'Western Eur0pean writings, thus suggesting
that Western Europeans were indifferent to if not ignorant of them.
Furthermore hostility toward Muslims as persons of an.alien and
anti-Christian religion was practically nonpexistent. There is no
evidence of serious interest in or understanding of Islanh

In the pre-crusade heartland-Eng1and and the Seine-Moselle-Rhine
basin-the Muslims are rarely mentioned in the written records. In

Italy and Spain alliances between Christians and Muslims were frequent,

Waltz

as were battles. But in those lands, especially in Spain, some
Christians sought to explain Muslim successes such as the conquest of
Spain or the sack of Rome in 8146 by deeming them God's punishment for
Christian sins—a viewPoint which sometimes led them to modify history
to support their theory. In Spain there were fierce outbursts of
hostility against Islam in the mid-ninth century martyr's movement,
and also heresies such as Felicianism which may have sought to
accomodate Christian belief to Muslim faith.

Further investigation shows that much of what was said regarding
Muslims in both East and West stemmed from pre-Islamic views of Arabs
circulated in the West by St. Jerome and later applied to Muslims.
Byzantine influence on Western thought regarding Muslims was exem-‘ '

plified by the translation of ‘lheophanes' Church History and the

 

Revelations £1; Pseudo-Methodius from Greek into Latin. Moreover

 

 

Western views of Islam closely resembled the euhemeristic view of
pagan religion held by the early Church Fathers. Ihus Western EurOpe ,
relied upon thought forms from previous ages and other cultures for
viewing the Muslims rather than systematically investigating Islam.
More hostile attitudes toward Muslims become evident in Western
Europe after 1000, particularly in connection with the Cluniac reform
movement and the reforming popes of the late eleventh century. As the
popes sought to fill the power vacuum created by the breakdown of
secular leadership they encouraged hostility toward Muslims as their
foreign policy. That hostility toward Muslims was an important element

in the ideological domination the papacy came to exert over Europe.

WESTERN EUROPEAN ATTITUDES
mm THE MUSLIMS

BEFORE THE CRUSADES

By

James C: Waltz

A THESIS

submitted to
Michigan State University
in.partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of History

1963

" 3535/

I I\ 1/ f‘ 4 ‘-
. , .,
"/1 ‘7' e: i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Among the many persons who have helped in the preparation of
this dissertation, special thanks are due to the library staffs of
Albion college, Mchigan State University, and the University of
Michigan for their extensive assistance. Miss Alice Kniskern, Miss
Darlene 1dhunert, Miss Sandra Header, and Miss Mary Beccaccio have
performed numerous clerical tasks. Mr. Coy James, head of the History
Department at Albion College, has constantly encouraged the work both
by word and action. Mr. Richard E. Sullivan, Professor of History
at Michigan State University, has supervised and stimulated the work;
his vast knowledge of medieval history has been a constant source of
information and inspiration. of course the contributions of my wife

Linda, through her patience and longsuffering, are incalculable.

ii

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

Chapter

II

III

VI

VII

VIII

CONTENTS

The Setting of the Problem

Byzantine Attitudes

Italy and Sicily

Spain

The Heartland: under the Carolingians

The Heartland: from Carolingians to Crusades
The Papacy

Conclusions

Bibliographical Essay

iii

Page

19

62

82

11h

132

153

168

 

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RHF

ABBREVIATIONS

EspaHa sagrada, ed. Enrique Florez et al., 51 vols.

Wet—1757:1879) .

Sacrorum.Conciliorum nova gt_amplissima collectio, ed.
Joannes Dominicus Nansi, 31 vols. (Florence, 1759-98).

 

 

Honumenta Germaniae historica, ed. Georgius Heinricus
Per'fz, THeodor Momsen, et a1. (Berlin, 1826 ff.).

 

Auctores antiquissimi
Capitularia

Epistolae

Poetae Latinae aevi carolini
Scriptores

 

 

 

 

Patrologiae cursus completus . . . series graeca, ed.

J.—P. Migne, ISI vols. (Paris, 1857.££{).

 

 

Patrologiae cursus completus . . . series latina, ed.
3.45? lfigne, 221 V018. (PariS, 18% £0).

 

 

Recueil_des historiens des Gaules it Q: lE_France, ed.
martin Bouquet 3£_gl:, 2L vols. (Paris, 1738-1905).

 

iv

CHAPTER I

THE SETTING OF THE PROBLEM

Thanks to Henri Pirenne, the importance of Christian-Muslim
relations in medieval history is no longer neglected. Prior to his
time scholarly attention was focused largely upon the dramatic
aspects of those relations—the crusades. JIIineteenth century
European nationalism and romanticism led many to turn eagerly to the
crusades for evidences of past national glory, Christian power, and
high adventure.1 That concentration upon the crusades was accompanied
by a failure to consider other periods of christian-lr‘hlslim relations;
the earliest centuries of Christian-Muslim contact were ignored.

Pirenne changed all that by propounding his now familiar thesis
that it was the Muslim irruption into the Western Mediterranean that
ended the dream of a restored Christin empire based upon £113 Nostrum,
cut the ties between the Greek East and the Latin West, and forced
the inhabitants of Western Europe to look and move northward and to

develop a new, Western, civilization. So, Pirenne averred, '. . .

2
without Mohamed Charlemgne would have been inconceivable.‘ That

 

.'

18ee, for example, 1". Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzzll e, 7 vols.
(Leipzig, 1807-32); J.F. Nichaud, histoire—des—CFoisades, Evols.
(Paris, 1817-22); H. van Sybel, Geschiaite des ersten Ereuzzu es,
2nd ed. (Leipzig, 1881); B. Kflgler, Geschichte der Eeuzzflge lBerlin,
1881); and the romantic mvels of sirmo‘tt'.‘

 

 

2Pirenne, Mohammad and Charlemagne, tr. by Bernard Miall from
the tenth French-Wu W, p. 231;. That book, left
unfinished at Pirenne's death in 1935, is the fullest exposition of
his thesis, which first appeared in 1922 in an article in Revue
Belge de Philolcgie et d'Histoire. The thesis also permeaE'é-Eis
other Fittings. —

 

 

bold thesis provoked numerous responses, some favorable, others
critical, but all concerned with the early medieval period and
greatly expanding our knowledge of that period.3

These studies have concentrated upon the economic aspects of the
period, since Pirenne himself argued largely from an economic base.
From that base he made numerous observations regarding cultural,
social, and intellectual life, and those matters have received fuller
attention in recent years.h There are, however, other implications
of the Pirenne thesis, particularly in the social-psychological sphere,
which have yet to be explored. One such implication can be presented
as a questions If, as Pirenne claims, Western Europe owes its orienta-
tion (or, more precisely, occidentation) to the Muslim irruption, how
conscious were the Western Europeans of forming such a new entity?
If they were conscious of the change that Pirenne professes to see,
they may well have left written evidences of that change. And one
might expect, on Pirenne's argument, to find such written evidences
in conjunction with comments regarding the Muslims. That line of
reasoning leads naturally to the question the present study seeks to
answer: What were the attitudes of Western Europeans regarding the

Muslims in the early Middle ages?

 

3A valuable introduction to the Pirenne thesis is Alfred P.
Havighurst, ed., The Pirenne Thesis: Anal sis, Criticism, and
Revision (Boston,'I§BHT:-Tsmg crithue of the Pirenn—e— thesis
Wliterature concerning it is William Carroll Bark, origins of
themedieval World (New York, 1958). —

I"'See, for example, Samuel Dill, Roman Societ in Gaul E215.
Mcravingian Age (London, 1926); ChristoPher Ewson, The Elfin of
mops (Tendon, 19%; first published 1932); lhx LAC-Te stud,—

THougEt and LIetters in Western Europe, A.D. 500-900, rev. ed.
t ‘cagiu020.19;I>T-.

 

 

Interest in the attitudes of Western Eur0peans toward Muslims
has been increasing since Pirenne's day. In 1931 Dana Carleton Munro
mde ”The Western Attitude toward Islam during the Period of the

Crusades" the topic of his presidential address to the Medievu.1

 

5
Academy of America. Carl Erdmann's noted work, Die Entstehung des

Kreuzzugsgedankens and Palmer Throop's Criticism p3 the Crusade also

 

touch on the matter of attitudes.6 Two books dealing specifically
with Western attitudes toward Muslims have appeared very recently.
Normn Daniel's masterly study, M11122. Ma :13 Making 2:
an image, is a definitive treatment of Western European attitudes r
from the mid-twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, while R.W.
Southern has surveyed the whole history of those attitudes in his
Ibrvard University lectures published under the title Western M
of Islam ingeniddle Ages.7 All those studies, however, have

emphasized attitudes of the crusading era and have touched lightly,

 

 

if‘at all, upon the period prior to the crusades. 1be present
study considers those earlier attitudes. -

The current interest in Western Christian attitudes toward
Muslims is largely stimulated by the similarity of medieval Christian-
lluslim confrontation with the East-West rivalry of the mid-twentieth

cdntury. In both cases differences which are essentially religious

 

IJ-Published in Speculum, VI (1931), pp. 329443.

6Carl Erdmann, Die Ikltstehung des Kreuzzugsgedankens (Stuttgart,
1935); Palmer Throop, Criticism if... the Crusades i Study _o_f_ Public
Opinion (Austerdam, 19 .

7Norman Daniel, Islam and the West; the Making of an Image
(Edinburgh, 1960); R.W. Sou ern, Western Views 31' Isl-Em in the

ME (Cambridge, Ihss., 196T- ----————_...

 

 

h.

(using the term in a broad sense to include what is often called
ideolog) separate East and West. That very similarity may lure the
historian down either or both of two equally dangerous paths: he may
read the problems of the present into the past, or he may seek from
the past blueprints for present responses. The writer has been aware
of those dangers; how well he has escaped them the reader will judge.

Since the religious posture of Western Europeans strongly
affected their attitudes regarding Muslims, the writer's religious
posture will doubtless influence the interpretation of those attitudes.
The fact that the author is a Protestant Christian, and neither a
Huslim nor a Roman Catholic Christian may prevent him from being fully
sympathetic with either posit ion, although he has sought to overcome
those limitations.

To ascertain the attitudes of Western Europeans, it was necessary
to read the writings of Western Europeans who lived between 620 ani
1095, note what was said about Muslims, and what attitudes were ex-
pressed in those notices. Secondary works were then consulted for
infernation regarding source criticism and historical developments.
The resulting synthesis seeks to place the attitudes in their histor-
ical context. Use of the plural indicates that there were several
distinct attitudes rather than one uniform attitude. Those attitudes
tended to differ in different geographical regions, hence the chap-
ters treat discrete geographical regions. Furthermore those atti-
tudes changed over the four and one-half centuries under consideration;
the changes are clear enough by the late eleventh century to Justify

our stopping there. Moreover certain significant events about that

tins mark the beginning of a new era of relationships—the capture

of Toledo by Spanish Christians (1085) and the coming of the Almor-
avids into Spain (1086), the conquest of Sicily by the Normans (begun
in 1061), the battle of Manzikert (1071), and the papacy of Gregory
VII (1073-85) which enmhasized- papal supremacy and the crusading idea.
As noted above, the Western attitudes toward Muslims during the
crusading era have been well studied; the present treatment, rather
than reproducing those studies, ends where they begin— on the eve

of the crusades.

An adequate understanding of Western Christian attitudes pre-
supposes a knowledge of the two faiths as they confronted one another
during the period 620-1070. By the end of the sixth century, Chris-
tianity had fought many significant battles of the faith, and had
arrived at a fairly well-defined body of belief.8 It emphasized the
triune God— Father, Son, and Spirit—although there was much disa-
greement regarding the precise formulation of trinitarian doctrine.
Various heresies, by challenging the idea that Jesus Christ was both
completely God ani completely man, threatened trinitarian belief and
occasioned several general church councils. Those heresies tended

to arise in the wealthier and better-educated East, hence it is not

 

80n medieval church history, see Kenneth S. 1atourette, A

Histo Christianit (New York, 1953), and the same author? s more
deEaiEedP-K Bl'BEO 3‘ éhe Expansion of Christianit , vol. II, The
Thousand Years 0; Uncertainty (33w 2.07%,1933), for a Protestant— view.
Wthholie standpoint see Louis Brehier et Rene’ Aigrain,
Gregoire 1e Grand, les fitats barbares et la co uflte Arabe, 590—757
(Par Is, 19mm mun, ‘350 no cfiofingienne aris, 19E”;
Auguste Dumas, L' glise au pm” Iaiques, 887-1057 (Paris, l9hB);
and Augustin mm reforms gregorienne e_t_ La reconqu‘e‘te chrétienne,
1057-1123 (Paris, l9h6')‘. EaclThas an extensive bibliography.

 

 

 

 

surprising that Islam was frequently regarded as another in the
series of eastern heresies.9 And it was in large measure because of
heresy that the Muslim conquest of the Middle East was so easy: the
attempt of the Eastern Emperor Heraclius to force Monotheletism upon
the newly regained eastern provinces made his new subjects deeply
dissatisfied with Byzantine rule and caused them to welcome the
Muslims as deliverers.

Christians emphasized the sinfulness of man and the need for
salvation which God had provided in Jesus Christ and which was
mediated through the church by means of the sacraments. Ihe sacra-
mental system emphasised the role of the clergy, who dispensed the
sacraments. The position of the clergy was further enhanced by the
conclusion of the Donatist controversy, in which the principle of the
indelible character of the priesthood was affirmed, by the fact that
many governmental as well as spiritual functions were being exercised
by bishops and archbishops, and by the increasing prestige of the
papacy. Salvation by faith in Christ and participation in Us
sacraments brought one into the Kingdom of God, a condition in which
one lived his earthly life under the rule of God, and hoped for a
blissful existence with God after death.

Unfortunately for the Church, the improved position of the
clergr often brought spiritual laxity, while laymen were likewise
poorly informed about and poor practitioners of the faith. Although

Benedictine monasticism sought to correct that situation, it was

 

9
It was so regarded by John of Damascus (see below, chapter II)
and by later Western thinkers, as, for example, Oliver the Scholastic
of KBln in his Historia Damiatina.

effective primarily with those who entered the monastery; clergy
and laity outside the monastery were too often untouched by the
Benedictine emphasis. Charlemagne an". his successors sought to
improve the spiritual quality of church practice but had little
success; it remained for the Cluniac reform movement to remedy
matters.

Unity in tin Church was difficult to maintain. From the earliest
days a tendency toward theological speculation existed in the Eastern
Church, while in the West men turned their attention to the practical
mtters of organization and administration. Under Justinian (527-65)
the Eastern Church became subservient to the state in that relation-
ship termed caesaropapism, while in the West the absence of any
effective imperial authority provided the church almost complete
freedom to develop as it desired. In the eighth century Eastern
and Western Christians clashed over the question of the use of
religious images—the iconoclastic controversy which not only split
the Eastern Church severely but also widened the breach between East
ani West. In the ninth century disputes arose regarding the rightful
patriarch of Constantinople and the matter of spheres of missionary
influence in Eastern Europe. Those differences and others increased
until in 10514 the breach became irreparable.

The Western Church was engaged in a serious struggle in the
seventh and eighth centuries with the Celtic Christians, whose
vigorous monastic and missionary life gave them a widespread influ-
ence in "estern EurOpe and whose tendency to disregard papal authority

made them appear a threat to the survival of Ronnn Catholicism.

Benedictine monasticism, however, eventually triumphed over the Celts.
Heresies regarding Adaptionism.and predestination, ambitious prelates,
and manipulative secular rulers complicated the life of the Western
Church in the eighth and ninth centuries. During the tenth and early
eleventh centuries the papacy reached flzs nadir, while the Cluniac
movement tried with increasing success to restore sound moral practice
and spiritual supremacy to the Church. That movement came to fruition
in the reforming popes of the late eleventh century, with success in
the investiture controversy and papal leadership of the crusades.

.Although Christianity emphasized a high moral standard, attual
practice, by both clergy and laity, left much to be desired. The
great wealth which the church amassed in the period under discussion
is traceable in large measure to the desire of individuals fully aware
of their wicked lives to make their satisfaction to God in the form
of gifts to His Church. Christian perfection was expected of those
who entered the monastery; demands on others were not so strict. At
its best the church also had a social doctrine, Opposing slavery and
promoting charity; but the best was not often attained.

Western European Christians, then, were forced to deal with many
problems of doctrine and practice, while at the same tine they strug-
gled to define the relationships between the spiritual and temporal
spheres and to protect their territory from outside invaders. Such

was the Christianity Islam encountered.

10
Islam.was born in Arabia in the early seventh century. The

Arabian nomads, whose blood loyalty led to fierce and frequent
vendettas, had had a polydemonistic faith with some vague ideas of
a supreme creator. Commercial activity brought Arabs with those
beliefs and ideas into contact with followers of other southwest
Asian religions-Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianityh-and made
the Arabs familiar with those faiths.

Islam was not, however, merely a combination of elements from
those various faiths; it was rather the outcome of the revelations
of God (Allah) to the PrOphet Muhammad. Born to a cadet branch of
the Quraysh, the leading family in mecca, Mhhammad was orphaned at
an early age. Forced to take a job outside the family, he became
commercial agent for the rich widow Khadijah, whom.he subsequently
married. Freed from the necessity of struggling for survival, Muhamad
had time to meditate. Ee contemplated the social inequalities, class
barriers, and materialism which commercial activity had created in
his city of mecca. In the course of his meditations the angel
Gabriel spoke to him urging him.to preach to the meccans the
nessages he received in his moments of inspiration. That he
proceeded to do.

His emphasis upon one, all-powerful, loving God who had implanted

moral responsibility in man and would judge man at a final Judgment

 

10The best brief survey of Islam.in English is H.A.R. Gibb,
MOhammedanisms .An Historical S , 2nd rev. ed. (London, 1961).
on théfilslamic pEEpIes, see Ph p Hitti, Histo of the Arabs
from.the Earliest_Times to the Present, 7th ed. (IondEE,—l§65), and
Carl Brockelmann, Eisto _-bf—the Islamic P60ples, tr. Joel Carmichael
and Moshe Perlmann ew ork,-I§LE).

 

 

 

 

10

brought harsh persecution from the Meccans, including branches of

his own Quraysh tribe. Although he succeeded in winning some converts,
they were usually young men of little social standing, and the early
death of some of his strong supporters in 619 weakened his position.

Fortunately for Muhammad, news of his activity had reached his
mother's home city of Yathrib (later Medina). There three Jewish
and two Arab tribes constantly competed for control. The city
fathers sought out Enhammad as one who might restore order, and
after lengthy negotiations Muhammad agreed to come. His journey
from.Mecca to Medina, the famous hi§:&_(sometimes hsgiza) in.622, is
celebrated as the birth date of Islam. In Medina he established a
theooracy in.which the will of God as revealed to and proclaimed by
unhammad was the law. He put economic pressure on Mecca which led
to military conflict in which Medina was victorious. By 629 he
succeeded in making a truce with the Meccans, soon won.them to the
new faith, and from that time until his death in 632 concentrated
upon converting the various Arabian tribes to Islam.

Islam, the community of the submissive, is a total religion
which is authoritative for both public and private life. Hence it
became a political as well as a religious entity, the Qur'in became
not only a guide to individual conduct and the sacred scripture of
the faith but also the law book for the state, and theologians

exercised governmental functions.

 

l
1The Arabic word for theologian is faqih, a local judicial and

administrative official is a qidi; the words are related. See Hitti,
p. 326.

 

q.

f
r

/

11

The doctrines of Islam are simple. There is one Liod, Allah,
who is a real Being, unique, merciful, transcendent, creator, sustainer,
judge, pardoner, and guide. He is the one reality to be feared ani
adored. This is an unqualified monotheism—e "There is no God but Allah;-
and therefore is in sharp contrast to the Christian doctrine of the
Trinity. The uniqueness of Allah, his complete otherness, made it
impossible for Islam to bridge the gulf between man and God which
Christianity held had been bridged by Jesus Christ. Allah sends angels
and prophets as messengers to men; the Old Testament prephets and
their books, as well as Jesus Christ, were accepted as divinely sent
prophets, but Muhammad had the latest and most complete revelation
of God. The divine message was to repent, believe in Grod, and do
good, for the day of judgment is coming when all will be sent either
to the Abode of Peace or to the Eternal Fire. That message of
divine retribution for sinful living was at the center of Muhammad's
preaching. If men followed the way of Allah, they would be saved.

There were five conditions for membership in the Islamic
conmrunity, all of which were relatively easy to fulfill. First, one
must have faith, which was expressed by repetition of the formula
"There is no God but Allah and Muhamd is the prophet of Allah..'

Once one had made that affirmation he was and remained a Muslim;

nmrepentant apostasy was punishable by death, a fact which has

always hindered Christian missionary efforts among Muslims. Second,
one must pray five times daily and in addition participate in congre-
gational prayer weekly. Third, one must give a specified portion of

his income as alms for the care of the poor, a provision with

12

important economic effects. Fourth, one must fast during the month
of Ramadan each year. Fifth, one must go once a year (for those far
from Mecca, once in a lifetime) on pilgrimage to Mecca, to perform
the ritual circumamhulati on of the Ka'aba. .

There are also certain specific moral teachings in Islam. Wine
and pork are forbidden, gambling, fraud, perjury, and slander are
prohibited, and there are definite regulations regarding dowries,
inheritances, and marriages. _J_i_h_§_c_l_, the holy duty to spread the'
faith by whatever means, was also enjoined upon all Huslims.

Clearly Islam did not make excessive or unreasonable demands
upon its adherents. Muhsmmad did not demand perfection or a contin-
uing struggle to attain perfection, but rather asked for obedience
to standards of conduct which were more advanced than the general
state of morality at his time. His followers frequently used his
own conduct and that of his companions as the standard against which
to measure themselves—a practice which has sometimes deceived
Westerners into calling the religion Mohammedanism.

Islam clearly differed from Christianity in several important
particulars. Theologically it was much simpler as it avoided the
complex problems of Christology and Trinitarian theology. Religious \/
practice was “QEESMQOth nor so demanding in Islam as in Christian-
ity. There was no officialwclergy in Islam, in contrast to the
highly developed clerical hierarchy inaliristianity. Nor did Islam
preach ascetic withdrawal as did Christianity. Intelligent and

\

well-informed Muslim polemicists and apologists emphasized the

13

differences between the two faiths.12 Thus Christians encountered
in Islam.a religion very different from their own.

That encounter occurred throughout the Mediterranean area. The
tribes of Arabia united under the banner of Islam sought new outlets
for the warlike spirit they had formerly vented upon one another,
they needed new sources of income to replace that formerly gained by
robbery, they were lured by the lush (to a desert-dweller) lands of
the Fertile Crescent, and were possibly invited and certainly welcomed
by the dissatisfied inhabitants of the provinces recently reconquered
by the Eastern Roman Empire. Shortly after Muhammad's death in 632,
Arab raiding parties entered Syria. In the ensuing warfare the y
easily vanquished the Byzantines (636), conquered Iraq in the following
year, added Egypt to their possessions in 6bl, and subdued most of
Persia by 650.

The Arab conquest was rendered easy by the granting of liberal
peace terms.13 Surrender of weapons and the payment of a poll tax
was required, but the inhabitants were usually left unmolested in

the conduct of their religion and local government. However the

 

120:1 Islamic polemics and apologies, see Erdmann Fritsch, Islam V
und Christentum inimittelalter: Beitrdge zur Geschichte der musffii:
ischen’Polemik gages das Christentum in arabischerISprache (Breslau,
T3'T'9 o , ———and the works therein cited. '—

13Here, for example, are the termm of surrender offered to Damascus.
'In.the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. This is whm
Khalid ibnpalAWalid would grant to the inhabitants of Damascus if he
enters therein: he promises to give them security for their lives,
property and churches. Their city wall shall not be demolished,
neither shall any Moslem be quartered in their houses. Thereunto we
give to them.the pact of Allah and the protection of His Prophet,
the caliphs, and the believers. So long as they pay the poll tax,
nothing but good shall befall than." Cited from al-Baladhuri, Futuh
al-Buldan, ed. 0. de Goeje (Leyden, 1866), p. 121, tr. Philip x-.—-
Hitti, The Origins of the Islamic State (New York, 1916), p. 187, in
Hitti, mtory 2: Embs, p. 150.

 

 

 

 

 

1h

social inferiority inherent in that situation, as well as the
effectiveness of Muslim missionaries, brought many conversions to
Islam, which was not theologically far removed from the various
Mcnophysite positions which had been popular in the East. Conversions
from Islam to Christianity were, of course, extremely rare.

me Arabs moved beyond Egypt to the West, but were locked in
mortal combat with the Barbers for nearly half a century before
those fierce warriors were finally subdued and North Africa came
under Arab rule. Most African Christians fled to European lands;
that exodus plus conversions to Islam caused Christianity to disappear
in North Africa. From Africa the Arabs moved into Spain, as we shall
see later. An administrative center was established at QayrawEn, far
from the Byzantine-controlled sea. Expansion also occurred in the
Ehst during the last half of the seventh century, with Arab armies
pushing to the valleys of the Oxus, Jaxartes, and Indus.

Although conquest of such vast areas had proved easy, effective
governing of them proved almost impossible. Despite the unity of a
cozmnon religion and a common langtmge, the Arabs proved unable to
devise effective institutions for governing their empire. The
history of the centuries following the conquest is a tale of repeated
rebellions, schisms, and chaos. It is unnecessary to trace that
decline in extensive detail, but the various states into which the
Arab-Muslim empire divided and with which the Christians had to deal

must be present ed.

15

Much of the division stemmed from the struggle over the
succession to the caliphate, that combination of head of state,
supreme judge, leader in public worship, and commander-in-chief.1}4
1n the years following Muhamnnd's death the caliphate had fallen to
his relatives or close associates, but in 661, following the assas-
sination of 'Ali by Kharijite malcontents, Mu'a'wiyah, governor of
Syria, claimed the caliphate and his descendants maintained it as
the Umayyad caliphate for nearly a century.15 The followers of 'Ali
claimed that the Prophet's mantle rightfully belonged to the family
of 'Ali; they formed theShI'ites, who, along with Persian nationalists,
various tribal groups, and others who felt non-Arabs were unfairly
discriminated against by Unnyyad rule,were welded together by the
descendants of one al-Abbas into a force which overthrew the Umyyads
and established the Abbasid caliphate in 750.16 The Abbasids moved
their capital from Damascus to Baghdad, and remained rulers of a
diminishing empire until the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258.

One Umayyad scion, 'Abd-ar-Rahmfin, escaped the general massacre

of his family which the Abbasids perpetrated, and established an

 

1brCaliph is an anglicized word derived from the Arabic designa-
tion khalIfa‘ft Rasi'il Allfih (successor of the Messenger of Allah).

 

1SI‘El'lEl'rigites (literally seceders [from 'Alg) were a religio-
political sect which emphasized military jihad and theological
conservatism.

16 -
Shi'ites (from ShI'a, literally partisans [of 'Ali]) hold
that the only legitimate Head of the Islamic community is a descendant
of 'Ali, in Opposition to the Sunnis (from sunna, meaning tradition
or community practice) who hold the naming of a leader from a non-'Alid
line legitimate.

l6

Umayyad emirate (later caliphate) in Spain in 756.17 Into Morocco
came a rebellious 'Alid, Idris lbn-ibdul 15h, who founded the first
Shi'ite dynasty in history, the Idri'sids, who existed for almost two
/ centuries (788-9714) before succumbing to powerful Umayyad Spain.
The appointment of Ibrahim ibn-al-Aghlab as governor of Tunisia in
800 led to the establishment of that area as an independent Aghlabite
kingdom until 909, when it was overcome by Isma'ilite propaganda and
the Fatimid dynasty was established.18 In 969 the Fatimids also
conquered Egrpt, which had experienced three different ruling houses
(pfilfinide, 868-905; Abbasids, 905-55; IkhshIdids, 935-69) in the
preceding century. The conquered lands in the East likewise separated
themselves from the Abbasid rule. 30 in a scant two centuries the
great empire had almost completely disintegrated.

That disintegration seems to have affected the names by which
Muslims were known in Western EurOpe. Those from Spain were often
termed Mauri (Moors) while Aghlabids were usually designated Afri
or Africani. However Reinaud notes that medieval Christians confused
Berbers, Africans, Carthagininas, Romans and Vandals, calling them

Bhuri, Afri, Poeni (Carthaginians), and Fusci (Negroes) indiscriminately.19

 

17‘liknirate comes from the term amIr, meaning governor.

18Isnfi'flites are named from the person they believe to have
been the rightful seventh imam (leader in prayer, a term more non-
political than caliph), Isma'Il, a descendant of 'Ali. The F'Etimids

derive their name from 'Ali's wife, Muhamad's daughter Fatimah.

19Joseph Reinaud, Muslim Colonies in France, Northern Italy,
and Switzerland, tr. Eroon £h_£n Sherwin! (Lahore, 195?, pp. 226-27.

 

 

F

\
\

17

There were other more general names which Europeans used to
refer to Muslims, and we will note them here. The most common term
is Saracen, which is apparently derived from the Latin Saracenus and
the Greek Sarakenos. It was used before the rise- of Islam, and referred
to the nomads of Arabia Petraea (the northwest portion of Arabia) and
the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. 0there, however,

see in it a corruption of the Arabic word sharqiyyun (oriental,

 

easterner). Still others see it as a derivation from the name
Sarah, the wife of Abraham.20

More insulting, if less frequent, were the terms Agareni and
Ishmaelites. These are derived, respectively, from Abraham's slave
wife, Ihgar, and the son of that union, Ishmael. Christians saw
Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, as the true son of God's promise,
while Ishmael, according to God's angel, was "a wild ass of.a man,
his hand against every man and every man's hand against him ‘. . . ,'
and, as the son of a slave woman, of little value.21 Muslims, however,

make no distinction between the son of a free woman and one born of a

slave, so long as the father is free and acknowledges the child.

Q Thus what the Christian deemed an insult was not so to a Muslim.

' "Further the Muslim writers attribute to Ishmael all that is related

.in the Bible about Isaac.“ Reinaud also notes that Christian authors

- . 22
"think that there is something humiliating" about the epithet Agareni.

 

20Ibid., p. 225. See my further remarks on John of Damascus in
the follofing chapter.

1
2 Genesis 16.12 (Revised Standard Version). Genesis 16, 17, and
21 deal with Ishmael. See also Daniel, 3p. cit., pp. 79-80.

22
Reinaud, p. 225.

18

The spelling of these names and the names of Muslim personages varies
widely, indicating an unfamiliarity with the Muslim world.

Another term frequently used of Muslims is paganus, pagan.
While some Muslims were doubtless less thanscrupulous in religious
observance, the term pagan could only be applied to adherents of
Islam by those who were ignorant of the facts or-who forced the
facts into preconceived patterns of thought (one who did not believe
in the Christian God might be considered pagan on that account).
And as pagan is used of other non-Christians besides Muslims, it is
probable that it was a term used to refer to those who were not
Christian, regardless of what their religious practice and belief
might be.2

Eyen the terminolog, then, causes us to suspect that Western
European alristians were ignorant and uninformed regarding Muslims
and their religion. But Eastern Christians were in more intimate
contact with Muslims and my have obtained more reliable information
regarding them.and may also have transmitted that information to the
West. We turn, therefore, to an examination of the Byzantine contri-

bution to Western European attitudes toward the Muslims.

 

23mm” p. 236 ff.

CHAPTER II

BYZANTINE.ATTITUDES

The Christians of the Byzantine Empire had the earliest, the
longest, and in some ways the mmst intimate contacts of any Christians
with the muslims. As the East had been the source of most of'the
important thought of the Christian era, it was natural that the first
thinking about the Muslims occurred there. we shall therefore inves-
tigate that thinking to ascertain the ideas formed of the Muslims so
we may recognize any Eastern influence on western Christian attitudes
toward Islam.

Interaction between the two faiths was usual in those territories
which the Muslims had conquered. Nhny Christian scholars both orthodox
and heretical lived in those lands and close daily contact with learned
Muslims brought a vigorous exchange of views and stimulated both
Christian and Mtslim.thought. That was particularly true in Damascus,
which was the birthplace both of Muslim theology and the foremost
theologian of Eastern Orthodox Christianity-John of Damascus.1

Yanah ibn Mansi'ir ibn Sergius, more familiarly known as John of
Damascus (c.67 -c.7h9)'was the first Byzantine to write at length

about the Muslims.2 Little is known of his life. It seems that his

 

1Hans Prutz, Kulturgeschichte der Kreuzzfige (Berlin, 1883), pp.
28-29. All but one of’the pro-crusade Muslim.polemicists and apologists
treated by Fritsch, pp: cit., are from.the East.

2John's life is sketched in Saint John of Damascus: writings, tr.
Frederic H. Chase Jr., vol. mvfi‘EF‘ThT Father's—of the c‘hm-“e'h' '(New
York, 1958), introduction. Regarding'BEHn's views-BEEMEinms, see
Paul Khoury, "Jean Damasctne et 1'Islam," Proche Orient chrétien,
VII (1957). bh-65: VIII (1958): 515-59-

 

19

2O

father, Sergius, was a Christian tax-collector in Damascus for the
Umayyads, and that Jehn occupied that post after his father's death,
serving under 'Abd al-Malik (685-705) and al-Walid (705-15). The
latter's harsh policy toward Christians seems to have induced John
to enter the monastery of Saint Sabbas near Jerusalem. There he
practiced asceticism, studied the early Fathers, and was ordained to
the priesthood shortly before 726. In the iconoclastic controversy
he was a Spokesman for the bishops outside the empire, staunchly
opposing iconoclasm and secular interference in ecclesiastical
matters and suffering reproach for his supposedly Saracen sentiments.
When.the furor over iconoclasm.subsided the value of John's work was
more fully appreciated; he has come to occupy: the same position in
Eastern Orthodoxy that Thomas Aquinas has in Roman Catholicism.

In part two of his Fount 2£_Know1edge, entitled Heresies ip_

 

Epitome: How They Began and Whence They Drew Their Origin, John

 

 

includes a chapter on the Ishmaelites.h' While most of Heresies is
borrowed from.other writers, the chapter on the Ishmaelites, chapter
101, is original.

First of all, it is interesting to note that John considers

Islam.a heresy. From.his residence in Damascus and his evident

 

3Council of the Palace of the Hieria, 753, in mansi, XIII, 356.

hfieresies is accessible in the bilingual (Greek and Latin)

editiom'é': xcrv, 677-780, which should be checked for printer's
errors withfthe authoritative Sancti Joannis Damasceni Opera omnia
uae extant, ed. Nfichel Lequien (Paris, I712), vol. I. The cthter
€57th3_1355aelites has been translated by J.W. Voorhis, TJohn of
Damascus on the Moslem.Heresy,” Moslem.Wor1d, XXIV (l93h), 391-98,
and by Chase, 2p, cit., pp. 153-60. subsequent quotations from the
chapter are from.ChE§e.

 

21

familiarity with both the Qur'in and the Hadi'th (tradition) John
certainly knew Islam well, and yet did not consider it a distinctly
different faith from Christianity. Perhaps there is a remnant of his
hatred of iconoclasm in that; he certainly knew that the Muslims were
quite as opposed to images of the deity as was Marian. But
more important in his naming Islam a heresy is his belief that
Muhammad derived it from Christian sources; he writes that Muhammad
"after having chanced upon the Old and New Testaments and likewise,
it seems, having conversed with an Arian monk, derived his own heresy."5
Subsequent scholarship has established the probability of Muhammad's
knowing of the Christian teachings and of the Old Testament, but does
not hold that Muhammad devised Islam by distorting Christianity. Here,
however, the facts are not so important as what John believed the
facts to be, and he clearly believed that Muhammad had wittingly
"devised his own heresy.u
Regarding the origin of the Ishmaelites, John says;
They are descended from Ishmael, (who) was born to Abraham of
Agar, and for this reason they are called both Agarenes and
Ishmaelites. They are also called Saracens, thEFTs—derived

From fight; xewl’, or destitute of; Sara, because of whap Agar
said to he angel: 'Sara Hath sent me away destitute.'

 

fiance he calls them Saracens or Ishmaelites, but rarely used the

 

*—

5Writings, tr. Chase, p. 153.

For a thorough examination of John's reasoning, see Khoury,
VIII, 313-39.

7writings, tr. Chase, p. 153. The biblical reference is to
Genesis—T578:— Sozomen claims they were descended from Agar but
called themselves descendants of Sara to hide their servile origin.
Ecclesiastical History 6.38, E, LXVII, 114.12.

 

22

terms Islam and Muslim. Doubtless the former terms, used for
centuries to designate inhabitants of northern Arabia, were more
familiar.

John is especially cmcerned to attack Muhamsd's claims to
divine revelation, and does so by ridicule, by challenging the lack
of pr0phetic testimony to and performance of miracles by Muhanmad,
and by utilizing the dialectic approach of Eastern theology. Thus
he says of Muhammad that

e . . having insinuated himself into the good graces of the
people by a show of seeming piety, he gave out that a certain
book had been sent down to him from heaven. I1e had set down
some ridiculous compositions in this b ok of his and he gave
it to them as an object of veneration.

Obviously John denies the divine character of the revelation, the
book is "his," Muhammad's, not God's. To contrast even more clearly
the validity of Christian.with the invalidity of Muslim revelation,
he continues in this manner:

But when we ask: 'And who is there to testify that God gave
him the book? And which of the prophets foretold that such

a prophet would rise up?'— they are at a loss. And we remark
that Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai, with God appearing
in the sight of all the peOple in cloud, and fire, and dark-
ness, and storm. And we say that all the PrOphets from Moses
on down foretold the coming of Christ and how Christ God (and
incarnate Son of God) was to come and to be crucified and die
and rise again, and how He was to be the judge of the living
and dead. Then, when we say; 'How is it that this prophet

of yours did not come in the same way,with others bearing
witness to him? And how is it that God did not in your presence
present this nan with the book to which you refer, even as He
gave the Law to Moses, with the people looking on and the
mountain smoking, so that you, too, might have certainty?'—
they answer that God does as He pleases. 'This,' we say, 'We
know, but we are asking how the book came down to your prophet.’
Then they reply that the book came down to him while he was
asleep. Then we jokingly say to them tlrnt, as long as h_e

 

8Writings, tr. Chase, p. 155.

23

received the book in his sleep and did not actually sense the
operation, than the popular adage applies to him (which runs;
You're spinning me dreams. .

When we ask again: 'How is it that when he enjoined us in
this book of yours not to do anything or receive anything
without witnesses, you did not ask him:_ 'First do you show us
by witnesses that you are a prOphet and that you have come from
God, and whow us just what Scriptures there are that testify
about you"'-—they are ashamed and remain silent. (Then we
continue:) 'Although you may not marry a wife without witnesses,
or buy, or acquire pr0perty; although you neither receive an
ass nor possess a beast of burden unwitnessed; and although you
do possess both wives and property and asses and so on through
witnesses, yet it is only your faith and your scriptures that
you hold unsubstantiated by witnesses. For he who handed this
down to you has no warranty from any source, nor is there
anyone known who testified about him before he cane . 0n the
contrary, he received it while he was asleep.‘

He also uses ridicule in dealing with a work allegedly Muhammad's,

The Camel of; God. A large camel who became bloated from drinking too

 

much water became wedged between two mountains where who was killed
by those to whom she gave milk.

However, she had an offspring, a little camel, which, he says,
when the mother had been done away with, called upon God and
God took it to Himself. Then we say to them: 'Where did that
camel come from?‘ And they say that it was from God. Then
we say: 'Was there another camel coupled with this one?‘ And
they say: 'No.’ 'Then how,‘ we say, 'was it begotten? . For
we see that your camel is without father and without mother
and without genealogy, and that the one that begot it suffered
evil. Neither is it evident who bred her. And also, this
little camel was taken up. So why did not your prophet, with
whom, according to what you say, God spoke, find out about

the camel—where it grazed, and who got milk by milking it?

Or did she possibly, like her mother, meet with evil people
ani get destroyed? or did she enter into paradise before you,
so that you might have the river of milk that you so foolishly
talk about? For you say that you have three rivers flowing
in paradise—one of water, one of wine, and one of milk. If
your forerunner the camel is outside of paradise, it is obvious
that she has dried up from hunger and thirst, or that others
have the benefit of her milk— and so your prophet is boasting
idly of having conversed with God, because God did not reveal

 

91‘oid., pp. 1514-55.

2h

to himvthe mystery of the canal. But if she is in paradise,
she is drinking water still, and you for lack of water will
dry up in the midst of the paradise of delight. And if,

there being no water, because the camel will have drunk it all
up, you thirst for wine from.the river of wine that is flowing
‘by, you will become intoxicated from drinking pure wine and
collapse under the influence of the strong drink and fall
asleep. Then, suffering from a heavy head after sleeping and
being sick from the wine, you will miss the pleasures of para-
dise. How, then, did it not enter into the mind of your
prophet that this might happen to you in the paradise of
delight? He never had any idea of what the camel is leading
to now, yet you did not even ask him, when he held forth to
you with his dreams on the subject of the three rivers. 'we
plainly assure you that this wonderful camel of yours has
preceded you into the souls of asses, where you, too, like
beasts are destined to go. And there there is the exterior
darkness and everlasting punishment, roaring fire, sleepless
worms, and hellish demons.’

Such an argument seems designed rather to score debater's

points than to deal meaningfully with basic issues. If John ever

tried those arguments on actual Muslims, which appears doubtful,

he undoubtedly learned that precisely the same arguments could be
\//directed against certain aspects of the Christian revelation. Not

only were Christians like John.blind to the weak points in the Chris-

tian position, they also failed to see deeper differences in the

outlooks of the two faiths. 'With regard to revelation, for example,

Daniel has noted that "For the Muslim, a revelation that responded

to the circumstances of a particular moment was normal, whereas to

the Christian mind such a thing seemed to be its own condemnationrll‘

John appears to be so obsessed with the wrong-headedness of

Muhammad's teaching that he fails to give any clear statements of

 

10Ibid., pp. 158-59.

11
Daniel, p. 31.

25

Islamic belief‘and practice. He is, however, quite clear about the

muslim.concept of Christ. Muhammad taught that God has not begotten,

and that

the Christ is the Werd of God and His spirit, but a creature
and a servant, and that He was begotten, without seed, of
Mary the sister of Moses and Aaron. For, he says, the word
and God and the Spirit entered into Mary and she b ught
forth Jesus, who was a pr0phet and servant of God.

That view of Christ caused the muslims to designate the Christians
k//Ebtaeriasts, a label which John rejected in this fashion:

.Mdeover, they call us Hetaeriasts, or Associators, because,
they say, we introduce an associate with God by declaring
Christ to (be) the Son of God and God. we say to them.in
rejoinder: 'The Prophets and the Scriptures have delivered
this to us, and you, as you persistently maintain, accept
the Prephets. So, if we wrongly declare Christ to be the
Son of God, it is they who taught this and handed it on to us.’
But some of them say that it is by misinterpretation that we
have represented the PrOphets as saying such things, while
others say that the Hebrews hated us and deceived us by writing
in the name of the Prophets so that we might be lost. And
again we say to them: 'As long as you say that Christ is
the Wbrd of God and Spirit, why do you accuse us of being

’ Hetaeriasts? For the word, and the spirit, is inseparable
from.that in which it naturally has existence. Therefore,
if the word of God is in God, then it is obvious that He is

God. If, however, He is outside of God, then, according to
you, God is without word and without spirit. Consequently,
by avbiding the introduction of an associate with God you
have mutilated film. It would be far better for you to say
that he has an associate than to mutilate Him, as ifyou
were dealing with a stone or a piece of wood or some other
inanimate object. Thus, you speak untrudy when.you call ug

,/ hetaeriasts; we retort by calling you Mutilators of God.‘1

He is, however, cognizant of the Qur'anic basis of the Muslim
argument (Sura 5.11b, {£3) which runs, according to John, thus:

And he says this, that when the Christ had ascended into
heaven God asked Hnn: '0 Jesus, didst thou say; "I am the

 

12Writings, tr. Chase, pp. lSS-Eh.

laIbido, PP. 155-560

26

Son of God and God"?' And Jesus, he says, answered: 'Be

merciful to me, Lord. Thou knowest that I did not say this
and that I did not scorn to be thy servant. But sinful men
have written tint I made this statement, and they have lied
about me and have fall en into error.‘ And God answered and
said to Him: 'I know that thou didst not say this word.‘

.\/ There are many other extraordinary and quite ridiculous thiggs

in this book which he boasts was sent down to him from God.

Muhamnad's view of the crucifixion is mentioned but not refuted.

And he says that the Jews wanted to crucify Him in violation of
the law, and that they seized His shadow and crucified this. But
the Christ Himself was not crucified, he says, nor did He di 5 for
God out of His love for Him took him to Himself into Heaven.

The Muslim charge of idolatry is returned upon the Muslims
themselves for their use of the Ka'aba. John states:

They furthermore accuse us of being idolaters, because we
venerate the cross, which they abominate. And we answer them: v
'How is it, then, that you rub yourselves against a stone in
your Ka'ba and kiss and embrace it?‘ Then some of them say
that Abraham had relations with Agar upon it, but others say
that he tied the canal to it, when he was going to sacrifice
Isaac. And we answer them: 'Since Scripture says that the
mountain was wooded and had trees from which Abraham cut wood
for the holocaust and laid it upon Isaac, and then he left the
asses behind with the two young men, why talk nonsense? For in

' that place neither is it thick with trees nor is there passage
for asses.’ And they are embarrassed, but they still assert
tint the stone is Abraham's. Then we say: 'Let it be Abraham's,
as you so foolishly say. Then, just because Abraham had relations
with a woman on it or tied a camel to it, you are not ashamed to
kiss it, yet you blame us for venerating the cross of Christ by
which the power of the demons and the deceit of the Devil was
destroyed.’ This stone that they talk about is a head of that
Aphrodite when they used to worship and whom they called lhabar.
Ewen to the present day, graces of the carving are visible on
it to careful observers.1

__A-

lbIbide. Po 15h.

151bid. The relevant Qur'anic passage is Sura [4.156.

16mm. pp. 156-57.

27

John's treatment of Muslim.morality places the provisions for
W
polygamy and divorce in an unfavorable light. In Sure h, Muhammad

. . . plainly makes legal provision for taking four wives and,

if it be possible, a thousand concubines-as many as one can
maintain, besides the four wives. ll'e also made it legal to

put away whichever wife one might wish, and, should one so wish,
to take to oneself another in the same way. Mohammad had a
friend named Laid. this man had a beautiful wife with whom
Mohammed fell in love. Once, when they were sitting tOgether,
MOhammed said: 'Oh, by the way, Godhas commanded me to take your
wife.‘ The other answered: 'You are an apostle. Do as God has
told you and take my wife.‘ Rather-to tell the story over from
the beginning-he said to him: 'God has given me the command
that you put away your wife.’ And he put her away. Then several
days later: 'Now,' he said, 'God has commanded me to take her.‘
Then, after he had taken her and committed adultery with her, he
made this law: 'Let him who will put away his wife. And if,
after having put her away, he should return to her, let another
marry her. For it is not lawful to take her unless she have been
married by another. Furthermore, if a brother puts igay his
‘wife, let his brother marry her, should he so wish.‘

Other provisions of Muslim morality, which would doubtless offend
Christian sensibilities, are stated fairly in the concluding paragraph:
He made it a law that they be circumcised and the women, too,
and he ordered them.not to keep the Sabbath and not to be

baptized. And, while he ordered them.to eat some of the things

forbidden by the Law, he ordered them.to abstain from.others.

He furthermore absolutely forbade the drinking of wine.1

In addition to the chapter in Heresies, John also prepared a
guide for Disputation between.a'Saracen.and ELChristian, of which we

have two versions, one apparently a later recension of the other.19

In one first version John begins with a discussion about Christ or

 

171b1de , P. 157.

lslbide , pp. 159-600

19PG, XCIV, 1585d96, seems to be the original and PG, XCVI,
1535-h8:_the revision. An English translation of the version in
PG, XCIV, is J.W} Voorhis, "The Discussion of a Christian and a
Saracen,” Nbslem.Wbrld, XXV'(1935), 266-73.

28

the'Word of God (Verbum.Dei) of whom.the Saracen is supposed to say

 

that on the basis of his Scripture the Wbrd is uncreated to which
the Christian rejoins that what is uncreated is God. If he answers
created, then the Christian should ask him.whether there was no
Spirit or'Word before God created them, a response which would leave
the Saracen Speechless and send him fleeing. John then observes:
"Such disputations with Saracens are both thoroughly distasteful and
useless.“20 He next expounds the nature of the Verbum.DEipby means of
cyriological (literal) rather than tropological (figurative) exegesis
since the former gives sounder proof than the latter. The question
of the Virgin Birth is dismissed by reference to the Scripture, the
question of how the word of God could have eaten, drunk, slept and
been crucified is answered by saying that it was only the flesh
‘which the word took from Mary which was crucified.21 These arguments
apparently satisfied Jehn, and therefore he thought they would satisfy
Muslims.

The second major issue discussed is that of good and evil: the

“-

former caused by God and the latter by fre3;will. John disproves

the idea that sexual reproduction is an evil created by God by
showing that to be fruitful and multiply is not to sin by fornication
and does not make God a cooperator in sin, but is rather God's plan,

explained in Scripture, for perpetuating His creation. The Saracen

finally agrees that God would not command something He did not will.

 

20"Disceptantes enim.sunt tales apud SaracenOS, 6t omnino
abominabiles et abjecti." PE, IBIV, 1586-87.

21Ibid., 1587.

29

After John disposes of an Objection to Christ because he received
baptism from John, the Saracen is so awed he can ask no further
questions.22

The revision changes little-—it begins with the question of good
and evil, follows with the issues of baptism and incarnation, and
concludes with the baptism of Christ and the vanquishing of the
Saracen questioner. John's tone is sharper; he speaks of the
Saracen's "deceitful lawgivers' and "false books," and terms heretics
who affirm with the Saracens that the Word of God was created "des-
picable and infamous."23

Although the disputation may have been useful as a theological
exercise, it does not seem.particularly useful for actual discussions
with Muslims. John supplies little information regarding Muslim
theology and religious practice, and never stresses the need for the
salvation afforded in Jesus Christ and mediated through the church
and the sacraments. One must conclude that John used few of the
weapons available to him.in the arsenal of bThristian theology, and
failed to gauge accurately the strength of the arguments against
Christianity which a real Muslim'would use. Nevertheless he exerted
great influence upon subsequent Christian attitudes toward Islam,
thus Daniel terms him.the "real founder of the Christian tradition"

of anti-Muslim attitudes.2h' The reader, by comparing subsequent

 

22Ibid., 1595-96.

2332. XCVI. 1338. 13b}.

2bilaniel, p. 3.

-_ .")
\

30

evidence with John's own statements, will be able to decide how true
Daniel's statement is.

John's student, Theodoregfbucara (father or bishop of Cara in
Palestine), followed his master slavishly, even writing tracts
against IslaminvArabic.25 In one disputation he depicts a Muslim
‘who, in trying to understand Christ and the Trinity, gives the
statement of hypostases and unity which orthodox Christianity used.
On the same basis (one God appearing in different hypostases) a
huslim.admits there is only one scripture which appears in different
books. Lack of signs and previous prophetic testimony are urged
against Muhammad's claim to revelation, but the Muslim claims
Christians have removed passages referring to Muhammad in the
Gospels.26 Theodore expressed his view in this way:

He Christ therefore, first foretold by Nbses, demonstrated

very conwincingly with such great and numerous signs that He

had come from.God and solemnly proclaimed to his disciples:

"The law and the prOphets were until John the Baptist. He

who has ears to hear, let him has ." Where then is your

prephet? The answer is obvious.

And elsewhere he gives his Opinion of Muhammad.
I answer that I hold Muhammad, the false prophet of the Agarenes,

to be insane, since he gloried in his own lies. Moreover it is
Openly acknowledged that, moved by a demon sent to him.from.God,

 

25Theodore's comments regarding Muslims are found in several
brief and fragmentary disputations, hence no titles of his works
are cited but only the relevant columns in PE}

26:9,. xcvn, 1585-8h. 1527. Isle-m.

27"Hic ergo a Moyse prius declaratus, cum.tot tantisque signis
sese a Deo venisse commonstrasset, discipulis suis spopondit, dicens:
”Lax et prophetae usque ad Joannem.Baptistam, Qui habet aures
audiendi, audiat." Ubi igitur est propheta vester? id obscurum non
est.” ‘22, XCIV, 1595-98. -

(9/

31

he would shed the blbod of those who affirmed the divine majesty
in three persons and all those who would not say "God is alone
or one solitary person who neither begot nor was begotten nor
had any consort." These things moreover are insane theology,
that he should deny the son of light and product of sanctifica-
tion to be God, and that he should kill by the sword Christians
‘who have benefited from that God as if they were lawless men

and intriguers, and that he boasted that was God's command to
him. But yet, when calmed by the am, he withdrew, since h;
bore, like any man afflicted by a demon, harsh reproaches. 8

However Theodore introduces some aspects of Muslim thought
not found in John. For example, the Saracen in one disputation asks
why the Christians recognize Christianity as superseding Judaism.but
do not recognize Islam.as superseding Christianity (even the term

Islam, Eslamismum, is used); Theodore answers with the preceding

 

arguments regarding the validity of Muslim claims to revelation.29
In discussing the crucifixion he notes the Muslim belief that those
killed in.Roman territory (that is, fighting noanuslims) will go to
paradise. Elsewhere he shows why one should have only one wife (the

Muslim.asks him.to argue from.oommon sense, ex communibus notionibus,

 

rather than Scripture), that the Father is consubstantial with the .
Son, and, by comparison with the digestive process, how communion

bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.30

 

8" . . .

Cui respondeo, hunc ipsum esse insanum Agarenorum pseudo-
prophetam.Mahometum, prout in propriis suis mendaciis gloriatur.
Professus enim est velut a diabolo actus, se a Dec missum, ut effundat
sanguinem eorum, qui affirmant, Numen divinum esse personis trinum;
et omnium illorum, qui non dicunt: "Deus est solus seu solitarius
unica persona constans, qui neque genuit, neque generatus est; neque
consortem ullum habuit." Haec enim est insanientis theologia, ut
genitorem luminis, et sanctificationis productorem neget esse Deum,
et ut Christianos, qui hoc profitentur, tanquam.injuriosos et calumni-
atores, gladio trucidet, idque sibi a Deo mandatum jactat. Attamen
aere demulsus, concessit, ut eum, a quo homo ille a daemons agitatus
se missum.ferebat, insectarentar." PE, XCVII, 15h6.

2939. XCIV. 1595-98.

5OPG, XCVII, 1551-62.

'3

32

The records of the Easternmghurghficouncils also give some indi-
cations of attitudes toward Muslims. In Action.XI of the Third
Council of Constantinople (680) we read that the emperor

. . . destroyed the prestige of all barbarians and especially

the arrogance of the Saracens, who because of our sins had

fallen upon us unexpectedly and plundered everythingaby cruel
and ferocious means and wicked and profane audacity.
The notion that Muslim success was related to Christian sinfulness
was to find echoes in the West, as we shall see.

Islam, with its hostility to representations of the deity, was
readily linked with iconoclasm. At the Second Nicaean Council John
of Anatolia reported that a Jewish magician inspired the caliph Yazid

, f,_,-_.i
II (720-2h) to destroy all images, promising him a long reign if he
did so. The caliph followed the magician's advice and destroyed the
images in Christian churches. He was imitated by Constantine, the
false bish0p of Nacolia, who with Bezer, a Syrian Christian.who
apostasized to Islam.and later fled to the Byzantine Empire, greatly
influenced the Emperor Leo in his iconoclastic attitude.32 Perhaps
Ego sought a religious policy more acceptable to Muslims, Jews, and
anophysites. Ebro probably he considered idolatry and religious
quietism.dangerous to the empire's spiritual welfare and military

strength when Muslims were achieving such great successes.

 

31". . . vigentia barbarorum omnium, maximeque Saracenorum
supercilia confringat, qui ex nostris peccatis ex insperato nunc
super nos surrexerunt, omniaque diripiunt crudeli ferinoque pro-
posito, a impia profanaque audacia.“ Mansi, XI, 507.

32M3ansi, XII, 270,.XIII, 197 ff. Gerhart B. Ladner, ”Origin and
Significance of the Byzantine IconEElastio Controversy," Medieval
Studies, II (19m), 129-52. - ""‘"""

53IBIIIIOI' , 135-59 0

33

Whatever Leo's aims may have been, many Christian leaders were
convinced a causal connection existed between the Muslims and icono-
clasm. Eastern bishOps wrote the Patriarch Tarasius that Christ
“. . . enlightened the minds of those who sit. in darkness and the
shadow of death of malign error, that is, the impiety of the Arabs."3h
A popular tale depicted a Saracen who, seeking to mutilate an image.
by gouging out its eye, lost his own by divine action, and elsewhere
Muslims are termed wolves among the Christian sheep, godless, and
35

idolaters from whom God delivers the Christians.

Theophanes, who wrote his Chronographis in the first quarter d‘

 

the ninth century, also had much to say about the Muslims. he uses

the term Saracens to refer to Arabians before Muhammad's time, telling
how some were converted to Christianity by a hermit, and of the fierce
Saracen retaliation upon those converts. Sometimes the Saracens suf-
fered severe military defeats.36 But when he comes to Muhammad's time,
TheOphanes vigorously expresses his attitudes. According to him, there
were some "misguidedji/ebiews” who thought Muhamnad was the Messiah.

Ten of them converted to his religion, but were awakened to their error

when they saw him eating camel flesh—something no Messiah would do. u"

 

5“mania, 1:11, 1128; 1:111, 555.

35mm, XIII, 78-79, 605, hoe, 71.1, 198, 1.56, 110, 616, 619.

3629, CVIII. 191. ML.

37The camel is unclean for Jews because it chews the cud but does
not part the hoof. Leviticus 11.1.98. The English translation of
Theophanes' lengthy remarks concerning Muhade in PG, CVIII, 683-88
is supplied by Gustave E. van Grunebanm, Medieval mam: A Study in

Cultural Orientation, 2nd ed. (Chicago, 1953), pp.-UI--H5. -

 

13s

'\.//

3h

Theophanes seems to be ridiculing the Jews here: from the
Chris tijfiewpoint that the Messiah had already come in Jesus
Christ it seemed both ridiculous and contemptuous for the Jews even
to suppose that there could be another Messiah. Perhaps tying
Muslims so closely with the Jews was an attempt to discredit both
groups. One naturally wonders where Theophanes got his story. Could
it bea garbled version of the invitation of the fathers of Yathrib
to come to their city and restore order among the fighting tribes!

That seems likely, as Theophanes proceeds immediately to trace
Muhammad's own tribal descent. In doing so, he differs noticeably
from John of Damascus. According to Theophanes, Muhammad traced his

descent through a most excelknt tribe (E35 praeclarissima tribu

 

duxit originem) which went through Ishmael to Abraham. No mention is

 

made of either Sara or Agar, and no stigma is applied to the descent
through Ishmael. The fact that the Ismaelites were tent dwellers in
the Midianite desert region is recorded, as is the fact that they
engaged in trade by means of camels. However the expected scriptural
references to the necessity for Ishmael and his offspring to be

38

wanderers are not made.

Theophanes also relates the story of Muhammad's working for and

imarriage to Khadija, doing so in a manner which makes Muhammad appear

to be a scheming, money-hungry young man, whose morality is firther
called into question by the fact that Khadija was related to him.

Since the aforementioned Mohamed was poor and an orphan to boot
he decided to attach himself to a wealthy woman, a relative of

 

3BPG, CVIII, 653.

35

his, Hadija by name, in the capacity of an agent hired to take
charge of her camels and to do business for her in Egypt and
Palestine. Shortly thereafter having won the woman, who was s.
widow, by his open ways (liberiore ejus utens oonsuetudins)he
took her for his wife and thus obtained possession ofher
camels and other property.

 

Again, as in John's writings, much stress is placed upon the
weakness of Muhammad's claim to be a prophet. While relating the
story of the misguided Jews, Theophanes states very clearly tl'at

; those who accepted Muhammad's religion "forsook thatof Moses, who
s ~ . ”‘
J‘ ihad seen God," obviously implying that Muhammad had not seen God.

Theophanes also relates that through mixing with Jews and Qiristians

in Palestine Muhammad "got hold of some scriptures." He also allegedly
contracted epilepsy; perhaps the reader was expected to understand

that as God's punishmnt of the infidel for meddling with Holy Writ.

The epilepsy provided Muhammad with the occasion for claiming revelation.

When his wife became aware of his condition she was sorely
grieved that she, a woman of noble birth, was now tied to one
who not only was poor but an epileptic. I'le undertook to pla-
cate her by saying: 'I am having the vision of an angel,
Gabriel by name, and as I cannot stand his sight I lose my
strength and fall to the ground.' But she had for her lover
a monk who lived in these parts having been exiled for mis-
creancy. She told him all and also the name of the angel.

And (this monk) wishing to convince her fully said to her: He
has spoken the truth. For it is this angel who is sent out to
all the prophets.’ Accepting the word of the false abbot she
believed him and announced t the other women of the clan that
(her husband) was a prophet.

Clearly no credence is to be given Muhammad's claim to divine revela-

tion. The author does not refer to the lack of signs or miracles as

 

591b1a., 686.

PS, CVIII, 686; von Grunebaum, pp. [all-L15.

\b

36

evidence of Muhammad's falsity, apparently he believes the "facts"

themselves are sufficient to discredit thammad. - '
Theophanes concludes his section on Muhammad by briefly noting

some of his teachings, carefully choosing those whidn put his subject

in a bad light. Muhammad's emphasis on war is stressed by pointing

 

out that his heresy gained control of Yathrib through war, that he
had spent ten.years spreading his message by war, and.that he taught
that he who killed or was killed by an enemy would enter paradise.
Paradise itself was deplorably voluptuous.

He described Paradise as a place of carnal (joys), carousing,

drinking and embracing of women. I'herewould be a river of wine

and honey and milk, and there would be women other than.those

they now had whose embrace would be long-lasting and of endufiing

pleasure. And he alleged other fables, immoral and foolish.
But Theophanes notes some good in Muhammad's teaching-his followers
were to "support one another and help the wronged.u

he considers 'Umar's desecration of Jerusalem the abomination of
desolation of which Daniel spoke, and elsewhere terms the Muslims
adversaries of God, and notes God's aid in defeating them.b2 And in
the story of Peter, the metropolitan of Damascus, TheOphanes can
fully express his hostility to Islam. Peter, although warned by the
authorities to refrain from.attacking Islam, began to harangue a
crowd of Arabs, saying:

Whoever does not believe in the Father, the Son and the Hbly

Spirit, consubstantial and.existing in unity of nature and

trinity of persons, is blind in his mind's eye and destined to

eternal punishment. Muhammad, your false prOphet and precursor
of antichrist, stands out in this way. Now therefore I bear

 

mag, CVIII, 687-88; von Grunebaum, p. 115.

“239. CVIII. 69b. 719.

\

57

witness before heaven and earth in the presence of all of you,
in the hope of bringing some small measure of faith to you,
flat I solemnly deny his fabulous and delirious doctrine.
When the listening Arabs remained unmoved, Peter continued:
Let Muhammad and his fabulous doctrine and all who believe in
him be accursed. Immediatel he was run through with a sword,
and gained a martyr's crown.
Knowledge of the emphases of The0phanes is also valmble for our
interest in Western European attitudes since one of the most important

figures of ninth century Europe, Anastasius the Vatican librarian,

prepared a condensed version of the Chronographia, which he termed

 

Historia Ecclesiastica. Although his wording of the relevant passages

 

in Theophanes is different and terser, the attitudes are not modified
in the presentation. Migne has' conveniently printed Anastasius'

Historia in the same volume with Theophanes' Chronographia, which

 

facilitates comparison.

There are some other less significant Byzantine works dealing
with the Muslims. Gregory of the Decapolis (0. El?) wrote a sermon
regarding a Muslim who became a Christian and a monk after trying to

defile a Christian temple by leading camels into it. Subsequently

 

’43". . . Qui non credit in Patrem, Filium et Spiritum sanctum
consubstantialem et vivificam in unitate naturae personarum Trinitatem,
is aninae oculis occaecatus est, et aeterno supplicio dignus. Muamed
falsus vester vates et Antichristi praecursor ejusmodi exstitit. Quam-
obrem si mihi nunc coelum et terram coram vobis obtestanti aliquatenus
fidem adhibetis, fabulosam et deliram ejus doctrinam ejurate. . . ."

"Anathema Muamed et fabulosae ejus doctrinae credentibusque in _
emn omnibus. Extemplo gladii poenae suppositus, martyr declaratur."

Ibid 0 , 839-)42 e

38

the convert denounced the Nhslim.superstition and the false prophet
Muhamad, and was martyred.

Bartholomew of Edessa authored an Elenchus or Confutatio Agareni

 

fl.—

and a Contra Muhammad in the ninth or early tenth century}L5 In the
former, he viciously attacks Muhammad, describing him as

. . . godless, lawless, impious, and submissive to wicked dogmas.
He took ten wives and sixteen concubines captive. . . . Moreover
Muhammad was formed in sin by human seed, and he himself sinned
. and procreated children; how then can.you say that he was Christ's
V/ brother when he was not only a sinner but also the most hostile """" ‘
foe'of“God as you must recognize and acknowledge; for before he
embraced that religious life he was a thief, a robber, lurking
by night upon the roads for those who should fall into the
ambushes he had prepared and putting them.to death violently.
Meanwhile on account of his wives, and uncontrolled excess of
coitus, he was accustomed to seek herbs which would pander to
unbridled venery and libidinousness; even so he never obtained
satiation of these depraved desires for which he was infamous
throughout his life and the exercise and customary practice of
which he held comparable to wealth and gain. . . . Wherefore,
then, do you call him a prophet and apostle of God who was so
impure, accused of contamination by all, a robber, unjustbéa
murderer, a rapist? . . . O impudent and shameless ones!

 

as, c, 1201-11.

MPG. CIV. 1385-lubfi. M768.

us

". . . sine Deo, sine legs; impie, et pessimis dogmatibus
obnoxium. Quin et ipse duxit decem.uxores, et sexdechn concubines
captives. . . . Insuper Mahumet ex peccato et semine humane formatus
est, et ille ipse peccavit et liberis procreandis operam.didit; quo-
modo ergo dicis illum fuisse fratrem.Christi; cum non solum.fuerit
peccator, sed infensissimus Dei hostis ut ipse agnoscis et confiteris;
nam.antequam.vitam.religicsam.amplecteretur; erat fur, latro, nocturnus
viarum insessor qui quamplurimos in insidias quos struxerat delapsos
violenta morte peremit. Praeterea propter uxores, et impotentem
intemperantem.que coitum herbas solebat emere quibus venerem.et libid-
inem.effrenem.conciliaret; adeo ut nunquam.satiatus recederet ab
istis pravis desideriis, quibus per totum.vitae curriculum fuit obnox-
ius, usus istis moribus tanquam.exercitio quo sibi lucrum et quaestum
compareret. . . . Quare ergo prophetam et apostolum Dei vocatis illum
qui fuit impurissimus, omni criminum.labe contaminatus, latro, injustus,
homicide, raptor. . . . 0 impudens et inverecundel' Ibid., 1587.

59

Bartholomew also cites NMhammad's lack of signs and the lack of

prophetic testimony concerning him. However in the Qur'an Bartholomew

1“found both truth and fahehood (vera st_falsa dicere). He clearly

 

follows the arguments and attitudes of John of Damascus, and since he
reworks the same argument several times he contributes little that 18
new. He does, however, demonstrate an understanding of Mhslim prayer
practice, a good knowledge of the Qur'an, and familiarity with the
history of the rise of Islam};7 In the Contra Muhammad, he discusses
the Agareni-Saracen terminology in accordance with John's approach,
points to Muhammad's collection of opinions from.Jews, Ariana, Nestor-
ians and others, and generally follows John.

Nicetas of Byzantium, who wrote his Confutatio Falsi Libri Suem

 

 

scripsit Mohamedas Arabs at the end of the ninth century, attacks the
Qur'an in bitter language and prolix style, as this passage shows:

But what can surpass the insane stupidity of a man who says that
Moses' sister was Christ's mother and that Christians were in the
desert with Moses and above all in Solomon's Temple, in the age
of Zachariah, the birth of Christ by a Virgin was predicted by
the angels? From.these narrations he imagined things to have a
contrary order: Solomon preceded Moses, indeed Moses, Nhry and
Zachariah were contemporaries, several years after the building
of the temple Moses wandered into the desert. O demoniacl O
atheistic drunkardl O miserable barbarians who believe such

. . b8
lying books divine.

 

b8"Sed quidnam.nostrum.de hominis dementia stuporem.superabit,
qui Moysis sororem.dicit Christi matrem? et cum.Eoyse Christianos
in deserto fuisse? insuperque in Salomonis templo, Zachariae aetate,
Virgini ab angelis partum.Christi praedictum? ita ut ex his narra-
tionibus res contrarium ordinem habere cogitandum sit; Salomonem
Moyse antiquiorem; Moysem vero, Mariam, et Zachariam contemporales;
at post plurimos a templi aedificatione annos Moysem.in deserto erra-
visse. 0 daemoniacuml 0 atheismi crapula ebriuml 0 infelices barbaroa,
qui librum.mendacia talia continentem.divinum credunt." 22, CV, 727.

1L7Ibid., 1590.98, 1ho6, 11138.

ho

various issues such as God as the cause of sin, marriage in paradise,
and the diabolical rather'than divine origin of the Qur'En are also
considered, but the influence of earlier writers, especially John of
Damscus, is quite apparent.

Later Byzantine writers are almost entirely dependent upon the
previously considered ones fer attitudes regarding Muslims. Georgius

Hamartolus' Chronicon (c. 91b) and Georgius Cedrenus' Historiarum
b9 The

 

Compendium.(c. 1058) are almost verbatim copies of The0phanes.

 

Disceptatio cum.thmed Saraceno of Samonas, bishop of Gaza (c. 1056)
50

shows the influence of Theodore Abucara.

 

' What influence did these Byzantine writers have upon'Western
attitudes toward Islam. Daniel, as noted earlier, views John of
Damascus as the "real founder of the Christian tradition" of anti-
Mhalim.attitudes. An earlier and highly respected scholar, Hans
Prutz, expressed a different view. I

The Byzantine theologians saw in Islamic monotheism.nothing
other than a treacherous enticement for the deliverance of the
souls of weak believers to their ruin. They saw in Islam only
a work of vile frauds; it appeared to them as a foolish, art-
fully created piece of fantasy rising out of fanatical infatu-
ation. Nevertheless they had to face the fact that at certain
points Islam.and Christianity were in agreement. To explain

, these similarities they hit upon the fiction that Muhammad was
a Christian from birth. This feature appears again and again
in almost all Muhammad fables, which developed so plenteously
in the Middle Ages. Hewever medieval and especially Byzantine
theologians did not overlobk the relationships which existed

‘/’ between Islamand certain heretical Jewish sects.

we can already find these directions in the oldest Chrisfian
report we have regarding the rise of Islam; it comes from the

 

“9293 OK, 863-7h, and £9, CXXI, 807-15, respectively.

5°33, cxx, 821-52.

\s‘

hl

Byzantine Theophanes and is excerpted by Anastasius the Vatican
librarian in his Church history. . . . Theophanes' report, to
whidn-knastasius' Church History gave a wideg circulation, is
the source of most medievaI"EEE3mmad fables. 1

 

Sinne John and Theophanes had somewhat different attitudes toward the
Muslims, it is important to learn which influenced Westerners more.
Nhrbury B. Ogle has illuminated the differences between.the two
Byzantines in his attempts to trace the literary antecedents of
Petrus Comestor.52 Ogle discovered two streams of tradition regarding
the term.Saracent the geographical-historical, which from.the first
century A.D. mentioned the Saracens as one of many Arabian tribes who
occasionally raided Christian churches and monasteries; and the
ecclesiastical, which began with Eusebius, emphasizing Saracen cruelty

to and enslavement of Christians. TheOphanes is a representative of

 

51"Die byzantinischen Theologen wollten in dem Monotheismus der
Nohammedaner nichts sehen als ein trfigerisches Lockmittel, um die
Seelen der wankenden GlHubigen nur um so sicherer dem.Verderben zu
fiberliefern: sie sahen in dem.Islam.nur ein Work schanen Betruges
und verschrien ihn als ein unsinniges, kflnstlich geschaffenes
Phantasiestuck, entsprungen aus fanatischer BethBrung. Dennoch
konnten aucn sie nicht in Abrede stellen, dass der Islam.in gewissen
Punkten mit dem.Christenthum Hbereinstimmte. Dies zu erkldren, kam
man zu der Fiktion, Mohammed sei von Geburt ein Christ gewesen.

Dieser Zug kehrt in fast allen Mohammedfabeln, die im.Mdttela1ter so
fippig entwickelt sind, gleichmHssig wieder. Aber auch die Beziehungen
haben die mittelalterlichen und namentlich gleich die byzantinischen
Theologen nicht Hbersehen, welche zwischen dem Islam und gewissen
haretischen Sekten des Judenthums obwalten.

Diese Zfige finden sich schon in dem.lltesten christlichen Bericht,
den wir fiber die Entstehung des Islam.habens er stammt von dem
Byzantiner Theophanes und ist von dem.r8mischen Bibliothekar Anastasius
in seiner Kirchengeschichte excerpirt. . . . Auf diesen Bericht des
TheOphanes, der mit des Anastasius Kirchengeschichte weite Verbreitung
fand, gehen die meisten Mohammedfabeln des Mittelalters als auf ihre
Quelle surfick." Prutz, Kulturgeschichte, pp. 77-78.

2 ..
5 Nhrbury B. 0gle, "Petrus Comestor, Methodius and the Saracens,"

 

Speculum, XXI (l9h6), BIB-Eh.

b2

the former tradition, while John of Damascus is an exponent of the
latter one .

fl'ence hostility toward Saracens was the product cf pro-Islamic
centuries, and was directed against dwellers of'a particular locality
rather than those of a different religion. Perhaps there is also
some of the hostility of the city dweller toward the nomad in these
positions. Ogle, however, further notes that Jerome transmitted the

ecclesiastical tradition to the West through his Sommentaries and his

 

translation of Eusedus' Chronicle.53 Many Western commentaries fol-
lowed Jerome; the works of John of Damascus, however, were not

translated into Iatin until the twelfth century.

 

55Ogle conVeniently gathers the relevant passages from Jerome.

0n Ezekiel 25.1-7s "Scripture shows that . . . through the Midianites
Ismaelites and Agarenes, who are now called Saracens, were assuming
to themselves falsely the name of Sara that they might seem actually
to be lords and of free birth."

". . . quod . . . per Medianaeos Ismaelitas et Agarenos, qui
nunc Sarraceni appellantur, assumentes sibi false nomen Sarae quo
(quod) soilicet de ingenua et domina videantur esse generati,
scriptura significat."

On Isaiah 21.16-17: "Ismaelites ought to know that the book of
Genesis teaches that Cedar and the Agarenes, who are wrongly called
Saracens, were born of Ishmael."
"Ismaelitas debere intelligi liber Geneseos docet ex Ismaele
Cedar et Agarenos qui perverse nomine Saracenos vocantur esse genitos."

Questions on Genesis 16.11-12: "IsmaeL interpreted, means God hears
. . . ; for rustic in hnebrew one writes PHARA, which is interpreted
wild ass. That signifies moreover that his seed shall live in
solitude, that is the Saracens who are scattered and havp no fixed
abode and attack all people who live beside the desert and are
attacked by all."

"Ismael interpretatus, exauditio Dei . . . 3 pro rustico (vg..f.ro)
in Hebraeo scriptum habet PHARA, quod interpretatur onagor. Signi-
ficat autem.semen eius habiturum in eremo, id est Saracenos vagos
incertisque sedibus qui universes gentes quibus desertum.ex latere
iungitur incursant et impugnantur ab omnibus."

L13

Ogle's argument about the role of Jerome in transmitting ideas
regarding Muslims will appear stronger as we examine the work of
western Christians. The influence of Theophanes upon Anastasius
and the ramifications of that will also be noted. It seems clear
that these two strains were the significant ones in Byzantine influ-
ence upon the pre-crusade attitudes toward Muslims in Wbstern Europe.
Pirenne's thesis, of course, tends to preclude such Eastern influence
upon the west in that period; if that influence was significant the L/
thesis must be modified. Such matters will be taken up again in the
concluding chapter of the present work. Before that, however, it
is necessary to examine what the western Europeans themselves felt

and said about the Muslims. To that examination we now turn.

CHAPTER III

ITALY AND SICILY

The Byzantine Empire and the NMslims were in contact in anotha°
area which is more properly Westerns-Italy. Muelim.attacks began
there in the seventh century; Amari dates the first raid on Sicily
in 652 and Gay holds that they raided the mainland as early as 671.1

. During the first half of the eighth century these raids continued;
we have records of raids on Sicily in 705, 70h, 720, 727, 729, 750,
755, 7h0, and 752, and on Sardinia in 70h, 710, 755, and 752. Both
islands were nominally under the control of the Byzantine Empire;
however the pressure of the Muslims in the East plus internal strug-
gles (especially the iconoclastic controversy) prevented the Byzantines
from sending forces to defend their Western possessions. Despite a
dramatic and decisive victory over fine Muslim.fleets off Cyprus in
7h7, the Byzantines essentially abandoned Corsica and Sardinia. The
Muslim.raids were at first part of Mfisa's plan to conquer North Africa;
when that was achieved the Muslims likewise ignored Corsica and Sardinia
for nearly two centuries.2

Byzantine weakness prompted the strong popes at the end of the

eighth century, Adrian I (772-95) and Leo III (795-816), to work

toward securing Byzantine Italian lands for the purpose of strengthening

 

lMichele Amari, Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia, 5 vols., 2nd ed.
(Catania, 1955), I, 19H:268'. JulcSJCay, LTItaIie mgridionale et '
1'Empire Byzantin depuis 1' avenement de Basile IE! jusqu' a la prise

ari ar Tee Normands (857- l07l), 2-tols.(Paris, l 95E], I-'Ip.
Thbu gh 0 ,these scholarly and skiflful works remain standard.

 

 

 

 

. 2
I‘ Archibald R. Lewis, Naval Power and Trade in the Mediterranean
A.D. 500-1100 (Princeton, I951), pp. 65:-69, 78 ET'IE2L Kmari, I, 510.

Mb

 

 

hS

the papacy. Though they obtained aid from.Charlemagne for that
purpose, other secular rulers were to seek those lands for themselves.
But Sicily was much closer to the Aghlabids than to its other would-be
possessors, hence it was they who were able to capitalize upon the
troubled conditions in the island. Sicily was a valuable prize both
because of its strategic geographical situation and its commercial
significance; the commercial clauses in the truces of 805 and 815
between Aghlabids and Byzantine governors of Sicily strongly suggest
that trade with Muslim.NOrth.Africa was channeled through Sicily.)4
The Muslim opportunity came in 827, when a revolt led by Euphemius,
admiral of the Byzantine Sicilian fleet, brought the death of tha
Byzantine patrician Gregory. In hapes of bolstering his position,
Euphemdus invited the Aghlabids to establish a kingdom.in Sicily,
provided they recognized Euphemius' overlordship.5 The muslims
accepted, landed at Mazara on the southern shore, and immediately
marched against Syracuse. The arrival of a joint Byzantine-venetian
fleet, coupled with a Carolingian attack on Bane, broke Muslim.sea
strength and saved the city. But the Muslims" would not be denied;
in 850 they besieged Palermo and captured it in the following year,
and within five more years had military and commercial alliances with
the Campanian cities, thereby reducing Byzantine strength in the

Tyrrhenian Sea.

 

5W1, 1, 312-180

hlewis, p. 113.

5 .
{Amari, I, 567. See also Georg Lokys, Die Kampfe der Araber mit

dem.Karolingern bis zum.Tode Ludwigs II (Heidelberg, 1905), pp. 10-25.

III :tgwis. PP. 132-3h3 Erchemperti Historia Langobardorum, MGH; 55‘.
D O __

 

 

 

L6

Scaroely were they established in Sicily when they were invited
into the affairs of mainland Italy. The duchy of Benevento and the
duchy of Naples had lived in intermittent conflict for some tine;
in 856 Andre of Naples invited Sicilian Muslims to his aid against
Sicard, Duke of Benevento.7 They served to create a diversion on
the east coast and obtained the surrender of Brindisi in 858, perhaps
with the aid of Cretan Muslims, but were soon ousted.8 Three years
later, however, they returned, this time at the invitation of one
Eadelchis, who was struggling with Siconulf, brother of the now dead
Sicard, for control of Benevento. Two bands of African and Sicilian
Muslims came to Radelchis' aid; one in Calabria and Apulia occupied
Taranto while another in Apulia established a base at Bari. They
murdered many of the inhabitants of Bari, and enslaved others. Siconulf
hired some Cretan Muslims to oppose his rival. Confusion increased
as the Muslim bands began to fight with one another, carrying into

cy/’Ita1y the old tribal feuds and clan disputes which had plagued their

rule in Arabia, Africa, and Spain. They behaved as "condOttieri di_

 

?\ venture del Quattrocento," and their masters were forced to rob

 

churches and monasteries to pay them, which certainly did nothing

to improve relationships with the Christians of the countryside.9

 

7Lewis, p. 155. For more detailed information see Giuseppe
Pochettino, I Langobardi nell'Italia meridionale (570-1080), (Napoli,
1950), pp. 208-28.

80n the Cretan Muslins see E.W} Brooks, "The Arab Occupation of
Crete,” English Historical Review, XXVIII (1915), h51-h5.

9The phrase is Pochettino's. Lewis, p. 155, ff., and Amari, I,
289, 33. '—

 

 

147

Thus the Muslims entered Italy at the invitation of Christian
leaders who made alliances with them against other Christians. These
Muslims'were clearly opportunistic raiders rather than carefully
scheming conquerors. The inhabitants apparently regarded them with
the same hostility felt toward other destructive enemies.

The written records show no hatred of the Muslims as religious

foes. Chronicon Casinense, for example, relates that the reason

 

Muslims came to dominate Benevento was that Radelchis

. . . called to his aid Muslims from.overseas, who heeleged Bari
for a long time, and quite unexpectedly in the dead of night
captured that famous city. . . . {Be devastation of the muslims
among us was certainly very great.

The tone of the passage is quite calm. The more incensed Erchempertus
directed his hostility against both inviters and invited.

Nbanwhile Sikonulf of Benevento, seriously harassed with numerous
battles, summoned Spanish Ismaelites to his aid against the Libyan
Agarenes of Radelchis, thus, as it is said, the evil tree is_cut
down by the bad axe. They, by alternately fighting with one
{another and with external foes supported their overseas location
(with captives of our own people of both sexes and all ages.

But when they were thus lacerating themselves with civil war
it was the ruin of us all, and I say that from.sxtreme anguish of
heart and soul, largely because the degenerate Saracens of Bene-
vento, whose king was Massari, destroyed everything completely 1
reducing aristocrats to nothing and beating slaves with whips.

 

10

u. . . in auxilium.sibi transmarinas invitabit Saracenos, qui

diu erga Earle residentes, intempesta videlicet noetis hora more
solito nominatam rapuerunt civitatem; . . . Saracenorum vastatio ut
in nos utique sic nimium saeviret." MGH,.§§., III, 225.

11"Interea Siconolfus Beneventum crebris praeliis graviter afflig-
ebat, atque ut dici solet mala arbor, modo malus infigendus est cuneus,
contra Agarenos Radelgisi Tibicos Hismaelitas accivit, hisque invicem
intestine et extero altercantibus belle, ultramarina loca captivis
nostrae gentis diversi sexus et aetatis fulciebantur.

Set cum iugiter civili bello invicem.inter se lacerarentur, esset-
que omnium.pernicies et ut ita dicam animae et cordis extrema perditio,
maxime quia Saraceni Benevento degentes, quorum rex erat Massari, infra
extraque omnia funditus devastavit, ita ut etiam.0ptimates illius pro
nichilo ducerent atque ut ineptos servulos taureis duriter flagellarentf'
Ibido. 2147.

 

h8

Partially as a result of the Muslim.successes, trade routes in
the eighth and ninth centuries came to center on Constantinople,

which was reached no longer by the Rhone and southern France but

.a
.4"

rather by Italy via the Po valley. Ihat route change brought contin-
uing decay to the coastal areas of southern France and Liguria.12
Meanwhile muslim.sea raids continued. In 815 a combined Spanish
and African huslim.fleet defeated a Beneventan one, captured Lampedusa,
and plundered Panza and Ischia. Later other African Muslims harassed
the coasts of Calabria from.Reggio to Seminara. The defeat of Venice
and the establishment of the Muslims in Bari and.Taranto opened the
Adriatic to Muslim.raiders who captured and burned Ancona and Osero
on the island of Gherso in 8&0, and seized some venetian merchantmen
returning from Sicily. In.8h2 the Muslims defeated a venetian squadron
in the Gulf of Quarnero. The threat to the west Italian coast seemed
so severe that Naples deserted its alliance with.the Muslims and
leagued with.&malfi, Gaeta, and Sorrento to defeat the Muslims off
Point Licosa in 8h5 and force them to abandon their pirate nests.
That forced the Muslims to look further afield for booty, hence in
8L6 they attacked Civita Vecchia and sacked the basilica of St. Peter
and the cathedral of St. Paul at the very gates of Rome. They also
descended upon Genoa, where they caused so much suffering that

1
priests anu monks took up arms to fight against them. 3

 

12L6W18, PP. 125-260

13Lewis, p. 135.

L9

The attack on Reme might have galvanized Western Christians
into action against the Muslims, but did not. It was noted throughout
Western Christendom, almost the only. event involving MuSlims to be so
widely noticed, but strong hostility is not present. Here, for

example, is the entry in the Chronicon Casinense;

 

During these days Saracens landed at Rome, devastated the whole
oratory of the most blessed prince of apostles Peter and the
church of the blessed Paul, and annihilated many Saxons and a
great many others of both sexes and all ages. And also in the
month of September they likewise encamped at Gae’ifi, capturing
the city walls and raiding the surrounding area.

From persons so clesete Rems, the unexcited tone of the notice is
especially surprising. Another monk of Cassino, Erchempertus, had a
senewhat different viewpoint. Influenced no doubt by the fact that
Pope Sergius was a simeniac, he views the Muslims as God's chosen
agents for punishment of the sinful pope and church. Certainly such
a position is in keeping with the Biblical traditi on of the Old
Testament accounts of God's punishment of Israel's sins by an enemy.
But the emphasis is upon the sinful conditions which prompted the
punishmnt rather than the religious nature of the avengers. Erchem-
pertus also is not alarmed to note that Salome, Gaeta, Naples, an!
Amlfi maintained peace with the Muslims, and that a bishop, Athanasius,

was instrumental in that arrangement. "But the just judgment of God. . .

m'His diebus Saraceni egressi Remain, heraterium tetum devasta-
verunt beatissimerum principle apestelerum Petri beatique ecclesiam
Paulim' multesque ibidem peremerunt Saxenes aliosque quamplurimes
utriusque sexus et aetatis. Fundensemque capientes urbem, vicinaque
depraedantes leca, Septembrie quoque mense secus Gaietan castrametati
aunt." ELSE" III, 225.

50

began to afflict Naples gravely." It is not completely clear whether
this judgment is caused by the Naples-Muslim alliance, or by Naples
opposition to Benevento, or by other factors, although the first is
certainly most likely.”

The pope sought aid from the Campanian cities against theMuslim
fleet, and blessed the Christian ships before they gave battle.
During the encounter a severe storm wrecked the Muslim fleet and the
threat eased. Survivors were hanged or put to forced labor.

But once the direct threat of Moslem penetration of Italy's

coast had been checked Naples and the neighboring cities

again entered into close relations with their erstwhile

Islamic fees, and for the next Wenty years or more ,lgelatiens

between them and Palermo were friendly and peaceful.

Byzantium was concerned about these developments in what it
still considered its sphere of influence, and made overtures in 859
for a defensive alliance with the Franks.17 In the following year
the Byzantine patriarch sought Venetian cooperation in clearing the
Calabrian coast of the Taranto Muslims, but in the subsequent encounter
the Muslims were victorious.18 Although the contenders for Benevento
had agreed to a division of territory and a renunciation of alliances
with the Saracens in 8119, they still encouraged Muslim depredations.19

~—

 

15"Sed juste Dei judicio . . . coepit Neapolim graviter affligere."
Erchemperti Historia Langebarderum, PL, CXXII, 765-70, 781. See also

Louis DuchE-sne, Les pfiamiers temps 9.2. l'Etat pentifical (Paris, 1898),
p. 1’40.
16

 

 

m3, P. 1360

17 . . . . . . . . .
Prudentius Trecensis, Annalee, ma, SS. , I, 1152. MGH, EB."
v. 97. Vita Hludevici Imperateris, MGH, i: II, 636.

 

 

 

18Iohannln Chronicon Venetum, MGH, £53,, VII, 17.

1969-35 I! 75-

51

Louis II, who after Lothair's death in 855 had undisputed
authority, concentrated all his efforts upon Italy. He had already
sponsored three fruitless expeditions into Italy in the previous
decade in addition to encouraging the Chmpanign;E§ague to some naval
victories against the fee. But Louis' failures and Muslim.victories
at sea against the Byzantines (in 858, 100 of 500 Byzantine ships
‘were lost to the Muslims off Hessian) suggest that if the Imslims
had not been plagued by internal dissensions they might readily
have gained control of all south Italy.€9/ Louis needed naval power
for any success, and lacking'uhe support of the Campanian.cities,
he turned to the Byzantines. In 865-66 the emperor launched a

full-scale assault on the Italian Muslims which eventually resulted,

_ ‘with Byzantine naval aid, in the capture of Bari in 871 and the

subsequent ousting of the Mmmlims from nearly the whole peninsula.

The Chronicon Casinense records a Muslim.attack on a Benedictine

 

monastery in 866 in which ”the most execrable king Seodan drank from

the sacred chalice and commanded incense to be made for him with the
21

golden censors . . . ." But other reporters of the events are more

matter-of-fact, except for the elaborate account given by Andrew of

Bergame, which suggests religious hostility toward the Muslims.22

 

20Pochettino, p. 228, discusses at length the reasons for
internal dissensiens among the Muslims.
21
'. . . nefandissimus autem Seodan rex in sacris oalicibus
bibebat, et cum.turibulis aureis incensum.$ibi fieri iubebat . . . .'
Chronicon Casinense, MGH,.§§., III, 229-50.

22Chrenica Sancti Benedicti, MGH, ss., 111, 205-06; Ex Historiola
Longebardbrum.Auotore Monacho CassihensI:'RHF, VII, LS; Andreae
Bergomatis Chronicon, MGH,'§§., III, 256-57.

 

 

 

 

Bari.

52

Y\

Here, for example, is part of Andrew's account of warfare near

m“

The Saracen people came destroyed our land, desolated cities,
ravaged churches . . . . i‘hen the lord emperor, mOved by pity,
. . . chose strong and most noble men— Otto of Bergamo and the
bishops Oschis and Gariardus—and comforted them and said: ”Go
in the peace of christ, faithful ones, my the good angel of the
Lord go with you, that I may see you and your labors deserve the
rewards I place befcre you. Then at once they went out with
their missi, and where they went out they received the sacrament,
and gathered to themselves more and more faithful peeple. And
when they came to a certain valley where the Saracens, confident '
and fearless, were reaping the harvest with the captives they had,
the Christians attacked them and killed many Saracens and freed
the captives. Upon hearing these things their prince Cincimo
left the city of Amantea, bravely preparing to meet themnd
the Franks discovered them, and came upon them from all directions,
causing a great slaughter of Saracens, and those who sought
flight were pursued by Christians who continued killing them
all the way to the city gates

Cincimo indeed collected a multitude of Muslims from his and
their own homeland, ani with many expenditures of aid from the
sultan proceeded with them to Bari. It was announced to them
that tie Christians would celebrate a great feast day, Christmas,
ani they said: 'I‘hey worship their God on that day, they are
unwilling to fight or even to take arms. We shall come upon-
them and capture them all with great ease.” This counsel was
mde known to the lord emperor. Then it was announced that at
the morning cockcrow, at daybreak, the bishops and priests
would celebrate the solemn mass, and the people would receive
communion and benediction, and so they did. And Saracens went
out seeking foes, and the Christians went out seeking them, and
they came together in that place . . . . And when they came
together, the Christian faithful prayed, saying: “Lord Jesus
Christ, you have said: 'He who eats my flesh and drinks my
blood remins in me and I in him.’ Therefore if you are with
us, who can be against us?‘ At once battle ‘was joined, and
along with the bravely intentioned fighters, a celestial hosti
comforted the Christians; so that the pagans sought to turn
and flee. However the Christians pursued them relentlessly and
killed a multitude of the pagans . . . . In the following
February . . . by the merciful help of God the Saracens were
thoroughly conquered and an innumerable multitude were extermi-
nated; because those who were not killed by the sword drowned in

53

the vulturno River, while the remainder todk flight. Thus God's 23
judgment was fulfilled; those who were exalted had been humbled.

 

23”Gens Sarracinorum.venerunt, terra nostra dissipaverunt, civi-
tates desolaveruht, aecclesias suffuderunt . .'. . Tunc domnus imperata'
misericordia motus . .'. elegit strenuis et nobilissimds viris, Hotone
de finibus Bergomensis, Oschis et Gariardus episc0pis, et confortavit
eos domnus imperator et dixit: 'It in pace fideles Christi, angelus
Domini bonus comitetur vobiscum, ut et ego videam vos et labores quam
bovis inpono merearl Tune simul oum.ipsis missis perrexerunt, et
unde egerunt firmitatis sacraments receperunt, et adunantes secum
magic ac magis fideles populus. Cumque venerunt in quendam.valle,‘
ubi ipsis Sarracini, fidentes absque ullo timore, annonam metentes,
simul cum captivi quas habebant, tunc christiani inruentes super illos,
et Sarracini quanti ibi invenerunt occiderunt, et captivi liberaverunt.
Ut haec audivit eorum.principe, Cincimo nomine, de civitate Amantea
obviam.eorum exiit, praeparatus viriliter. Et exinde Franci comperti
sunt, et iungentes se hii ex una parte et 1111 ex altera, facta est
strages magna Sarracinorum, qui fuga petiens; christiani vero pest
eos, interficientes usque ad pertam.civitatis.

Cinoimo vero de suis et patriae suae adiutorium.colligentes
multitude Sarracini, iter pergentes, Bari secum euntes, multa dispendia
adiutorium.sladani. Brat eorum.nunciatum, quod christiani celebrarent
magnum.diem.festum, sicut erat, hoc est nativitas domdni nostri Iesu
Christi, dicentes: Deum suum.colunt die illa; neque pugnaturi neque
arma levaturi sunt. Ehmus super illos, comprehendamus eos omnes in
simplicitate sua! Hoc consilium.domno imperatori nunciatum est.
Tunc2moniti, ut gallotinnio matutinis et summo diluoulo episcopis et
sacerdotibus misserum.sollemnia celebrarent, et populus communienem
vel benedictionem acciperent, sicuti et fecerunt. Et exierunt quer- '
entes Sarracini, et illis querentes Franci iuncti sunt in loco . . . .
Cumque prOpe se coniungerent, fideles Christi oraverunt dicentesg
Domino Iesu Christe, tu disisti: 'Qui manducat carnem.meam et bibit
sanguinem.meum, in me manet, et ego in eum3" ergo si tu nobiscum,
quid contra nos? Statim commissum est praelium. Cumque forti inten-
cione pugnantes, arma celestis confortavit Christianos; pagani vero '
terga vertentes fugire ceperunt. christiani autem post eos cedentes,
non cessabant, donec multitude paganorum.interficerent . . . . Sequenti
mense Februario . . . Dei adiuvante misericordia Sarracini devicti et
debellati sunt multitudo innumerabiles; quia quod gladius non interemit,
in fluvio vulturno negati sunt, reliqui fuga vis evaderunt. Sic Dei
iudicio complacuit; qui vererant exaltati, facti sunt humiliati."

393. 321.. III. 256-37.

5h

The Calabrian Muslims were in such straits that they had to
seek aid from their compatriots in Sicily and Africa. I'hile Louis
sought more Byzantine naval aid to finish the task of ousting the
Euslizzs from both the perineflta and Sicily, AfriCan Muslims landed
at Taranto and moved through south Italy to Salerno, indicating the
weakness of the Frankish control.2Ll But both the Italian dukes and
the Byzantines distrusted Louis' Italian ambitions; the former forced
him to swear not to return to south Italy, while Basil I, upon Leuis'
death, took Bari (876). Now Taranto was the only muslin outpost in
Italy, but from it, or from Crete, came a Muslim squadron which in
875 raided Venice and burned the port of Comacchio at the mouth of
the P0 in what was to be the last Muslim raid in the upper Adriatic.
The Muslim raids on the mainland kept their opponents sufficiently
occupied so the Muslims could proceed with the conquest of Sicily;
in 868 an attack on Syracuse had been repulsed by Byzantine naval aid,
but in 878 the city fell to the Muslims. In 870 Malta fell to the
Aghlabids, who now had effective control of the Mediterranean narrows.25
So weak was the Frank position that Louis' successor renounced the
Frank occupation of South Italy.

That opened the way for the efforts of Pope John VIII (872-82),

that "generous and ambitious pontiff of vast idealism, of great activity,

 

21mm authenticity of the letter from which knowledge of Louis'
request comes is doubted; see Lcuis Ealphen, Charlemagne et l'empire
carolingien (Paris, 191,0), pp. 1411-12, and A.TleInclauszTCEarIemgne

(Paris, ESL), pp. 11141-82.
25Lewis, pp. 137-58.

 

 

55

and tortuous policy.’26 The struggles betweenthe papacy and Constan-
tinople, termed by Dvornik I'the Photian schism," had weakened Frank-
Bysantine realtions, but the Holy See expressed great interest in
ousting the muslims, as is shown by Hadrian II's asking the nations
reunited with Rome to pray for I‘our son Louis, that God may make the
Saracens submit to him.and we may finally have peace."27 John VIII
sought to detach the Italian cities from.the agreement with the
Saracens, but in 875 Amelfi, which had given.him.a small fleet to
lead to victory over the Muslims at Cape Circe, renounced war with
Muslims. He had greater success with the bishop of Capua and the

prince of Salerno, whom.he induced to break with the Muslims. But he

‘ could not stop Muslim.depredations; in 876 one hundred Muslim ships

landed at the mouth of the Tiber. John's letters contain repeated
laments regarding the Nbslim.threat. Eb was delivered from.bis

virtual captivity by Lambert of Spoleto and sought refuge and aid in
France, paying tribute to the Muslims during his absence. Not until

a sizable Byzantine flotilla began winning successes in 880 did the
situation change. In 881 John persuaded Athanasius II, the duke-bishop
of Naples, to break with the Muslims, and excommunicated him when he
reneged. But John was assassinated in 882 (not because of his Muslim
policy) and as the maritime states, interested in protecting their

commerce, would not agree to war against the muslims, the Byzantine

 

26". . . generoso e ambizio Pontefice, di vaste idealita, di
grande attivita e di tortuosa politica." Pochettino, p. 263. More
on John VIII's activity is given in my chapter on the papacy.

27
Cited in Gay, I, 83.

56

alliance was the only durable result of John's efforts. Even that
accomplished little; before John died yet another concentration of
Muslimswas established on the Garigliano River near Mount Vesuvius.
Nicephorus Phocas reestablished Byzantine authority in south
‘Ltaly, but the death of the emperor Basil I in 886 marked the beginning
of a decline. Muslims defeated the Byzantine garrison at Bari in 887,
and when the Duke of Spoleto left to seek the crown.the dying Charles
would leave the Muslims pounced on the defenseless territories. Muslim
dissension and Christian bravery combined to put the Byzantines in
control of the Straits of Messina for a short time, but a peace with
Constantinople in 895 removed the Byzantines from Italian waters. By
902, despite revolts and fierce fighting, the Muslims had completed
the conquest of Sicily. Still unsatisfied, the amir of Kayrawln took
personal command of the Muslim.forces and invaded Calabria, taking
Reggio and advancing as far as Cosenza, striking terror throughout
south Italy, but he contracted dysentery and died before the year
ended. His grandson took control, accepted tribute, and left Italy.28
As elsewhere, the Muslims treated their new subjects kindly. The V
Jizyah, a poll tax, and the kharij, a property tax, were levied on the
dhimmis; the former was not required of a Muslim. Dhimmis were not to
speak irreverently of the Qur'in, the Prophet, Islam, or Muslim women,
‘were not to proselyte, ring church bells or read the Gbspels too loudly, V

build larger houses than Muslims, or in general act equal to Muslims.

Such petty and annoying restrictions stimulatedcmnversions to Islam..29

 

28G6y, I, lb6-58.
29 .

Amari, I, éthele

57

By 902 Italy was threatened from both north and south. In 888

some Muslims had landed at Fraxinet in southeast Francia and had

w

 

extended their sway throughout the lower Alps, where they controlled
the passes into Italy and greatly interfered with trade ani travel
through the mountains.30 Except for their infrequent raids into the
Italian valleys, however, they posed a potential rather than an
actual threat}1 Nevertheless, because of Christian‘weakness and
dissensions they were to stay there nearly a century. L"

The Garigliano Muslims, however, conducted raids which alarmed

.._./

the inhabitants of central Italy and caused the compilers of the

Historiae Farfenses to consider them the judgment of God upon evil

 

Christiansfz Indeed Muslims, whether from Gariglianc or from remnants
of former bands, ranged freely in the upper valleys of several Tibe'
tributaries, causing towns to be abandoned and churches to become
ruins. The Byzantines, involved in the Bulgar wars and under weak
rulers, offered no aid, so Pope John I sought with the mrgrave of
Spoleto to clear the Tiber of Muslims. Rieti ousted the Muslims from
the upper Arno, and victories by Nepi and Sutri forced the Muslims
back upon Garigliano. Capture'of that well-defended position required

a combined land and sea attack. But Naples and Gaeta were wooed from

 

0
3 Liudprandi Antapodcsis, MGH, SE" III, 275.

 

31The monks of Novalaise,'who had been driven frcm'tbir monastery
by the Muslims, felt otherwise. Chronicon Novaliciense, mes, ss., VII,
83, 108-22. For more material on F‘raxfnet see my chapter VI. —

 

32Histcriae Farfenses, MGH, ss., x1, 552-33.

 

\I

58

their Muslim.alliances, the Byzantines supplied naval support, and in
916 the pope and the margrave led a united Christian force to victory.53

There were, however, new Muslim.attacks by the Fatimids; in 918
and.92b.they attacked.the Reggio area, sacked Orio in 925, and in 928
attacked Taranto. The Muslims were aided by the presence of two new
groups in Italy, the Hungarians and the Slgvs, and at least with.the
latter made some short-lived alliances. The Muslims, however, were
not seriously interested in reconquest; they were quite willing to
~>< accept tribute. The Byzantines encouraged King Hugh of Italy to oust
the Mbslims from Fraxinet, but when he and they had almost accomplished
that in 9h1 Hugh made peace to turn the Muslims against his rival.

At mid-century a civil war in Sicily ruined the grain supply and
forced Sicily to obtain grain from.the mainland, where Greek officials
sought to profit from the distress. But peace was restored in 9b?
and the Sicilians renewed their depredations on the Italian coast.
However the coming of the Byzantines led them to seek truces (9&7,

952, 955-56, 958, the last after a successful Byzantine sea raid on
Reggie and Tacrmina).35 In.960-6l the Byzantines regained Crete, which
made possible the renewal of the battle against Sicily under better

conditions, but with no better results, indeed a large Byzantine fleet

 

33Benedicti Chronicon, MGH, 88., III, 71h. Gay, 1, 155-62.
Duchesne, pp. 210312. see aIio PIEtro Fedele, ”La battaglia del
garigliano dell'anno 915 ed 1 monumenti che 1a ricordano,‘ Archivio

 

ahldudprandi Antapodosis, M03, 88., III, 331.

35
Lewis, p. 151; Gay, I, 212-17.

 

59

was defeated off Messina in 965 and the Muslimswere then unopposed
for some time. 'With the Fatimid conquest of Egypt relations with
Byzantium.became stabilized as both had a common enemy in Syria}6
Nevertheless John Zimisces in 971 enjoined Venice not to trade with
Muslim.ports in such commodities as ship timber, iron and weapons.
Peace with Byzantium also meant the Muslims were free to raid the
Italian coasts, which they did almost annually.37

Those troubled conditions tempted Otto II to add the south
Italian.lands to his realm, which he sought to do under the pretense
of ousting the Muslims.38 Otto went south in 982 with promises of
'Venetian aid, but it failed to materialize and his forces met humili-
ating defeat. Otto himself was nearly killed and barely managed to
escape via a Byzantine ship; his chroniclers made the barest possible
mention of the disaster. Otto's incursion destroyed the balance
between the Italian principalities and the Byzantine themes, thus
creating the confusion.which.the Normans were soon to exploit. Frequent
Byzantine leadership changes made consistent policy impossible, while
dependence on local militia made defense a myth. The Mhslims returned
to the attack, invading Calabria in 986 and 987 and extending their
raids by 988 to Bari, which they briefly occupied in 1003. They'were

39
ousted in the following year by the venetians,

 

366w. I. 290-9I. museum. pp. 162. 199.
37

8 _
3 Gay, 11, 329-35, notes the pretense, citing Thietmar. The ank

of St. Gall, however, says Otto went south because he was "not content

with.his father's boundaries,“ MGH, $8., I, 80; Lewis, p. 193.

Emss PP. 193-9140

M18, P. 1920

L/

60

venice's widespread trade network and Byzantiumis growing weak-
ness gave the Italian city a place of leadership. The Mediterranean
coast from.Rome to the Pyrenees was also reviving, particularly after
the ejection of the Fraxinet Muslims in 972. Genoa and Pisa were able
to go on the offensive, raiding Reggie in 1005 and attacking Muslims
in Sardinia in 1016. In 1031. Pisa attacked Bane itself. The fact
that Egyptian and Tunisian Ffitimids were so sharply divided that the
Byzantines could make a treaty with the former promising non-interfer-
ence in a Byzantine-Sicily war also highlighted muslin weakness.
George Maniaces led an attack against Sicily in 1039-h0, but was
shortly thereafter recalled for political reasons and the Byzantine
foothold was soon eliminated. In 1050 Genoa and Pisa, at Leo IX's
urging, ousted Spanish Mbslim.pirates from.Sardinia and established
some authority over Corsica. In 1063 Pisa sacked Palermo and in 1087
the two made an important raid on Mbhdia, landing forces, seizing the
barber and town, and gaining immense booty};O .

The coming of the Normans strengthened the Christian position.
They appeared in.1016 to aid the Lombards either against the Greeks
or the Muslims. By 1030 they had established aprincipality north of
Naples. After convincing the papacy of Norman strength, Robert Guiscard
in 1059 mwore allegiance to the Holy See, terming himself "by the grace
of God and St. Peter duke of.Apulia and Calabria and, with.their help,
hereafter of Sicily." Clearly God, St. Peter, and implicitly the Holy

See were expected to play an important role in defeating the Muslims.

 

~—

hoLewis, pp. 195-98, 220, 232-33; Gay, I, hl7, h35,b51-52.

M

61

By 1061 the Normans had begun the conquest of Sicily by taking Meeeim,
and the capture of Palermo in 1072 assured them of eventual success)“1

Although the Normans were tolerant, it is possible to detect in
their chronicles fierce hatred of the Muslims, but those works were
written after the crusades had begun. In the life of Saint Nil (910-
1005) more typical Italian conditions are related. A Muslim shared
some food with the young man, and another kindly tried to dissuade
him from the rigors of the monastic life. But in later years, Nil
urged the Byzantine metropolitan Blanton, who frequently obtained the
release of Christian prisoners from the Muslims because his sister had
wed the African amir, to ”shun that race of vipers."

Nil's strong statement, probably greatly influenced by the
writings of earlier Byzantines and the bitter experiences in war-bra
Calabria, is quite different from what we have seen so far in Italy.
Trade relations, alliances, toleration in times of peace all belie
the idea of a strongly hostile feeling based on religious differences.
From the written record the same pattern is apparent; the Muslims are
generally regarded like any other political opponent. In Italy, then,
we must conclude that there was no widespread, deep-seated hostility

toward Muslims; at least there is no evidence of it.

 

Charles H. Haskins, The Normans in European Histor (Boston
and New York, 1915), pp. 198:2'093 Iewis, pp. ellmi Apuli,
De Rebus Gestis Normannorum in Sicilia, PL, CXLIX, 1057, 1081-82.
Imati do fintecassino, StorirdF'NFrETMi, Fonti per la Storia d'Italia,
mm, 13, 21-22. "" —— _-

1'2 Gay, I, 270, 281-82.

 

 

CHAPTER IV

SPAIN

western Christians had their most extended contact with Muslims
in Spain, where for’nearly eight centuries adherents of the two faiths
lived in close proximity.1 Through that contact western European
civilisation reaped great benefits in the rediscovery of much Greek
philosophy, accretions of technological and scientific knowledge, and
stimulation of literary developments. But the Muslim.presence in
Spain constituted a potential threat to western Europe as well. And
for Spanish Christians, Muslim rule in at least part of the Iberian
peninsula was a fact with which they had to cope. Certainly their
attitudes will be of interest. But what were those attitudes?

Hon the outset of their thinking about Islam, Spanish Christians
were faced with the hardgfact tint the huslims had conquered Christian
Spain with relative ease. They devised, as we shall see, explanations
for that fact. Actually the conquest was also a surprise to the
Nhslims. A.Muslim raiding party headed by Tiriq landed in Spain in
711 to obtain booty and met the army of’the Visigethic king Roderic.
Since many Visigoths hated Roderic they refused to fight, hoping the
Muslims would eliminate him and then leave. Roderic was easily do-

2v
feated, but Tariq, disregarding orders to return, moved inland.

 

1The most trustworthy accounts of the history of Muslim Spain are
Reinhart P.A. Dozy, Histoire des Musulmmns d'Es agne us nib la conguete
a. l'Andalousie ar ““T—lee A morfid—T—‘es, ll-llw—ge—E, e . by r'i‘ste '
I;vi-Proven l, §*Fel.. (Paris, 1932); andifivariste Levi-Provengal,
Histoire g: l'Espagne Musulmane, 3 vols. (Cairo, 19141.).

2Dosy, Recherches sur l'histoir§_et la litterature d'Espagne
pendent .13 Moyen Ageiar'e‘d” 2 vale. myden“,"'18817,"1,‘58'$l'“7, 0-71.

 

 

 

 

62

63

He met little resistance; many inhabitants fled and others, especially
Jews, were willing to make terms. Cordova, Malaga, and Toledo, the
old Visigothic capital, fell within the year, and within another year
the entire ccuntry was under Muslim control. Muse, Iariq‘s commander,
reprimanded him severely for disobeying orders and took personal
command of the operations. He planned to exercise general supervision
over Spain from Kayrawan, and therefore named his son as his personal
representative in Spain, locating the capital at Seville.3

The conquerors respected the property of the inhabitants and also
the established form of their religion but they did take over a few
churches, confiscating the goods in them and converting them into

mosques. They summoned councils and appointed and deposed bishops,

'1 naming Jews and Muslims to the vacancies or selling them to the

2 highest bidder. Moreover they seized vacant lands and possessions
left by those who fled, took arms and horses, held hostages, imposed
tribute (whidh was doubled where resistance was strong) and sometimes
garrisoned a town (often with Jews "whose hatred of the Christians
was a sufficient guarantee of the loyalty towards the conquerorsfi).
lends won by conquest or taken from the church were parceled out to
Arabs, although one—third of that confiscated was kept for the state.
Serfs were retained on these farms and Christian husbandmen were left
unmolested; the latter even had the right to alienate pr0perty, which

they could not do under the Visigoths. Christians paid the state a

 

3Dozy, Histoire, I, 270-75.

hJoseph T. Reinaud, Maslim Colonies in France, Northern Italy,

and Switzerland, tr. Haroon Khan bherwanfr(iahore, I9555, . 30.

 

 

//
All

6h

poll tax, 223222, graduated according to socio-economic status, and
landed proprietors also paid.§§3§§§’ a tax on crops (about twenty per
cent). The poll tax, but not Eharéi, was remitted for converts to
Islam. In general

The condition of the Christians under the Noslems, compared with
what it had been formerly, was therefore not one of great hard-
ship. The unOOunded tolerance of the Arabs must also be taken
into account. In religious matters they put pressure on no man.
0n the contrary, unless the Government was an exceptionally devout
one-—which was seldom the case-it had no particular desire to
see the Christians converted to Islamism; this involved too great
a loss to the treasury. The Christians were not ungrateful.

They were under obligations to their conquerors for the tolerance
and justice shown to them; and preferred their rule to that of,
for instance, the Franks. Throughout the eighth century insur-
rections were accordingly very rare; in fact the chroniclers have
recorded but one-that of the Christians of Beja, who seem to
have been the tools of an ambitious Arab Chieftain. Even the
priests, during the early years, were not greatly discontented,
although they had the best reason to be so.

‘\ If it be thought that the Arabist Dozy is too favorable to the Muslims,

here is what Leti-Provengal says of the post-conquest period:

The attitude of Spanish Islam toward Christians had scarcely
changed during the succeeding centuries until the arrival of
the Almoravids and the Almohades . . . . Persecutions were
{dictated not so much by the fanaticism of the princes as by
Cjconcerns of political order. These communities were in effect
the most active locale for nationalist movements. . . . The
Umayyads moved then against rebels rather than infidels.

 

SDozy, Histoire, I, 277-78, tr. Francis Griffin Stokes from the

second edition under the title Spanish Islam (New York, 1913), p. 235.

6"L'attitude de l'Islam hispanique vis-a—vis des chrétiens
n'allait gfiére se modifier au cours des siEcles suivants, jusqu'a
l'arrivee des Almoravides et des A nohades. . . . Persecutions
furent moins dictées par le fanatisme des princes que par des
pretccupations d'ordre politique. Ces communautés etaient en effet
1e foyer le lus actifi des mouvements de nationalisme. . . . Les
Umaiyades s virent alors plus contre des rebelles que centre d s
infideles." fivariste Levi-Provensal, L'Lspagne musulmare an ere
siecle (Paris, 1932), pp. 33-31;. ""

 

 

 

65

Although the Muslim tolerance doubtless made the conqueror's
yoke easier to‘oear, the Christians felt compelled to explain the
reasons for the conquest. They could gain some understanding of

‘t the Muslims from reading Isidore of Seville's Et*m Holo :ies.
The Saracens are so called either because they claim to be
offspring of Sara, or, so the Centiles hold, because they are
of Syrian origin and thus are Syrians. They live largely in
solitude. They are also Ismaelites, as the book of Cenesis
teaches, descended from Ismael. They are from Ismael's son
\ Cedar. They are Agareni from Agar, who are, so we say, wrongly
named Sapacens, because they'boast that they are the offspring
Of Sara.
Their descendants would have difficulties in reading Isidore, however,
for Arabic soon displaced Latin. As early as 72L the bishop of Seville
translated the Bible into Arabic to aid both Christians and Muslims.8
The first Latin record of the conquest and subsequent events is
a chronicle which continues Isidore of oevil‘ie 's Chronicon to the

_--—~._W

mid-eighth century. Three versions of it exist: Continuatio

 

Byzantine Arabica, Continuatio HiSpana, and Continuatio Eiclarense.9

 

 

 

The first goes only to 7L1 and sa ays more about Eastern affairs than

the other two, which go to 75L and 720 respectively. ficlarense,

 

probably written in Cordova under Muslim oversight, describes Muhammad:

Mai -
.a'

A very great multitude of Sar cens gathered together and invaded
the provinces of Syria, fira abia, and Mesopotamia. Ruling over
them was one Muhammad, born of a most noble tribe of that people,

 

731., 1mm, 333.

8
Juan de hariana, Historia General de Zepéha, VII, 3, cited in
Henry S. Cehman, "The Arahic Bible in spain, Speculum, I (1926), 220.

o

’The first two versions are given, on facing pages, in NC H, AA.,
XI, 323-69; the third in ES, VI, L21-32. For information on these
and other sources of Spanish medieval history see Rafael? M11 ster y
Castell, Las fuentes narativas de la his+ oria de 1 snahh durante la
edad media"(Ll7-1L7H) (- aLna de Ha llorca., 1938)_ pp.

 

 

a truly prudent man, and something of a foreseer of future
events (by the Devil's own art). . . .

Muhammad reigned ten years and died; they hold him in such
great reverence that they assert him to be the prophia and
apostle of God in all their sacraments and writings.

hhile the others are not so flattering they also are not hostile.
For example the marriage of a Muslim prince to the widow of the
Cbthic king is related, as is the marriage of the daughter of Duke V
Eudo of Aquitaine to a Nuslim, with no overtones of blame.11 The
advances into Gaul are reported as are good deeds done by Muslims
to Christians. As Dozy notes, the writer, who is probably a church-
man, did not express opposition to the thlims for their religion;
but as a Spaniard disliked seeing his land under foreign domination.
Indeed, he is much more favorably disposed to the Muslims than any
other Spanish writer prior to the fourteenth century.12

In unconquered Spain, no one wrote history for nearly two
centuries. When, at the end of the ninth century, historical writing
revived, the writers sought to answer the question which had troubled
many Christians and had led many to embrace Islam: why, if Christianity

is the true faith, were the Christians defeated by the Muslims? The

10 a . . . . . .
"Adrregata Saracenorum copios1381ma multitudo, Syr1ae, Arabiae,

& Mesopotamiae Provincias invaserunt, supra ipsos principatum tenens

Mahmet nomine, de tribu illius Centis nobilissima natus, prudens admodum

vir, & aliquantorum ftrurorum provisor gestorum (per arte del Diablo).. ..
Praedictus Princeps Saracenorum Kahmet expletis Regni sui annis

X. vitae finem accepit: quem hactenus tanto horore & reverentia

colunt, ut Dei Apostolum & Prophetam eum.in omnibus Sacramentis suis

esse, scriptisque, adfirment." 35, VI, L2L. The tendentious paren-

thetical expression is obviouslyflater.

llPius B. Cams, Die Kirchengeschichte von Spanien (Graz, 187L),
II, pt. 2, 253, suggests that Christian-Muelim marriage was common.

12

 

Dozy, Histcire, I, 278.

\//

6?

Spaniards viewed the events of 711-12 as a judicial trial by battle
in which victory proved one's cause right. Clearly the Christians,
especially the clergy, could not admit that explanation, but it took

them some time to find another. Finally, however, they proclaimed

/ that the defeat was God's just punishment for the sins of the last

Visigothic kings and the nobles and priests of that era. Tb fortify
that line of argument the chroniclers had to falsify previous history,
by making Roderic's predecessor, the able and good hitiza, seem a
monster.13 But they could also find powerful scripture passages to $1
support their position, notably the story of Cyrus whom God appointed

1!
as his avenger. The Chronicon Albeldense, compiled around 881, and

 

continued by another in 883, reported:

Then the execrable Muhammad preached his worthless law to the
foolish people. . . .
At this time an evil brood called out of the Saracen lands
occupied Spain and captured the kingdom of the Goths, which
they had until that time tenaciously possessed. The Christians
wage war with them continually day and night until divine
.predestination commands their cruel expulsion. Amen. . . .
Moreover those who remained, running from the sword of the
Saracen host into the Libaminan mountains, were oppressed by
the judgment of God, and the Asturian Kingdom earnestly entreated
\J divine providence. . . .
The Saracens perversely think themselves to be from Sara, actu-
‘\ ally they are Agarenes from Agar and Ismaelites from Ismael. . . .

Spain under the Gothic rule is designated Gog; into which the
Ismaelites entered on account of the crimes of the Goths and over-
threw them by the sword and made them tributaries as they are at
present. That is what the prophet said to Ismael: "Because you
have abandoned God I shall abandon you and shall give you into
the hand of Gog and he shall requite you after you afflict them
for two hundred seventy years; they shall do to you as you do to
them." Our hope is in Christ that when the two hundred seventy
years since Spain was overrun are completed her enemies will be
reduced to nothing and Christ's peace will be restored to the

 

13Dozy, Recherches, I, 15-19; Cams, II, pt. 2, 2h0 n.

1hIsaiah LS.

 

68

Holy Church, because the times for the years are prepared.
Because omnipotent God protects, the Catholic Church always 15
arises better from the repeated bold attacks of enemies. Amen.

Here we see the influence of Isidore's views, the insulting of
Nuhammad, the will of God, and the referring of all these items to
the relevant section of scripture.

Hitiza and Roderic were slandered in Sebastian's Chronicon:

He @Titizalindeed was shameful and morally disgraceful and like
the horse and mule which are not intelligent, when he defiled
himself with wives and many concubines, and that no ecclesias-
tical censure might rise against him, he dissolved councils,
barred canons, (and perverted the whole order of religion), and
commanded bishops, priests and deacons to have wives. Such
wickedness was indeed the cause of Spain's downfall: and because
kings and priests abandoned God's law the whole Gothic people
perished by the Saracen sword . . . .

Roderic. . . walked in Witiza's sins. . . . They called
Saracens to their aid. . . . But those who brought destruction
to the fatherland were killed by the Saracen sword. Yet when

 

15"Tunc nefandus Mahomat in Africam.nequitiam legis stultis
populis praedicavit. . . .

Istius tempora far malio terrae Sarraceni evocati Spanias occupant,
regnumque Gothorum capiunt: quod adhuc usque ex parte pertinaciter
possident: & cum eis Christiani die noctuque bella iniunt, & quotidie
confligunt, dum predestinatio usque divina dehinc eos eXpelli crudel-
iter jubeat. Amen. . . . Tune etiam qui remanserunt, gladio de ipsa
hoste Sarracenorum in Libamina monte ruente judicio Dei opprimuntur:
& Asturorum Regnum divine providentia exoritur. . . .

Sarraceni perversi se putant esse ex Serra: Verius Agareni ab
Agar, & Ismaelitae ab Ismaele. . . .

Terra quidem Gog Sparia designatur sub regimine Cothorum: in qua
Ismaelitae, prOpter delicta gentis Gothicae, ingressi sunt, & eos
gladio conciderunt, atque tributaries sibi fecerunt, sicuti praesenti
tempora patet. Quod vero idem PrOpheta ad Ismaelem iterum dicit:

Quia dereliquisti Dominum, & ego derelinquam te, & tradam in manu Gog,
& reddet vicem tibi postquam afflixeris eos, CCLXX. tempora facient
tibi, sicut fecisti ei. Spes nostra Christus est, quod completis
proximiori tempora CCLXX. annis de que Spaniam ingressi sunt, inimici
ad nihilum redigantur, & pax Christi Ecclesiae Sanctae reddatur: quia
tempora pro annis ponuntur. Quod praestet Deus omnipotens, ut inimic-
orum crebro deficiente audacia, in melius semper crescat Catholicorum
Ecclesia. Amen." ES, XIII, hh8, bSl-SZ, b63-6S. The prophet is
Ezekiel, chapters 381m 39.

Roderic learned of their attack he went with the whole Gothic
host to meet them in battle. But as Scripture says: "He runs
in vain, whom iniquity precedes;" the priests either oppressed
by the multitude of their sins or detected in the fraud of
Witiza's sons, were drigen in flight with the whole Goth host
and died by the sword.-

And King Ramiro of Leon lamented in 8hh that certain Christian princes:
. . . not disturbed by the Saracen infestation, arranged with them
the execrable payments of returning to them yearly one hundred of
the most excellently beautiful girls, fifty from the more noble
Spaniards and fifty from the commoners. Oh how sad! and an
example not to be followed! that for making of temporal and
transitory peace Christignity is made captive to enlarge the

\luxury of the Saracens.

In the same place Ramiro relates a vision of St. James promising to

aid the Christians asainst the Muslims with a host of angels and

guaranteeing that if they invoke God's name and his they would

certainly triumph. After proper preparation, including confession

 

O

"Iste quidem probrosus, & moribus flagitiosun fuit, a sicut
equus & mulus, quious non est intellectus, cum uxoribus & concubinis
plurimis se inquinavit: & ne adversus eum censura ecclesiastica con-
surgeret, Concilia dissolvit, Canones ohseravit, (omnemque Religionis
ordinem depravavit) Episcopis, Presbyteris, & Diaconious, uxores
habere praecepit. Istud quidem scelus Hispaniae causa pereundi fuit:
& quia Reges, & Sacerdotes legem Domini dereliquerent; omnia agmina
Gothorum.Sarracenorum gladio perierunt. . . .

Rudericus. . .Iste nempe in peccatis Witizani ambulavit. . . .
Sarracenos in auxilium petunt. . . . Sed ipsi qui Patriae excidium
intulerunt, simul cum gente Sarracenorum gladio perierunt. Itaque
cum.Rudericus ingressum eorum cognovisset, cum omni agmine Gothorum
eis praeliaturus occurrit. Sed dicente Scriptura: In vanum currit,
quem iniquitas praecedit; Sacerdotum, vel snorum peccatorum ruole
Oppressi, vel filiorum witizani fraude detecti, cum omnia agmine
Gothorum in fugam sunt versi, & gladio deleti." ‘ES, XIII, hEO-Sl.

17 1 . . . . . .

". . . ne Sarracenorum infestationibus inquietarentur, consti-
tuerunt eis nefandos redditus de se annuatim persolvendos, centum
videlicet puellas excelentissimae pulchritudinis, quinquaginta de
nobilioribus HiSpaniae, quinqu ginta vero de plebe. Proh dolor! &
exemplum posteris non observanduml pro pactione pacis temporalis, &
transitoriae tradebatur captiva Christianitas luxuriae Sarracenorum
eXplendae." Privilegium . . . a Regs Ranimiro I Ecclesiae F. Jacobi
concessum, ES, XIX, 335. — G" '-

 

70

and communion, Ramiro led his forces forth and, receiving the promised
help, defeated the Fuslims. Thus, after maxing the concessions to the
church, he concludes by affirming "we shall obtain victory over the
Saracens through Cod's mercy." Q

In the ninth century, also, a most exceptional movement occurred
among Christians in Muslim Spain. Although Christians had complete
liberty of conscience, there were certain restrictions placed upon
practice. If one parent was a Muslim the child was to be reared a
ihslim. One who abjured Islam, or insulted the Prophet or the Muslim
faith was liable to death if he continued to reject Islam. Such
provisions, as well as the petty discriminatory regulations and the
false information about Islam disseminated by shristian leaders
irritated certain Christians. And since they could not Oppose Islam
= with weapons, they sought to do so by becoming martyrs.

The martyr-seekers arose in Cordova under the leadership of
Eulogius, a priest, and Alvarus, a layman. Both studied under the

W \.

eloquent abbot Spera-in-Eeo, who wrote a refutation of Islam (now

\u u...
-‘- .
...

lost) and instilled a lifelong hatred of that faith in his students.
Their aspirations to martyrdom were stimulated by Perfectus, a Cordovan
priest, who had termed Muhammad a "false prophet" and "the servant of
Satan," and had consequently been executed on April 18, 550 (the
termination of the Muslim fast month of Ramadan).

Perfectus' martyrdom led the Muslims to become more industrious
in denouncing Christians who violated Islamic restrictions, while it

induced the zealous Christians to seek martyrdom by reviling Nuhammad,

 

18 O O O
". . . triumphum de Sarracenis per Dei miscricordiam obtinuimus

. . . ." Ibid., 335.

71

and eleven martyrdoms ensued in less than two months. Other Christians,
fearful of the consequences, told the zealots it was better to remain

at peace with the Muslims, to do good to enemies, that slanderers (event,,
of I—Iuhammad) would not enter the T'ingdom of God, and that the martyrs
were merely suicides. "Such were the arguments used not only by

laymen but by the majority of the priests."19 Eulogius wrote his

Nemorialis Sanctorwm to counter that argument by emphasizing the

 

validity and Spiritual value of the martyrs' approach.

To combat the movement, the Muslim government called an eccle- 3
siastical council which forbade Christians from aSpiring henceforth 5
to martyrdom and led to the imprisonment of the leaders of the
martyrs‘ movement, and the end of the disturbance.

Among the zealots "there flowed an undercurrent of deep suspicion
of the nature of the Islamic religion, based on wilful misunderstand-
ing. . . ."20 They had strong leadership, and much of their writing
has been preserved. In that writing they vigorously attacked the
accommodators; hear Alvarus:

But there are some unworthy to be fervent, frigid in their love

for the faith, terrified with an earthly fear of a swordstroke,

who with no subdued voice but with raucous throat, with distended
mouth, and with a contorted tongue disparage and ravile with un-

becoming insults the martyr movement of our time; and are willing

as far as in them lies, to give the palm of victory to the devil.21

 

Dozy, Histoire, I, 337, following Eulogius, Ncmorialis Sanct-
orum, fig, CXV, 255. For fuller information, see Ebzy, Hist01re, i, 317-b6.
ZOAllen Cabaniss, "Paulus Albarus of Muslim Cordova," Church
Histo , XXII (1953), 100.

21Indiculus luminosus, PL, CXXI, 516, tr. Carleton M. Sage, Paul
Aer 93 Cordoba: Studies 93 Pis Life and T‘Iritings (”.Jashington, 19713),
p. 29g né 2. See also Samsonis AbEatis Cordubensis, Apologeticus, ES,
2st, 3 o 1. “

 

 

72

They also, of course, attacked the Muslims. Alvarus entitled

his work Indiculus luminosus, and Sage affirms:

 

The enigmatic title means that the author intends his book to be a
bright light showing that Mahomet was a precursor of Antichrist, 22
and that it is the duty of Christians to oppose him by every means.
Alvarus scored the sexual irregularities of the Muslims, and bemoaned
the attraction that Arabic had for many (although his knowledge of the
language influenced his style). Although he despaired of winning the
Muslims to Christianity, he saw martyrdom as a proclamation of the
Gospel to the Muslims who, he believed, had not yet heard it. He
sought to prove that Muhammad fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies
of Antichrist, further arguing that those Mozarabs who compromised
with Islam bore the mark of the beast.23
Eulogius, archbishop of Toledo, criticized Muhammad's sect and
the physical nature of the Muslim paradise.2h Elsewhere he calls

Muhammad an "execrable and wicked prophet," (nefandum at scelerosum

 

. . . vatem) and continued:

This man, whom you serve with great veneration and whose deceptive
sect, elicited by the instigation of demons, you hold up to such
great honor, we know to be a magician, an adulterer, and a liar,
and his begievers we confess sold into the snares of eternal
perdition.

 

22
Sage, p. 28.
23 ‘
‘2}, CXXI, SZh—ZS, 537-40. See also his Transgressori Directs,
‘EL, CXXI, Séb-éS. For the mark of the beast, see Revelation IBAIL.

2b..

aulogius, Memorialis Sanctorum, PL, CXV, 737.

 

 

2S'Wirum hunc, quem vos summa veneratione excolitis, et cujus
sectam praestigiosam, instinctu daemoniorum elicitam tanto honore
suscipitis, magum, adulterum, et mendacem esse cognovimus, ejusque
credulos aeternae perditionis laqueis mancipandos confitemur."
Epistola Ed Wiliesindum Episcopum Pampilonensem, EL, CXV, 8h9-SO.

 

73

Both Eulogius and Alvarus had very erroneous knowledge of Islam.

’“M... -

Eyen though Alvarus lived in the Spanish Huslim capital of Cordoba,
he could report to a friend that Muhammad

. . . promised he would be resurrected on the third day after his
death, but his custodians neglected him and he was fognd and
devoured by dogs. . . . He was buried in hell. . . . 0

And of Eulogi s, Dozy relates that:
It was not to Arab writers that Eulogius, one of the most learned
priests of the day, turned for information respecting the life
of Mohammed. On the contrary, though doubtless sufficiently
familiar with Arabic to read easily historical works in that
language, he relied upon a Latin manuscript which chance had
thrown his way in a monastery in Pamplona. . . . Those of their
fellow Christians who were better informed in vain assured them
that mohammed had preached a pure morality; it was lost labour,
for the ecclesiastics persisted in ranking Islamism with Roman
paganism, and regarding it as a devil-begotten idolatry.27

It must be remembered that the zealots were, much to their dismay,
a minority. Many others, of course, converted to Islam. Eetween
these extremes were many Christians whO'tried in various ways to
accommodate to the rival faith, sometimes going so far as to embrace
forms of anti-Trinitarianism, such as Adoptionism, Priscillianism,
and AnthrOpomorphism. The case of Felix of Urgel, the most publicized
of these heretics, will be treated in the chapter on the Franks. It
might be useful, however, to note Cahaniss’penetrating observation here:
Significantly enough, these so-called heresies, attempts in the
main to adjust the Christian doctrine of God with the severe

monotheism of the Muslims, were broached by the hierarchy and
thence filtered down to the faithful. . . . Since the prelates

 

26

". . . Morte vero interveniente cum se die tertia resurrecturum
polliceretur, custodientium negligentia a canibus repertus est devor-
atus. . . . Sepultus est in infernum. . . ." Epistola Joannis
Sealensis Alvaro Directa, 3;, CXXI, D60.

27 . . .
Dozy, Hist01re, I, 319-20, tr. Stokes, pp. 269-71. See also
Cabaniss, 109, n. l2.

 

 

7b

of Spain were usually approved by the conquerors and were wholly

subservient2§o them, such a condition may be considered natural

and normal. c
Cabaniss cites, of course, no evidence for his statement that the
"so-called heresies" were attempts to adjust Christianity to Islam,
but it is certainly a likely supposition. One might also argue that
the ultra-monotheistic heresies of the East had come to Spain to play
their role. whatever the cause, the outcome was certainly far from
hatred of Islam in such circles.

The writings of the martyr movement, though they certainly would
have aided the formation of anti-Muslim opinion elsewhere, do not seem
to have had an audience beyond Spain. Indeed it is difficult to dis-
cern any influence upon later Spanish chroniclers before the twelfth
century. Apparently the movement lived and died unto itself.

Toward the end of the ninth century one Ibn Hafsfin declared war
against the sultan and obtained allies among the Christians of Cordova,
who hoped to rid themselves of a Uount Servando, whose harsh, anti-
Christian control of the city prompted the priests to call him "'crazy,
shameless, arrogant, greedy, cruel, mulish, presumptuous;' . . . he
Opposed the will of the Eternal, and was the child of the devil."29
But he joined Ibn Hafsfin, and moderated his treatment of Christians.

When the forces met at Polei in April, 891, the sultan's troops
jeered the foe as Christians (making no distinction between Christians

and.hhslims in the rebel ranks) and defeated them. All those in the

caustle who abjured Christianity would be spared, promised the sultan;

 

28Cabaniss, 99-100, 1C9, n. 8.

29 1. .
Dozy, histOire, II, 61,1r. Stokes, rp. 35’-§§.

75

but only one person was willing to take that step, and so a thousand
Christians were beheaded.

Ibn Hafsfin, undeterred, decided to embrace Christianity in 899,
and began building new churches in the districts under his control.
He showed confidence only in Christians and

Eobastro became the focus of a fanaticism as austere and gloomy

as that which sixty years before had animated the monks of

Cordova. . . . Now this zeal for Christianity with contempt

for Islamism was a stumbling-blocgoto many who had hitherto

fought for national independence.
Nationalism had no regard for religious difference and many Muslims
hated Arabs, but Ibn Eafsfin's strong Christian emphasis solidified
the Muslim opposition and religion became a hallmark of the Opposing
forces and the justification for atrocities. Dissension in the
Muslim ranks made possible a Christian victory at Zamora in 901
"with the help of divine clemency."31

The death of Ibn Eafsfin in 917 made it easier for the sultan
to raid the Christians. Ibn hafsfin's son, Ja'far, thought his father
had erred by espousing Christianity too strongly and hinted that he
might be reconciled to the Fuelims. "Shuddering at the thought of
serving under an infidel, his Christian soldiers entered into a
conspiracy . . ." and killed him. 'flhen the Muslims took Pobastro
in 931 bigoted fakihs persuaded the sultan to exhume father and son;

the bodies were sent to Cordova for public display, becoming "a

 

30
31

Chronicon Sampiri Asturicensis Episcopi, ES, XIV, Lh7.

Dozy, Histoire, II, 97-98, tr. Stokes, pp. 385-86.

76

salutary warning to the ill-disposed, and a grateful spectacle for
. 32
the eyes of true believers."

Northern Christians, poor and separated from the south by a
deserted territory which formed a natural barrier, sought to inten-
sify the Muslim dissensions by intriguing with the Berbers, who were
their nearest neighbors and generally eSpoused nonconformist causes
against the southern Arabs. As for the Christians

Their eyes were turned towards the South. Still so poor that,
for lack of a coinage, they bartered commodities, and taught by
their priests-to whom they were blindly devoted and whom they
loaded with gifts-tha “war against the infidel was the surest
means of gaining heaven, they would fain seek in wealthy Andalusia
the blessings of this world and of the next. Could Andalusia
escape their domination? If she succumbed, terrible would be

the fate of the Nuslims. Cruel and fanatical, the Leonese

rarely gave quarter, when they captured a town they usually put
all the inhabitants to thesword. Tolerance such as that accorded
by the Muslims to Christians could not be expected of them.

What would become of that brilliant and progressive Arab civili-
zation, at the hands of barbarians who could not read; who had
to call in "Saracens" when they wished to measure their fields;
and who, when they mentioned a "library," meant thereby the Holy
Scriptures?

In 918 a joint army from Leon and Navarre ravaged Najera and
Tudela, but the Muslims attacked and the Christians, "hindered by sin,"

(peccato impediente) were defeated. 'Abd ar-Rahman took personal

 

command in 920 and carried the war to the Ebro, laying waste the land
as he went and winning such a complete victory his troops had to burn
captured goods they could not carry; Ordoho enjoyed some successes

in 921 and 923 but in 92h 'Abd ar-Rahman's counterattack reduced

 

2 — - .
3 Ibn 'Igari, al-Bayan a1 mugrib, II, 209-10, cited in Dozy,
Histoire, II, 108-10, tr. Stokes, pp. 392-95.

33Dozy, Histoire, II, 131-35, tr. Stokes, pp. blh-IS. The
citation probably £5113 as much about Dozy as about the Christians.

 

77

Navarre to impotence. Ordoho's death brought a struggle for the
throne, which finally went to Ramiro II, who directed a fierce and

‘

implacable hatred against the fiuslims. The latter defeated a Muslim
force at Osma in 933, but in the next year the'Nuslims took the town,
massacred all two hundred monks in the monastery of San Pedro de
Cardena, and demolished Purgos, the capital of Castile. Ramiro's
alliance with the Beni Hashim brought the latter a crushing defeat
in 937. His alliance with Theuda, regent of Navarre, was more pro-
ductive; in the subsequent battle of Simancas in 939 rebellion of Arab
officers against a Slav commander created dissension which brought a
Christian victory. 80 great was the success that the Christians became
convinced of the eventual triumph of their faith; indeed news of the
success spread throughout Europe.3

Civil war between Castile and Leon dissipated the fruits of
victory, and allowed the sultan time to fight the Fatimids in North
Africa. In that latter struggle the sultan allied with Hugh of
Provence, who sought revenge for a Fatimid attack on Genoa in 936,
and treated with the Byzantine Empire which sought to wrest Sicily
from the Fatimids, while remaining at peace with the French. Eeanwhile
Fernan Gonzalez, who was seeking to separate Castile from Leon, had
allied with Sancho of Navarre by 957, but Sancho's refusal to honor
certain peace terms and his subsequent defeat by the kuslims cost him
Fernan's support and his throne. Sancho and Theuda thereupon sought

aid from Cordova. The caliph sent his most skilled physician-diplomat

 

3hDozy, Histoire, II, 138-56; Dozy, Recherches, I, 155-70; Layi-
Proven a1, Histoire, II, 62; Sampiro's Chronicon, Ed, XIV, h52-Sh;
Annalee San—II—ga ense's, NON, ss., I, 78 3 ‘L'i‘u‘d'i'f‘Fand, Etapodosis, memes”
III, 328. -_—

 

 

 

78

(part of Sancho's problem was his obesity, which cost him reSpect)
who cajoled the two to Cordova where they met the caliph in stately
audience. The caliph promised to attack Leon while Sancho invaded
Castile; that was done and by 960 a slenderer Sancho was in control.
The death of ‘Abd ar-Rahman induced the Christians to disregard
their obligations to the Euslims and resume internecine warfare.
Fernan transported Crddho IV to the Muslims, from whom the deposed
king sought help, going to such extremes as praying for the soul of
'Abd ar-Rahman and wearing Umayyad white in Cordova. Ordohb's death
in 962 prompted dancho once again to disregard treaty obligations,
but al-Eakam's quick attack forced him to seek peace in 966. Sancho
soon died of poison, and the death of Fernah Gonzalez brought quieter
times to the northern Christians.35
Meanwhile al-yakam's commander, Ibn Abi 'Amir, by making Sunday
a day of rest and favoring Christians over Muslims in disputes, was
recruiting many Christians into his forces. Easy victories over
Leon and a Leon-CastileéNavarre alliance prompted him to take the
name by which he is usually known-Al-Hans5r, the Victorious. His
capture of Barcelona in 985, ending a long period of peaceful relations
with the Franks, was explained by the Christians as being permitted by
God because of their sins.36 Leon was razed, Zamora captured, and when

Bermudo of Leon sought to evade payment of tribute, Al-Eansfir conducted

 

35
36

". . . permittente deo, impediente peccata nostra. . . ." In
a cartulary from the Earcelona cathedral, cited in Fidel Fita, "Des-
truccion de Barcelona por Almanzor," Boletfn de la Real Academia de la
Historia, VII (1885), 190; also in Egg; IX;‘ZT"“ “ ‘—

Dozy, Histoire, II, 157-83.

 

79

in 997 a land-sea campaign which razed the church of Santiago de
Compostela and brought the doors and bells of diet church to Cordova
for use in the construction of the new mosque. In 1002 be destroyed
the monastery of St. Emilian, the patron saint of Castile (as James
was of Leon) but died on the return march and, according to the
Chronicon Borgense, "was buried in hell."37 The monk of Silos said:

In those days divine worship was extinguished in Spain: the

glory of Christ's servants was brought low: the treasures o the

Church amassed in the course of centuries were all pillaged.
Such was Al-Mansfir's power that his demand for release of a Huslim
woman enslaved at a churdh in Vavarre prompted King Garcia not only
to surrender her but also to destroy the church.39 He married two
Christian women, one of whom threatened him with divine punishment
if he, a pagan, should touch her, a Christian.

Al-Mansfir was not caliph, which indicates that the caliphate
was weak. The next three decades saw a continuing power struggle
which the abolition of the caliphate in 1031 only formalized.
Religious indifference was increasing, with many sceptical sects
claiming there was nothing to choose among the various sects with
regard to truth. Such weaknesses were soon to prove disastrous.

Nothing has been cited from the sources for the period since 900

because there is almost nothing to relate. The Council of Barcelona

 

37". . . sepultus est in inferno." §§, XXIII, 308-

38
§§, XVII, 329, cited in Dozy, Histoire, II, 265, tr. Stokes,p. 52h.

391th 1rgari, al-Bayan al-mugrib, II, 320-21, cited in Dozy,
Histoire, II, 267.

 

LLOLé’vi-Provengal, Histoire, II, 2bl; Dozy, Recherches, I, 18h-201.

 

80

n 906 reaffirmed that the Huslim conquest had been the result of
divine punishment for the sins of Christians.
Indeed by reason of their sins, those who then lived in those
lands, that is, all of us, werglgiven over by divine judg:ment
to the bar‘oarian sword. . .
A bilingual (Latin and Arabic) calendar from Cordova for the year
961 notes the feasts of the ninth—century Cordovan martyrs, which
apparently were celebrated without interference from the huslims.
Christian bishOps also had entrance to the court; that we know
because it was the bishop Rec mrd who prepared this calendar and
presented it to 'Abd ar-Rahman III. There was also a special.3§di

(judge) for Christians.b2 And the abbess Flora recounted in her

Hemoratis calamitatibus a Muslim incursion which God permitted

b3

 

because of Christian sins in 1023.
By the end of the eleventh century, the Spanish scene was
changing. There are evidences of the rival faiths seriously examining
one another in Ibn-gazm's rational investigation of (and opposition to)
"tritheism" (Christian Trinitarianism) and Samuel Narochianus' clari-

.. - .t .1114
fication of the Qur'an's attitude toward Jesus and hary. :ut such

 

l O O O O C O

h "Peccatis vero ex1gent1bus illorum @11 tunc habitatores erant
illarum terrarum, ut omnes hostis, barbarico gladio divino judicic
traditi sunt. . . ." as, XXVIII, 2119.

On the calendar see Dozy, Le calendrier de Cordoue de l'Annee
961 (Leyden, 1873).

h3§§

 

XXXVI, appendix, xxix.

thn Ibn Hazm (d. 106h), see Fritsch, op. cit., pp. 16,129.
Samuel Marochianus wrote in 1085 in Arabic Which was not translated
into Latin until 1339;h e was a Jew who had converted to Christianity
and wrote intelligently about all three faiths: Islam, Judaism, and
Christianity. His remarks on the huslims are in the concluding
chapter of his 22 Adventu hessiae Praetelito,'3£, CXLIX, 365-67.

 

81

intellectual efforts were overshadowed by the continuing reconquest
activity. Fernando I, king of Castile and Leon, led attacks which

recaptured several towns and with the aid of Frankish, fiorman, and
i

45

Italian knights took Earbastro in 1065. Although Fernando died
in 1068, Alfonso VI renewed the attack, and succeeded in reaching
Tarifa on the southern coast and in recapturing Toledo, the old
Visigothic capital, in 1085. That success led the Spanish Muslims
to invite the fanatic Almoravids to their assistance, and opened a
new chapter in Spanish history.

Thus Spain, like Italy, knew little hostility toward Muslims
other than that of a political nature. However it had suggested at
least two other attitudes: the active hostility on religious grounds
which had characterized the martyrs' movement, and the View of the
Euslims as God's chosen agents for the punishment of Christian sins.
But because of Spain's few contacts with other areas of western
Europe, her attitudes remained without influence until the very late

eleventh and early twelfth centuries.

 

bSProsper Boissonade, "Cluny, la Papauté; et la premiere grande
croisade internationale contre les Sarrasins d'Espagne—-Barbastro
lO6h-65," Revte des Questions historiques, IX, 3 sér. XXI (1932),
257-993 and idem, "Le premier croisade francaises en Espagne,"
Bulletin Hispanique, XXXVI (l93h), 5-28.

 

 

CHAPTER.V

THE HEARTLAYD: UNDER.THE CAROLIHGIAES

From the outlying European areas of Italy and Spain, we turn to
consider the European heartland-—the Frank-German-English area where
early medieval Europe flourished. The heartland had contact with the
Ruslims in southern Francia, the Alps, and in Italy, but those contacts
were sporadic and on the fringes of the area. Nevertheless there is
much information regarding attitudes toward Euslims. Let us examine
the contacts and the information.

The Spanish Muslims made incursions into the Languedoc in 718 as
far as Nimes without meeting any serious obstacle and the raiders
returned with a large number of women and children as prisoners. The
territories of Gothia and Septimania were ruled by Eudo, Duke of
Aquitaine, who disliked the growing power of the Carolingian mayors
of the palace and sought to prevent them from usurping authority.

The mayors of the palace were interested in increasing their power

in the Frankish heartland and so watched with indifference the north-
ward progress of the Luslims, who consequently moved with impunity up
the Rhone and Saone valleys into the heart of Burgundy; Provence and
the Languedoc had to rely upon their own resources, the resistance
offered by Spanish Christians, and the divisions among the Muslims
for their survival.

As the glories of Spain spread throughout the Euslim world,

poor families from Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and Africa began migrating

1This paragraph and much of the following chronological material
is from Reinaud, gp. git. See also Reginonis Chronicon, MCH, §§., I, 552.

 

there; to gain land for them attacks on southern France were renewed.
In 721 Amir Al-Samh (Zama) took Narbonne and besieged Toulouse, the *
capital of Aquitaine. He was, however, killed in a battle with a
relief party sent by Eudo. Toulouse was saved, and most of the
recently conquered areas, except Harbonne, threw off the Muslim yoke.
In the campaign the Muslims, provoked by the stubborn resistance
offered by the Southern Franks, destroyed several monasteries.
Ambisah (721-35) prosecuted the war with vigor, captured Caroassone
and Nimes, and took much booty. Under his successor the invaders
overran Septimania and ascended the Rhone as far as Autun and Dijon,
destroying many churchc s and monasteries.

In Southern France the invaders met with no sympathy from the
inhabitants; indeed it was here that they encountered their first
serious Opposition. But Charles Martel could offer the southerners
no assistance as he was fighting in the north, and.Ehdo, not feeling
himself seriously threatened, hesitated to count rattack. So in 731
'Abd ar-Rahran, the new governor of Spain, prepared an e: spedition.
First he crushed Manuza, commander of the Muslim army of the Pyrenees,

who had closely allied with Eudo and married the duke's daughter

 

2
Chronicon I-ioissacense, RF r, II, 65h.

 

3Annales Petaviani, IfCH, 88., I, 7; inn ales Alamannici, HGH, ss.,
I, 2h; Annales Laureshamenses, IZGH, 88., I, 2L; Annalee ‘azariani, FIR
58., I, 25; Annales San allensesl naiorcs, 10H, 83., I, 73; have, with
slight variations, "~1do drove the Saracens out“ of Aquitaine. " Since
such brief notices do not convey attitudes, the passages in the minor
annals relating to a particular ever t are not cited.

 

 

 

 

 

8b

h
Lampégie. Then he attacked Arles in 732. Eudo sought to prevent
the invaders from crossing the Dordogne, but was so severely defeated
that he had to call upon arch- -enemy Charles Lartel for aid. The

Huslims ravaged the area around Poitiers, bzt in October, 732, Charles'

\

_.’—-
S T'\ . o

army arrived. :attle began near Icitiers, but the maneuvering of the
forces seems to have brougit them nea.r Tours. A raid by a Christian
detachment, probably headed by Eudo, sent the Saracens scurrying to ‘
protect their booty; while Abd ar—Rahman tried to restore order he

was killed by a Christian arrow. 'Uith the coming of night the Muslims u”
fled, destroying all monasteries they found en route to Spain. Heart-
ened by the news of the thlim defeat, Ch ristians in northern Spain
and the Pyrenees took up arms in hope of regaining independence.

The new governor of Spain, 'Abd al-halik (732-3h) renewed the

offensive, entering the Languedoc to strengthen the towns there. The

 

Several accounts argue that Eudo called the kuslims to his aid;
see Anna les Laurissenses Linores, LCH, $5., I, 11h, and Fredegar's
Continuer in RhT, II,—I§L-;5, and notes. Eut those accounts seem to
have been influenced by Charles Iiartel and his relatives, who sought
to make Eudo appear treasonable; see Reinaud, p. 56, n. 1. On Eudo
seeJean-Fran ois Plade, "Eudes, duc d'Aquitaine," Annales du Iiidi,

V(1892), 115-97.

 

Several annals emphasize Charles' invoking of divine aid and
his thanks to C wd for success. Annalee h ttenses, LCH, 85., I, 325
has: "Charles,1 invoking the aid of Christ, attacked and—delivered
them with their king to death, and obtaining their spoils glorified
the name of the Lord. . ." (Karolus . . . invocato Christi auxilio,
intrep1dus irruit, et eos cun reae eorum USCle ad internecionem
delevit; acce QtISQue _sj3Iiis eorum nom an om1ni glorificans. . . .).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost all the annals record the engagement; some note it
occurred on the Sabbath. Bede has ". . .A dreadful plague of Saracens
ravaged France with miserable slaughter; but they not long after in
that country rece eived the punishment due to tr eir wick dness." Soda
Jenerabilis , I- istoria Eccle siastica, in Hhe Com.lete vorks of +h3
"veneracle Bede, ed. J.A. Giles ILondon,l 3L3), III, bk. V,‘E:* xxiii.

 

 

 

85

ihslim incursions created near anarchy; in Septimania and Provence,
which had been deprived of government machinery since the fall of the
iisigoths, certain ambitious men (e.g. Maurcnte, "Duke of Marseilles")
made themselves counts and dukes and, fearing both Charles and Eudo, V/
allied themselves with the Muslims of Harbonne. The inhabita1ts of
southern France, being of Gothic or Roman extraction, had little
enthusiasm for their Frankish and Rurgundian deliverers, and were
further alienated by Charles' allowing the army, on whom his position./
depended, to rob churches and monasteries. Churchmen and southerners
doubtless wondered whether the Hortherners were preferable to the Kuslims,
since both committed the same acts.

In 73b Yusuf, the Luslim governor of Tarbcnne, joined with Laurente

A

and crossed the Rhone, taking irles and Avignon. Shortly thereafter,
the huslims renewed their attacks on the Dauphiné; occupying Vienne.
Charles Martel launched a three-pronged counterattack in 737, capturing
Avignon and severing communications between Spain and Beptimania, but

was called away by troubles with the Saxons and Frisians and could not

p...-

N

retake Narbonne. He did, however, raze the fortifications of Nimes,
Eeziers, agde, and Haguelone to punish them for aiding the Muslims and
to prevent the Muslims from reestablishing themselves there. That
destruction, which ruined some remnants of Roman grandeur (e.g. the
amphitheater at himes), further alienated the southland. Charles
returned to oust Mauronte from Provence and to occupy Larseilles, but

his death in 7bl weakened the Frank position in southern France.7 V;

 

7Chronicon Loissacense, NCH, §§., I, 292; Lewis, p. 77. For

destruction of monasteries and churches see Ado of Vienna, Chronicon
in Aetates Sex Divisum, MOE, 35., II, 318-19.

 

 

86

The Muslim position was also weakened, however, by internal
rivalry between Arabs and Barbers and the political wars which led to \/
the Abbasid overthrow of the Umayyads. I'Iany Muslim troops were with-
drawn from the Languedoc, hence the rulers of towns there made numerous \/
concessions to the Christians. In 752, Pepin, now the Frankish king,
allied with Ansemundus, a local goth lord, to retake control of all
the towns except harbonne, which was opened to Pepin's armies by a
Christian revolt in 75?.

That put an end to Christian-Luslim warfare in France for some ,7
time. The inhabitants of southern France, what few there were now,
were grateful; the devastation had been extensive. Reinaud and others
would have us believe that the Muslims were responsible; the Frenchman

catalogues numerous monasteries, churches, and shrines which were looted

and destroyed by the Muslims. Recent scholarship, however, suggests a

‘.

different picture. Lewis maintains there was not much war damage in}
- . 3

Muslim-Christian struggles in most parts of the Mediterranean world.{
Only in Southern France was there any long and protracted cam-
paigning. In this region between 717 and 752 there was heavy
damage done by war. This devastation was largely the work,
though, of the Carolingians and not of their Moslem Opponents.
It was the result, apparently, of deliberate effort on their
part to break down opposition to their rule by the native
population of Aquitaine and Languedoc.8

The battered cities remained in ruins, the economic lifeblood which

had surged through them now trickled elsewhere. Charlemagne found it

necessary to grant special privileges to induce individuals to settle

in the southern coastal area, ard the basis of their life was to be

 

\L BLGWiS, p. 880

87

not commercial but agricultural.9 The destruction caused b'r the wars
supposedly explains the lack of written evidence from southern France
during the Carolingian period——what there was was destroyed. But
Eladé'has argued that such was not the case; rather foundations which
desired to seem more ancient than they were attributed their establish-
ment to a prewar date, and claimed intervening documents and records
were destroyed in the wars.10 Such arguments are of course based upon
the lack of evidence rather than evidence, but nevertheless provide
reasons for doubting the alleged severity of the Muslim incursions.

It was only natural, however, for Muslims to attack religious buildings,
since they sought wealth which was usually readily available in a
church or monastery.

I"leanwhile changes occurred in Christian-huslim relations because
of the mid-eighth century changes of rulers. Pepin had become king of
the Franks in 751, and the Umayyad 'Abd ar-Rahman I (756-88) now ruled
in Spain. The latter, fearing and hating the Abbasids, allied himself
with their most persistent enemy, the fyzantine Emperor, while the
Abbasids leagued with the Franks (thus stimulating a Franco-Syrian-
Egyptian trade and the passage of pilhrims to the Holy Land). Peace
reigned for nearly a decade, while Pepin intrigued with the governors
of the Fuelim frontier areas. Soon the amirs of the northern provinces
of Spain developed a policy "of seeking the help of the ruler of France

whenever they were hard pressed by the Amir of Cordova, and of flying

 

. 9See the excellent article by Imbart de la Toury "Les colonies
agrloples et l'occupation des terres debertes a l'epoque carolingienne,"
in Melanges Paul Fabre (Paris, 1902), p. 1h? ff.

 

10 Blade’, 179-86.

88

to the arms of the Amir of Cordova whenever the Franks became too

1 l O O I O
exacting." Pepin's des1re to play off the various northern governors
against one another was aided by caliph Al-Lansur's interest in regain-

0

ing complete political and religious unity within the Empire; hence
Pepin entered into direct negotiations with the new caliph by sending
‘j an embassy in 765 which returned three years later and wintered with

I

the Frank king: The ambassadors returned home laden with gifts.
Charlemagne (768-81L) followed his father's policies regarding

the Muslims. In addition he became the protector of Christianity,

especially in the frontier provinces where he placed northern Spanish

Christians under the care of southern Frank archbishops. Soon he

obtained results: two Muslim governors from the Ebro region quarreled \/

Km.”

with Cordova and sought aid from Charlemagne in 777. Suleiman, gover-
nor of Barcelona, assured Charlemagne of his own support and that of
three other powerful Muslim leaders who had grievances against the //
current Spanish rulers for an expedition against the Umayyads.

Charles, persuaded, announced a desire to liberate his co-religionists
beyond the Pyrenees and set out in 778. Put 'Abd ar—Rahman I strength-

ened Iberia and in the Ebro basin Saragossa, Barcelona and Huesca formed
an armed camp. The Basques, who controlled the passes, were still
hostile to Charlemagne, although they had formally submitted to him;
hence he was obliged to besiege Pamplona, the Basque stronghold. He
sought to establish himself at Saragossa in order to guarantee posses-

sion of the Ebro line, but one of his erstwhile fiuslim supporters now

 

%<'11Reinaud, p. 103.

12
x Fredegar‘s Continuer, REF, V, 8.

89

rejoined the Umayyads in Baragossa, and the Muslims reputed the Frank
army. At that juncture news came of a new Saxon threat, and Charles
withdrew. On the return march the iasques attacked the rear of the E
Frank forces in the Pyrenees in the celebrated battle of Roncesvalles.
The Muslims rose in fury against the Christians of northern Spain,
forcing many of them to flee to the Frankish kingdom where they were
resettled on the oft-ravaged land near Narbonne on condition of
rendering military service.13

'Abd ar—Rahman's son Hisham (788-96) sought to organize a
veritable 11259 against the Christians but it was only a small army L,
which invaded France in 792. One part of the force achieved some
success in the Asturias, the other marched into southern Francia,
left defenseless by the withdrawal of Frank tr00ps to fight the Avars
and Lombards. The inhabitants left their homes to hide in caves or
the nearby hills and the Muslims burned the suburbs of Narbonne,
bypassed it, and proceeded toward Carcassone. But William, Count of
Toulouse, defeated them and forced them to withdraw to Spain.lb

In 797 both Zaid, the Muslim governor of Barcelona, and Abdullah,
whose nephew had failed in an attempt to seize the vacant throne,
sought Charlemagne's aid in Spain. Meanwhile Louis, King of Aquitaine,
received ambassadors from King Alfonso of Calicia and Asturias request-

ing all Christian forces to join against the common enemy, and from

 

The annals gloss over the defeat at Roncesvalles. The Astron-
omer's life of Emperor Louis says Charles "labored earnestly that he
might aid the—churches under the harsh Saracen yoke" (sub Sarracenorum
acerbissimo iugo), KCP, §§., II, 608.

la ”a, {if H . . .

Annales Laureshamenses, Eng, 53., I, 3;; annales Alamannic1

continuati, REE, SS., I, L73 Annales Sangallenses haiores, ESE, §§.,

I, 75.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hassan, the Amir of Ru sea, came an ambassador saying that he wished
1 .
to live in peace and amity with the Christians. 5 Iou1s heeded Alfonso's
request and diSpatched an army which devastated the area around Huesca
while Alfonso enjoyed success in theL isbon a rea, but? akam (796- 821),
whose cruelty earned him the name f.bdul 'As1 (Father of the ficked),
subjected Barcelona and we mt d the lands of the Christi 1a.ns of the
Pyrenees, nassacring the men and enslaving the women and children.
From their strongholds the Nuslims could and did raid southern France
easily. The most noxious of those strong points was Tarcelona, which
Louis besieged for seven months and finally captured in 801. Frankish
possessions in Spain were then divided into two parts-the Septi manian
. 1
March with its capital at Earcelona and the Gascon Larch further west. ’Xl
Meanwhile, continuing his father's ties with the Abbasids, Charle-
magne exchanged embassies with the Abbasid caliph, Harun ar-Rashid.
Those embassies evoked extensive comment from the chroniclers.’
Cinhard reported that
Uith Aaron, the King of the Persians, who ruled over all the East,
with the exception of India, he entertained so harmonious a friend-
ship that the Persian _I{ing_ valued his favour before the friendship
of all the kings and princes in the world, and held th.t it alone
deserved to oe cultivated with presents and tities. When, there-
fore, the ambassadors of Charles, whom he had sent with offerings
to the most holy sepulchre of our Lord and Saviour and to the
place of His resurrection, came to the Persian King and proclaimed

the kindly feelings of their master, he not on y granted them all ,
they asked but also allowed that sacred place of our salvation to—fiQ

 

lsAnnales Alamannici ccntirxuati, liCH, 33., I, he, Annales Lobiense
I‘XGH, it}? X111, 2.530 Apflales Sithlenses, 1:67] , SSO’ HTI, 36.

16Annales Einhardi, NC", 55., I, 190.

 

 

 

91

be reckoned as part of the possessions of the Frankish King. He
further sent ambassadors of his own along with those of Charles
upon the return journey, and forwarded in mense presents
Charles—-robes and spices, and the other rich proiucts of the
East-—and a few years earlier he had sent him t his request an /
elephant, which was then the only one he had:/;,

There is no doubt in Einhard's mind that Charles is the g,1eate r of the‘\

two rulers, indeed it seems one is to regard the gifts as tribute.
Charles' superiority is further indicated by the ease with which
Harfin relinquishes the Holy Places to Frankish care. Einhard clearly
did not know much about Harun; the use of the term king rather than

the more accurate caliph indicates that.
The Saxon poet's Life of Charles, which is a versification of

Einhard's Annals repeats the latter's description with almost no
, A A.

changes. Elsewhere the changes are more significant, especially in

V

regard to Charles' relations with overseas Christians. Einhard's
version of that matte r is as follows:

. . . he also used to send moneya ross the 2 3a to 5yria, to

Egypt, to Afn nca—-to Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Martha e-—in
compassion for the poverty of any Christians whose misexable
condition in those countries came to his ears. It was for this
reason chiefly that he cultivated the friendship of kings beyond
the sea, hoping thereby to win for the Chrijtians living 1
beneath their sway some succour and relief.

The baxcn poet provides this version:

. . . but he often sen at a;mbassadors to foreign kingdoms with
gifts for the Catholic cs wristizoliélwho were poor. He gave
resources to the nee y who lived in a‘~ypt and Alexandria.
Africa and Carthage knew his bounty. ”yria found out th:t he
was generous. Nora often to Jerusalem and to the other places
which remain sacred because of the activities of Christ when he
was in the flesh, Charles sent huge sums of silver and gold to

 

7
Einhard, ’ita Karoli Na gni, c. 16, NC”, 33., II, bSl, tr. A.J.
\ Grant, Early Lives of Challem.rhc (London, l§267: p . 28—29.

18Ibid., c. 27, p. h3.

 

 

 

92

‘be given to the faithful poor. For this reason alone he formed
:friendships with the heather kings across the sea, in order that 19
the faithful who were under their sway might receive aid from him.

we see that the Saxon pcet increases the amount and area of the aid,

and the faithfulness of the recipients. In both, but especially the

latter, we see an at tempt to wplain away or a;ologize for th ose dip-

lomatic connections with the huslim rulers; p.r rhap s such rehtions

would be corsidered sinful if not maintained for such Lhristian pur-

poses. The Saxon poet also expressed disapprobation when he termed

the Saracens "a nation fierce an nd troublesome in nany places of the

20
n

world both on land and sea. . .

The Konk of St. Gall, writing almost a century after the event,

embellis hes it greatl5 1n order to glorify Charles:

envoys of the Persians were sent to him. They knew not

iwhere Frankland lay; but because
they knew that Charles had rule,
when they were able to reach the

arrived in the last week of Lent,

of the fame of Rome, over which
they thought it a great thing
coast of Italy. . . . They
and, on their arrival being

made known to the emperor, he postponed their presentation until
Easter Eve. Then when that incomparable morarch was dressed
with incomparable ma.:nificence for the chief of festivals, he
ordered the introduction of the envoy s of that race that had
once held the whole world in awe. But they were so terrified
at the sight of the most magnificent Charles that one might think
they had never seen king or emperor. . . . They . . . valued
the privilege of clinwihg close to Charles, of gas.ing ugon him,
of admiring him, more than all the wealth of the east. . . .
These same Persian envoys brought the emperor an elephant
. monkeys, balsam, hard, unguents of various kinds, spices, Scents
andflmany kinds of drug‘ 3: in such profusion that it seemed is if
‘, the east had been left bare that the west might be filled.

 

9 0 V V ‘m \rq fi 0
Poeta Saxo, Liber V, NGh, ss., I, 276, tr. re ry s. No Kinney,

The Saxon Poet's life of Charles the Great (Le ew York, 056), pp. 98-99.

 

 

 

20Ibid., Liber IV, 263, tr. Kc Kirney, p. 76.

"\

esta K8 roli, Lib er 11, chapter 8, huh,
p. 1t. ., pp. 116- 20.

’ lMonachi Bangallensis C
its-0’ II, 7h9-EO’ t1”. C'rant, O

f

 

93

Throughout the account charles is made to a pear the most magnificent
of rulers, upon whom the envoys fawn ceaselessly. It is interesting
Ito note the Nonk's phrase "that race that had once held the whole »
world in awe;" apparently he feels they do so no longer. Indeed that
state of affairs was foreshadowed, the mark felt, in another incident.

. . . . The unwearied emperor sent to the emperor of the Persians
TMDrses and mules from Spain; Frisian robes, write, grey, red and
\ blue; which in Persia, he was told, were rarely seen and hithy
prized. Dogs too he sent him of remarkable swiftness and fierce-
ness, such as the King of Persia had desired, for the hunting and
catching of lions and tigers. [In an ensuing chase the dogs were
set after a lion andI. . . the German dogs caught the Persian
. lion, and the « arkis‘n] envoys slew rim with swords of northern
metal, which had already been tempered in the blood of the Saxons.
At this sight Haroun, the bravest inheritor of that name,
understood the superior might of Charles from very small indica-
tions, and thus broke out in his praise: . . . "But in this way I
will try to show my gratitude for his generosity. I will give
that land (promised to Abraham) into his power; and I will rule
over it as his representative. Whenever he likes or whenever
there is a cood opportunity he shall send me envoys; and he will
find me a faithful manager of the revenue of that province."
Thus was broucht to pass what the poet spoke of as an
impossibility:——-
"The Parthian's eyes the Arar's stream shall greet /
‘ And Tigris' waves shall lave the Qerman's feet":
for through the energy of the most vigorous Charles it was found
not merely possible but quite easy for his envoys to ac and
return; and the messengers of Haroun, whether young or old,
d~passed easily from Farthia into Germany and returned. . . . I
could call on Germany to bear witness to my words; for in the
time of your glorious father Lewis the land was compelled to pay
a penny for every acre of land held under the law towards the
redemption of Christian captives in the holy Land; and they made
their wretched appeal in the name of the dominion anciently held
over that land by your great-grandfather bharles and your grand-
father lewis.

-n~‘...v-d

These writers clearly intended to glorify Charles as a great and
most Christian king, as did the arnalist who reported his restoration

of sixty monks rescued from the Muslims to their island of Pantelleria

 

221bid., chapter 9, 750-51, tr. Grant, pp. 122-25-

I

I";

’1

9h

from whence they had been removed "contrary to all justice."23 But
in attempting to show us how greatly Charles awed the envoys, the
Frankish authors leave us with the suspicion that it was really they,
rather than the huslims, who were awed.

Indeed it has been diSputed whether missions actually were ex-

T‘

‘ - 211
‘ changed between Harun ar-nashid and Charlemagne. Arabic records do

'1.» . .. . .
.anot mention such contacts. bince we are coreerned with attitudes we
. 3

/_.

\l

are more interested in what western Europeans said and believed about

what happened than in the reality of those happenings. Gut there

does seem to be a reality behind those notices, and as Runciman says:
The records of the patriarchate of Jerusalem covering this
period do not survi*e; nor do the Hoslem historians of the time
make any reference to Charlemagne and any'negotiatiors with him.
This latter fact . . . does no Snecessarily diaprove the
existence of the negotiations.

He further suggests that the silence results from the Abbasid desire

to keep their friendly dealings with the infidels unknown, especially,

as Margouliouth observes, in view of the ineffectiveness of Charles'

. . .1 , 2 H ,
actions against the bpan1sh Umayyads. even so, it ischfficult to

believe that Harun would give Charles a protectorate over the Holy

land, and impossible to suppose the latter could exercise it.

 

2
3Sinhardi Annales, NEH, 55., I, 19h.

See, for example, A.A. Vasiliev, "Charles the Great and Tarun
al-Rashid," (in ssian) in Vizantinsky Vremiennik, XX (19lh); Einar
Joranson, "The Alleged Frankish Protectorate in Palestine," American
Historical Review, XXXII (1926-27), 2h1-6l; and F.N. Fuekler, Harunu'
lihashidfiard Charles the Great (Cambridge, Kass., 1931), which con-
tains a translation of w.w. Barthold, "Charles the Great and Harun
ar-hashid," from the Russian Khristianski Vostok, I (1912), 69-9h.

 

 

 

 

Steven Runciman, "Charlemagne ard Palestine," English Historical
Review, I.- (1935), 606—19.

 

/' 26Runciman, 697; D.S. hargouliouth, reView of Luckler, op. cit.,

HiStOI‘y, XVII (1933), 353-511..

Such negotiation and possible alliance with the Muslims is but
another in the eries of such relationships we have noted in other
areas of Christian-Muslim centact. The christians clearly lid not
hate huslims sufficiently to keep from aligning with them.

‘Nar continued in Aragon, Catalonia, and Vavavre with the tnslims
retaking the towns formerly held by the Franks in Aragon, although
Louis regained antosa in 810. The hestern hediterranean islands
also sought Charles' protection, even though they were nominally
subject to the ”yzantines. Consequently Charles, after becoming
emperor, sought to strengthen his naval defenses by ordering the
building of a thousand ships, strengthening the coastal defenses,
and planning for two centers of seagower: the coast of the Spanish
Larch and the Ligurian coast. From the latter Pepin in 806 sent a
fleet which defeated the huslims off Corsica and heat off luslim
attacks on Sardinia and Corsica in 808. In EU? the huslims attacked
Corsica on Easter Day, putting everything to fire and sword, while
African huslims attacked Sardinia. In €13 the Count of fimpourias
destroyed a Muslim flotilla off Kajorca and :ave southern France
respite from Huslim attacks for twenty-five years.

The naval revival, however, did nothina to restore the trade on
which the Hediterranean cities depended. As noted earlier, trade
fbetween East and west moved via the Po Valley and Venice to and from

Constantinople; from Andalusia to Iaples the coast was deserted.

 

Lewis, pp. 105—06; Annales Sithienses, NOE, $3., I, 373 Einhard,
11/th. 13mli Iaéfii, Co 17, 1.U11, 830, I13rL/ 0

 

 

Even traffic between the north and home used land routes. ind with
P, . . . 28
Charlemagne's death in 81h, even the naval revivaltsted.

During Charlemagne's reign, there was a revival of interest in
learning and letters commonly termed the Carolingian renaissance.
That stimulated, among other things, much historical writing; the
various annals and chronicles from the period fill nearly two folio

‘/
volumes of the Lonumenta Germaniae Historica. iut they have relatively }

 

little to say about the huslims. The minor annals give only brief
notices of events in very simple sentences; nothing can be gained from
them except the knowledge that the erent occurred. In longer annals
and chronicles the picture is somewhat different. Dome noted the
distinction between Agareni and Oaraceni, Fredegar's continuer added
that Saracen was a corrupted form of the name Ismaelites, and the

. . . . . 29 .
fiuslim use of Circumcision was reported. A few briefly treat the

30 1

battles between the Muslims and Eyzantines in the east. But the

longer accounts, like the minor ones, are nearly identical to one
another, and it is evident that copying rather than experience or

n

. . . “l .
knowledge accounts for much that is said.J and the royal annals,

 

28
Lewis, pp. 125-26.

9
Annalee hettenses, KGB, §§,, I, 320; Adonis Chronicon in
Aetates Sex EiVisum, MGR, ss., II, 317-18; Gesta AbEatum Fontanell-

ensium, new, as, II, 282"; Chronicon Universale, raw, ss., XIII, 111;

Fredewari Schblastici Chronicon, REF, II, L38339, E55337.

 

 

 

 

 

O' O C I 3 .—§ - O
3 deginonis Chronicon, RGH, 08., 1, 551-53; Chronicon Universale,
MCH,{§§., XIII, 19; Fredegar‘s continuer, REF, II, ELL.

31For the standard account of those relationships, see Gabriel
thonod, Etudes critigues sur les sources de l'histoire carolingienne
(Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Fautes Etudes: Sciences philoloeiques
et historiques, t. CXIX), (Paris, 1598); and Louis Halphen, ntudes
critiques sur l'histoire d2 Charlemagne (Paris, 1921).

 

 

 

 

uh

”—

\.1')
-\)

which were of great influence upon nearly all writers, are a straight
political narrative with no religious overtores; comments regarding
Saxons are more frequent and harsher in tone than those regarding
huslims. That seems to indicate that the Frankish court considered
huslims, when it did so, as political rather than religious foes.
There are times, to be sure, when written records do express
hostility. Ado decries the burnirg of monasteries and the spiritual
desolation of Vienna caused by the failure to appoint a bishop to the

Luslim-ravaged area, and is alarmed about "impious Saracens and per-

32
‘ fidious Christians" contaminating the Holy Places in Italy. The

Chroricon Foissacense denounces the actions of some huslim rulers of

 

Spain ('Abd ar-Rahman, Hisham, and Abulaz) but does not link their
cruel treatment of Christians to their faith. An old inscription
calls them infidels and attributes Charles' victory over them to God's
help.311 Fredegar's continuer calls them a "perfidious people" and
details their destruction of churches.35 The Muslim advances brought
concern about the relics of saints: Charles sent envoys to Cirthage
to obtain the remains of St. Cyprian and other martyrs, and King
Liutprand of Italy removed the remains of St. Augustine from Sardinia

A

for fear of Muslim devastation.)6 In poetry, Theodulph termed the

 

2 .. . . . . . .
3 ". . . impii Sarraceni ac perfidi christiani," Adonis Chronicon,
PEGH, §§O ’ II, 318-19 , 232 o

33in 3g, ss., I, 300, 307.

311111 BE, V, 3870

35
In REF, II, LSh-SSo

3 6 o o o o 1
Charles' mlSSIOn in Annales Lobicnses, VCR, 83., XIII, 230-31;
Liutprand's in Annales Xantenses, hiH, 38., II, 221.

 

 

98

‘ Arabs "hairy peOple" (populus crinitus) and nomads, Sedulus Scottus

 

emphasized their military defeats by those his poems praised, and

Aymoin noted that "the Hoorish trader desires silver farthings"

37

(Eviercator I~Iaurum cupidi nunmds ars‘enti ).

 

As protector of Christianity ard defender of the faith, Charles

became embroiled in a controversy which indirectly involved attitudes
38
toward Nuslims: the AdOptionist or Felician controversy.

We have noted that the Spanish church had problems.) Under the
Visigoths it was unacquainted with the ecumenical coincils and their
decisions, hence older thought forms and expressions dominated Moz-
arabic theology and liturgy. Moreover the Spanish church enjoyed
autonomy; no pepe had interested himself in Spanish religious affairs
since Gregory I (S90-60h). Hence Elipand, archbishop of Toledo and
primate of Spain, disliked the appointment of one Bgila as archbishop
without see to Spain in 769, for Egila's purpose could only be that
of reform along the lines then being followed in Francia, which would
mean increased papal control of Spanish church affairs.

Unfortunately for Egila, his zealous aide Migetius proved to be a
theological incompetent as well as an irritating person, and certain
churchmen whom he had offended found it easy to bring a process
against him and condemn him, and thus by implication discredit Egila.
Migetius seems to have intimated that the divinity was three corporal

persons: the Father, David; the Son, Jesus; and the Spirit, Peter.

 

 

37Theodulph in gay, PLAC., I, h8h; Sedulus Scottus in Egg, PLAC.,
III, 221; and Aymoin in Egg, PIAC., IV, pt. 1, 139.

8
3 The following material is taken from Smile Amann, L'epoque
carolingienne (Paris, 19h7), pp. 129-35 if.

 

 

99

Elipand and others argued against Migetius on the basis of the Noz-

arabic liturgy, in particular from the formula of assumptus homo-that

 

the Divine Word had taken to itself a concrete, complete, active
human nature-—and freely used the term "adoptiOn." Migethis was
condemned from that adoptionist position.

Hatters might have ended there, except that two Asturian monks
became convinced that Elipand himself had heretical views. Tb defend
against their accusation, Elipand sought the support of the noted
churchman Felix of Urgel, and received it in 792.39 Urgel was within
Charles' domains and that ruler, determined to have orthodoxy, spon-
sored the Council of Ratisbon in 792, at which Felix was condemned.
He regained his bishopric, however, and although again condemned con-
tinued to make trouble throughout Charlemagne's reign.

The heresy is of interest to us because it provoked certain
anti-Muslim comment. Alcuin noted that "the chief fountain of this

LO

Spanish unbelief is the city of Cordoba." And Amann observes that

Leo III said of Felix several years later that "the pagan went among

hi

the pagans, where he partook of their ideas." Indeed Cabaniss has

suggested that the heresy may be viewed as an attempt to accommodate

b2

1 Trinitarian Christianity to Islam's uncompromising monotheism.

 

Allen Cabaniss, "The Heresiarch Felix," Catholic Historical
Review, XXXIX (1953), 129-L1.

to

 

Cited in ibid., 136.

"Le payine s'enfuit chez les paiens, dont i1 partegait les
idehs," Amann, p. 136.

I
Cabaniss, "Paulus Albarus," 99-100. Adoptionism's denial of
the Son's equality with the Father was countered by the filiooue
clause in the creed.

gSince Elipand, in Toledo, was under huslim control, it may be that

F

ithe Muslim authorities forced the view upon him, al+hough Felix'
'support of it, even though he was not under Muslim authority, makes
:it unlikely

Another religious issue involving huslims was the iconoclastic}
!

controversy. While Grec k iconodxles claimed the 1 concclasts were
influenced by Muslims, the westerne: s, in their lengthy HOP e Spondence’
regardirg the matter, do notr «ti on t-at idea. It seems plausible}

to affirm that the west knew little of buslim theology; and one
I
r

might argue that western church reform shows that Christians knewfi
their own faith too poorly to set it over against Islam.

oince the Carclingian En pi re was really held together by

a.

Charlemagne, his death in 81h created problems. And his son and

successor, Iouis (Plh- LC), altliough religious eno ough to merit the

:sobriquet "the Pious," was not the soldier and statesman his father
ihad been. Consequentl" tic cnpirc began to disintegrate.

Louis failed to maintain the naval strength Charles had built,
and in time

. . . resistance along the Southern French coast became so

slight that} ’.oslem pirates established themselves on the
island of Camargue at the mouth of the Rhone in a semi-
permanent base. From here they ranged inland and in 860

~/ captured the Eishop of Arles. Perhaps they established
themselves in similar semi-permanent f shion further down
the shore at or near ruined haguelone.

V In 838 or 839 a sizable Muslim fleet descended upon the country

 

)
43 Lewis, pp. lh6-h7.

lOl

around Marseilles, tali ng possession of the suburbs and im uprisoning

L114

all who could carry arms.

On land Iouis sought to strengthen his southern defer nses bv
Q \—

1

granting eserted southern.lcr ds to Sparisn refugees who in return
were to render military service. In the precept regarding those

refugees, Louis speaks of their
. . . leaving their own habitations and resources which belong
to them by hereditary right on account of the iniquitous
Oppression and the most onlcl yoke which the Saracens, the
peOple most inimical to Christianity, imposed upon their necks.. ..

J r‘
L1

The Goths, however, soon proved restive under Frarl {ish rule and
frequently returned to their forme er Muslim lords Thus in 820

Bera, the governor of Barcelona, was accused of felonious conduct,
which apparently involved siding with the Huslims. Shortly there-
after the Christians of Navarre made an alliance with the Muslims

and handed Pamploaa over to them. In 626 Louis proposed to aid the
inha‘oitants of Kerida in rebelling arainst Cordova, but while the

Diet was considering the matter a Goth lord named Aizo, "who was
perhaps allied with the huslims," put himself at the ead of the

6

malcontents, ravaged the countryside, and defeated the Frankish army.h

Hence Spain was almost entirely removed from Frankish control.

 

hhinnaies Bertiniani, nos, ss., I, L32.

 

U

quod eorum cervicibus inimicissima Christiarita i gens Sarracenorum
imposuit, relictis prepriis habitationibus et facultatibus , quae

ad eos hereditario jure pertinebant. . ." Praecertum nro Fis spanis,
3:2, VI, L703 also 2%, CIV, 1013.

)
L“S". . . propter ini uam oppressionem et crudelissimim iugum,

 

b6Reinaud, pp. 139-L13313F,VI, 37?.

g
\1
x

n- "w.q_~-.\ -,. ‘m ..

1C2

Well might Louis lament in 828 that
. . . it was to prune away our sins that the enemies of Christ's
name made predatory incursions into this kingdom during the
past year, burning churches, capturing Christians, and killing
the servants of God, boldly, with impunity and indeed cruelly.
Louis' death in tho led to struggles among tis three sons for
control of more territory, and in the ensuing confusion and strife
many were led or forced to appeal to the 7 sli ms for aid. In 8&8
even Pepin the younger sought Kuslim aid in his struggle against

_his uncle Charles the Eild for the possession of the Languedoc, and

Q
\.

soon forced the latter to sue for peace. The huslims henef ited from
the confusion by wasting the ervirons of Arles in 8h2 and again in
850. Lothar, in a capitulary of 8b6, termed the Kuslims "enemies of
ChriSt" and "infidels," and linked the taking of the sacrament with
success in defeating them.he Charles the Bald, who finally made
peace with the Huslims in 86h, reconfirmed Louis' grant of lands to
the Spanish refugees, using the same terms Louis had used regarding
Illslims.h9 But Charles' death in 877 left the Frar ks leade erless in
the face of increasing Norman and Muslim threats, and it seemed that
Europe's enemies might devour her. New leaders did arise, but not
among the Carolingians.

Ninth-century historical writing, like that of the eighth

 

h7". . . peccatis nostris deputandum est, qnod inimici Christi
hominis praelestio anno in hoc regnum ingressi depraedationes, in-
cendia ecclesiarum et captivationes christianorum et interfectiones
servorum Dei audenter et impune, immo crudeliter, fecerunt." ICH,
Capit., II, 11-5. A shorter version on this same pages lacks the
passage.

h81bid., 67.

hgr’ganSi, XVIII B, 25'26 o

103

'-

“y lcentury, had little to say about the huslims. Thegan' s br‘1ef life
of Louis contains almost no mention of the Muslims, tr e istronomer's
more numerous notices convey no attitude or less it is the absen nce

I:50
of any att1tudc.’ The Arnales Bertin n1a n1, the ninth-century royal

 

annals of the West Franks, are primarily concerned with Italian
affairs. God's help is seen in the one of the Kuslims from

Fe neverto, and God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his apostles are
judged responsible for the sudden storm which destroyed the Muslim
fleet returning from thes ck of Rome in 81C. 51 That raid itself
was viewed as "an affliction of the Christians on account of their
sins."52 Bodo, who had forsaken Christianity for Judaism, was

\/’
denounced for trying to convince the Saracen king of Spain that

? either convert themselves to the Jewish %rsanity or the
fi Saracen foolishness, or else be killed.

' "5‘

\those remaining faithful to the Christian religion should
1
3
I

r The Frankish monk Bernard gave a favorable view of Islam at the

conclusion of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in E65. the said

 

%\ SOBoth lives a1e in NCIL 88., II, SSS-60h, 60h- L8, respectively.
The Astronomer's life has recently been translated by Allen Cabaniss,
Son of Charlema agne: A Contem cr1_y Life of L01is the Pious (Syracuse,

T3317:

Slflnnales Ber tin iani, I‘CCH, _s__s., I, the, 11113.

 

 

 

 

52". . . afflictio christianorum propter scelera eorum. . . ."
Anna es Xantenses, hCH, 58., II, 228. .See also Annales FWLId r
KGB, 58., I, 365} and Annalee Bertiniani, KPH, §§., I, hn2.

 

 

 

53". . . aut relicta christianae fidei religions ad Iudaeorum
instniam Sarracenorumve demertiam se converterent, aut certe omnes
interficerentur." Annalee Pertiniani, ECU, 33., I, hh2.

1 1--..dh-hhH—1.‘

10h

Christians and pecans here have such peace between themselves,
that if I travel on the road and in the journey my camel or
ass should die, and I should leave all my goods unguarded
{and go to a city to obtain another, when I return I shall
ffind all as I left it. . . . In Romania truly there are evil
gmen, for there man; are thieves and robbers and therefore men
*wishing to go to Saiflt Peter carnot pas sthrough there unless
numerous and armed. ’4

Here was no religious hos tilit ty of the kind+ hat would characterize
later relationships, but rather a sympathetic, objective report on
actual conditions.

The translation of three saints from Cordova to Paris is the
only northern rotice of the persecution of 'Abdar~Rehm§n and the

O
martyrdoms of mid-ninth century Spain, which indicates a lack of
knowledge of the activities of Eulogius and Alvarus and the zealots.
The Vita S. Arsberti Speaks of "unspeakable Anarenes," while a
I
fragment from the year 869 mentions "impious Saracens and treacherous
O O t! 56

Christians. And there is this lament for the year 871:

The Holy City Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives and all the

surrounding holy places were invaded and taken by the Muslims.

Also the monks there in the service of God, were afflicted by

diverse punishments and put in custody. Upon hearing all these

things the faithful catholic worshippers said, "Lament priests,
ministers of the Lord, and say, 'Spare 0 lord, Spare your

 

Sh"Christiani et pagani talem pacem inter se positam habent ibi,
ut si iter agerem et in itinere mortuus ficret meus camelus aut
asinus, . . . et ibi relin uerem omnia nea sire custode et irem ad
civitatem prOpter alium, ego, cum rediero, omnia mea illaesa in-
veniam. . . . In anania vero mala fiunt, et ibi homines multi sunt
fures et latrones, et ideo non possunt homines ad sanctum Petrum ire
volentes per eam trans ire, nisi sint plurimi et armati." In Titus
Tobler and Auguste Molinier, escriptiones Terrae Sanctae, I,
(Geneva, 1579), pp. 98-99.

55RhT _, VII, 35h.

56"nefardae gentis Agarenorum. . . , " RFF, III, 61“?
". . . impii Sarraceni et perfidi Christiani. . . ,' :53 II, 225.

'37-,“

105

people lest the nation should dominate them and they say:
Where is their God?‘ "

There was a continuirg strain of interest in Huslims in the \
,_ 1. /

Biblical commentaries of the Carolingian period. The basic ideas
which we have already noted in Jerome an d Isidore of Seville were
present in the early eighth-century'work of the Venerable mode.
In his comments on Genesis 16, Eede says:

It signifies tha his seed shall live in isola .icn, that is

the noma.di_c Saraccrs of wandering and urcertain abode, who have
isallied forth a~air_s t Ml those who I _ve beside the desert ar d
f are embattled by all: hat these thi s are old. Row, however,

how greatlv is his hand against all and all hands adainst him3

as they imnose his authoritv unon the whole length of Africa

Md hold both the greateropart of Asia and son. e of Euronc,
hating and op;csi-ng 511.53

He makes much the same roirt in commenting on Song of Songs 1.

Kedar was Ismael's son, of whom it is said: his hand is ag1 inst
everyone and everyone‘s agaivst him. T 13 hi rth, and the hatiei
bv evervone toda" of the Saracens who proceed from him, proves
the truth of this predictior: and the troubled psalmist agrees
when he says, I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Kedar, my
soul was a dweller among many. hith those who hate peace I
will be peaceful. Nor moreover is it read that David bore any

hatred for these Ismaelites, but willing to Kasaerate the evil

 

57". . . Civitas sancta Ierusalem, et mons Clive ti 1, atque omnia
loca sarcta in circuitu a Sarraoenis invasa et rcssessa an t.
Monachi quoque ihidem Domiro famulantes, diversis poenis afflicti,
atque in custodiam missi. Audite enim haec omnes catholicae fidei

cultores dicentes 'Flora+c sacerdotes, miristri_ Tomini, et dicite:
Farce Domine, arce populo tao; re dominentur eis nationes, et
dicant: Ubi est Eels eorum? ,nnales Xantcrses, LEN, 83., II, 23h.

 

59

“"Sigrificat semen CJWI habitaturum in heroic, id est,
Saracenos vagos, incerti1sque sedibus, qui universes 33 tes quihus
desertum ex later e jur miil1r incursart, et evnr1rart1r ah omrih1m :
sed haec antiqnitus. unc aut m in tantum minus ejus contra omnes,
et menus sunt rrium contra e1r3 ut Apricam totam i1 loncitudine,
sua ditione rema: t, sed et Asiae raV1n1n rzr 3m, et Jlro as

no inrllam omnihas exosi et cOncicx t3nea1t. Qw:od a tam dici,:
Figet tabernazula: morem "elmi s artio ou1m osMexd1t,01ae in taber-

raculis seunar ron in domihns haoitare solebat." The Comnlete ho rks
of the Jererchl1 Iede, ed. J.A. Ciles (London, ICED), VII, lo).

 

 

1C6

'*,that he had suffered from Saul or his other adversaries he
complained of the hare.ssment of wicked people who could make
peace with 1"o man.v/

In me‘ihg Acts 7, he remarks that "the star of vour Cod, Remphan
. . . Sigrifies moreover Lucifer, irto whose cult the Saracen

60

people were 301d for the htror of {M3 L3." Elsewhere he Speaks of
Sara prefim1rinq the cturch and Asar the svrafiOVue, the latter

heir» i.terp rated as those who are 1n exile and irzcrart of Christ' 8

61

war. Pede had certainlv read widely ir earlier authors, and

8.62

0*}

greatlv irflu enced later wr‘ ter
Roth Rabanus Eaurus and Argelomus followed Eede almost verbatim
in their biblical comrr'entaries.‘3 laschasi us hadbertus, ho~ever,

x”

goes further. Regardirg the im erdirq end of the world, he says:

 

S9"Cedar Ismaelis filius fuit, de quo dictum est: Kanus ejus
contra omnes, et menus omnium contra eum. Cujus praesagii veritatem,
et exosa omnibus hodie Sarracenorum, qui ab eo exorti sunt, natio
prohat: et Psalmista engoribus obses us affirmat, cum ait, Habitav1
cum habitantibus Cedar, rultum incola fuit anima mea. Cum his qui
oderunt pacem, eram pacificus. Teque enim David aliquid odiorum ab
ipsis Ismaelitis pertulisse legitur; sed volers exagserare mala,
quae patiebatur a Saule, vel caeteris adversariis ejus, se centis
improhitate vexari questus est, quae cum nullo hominum aliquar do
pacem habere curabat." IL id., IX, 215.

6O"+t sidus dei ve 3tri R.emphan. . . Sign ni-
cujus cultui Sarracehor um gens ob hororem ? ener
Ibid., XII, 36.

i-c at aatem Luciferum,
is erat mahcipata."

élPl, XCI, ZhZ-LB. Descert from Alger s prosedlv comr1tte d
the linslims to accept Jewish holv books, according to Peter the
Venerable, cited in Daniel, p. 70. Perhajs ore is to see ir the
Chr1stiae use of the term Agarehe a desire to consider Kuslims not
only childrer of a slave woman but also as those without the Gospel.

62 .. .
Southern, western fie ws, pp. lo-lC. See also J. Jallace-
Hadrill, "The Franks and the English in the Firth Century: so: 0
Common Historical Interests," History, IX (1950), 202‘££.

 

63Rabanus, El, CVII, Shh; Angelomus, 2;, CXV, 179. Rahanus, like
Bede, greatly influenced other biblical commentators. See Ogle C, 323.

107

And let no one object to me that the Gospel of Christ has not yet
reached to the Saracens, who occupied many earthly kingdoms by
God's permission and were dominant almost everywhere over the
Christians; it reached some and they received news of God, but
evilly seduced by certain false apostles . . . perverted the law
they learned both from the Old and the New Testaments, wishing
to feel no duty either to us or to the Jews, although under the
cult of one God. While they desire to subjugate the uniyer§§_

iunaenltheir_dgmigign, they do not ask that—one serve this or
Ethat God, but only that he should serve them. From those who,
'by chance, because of the just jud*ment of God embraced the
spirit of error (so many think) antichfibt is raised up. By
their assent and lordship many things will come to pass, how
many and how much are plainly read in John's apocalypse. This
thing I shall say about it, so that the prudent reader may know
what mystery of iniquity ighalruady'working: ;hoever perseveres
to the and shall be saved.

 

 

A more significant evidence of Frankish concern about the Muslims

\ is the translation into Latin, apparently during Charlemagne's reign,

iof the Eyzantine apocalyptic work known as the Pseudo-Fethgdius.

——o-

/—

Though it purports to be a writing of the early Christian saint Metho-
dius, it was in reality composed in the Byzantine Empire around éZQ:

The author combines Biblical prophecy and facts regarding the Muslim

 

6h"Et ne quis mihi objiciat Sarracenos, qui multa regna terrarum
nutu Dei suis occuparunt armis, et dominantur pene ubique in Chris-
tianos, quasi ad eos Evangelium Christi necdum pervenerit; pervenit
quidem et receperunt Dei notitiam, sed male seducti a quibusdam
pseudoapostolis . . . tam ex Veteri Testamento, quam ex Novo con-
diderunt legem, ac si sub unius Dei cultu, nec tamen nobiscum, nec
cum Judaeis quidpiam sentire volentes, omnia perverterunt. Qui dum
cupiunt universe suo dominio subjugari nec queerunt quem quisque Deum
colat, sed ut eis tantummodo serviatur. A quibus forte, quia justo
Dei judicio susceperunt spiritum erroris (ut multi putant) suscipiendus
est antichristus. Quorum assensu atque dominio tanta poterit peragere,
qualia et quanta in Apocalypsi Joannis manifeste leguntur. Haec
idcirco dixerim, ut sciat prudens lector quia mysterium jam operatur
iniquitatis, sed necdum est finis: Qui autem perseveraverit usque
in finem, hic salvus erit." ‘29, CXX, 80b.

Ernst Sackur, Sibyllinische Texte und Forschungen: Pseudo-
l‘zethodius, Adso und die Tiburtinische Sibvlle (Falls a.S., l€987fi

 

 

has edited and discussed the work.

108

conquest, and prophesies an end to the Muslim domination. Apparently
it was translated by‘a Greek or Syrian monk for brothers in a Frankish
Cloister where he stayed. Many copies were made of it: Sackur notes

four from the eight century, two from the tenth, and one from the

66

eleventh, and d'ENelyn gives an early eleventh-century English version.
Let us look at the attitudes toward Muslims which it expresses.

At the outset the author describes how Samsishab, a descendant
of Noah, after conquering the lands from the Euphrates to the Indus

went into the Saba Desert and annihilated the camps of the sons
of Ismael, the son of Agar, the Egyptian maid of Sara the wife
of Abraham. And all were driven out and fled flmnnthe solitude
of Yathrib and entered into inhabited lands and fought with the
kingdoms of the peOples and depopulated and captured and domi-
nated those who were in the Promised Land, and satisfied them-
selves upon them and their camps. They were like locustsand
went about with nude bodies and ate camel's flesh and drank
animal blood mixed with milk. And when therefore the sons of
Ismael both obtained the whole land and desolated the cities and
gave their regions into all sorts of insolence, then they built
themselves ships and by using these they flew like birds over
the seas. They moved therefore into the western regions into
great Rome and Illyrica and Gigita and Thessalonica and great
. Sardinia, which is across from Rome, and dominated these lands
for sixty years and did there whatever they wished. Put after
eight and one-half ages of their power through which they
obtained the rule of all people their heart was raised up when
they saw they had obtained and dominated all kingdoms. Further-
more at that time four princes of the army who were sons of
:Umee were ruling them. Their names were, respectively, Oreb,
Zeb, Zebe, Salmana. They fought with the Israelites and as God
redeemed his people from the Egyptians through Noses, in the
same way he worked at that time with his mercy and redeemed
them from the foe through Gideon. And they were freed from
servitude to the sons of Ismael. Moreover Gideon fell upon
their camps and drove them out of the inhabited land into the
solitude of Yathrib from which they had come forth, and those
who were left made peace treaties with the children of Israel
and nine tribes went out into the outer desert.
They are also of the future, for they will go out again
and make the earth destitute and obtain a ring of land and a

-- —._—

 

——

66
Charlotte d'Evelyn, "The Revelations of Methodius," PNLA,
XXXIII pt. 2 (new series XXVI, pt. 2), (1918), 135-203.

109

boundary by entering into peace with the land of Lgypt as far
as Ethiopia and from the Euphrates to India and from the Tigris
to the entrance of Nod of the kingdom of Ioniti son of Noah and
from the north to Rome and Illyrica, and Gigita and Thessalonica
and Albania and to the Flack Sea. And he will place a double
yoke upon the necks of all people, and there will be no people
or king under heaven who can drive them out until the seven ages
of time and after these things are accomplished, they will be
subdued by the heavenly and Roman kingdom. And then this king-
; dom, that is the Roman one, will be highly glorified above all
kingdoms of the peoples and never can be destroyed by any of
them until eternity. They have moreoveg unbeatable weapons by
‘which all adversaries will be overcome. 7

.—.¢

r..4

 

67

". . . exiit in desertum Saba et concidit castra filiorum
Ismahel, filii Agar, Aegyptiae ancille Sarrae uxoris Abrahae. Et
eXpulsi sunt amnes et fugierunt de solitudinem Etthribum et intrcierunt
in terra inhabitabilem et pugnaverunt cum regnis gentium et depopulati
sunt et captivaverunt et dominati sunt regna gentium, qui erant in
terra promissionis, et expleta est ex eis et de castra illorum.

Brant autem quasi locustae et incedebant nudo corpora et edebant
carnes camillorum conpositae in utribus et bibebant sanguinem iument-
orum et lacte mixto. Cumque igitur obtenuissent filii Ismahel et
universam terram et desolassent urhes et regiones eorum donassent

in omnibus insolis, tune illoque tempore construxerunt sibi navigia
et in modum volucrum his utentibus advolabant super aquas maris.
Ascenderunt igitur in regionibus Occidentis usque ad magnam Iomam

et Illirico et Gigitum et Tesalonica et Sardiniae manne, que est
trans illa Romam, et dominati sunt terrae in annis LX et fecerunt in
ea quecumque voluerunt. Post vero ebdomadas octo et mimediam eorum
potentatus, per quod obtinuerunt universarum gentium regnum, super-
exaltatum est cor eorum, dum se viderent obtenuisse et dominasse
omnia regna. In tempore autem illo facti sunt eis tyranni principes
miliciae quatuor, qui fuerunt filii Umee, quae ab eis sic vocabatur,
quorum nomina sunt haec: Oreb et Zeb et Zebe et Salmana. Hi pugna-
verunt cum Israhelitae et, quemadmodum fecit Daus redempcionem de
manu Aegipciorum per Koisen famulum suum, eodem vero modo eciam tunc
illo tempore operatus est cum eis misericordiam et redimit eos ex eis
per Cedeon. Et liberatus est de servitute filiorum Ismahel. Hie
enim Cedeon concidit castra eorum et persequens eiecit eos de terra
inhabitabilem in solitudine 2thribum, de qua et prodiebant, et qui
relicti sunt dederunt foedera pacis filiis Israhel et exierunt in
desertum exteriorem novem tribus. Futuri sunt autem, ut exeant
aliud semel et destitutam facient terram et ootinere orbem terrae et
regionis in introitu pacis a terra Aegypti usque EthiOpiae et ah
Eufraten usque Indies et a Tigrin usque ad introitum Vaod regni
Ioniti filii Noe et ab aquilone usque Romam et Illirico et Gigitum
et Thessalonicam et Olbaniae et usque ad mare qui Ponto mittit. Et

110

The Muslim success is again attributed to Christian sinfulness.

Then in the newest or seventh millenium, the kingdom of the
Persians will be eradicated. And in that seventh millenium the
seed of Ismael will begin to leave the Yathrib Desert and when
they go out will gather together in great Gabahot, and there
will be fulfilled what [Godjspoke through Ezekiel the prophet:
"Son of Man," he said, "Call the beasts of the field and birds
of the heavens and exhort them saying: Assemble and come to
that great sacrificial feast I am preparing for you, shall eat
the flesh of brave men and drink the blood of the great."
Ezekiel 38. 17-20] In Gabaoth that day therefore they, of the
seed of Ismael who is called the wild ass, will fall bv the
edge of the sword, they who are sent in my wrath and fierce
anger upon all the earth, upon men and animals and beasts of
the forests and upon all trees and plants and upon all minds
and in all kinds of grain and their castigation will come with-
out mercy and they will loose among those on earth the four
\/’plagues, that is destruction and perdition, also corruption and
desolation. For as God said to Israel through Noses: "Not
because the Lord God loved you did he introduce you into the
promised land, that you might possess it, but on account of
the sins of the inhabitants of it." Thus it is again with
the sons of Ismael, not because he prizes them does the Lord
God give tkem this power so that they obtain the land of
Christians but on account of sins and iniquities which are
committed by the latter. Similar things have not been done,
neither will be in all generations, for truly men were put upon
by adulterous women and unrestrained prostitutes, and likewise
women adorned themselves standing openly in the streets and all
the gates of the city and exchanged the natural use for that
which is against nature, as the blessed and most sacred apostle
said; for at the same time both the women and the men did these
things. And thus there went in to the same woman a father and
his son and brother and all who were known to be joined by any
blood relation, they were however ignorant of their prostitu-
tions for as the most wise Paul had exclaimed before the fulness
of time: "For this reason," he said, "God gave them up to
dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations
for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations
with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men
committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own
persons the due penalty for their error." Etomans 1. 26-27.]

 

errit iugum eorum duplex super cervices omnium gencium, et non erit
gens aut regnum sub caelo, qui possent eos expugnare usque ad numerum
temporum ebdomadarum VII, et post haec devincuntur a regno caelisti
et Romanorum etiam, subiciuntur ei. Etenim hoc regnum magnificabitur,
id est Romanorum, super omnia regna gencium et nequaquam delebitur a
nullo eorum in aeternum. Habent enim arma inexpugnabilem, per quem
omnes deiciuntur adversarii eius." Cited from Sackur, pp. 66-69.

111

On account of this therefore God gave them into the hands
; of the barbarians by whom they fell into all impurity and fetid
. pollution and their women were contaminated bv polluted barbar-
ians and the sons of Ismael ca 1.st lots for their sons and daugh-
ters and turned the land of Persia into corruption gnd perdition
and bound its inhabitants into captivity and death.

 

68"In novissimum enim miliarium seu septimo tunc agentem in
ipso eradicabitur regnum Persarum. 11 (in) ipso septimo miliario
incipient exire semen Ismahel de deserto Ethribum, et cum exierint,
congregabuntur unanimes in magnam Cabahot, et illic conplebitur
quod dictum est per Ebechielem prOphetam: Fili hominis, inquid,
voca bestias agri et volatilia caeli et exhortare illa dicens:
'Congregamini ct venite eo ouod sacri.ficium magnum involo vobis,
manducate carnes fortium— et bibite sanguinem excelsorum. In hac
itaque Cabaoth cadent in ore gladii a semine Ismahelis qui appelatus
est onager, eo quod in ira et furose mittuntur super faciem totius
terrae, super homines quoque et iumenta et bestias silve, et super
omnem saltum et plantariam et super omnem memorum et in omnem Speciem
fructiferam, et erit adventus eorum castigatio sine misericordia et
praehibunt eis super terra quattuor iste plage, id est interitus et
perditio, corrupti 10 quoque et desolatio. Dicit enim Deus ad Israhel
per Moysen: Non qgia. diligit vos dominus Deus, introducit vos Ln
terra promissionis, gt hered1_temini eam, sed propter peccata inhabi-
tantium in ear. Sic etenim filios Ismahel, non quod eos diligat,
don nus'EEuE—dabit eis potentiam hanc, ut obteneant terram christian—
orum, sed propter peccatum et iniquitatem, quae ab eis committitur.
Similia eis non sunt facta, sed neque fiunt in omnibus generationibus,
namque igitur induentur viri adulterinis muliercolis et meretricum
indumenta, et quemadmodum muliercolas semetipsas exornabant stantes
in plateis et in foribus civitatum palam omnibus et inmutaverunt
naturalem usum in eum qui est contra nature, sicuti beatus quoque
et sacratissimus apostolus inquid, imiliter et mulieres haec quod
et virtiagentes. Convenerunt itaque uni muliere pater simul et
filius illius et frater et universi qui cognatione adiunti videntur.
Ignorab antur enim a meretricibus, propter quod sapientissimus Paulus
ante temporum seriem fortassis exclamans ait: Propter hoc enim,
inouit, tradedit illos Deus Ln passiones ignominiosae, nam fa eminae
eorum connutaverunt naturalem usum Ln sum usum qnie st extra naturam,
51m111ter vero et masculi eorum remittentes naturalem usum feminae
exarserunt Ln desiderris suis Ln invicem mas culi Ln ma sculos turni-
tudinem Operant:s, et retributio em mercidis erroris sui Ln semet—
ipsos recip_entes. PrOpter hoc igitur tradentur a Eeo in manus
barbarorum, a quibus cadent in omnem immnndiciam et fetorem pollutionis,
et contaminantur mulieres eorum a pollutis barbaris et mittunt sortes
filii Ismahel super filios et filias eorum et'aaditur terra Persarum
in corruptionem et perditionem, et habitatores eius in captivitatem
et occisionem adducentur." Sackur, pp. 80-82

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LI)

112

Elsewhere Ismael, the wild ass, is considered "the man of sin,

the son of perdition," (II Thessalonians 2.8) and the Fuslim devasta-a

tion of the countryside is detailed. The Christians are encouraged
to remember in all these tribulations Christ's words:

Blessed are you when men rivile you and persecute you and

utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,

for so men perse uted the prophets who were before you.

Efiatthew 5.11-12 But he who endures to the end will be

saved EIark 13. l 311% remain after the tribulation done by

the sons of Ismael.9

The translation of the Eseudo-Methodius seems to indicate the
realization of a need for anti-Kuslim polemic in the West, but it
likewise indicates that the west could not produce such works from
its own resources, even though we occasionally feel, notably in
Paschasius Radbertus, that a writer really knows something of the
Kuslim faith. The extent of Pseudo-Kethodius' circulation is
somewhat questionable, however, sinoeliudprand thinksit necessary
to recount at some length similar prophecies he encountered at
Constantinople. Of course his boundless pride in his knowledge

and his use of every opportunity to display it must be considered,

but even so we may suspect he was ignorant of Pseudo-Kethodius.

 

69Ibido, pp. 842-890
70
Liudprandi Relatio d3 Lesatiore Constant1anolitana, KCH 33.,

III, 355-55. In discussing the matter he notes that The Vision of
Ianiel tells whether or not f'ortune will smile on the Saracens, and
that the work of Hippolytus should be understood to mean that the
Franks will exterminate the Byzantines rath er than the :yzantines
driving out the Kuslims.

 

 

I
I
i

113

ll' Clearly Carolingian Europe was not seriously concerned about
the Muslims, certainly it was no more concerned ahout them than
about Normans, Slavs, and Hagyars. On the whole, Carolingian Europe
was content with what Southern terms the "ignorance of confined space:"
an almost total lack of knowledge about Islam as a religion coupled
with an attempt to explain its political successes by reference to

'—

.. fl. - . . . .
the hible. gut how long could such a p051t10n continue to suffice?

 

1
Southern, pp. lb-lS.

CHAPTER VI

THE HEARTUrND: FROM CAROLINGIANS TO CRUSADES

The onslaughts of powerful foes and the degeneration of the
Carolingian rulers brought a division of the former Carolingian
Empire into eastern and western parts. While the western portion,
out of which.France was to come, remained quiescent and thoroughly
feudalized, the eastern portion, under the Saxon and Salian rulers,\i
became the strong and significant Hely Roman.Empire. Since the Holy
Roman Emperors were interested in extending their control over
Italy, they came into contact and conflict with the papacy, as is
well known. That Italian interest also brought them into contact
with the Muslims, who since the end of the ninth century had
infested the Alpine passes and much of Provence, and made sporadic
and devastating raids into the surrounding areas.

The origins of that Muslim beachhead in EurOpe are extremely
obscure, but it seems that in 888 or 889 a band of Spanish Muslims
was blown ashore in the Gulf of Grimaud and established a settle-

ment and fortress named Fraxinet from the Fraxini or ash trees in
_iw__ /#_ Alli

‘5‘

the area. Calling their co-religionists to them, the Muslims
began attacking nearby vilhages, mediating the quarrels of local
lords, and establishing their control over much of Provence,

"

Piedmont and the élps.
Our knowledge of the Muslim.establishment at Fraxinet is
drawn largely from.the writings of that colorful tenth century

bishop, Liudprand of Cremona, so we will let him tell the story.

11h

/,

115

But by the mysterious, and since it cannot be otherwise,
by the just judgement of God, a band of some twenty Saracens,
who had sailed from Spain in a small boat, was forced by
contrary winds unwillingly to land here Eraxinea . These pirates,
disembarking under cover of night, entered the manor house unsb;
served and murdered-O grievous talel-the Christian inhabitants.
They then took the place as their own, and made Moor's Mount
which adjoins the manor a stronghold against attacks from their
neighbours. . . . They started stealthy raids on all the neigh-
bouring country, and sent messengers back to Spain to bring over
more of their comrades. . . .

meanwhile the people of Provence close by, swayed by envy
and mutual jealousy, began to cut one another's throats, plunder
each other's substance, and do every sort of conceivable mis-
chief. But inasmuch as one faction by itself was not able to
satisfy upon the other the demands of jealous indignation, they
called in.the help of the aforesaid Saracens, men who were as
perfidious as they were cunning, and in.company with them pro-J
seeded to crush their neighbours. Indeed, not satisfied with
murder, they turned the whole fertile land into a desert. But
let us see what good their envy did them. Envy, as a certain
author says, is always just, and of it he writes: .

"Envy its own just retribution brings ! l, t‘
And stabs its harbourer with poisoned stings."l

'In trying to deceive, Envy is itself deceit's victim; in en-

deavouring to quench others, its own fire is put out. Do you
ask what happened? The Saracens, who in themselves were of
insignificant strength, after crushing one faction with the help
of the other, increased their own numbers by continual reinforce-
ments from Spain, and soon were attacking everywhere those whom
at first they seemed to defend.

In the fury of their onslaughts they exterminated the whole
people and left no survivors, so that all the neighbourhood began
to tremble. As the prophet says: "One man chased a thousand,
and two put ten thousand to flight." How was that? 'Because
their God sold them and the Lord shut them up." . . .

The Saracens also, who, as I have said, were living at
Fraxinetum, after ruining_Provence, extended their savage raids
to the northern districts cf Italy close by, :10 finally, after
sacking several cities, came to Acqui, a town about forty miles
from Pavia, which gets its name from the wonderful square baths
that have been built there. The whole country accordingly was
in a panic, and no one waited for the Saracens to approach
unless he had a perfectly sure refuge. . . .

Their chief, the Saracen Sagittus, was one of the worst and
most impious of men. But by the grace of God when the battle
took place . . . the wretch, was killed With all his followers.

 

l
Liudprand, Antapodosis, tr. F.W} wright, the Wbrks of Liudprand

 

of Cremona (New York, 1930), Liber I, c. 3, h; LiEer Ilj'ET'UE; fiber
W, Co E.

116

The raids became so onerous that King Hugh of Provence took

steps to oust the Muslims.

. . . The mountain districts that encircle Italy and separate
it from.the west and north were being cruelly devastated by the
Saracens of Fraxinetum; King Hugh accordingly on.the advice of
his counsellors despatched messengers to Constantinople asking
the emperor Romance to send him some of his Greek fireships,
which the Greeks in their own language call chelandia. His
idea was himself to march by land and root out the Stronghold
of Fraxinetum, while the Greeks blockaded the sea side with
their fleet, burning the Saracens' ships and completely preventing
any reinforcements or supplies of food reaching them.from.Spain.
Kinngugh having now collected his army sent a fleet across
the Gulf of Lyons to Fraxinetum and proceeded thither himself
by land. As soon as the Greeks arrived they destroyed all the
Saracens' ships with their fire. Moreover the king forced his
‘way into Fraxinetum.and compelled the Saracens to retreat to
Moors Mountain, where he would have been able to capture them
by investment if the circumstance I am about th relate had not ,
prevented him. 5
King Hugh was very much afraid that Berengar would collect i

a force in France and Swabia, and come down upon him.and rob

; him of his throne. 30, following bad advice, he sent the Greeks
back to their own country and himself concluded a treaty with

1 the Saracens, arranging for them to stay in the mountains that
separate Swabia and Italy, and prevent Berengar from passing
if he happened to lead an army that way. How many Christian
pilgrims on their way to the thresholds of the blessed Apostles
Peter and Paul were slain by these heathen under this convention
He alone knows who has their names written in the Book of Life:
How unjustly, King Hugh, do you attempt to defend your throne!

Clearly Liudprand viewed the Muslims as enemies to be rooted out at
all costs, not only because of the ferocity of their raids but also,
it would seem, because of their utter difference from.the Christians.
However, he could also view them as God's instruments.

Liudprand had good reason to lament; it seems that the Muslims in

the Alps reached the height of their power after Hugh abandoned the

 

2Ibid., Liber V, caps. 9, 16, 17.

z!

“,-

117

campaign in 9&2.3 Otto I became preoccupied with the idea of
\111/H“ - -

removing the Alpine Muslims, and in 95§_requested Adalbero, Bishop

of Meta, to send a priest to Spain as Otto's representative. Adalbero

chose John of Gorze, who came from Lorraine, a center for slave trade,
r“..‘___/'\. 11...: '

especially in eunuchs, with Spain. Apparently John, on Otto's behalf,

sought to get 'Abd ar-Rahman to use his authority to evacuate Fraxinet.

tBut the caliph, as a reprisal for Otto's maltreatment of an earlier

1

envoy, imprisoned John and would have killed him except for the reapect
which the Muslins had for Otto. Reccamond, Bishop oqulvira, was sent
by 'Abd ar-Rahman to Otto and obtained more favorably worded letters,
but the caliph refused the request and John returned home. His life,
‘written by thn, Abbot of St. Arnulf of Metz, conveys much hostility
toward Muslims. For example, in describing the caliph, John says:
. . . that sacrilegious and profane king, since he was a Saracen
1' and was utterly alien from the true faith, although he earnestly
V' desired friendship with Christian princes, vomited forth all
sorts of blasphemy regarding Christ. . . .1"t ‘
Diplomacy having failed, Otto resolved to exterminate the Nbslims
by force, but despite his promises and the continued agitation of the
monks of Novalese (which had been destroyed by the Alpine Muslims),

Italian affairs diverted him from.that goal.

 

\\/” 3J.F. Tyler, The Alpine Passes: The Middle Ages (962-1250)

 

(Ox-ford: 1950). P0 940

h”. . . idem.rex sacrilegus et profanus, utpote Sarracenus, et
a vera fide prorsus esset alienus, quique quamvis amicitiam expeteret
principis christiani, in litteris tamen quas miserat blasphema non-
nulla in Christum evomuerat. . . ." Vita Iohannis Gorziensis, MGR,
83., IV, 570. Also see René'Poupardin,“Ee Royaume de Bourgogne
FEB-1038 (Bibliotheque de 1'Ehole des Bantes tudes?—'S33EEE§§?-
philologiques et historiques, CLXIII) (Paris, 1907), p. 95.

 

118

Indeed it began to seem.unlikely that the Muslims would ever

be ousted from their stronghold. There was certainly a need for
their removal, for as Lewis states:

. . . the Christian coastline from Barcelona to the Tiber was
dead and all but deserted. Whatever trade and naval power had
existed in these regions at the time of Charlemagne and Louis
the Pious had by this time almost disappeared. Barcelona,
Narbonne, Farseilles, Genoa, and even Pisa remained sparsely
inhabited centers hardly able to protect themselves from the
periodic raids of Muslims from Spain or from their advance
base at Fraxinet.

Moreover the Fraxinet Muslims
. . . controlled the passes between France and Italy from.Mont

Cenis to the Mediterranean, making travel Ey these routes to
the Po valley difficult if not impossible.

,/ But a fortuitous circumstance soon led to the ouster of those
J

Muslims. Maiolus, abbot of Cluny, had been in Italy conducting
monastic refd;m and:flafter 15 interview with Otto and Adelaide, was
returning to Cluny when he and his party were captured by the muslims
in 972. The Muslirs knew they had a rare prize; they demanded and
v/received 1000 livres of silver for his ransom. They also gained,
however, the wrath of all Europe, for maiolus was too important a
person for his capture to pass unnoticed. He had particularly close
ties with the powerful count of Provence, William, who took the lead
in organising a movement which resulted in the massacre of most of

the muslims and the forced baptism.of the remainder in 973 or shortly

thereafter. Thus the Muslim.menace'was ended.

 

51am. pp. 177. 1147.

6On these and other matters related to the Muslims at Fraxinet
see Poupardin, Bourgogne, and his Le Royaume de Prpvence sous les
Oarolingiens (BIEIiotHEque de l' cBIb'aEE‘HEuEEr Etudes: ’Sciences
philologiques et historiques, t. CXXXI) (Paris, 1901).

 

 

119

Haiolus' capture and subsequent release made him.aven more noted,

_ -~-*<

H - ""
---’

and biographical material concerning him is plentiful and frequently
conveys some attitudes regarding Muslims. Ralph Glaber, a Cluniac
monk himself, noted that Maiolus stated in his letter to Cluny seeking
money for his ransom that: "The torments of Belial surround me, the
pangs of death encompass me." And of that captivity Ralph wrote:

But while the holy man was held captive by the Muslims his merit
was such that he could not hide it. For when at the breakfast
hour they placed before him.the food which they ate, meat and
coarse bread, and said "Eat." But he answered, "If I am.hungry,
the Lord is food for me. So of these things I shall not eat
because they will not be of use to me." Separating himself, one
of them, led by piety and reverencing the man of God, reached
forth his arm.and immediately washing a plate brought upon it,
in the sight of the venerable Nhiolus, a quantity of the finest
bread. And very quickly washing it, he brought it reverently to
him. Maiolus took it and before eating the meal gave thanks to
God, offering a prayer as was his habit. Also another of the
Saracens while cutting wood unhesitatingly placed his foot upon
\the man of God's book, even his Bible, which he was always ac-
custdmed to carry with him. And while the holy man sighed
staring Ett hifl, others of them who were less fierce perceived
the situation and cried out against him saying that one ought
not thus reduce the pr0phets to nothing, so that he would remove
his foot. Since the Saracens read the prophets of the Hebrews
and even more the Christians, saying moreover that they are now
fulfilled in their own time as they name Muhammad, whom they
proclaim.to be a prophet of the universe foretold by the Lord
Christ. But to prove their error fully they have their own
genealogy which is indeed similar to that of the Gospel according
to Matthew, which tells the genealogy from Abraham.to Jesus, with
the succession descending through Isaac. Upon his seed blessing
} and the promise of the universe is clearly foretold. Theirs

 

says Ismael begat Nabaoth, and then descending fictitiously from

that error is indeed greatly foreign to the truth and likewise

far from holy catholic authority. meanwhile, so that the sanctity

of the blesSed Maiolus might be made clear, that same day, by the
_judgment of God, others angrily attacked him who had stood upon
\the book and cut off the offending foot. Indeed now several of

them.undertook to remain his messengers and guardians. Still

there at last came from.the brothers that return expedition which

120

gave to these Saracens the previously stipulated ransom, and the
father, with all those who had been captured with him, returned
to their homeland.

And in Syrus' life of maiolus, we read:
Further, therefore, the blessed Naiolus, the greatest of warriors,

seizing the shield of faith, with the lance of the Word of God
pierced through the enemies of Christ, approving the cult of the

 

7"Sed vir sanctus dum interim a Sarracenis captus teneretur,
cuius meriti esset, latere non potuit. Nam.cum ei hora prandii obtu-
lissent cibos quibus vescebantur, carnes videlicet panemque admodum
asperum, et dicerent: Comede, respondit: Ego enim.se esuriero,
Domini est me pascere. Ex his tamen non comedam, quia non mihi olim
in usu fuerunt. Cernens vero unus illorum.viri Dei reverentiam,
pietate ductus, exuens brachia, simulque abluens et clipeum, super
quem.etiam in conspectu venerabilis Maioli satis mundissime panem
confecit. Quem etiam citissime decoquens, ei reverentissime detulit.
Ipse quoque suscipiens illum, atque ex more oratione praemissa ex
eodem reficiens, Deo gratias egit. Alius quoque Sarracenorum eorundem
cultro deplanans ligniastulam, posuit incunctanter pedem super viri
Dei codicem, bibliothecam.videlicet,'quam.ex more secum.semper ferre
consueverat. Dumque vir sanctus intuens ingemuisset, aliqui minus
feroces ex ipsis perspicientes, suum increpuerunt comparem, dicentes
non debere magnos prophetae sic pro nihilo duci, ut illorum dicta
pedi substerneret. Siquidem Sarraceni Hebreorum, quin potius chris-
tianorum.prophetas legunt; dicentes etiam.completum.iam esse in
quodam.suorum, quem illi Mahomed nuncupant, quicquid de universorum
domino Christo sacri vates praedixerunt. Sed ad errorem illorum
comprobandum etiam ipsorum.genealogiam.penes se habent, ad similitu-
dinem.videlicet euangelii Mathei, qui scilicet ab Abraham narrat
genalogiae catalogum usque ad Ihesum, per Isaac successionem.descen-'
dens. In cuius videlicet semine universorum promissa atque praedicta
est benedictio. Illorum, inquiens, Hismahel genuit Nabaiot, ac
deinceps usque inIEFFEESum.illorum ddscendens figmentum, quod scilicet
tantum.est a veritate alienum, quantum.a sacra et catholica auctoritate
extraneum. Praeterea, ut beati Maioli sanctitas claresceret, is qui
eius volumen pede calcaverat, eodem.die pro quavis occasions, revera
iudicio Dei, ceteri furiose irruentes in eum, eundem ei truncaverunt
pedem. Plures vero iam ex ipsis erga cum.ceperunt mitiores ac reverent-
iores existere. Tandem vero quidem.de fratribus illuc expeditius
remeantes, data eisdem Sarracenis praesignata pecunia, patrem cum
viris tantum.qui cum eo capti fuerant in patriam.reduxerunt." Rodulfi
Glabri Historiarum.Libris V, MGH, 88., VII, 5h. See also Robert Latouch»
Le Film.de l'Histoire meEiEWale enTIrance (8h3-1328), (Paris, 1959), p.EF.

J

 

 

 

 

121

Christian religion and by certain and most evident reasons he
attempted to show that he whom they worshiped was God, not to

free himself from.punishment nor to be of service to them in any
other way. Upon hearing that, the boasting of the barbarians was
inflamed with furious madness, and chaining the feet of the saints
they shut them in a horrid prison cave with.sharp rocks. And then
those whom.the man of God had persuaded to the Christian cult by
discussion, after joining themselves to the professing of Chris-
tianity from the barbarian rite, attested that by the swearing

of an oath, and while the soldiers among them were resting at
night the man of God began to praisg the king of kings, and many
voices were heard singing with him.

Doubtless the reader was expected to contrast such missionary effort
with the treatment accorded the saint. Syrus' hostile attitude is
also present in.his narration of the capture.

. . . Suddenly an army of the perfidious Saracens attacked them.
Immediately they were confused by the attack and milling about
in vain and giving up all hOpe of improvement they sought to flee.
But all in vain; the mad whirlwind of the impious ones pursued
them speedily and enchained all whom they caught. And one of

‘ that impious horde threw a javelin from a high rock at the man
of God's servant, so that the latter was killed. The man of
God in trying to block the jgvelin received a wound, which he
did not realize until later.

 

"Protinus ergo beatus Maiolus, belligerator Optimus, scutum
fidei arripiens, cuspide verbi Dei perfodiebat inimicos Christi,
christianae religionis cultum.approbans, ct sum quem.meum colebant
nec se a supplicio liberare nec 11103 in aliquo posse adiuvare,
certis et evidentissimis aggressus est rationibus demonstrare. Quo
audito, barbaronum iactantia furore inflammata vesano, sanctos pedes
compede constringentes ferreo, absciso rupis sub antro horrendo
claudunt ergastulo. . . . Eorum namque, quos ad Christi cultum viri
Dei persuasit disputatio, postquam christianae professioni a ritu se
contulerunt barbarico, sicut iureiurando protestabatur assertio, dum
quiescerent immites nocturno tempore mdlites, et vir Dei debitas Regi
regum redderet laudes, multorum secum.canentium.saepius audiebant
V0098." III-GE, fie, IV, 6530

9". . . subito eos invasit perfidae gentis Sarracenorum exercitus.
Subita itaque incursions turbati, et conantes plurhna frustra, omnique
spe meliori deposita, fugae consulunt. Sed nequicquam. Vésana enim
impiorum turba calle citato hos persequens, omnes quos comprehendere
potuit in vinculis coniecit. Cumque unus ex 111a impiorum.turba ab alta
rupe unum.ex viri Eei famulis telo appeteret: ut famulus eriperetur,
vir Dei venienti iaculo caritativam.manum.opposuit; in qua, quamdiu
postea vixit, inflicti vulneris cicatrix apparuit." Ibid., 652.

\.

\ .

/I

i

\
‘1
‘,
1
l

122

Poupardin rejects yet another life of Maiolus, the one by Romulus, on

the grounds that it confuses events of the eighth century with those

:of the tenth and must therefore be much later, probably of the late

ieleventh or early twelfth century. That very lack of clarity shows

that events involving Muslims were not carefully remembered. //

The written records of the tenth and eleventh centuries show an

‘1“increasing hostility to the muslims. Some of the brief annals note

Muhammad's descent from.Ishmael, and one calls him."Muhammad, whom
the Saracens adore."ll "The perfidious Saracen.people“ are distin-
guished from Jews by Aimon.12 Ekkehard remarks that Justinian the\/
younger, "polluted by heresy persecuted catholics, and made peace with
the Saracens."13 A cartulary for the Monastery of St. Victor in 1005
saw the Muslims as God's scourge:

. . . as omnipotent God chooses to lash the Christian peOple

through calling apart the pagans, barbarian people invaded the

kingdom of Provence and spread out round about, gained strength

violently, wasted the most strongly fortified places and the 1b
remaining inhabitants, and destroyed churches and monasteries.

 

10
Poupardin, Provence, pp. 2h6-h7.

11
". . . quem.Sarraceni adorant." Annalee Admuntenses, Auctarium
Garstense, Annalee Sancti Rudberti Salisburgenses, NGH, 88., If, 57I,

563. 767-

12
"Sarraceni, gens perfida. . .," Aimoni Menachi Floriacensis,

'22_Gestis Francorum, RHF, III, 129.

l
5". . . heresi pollutus catholicos persequitur, et cum Sarracenis
pacem.fecit." Ekkehardi Chronicon Wirziburgense, NGH, §§,, VI, 25.

1a,.

 

 

 

 

. . . et omnipotens Deus flagellare vellet populum christianum
per seviciam.paganorum, gens barbarica in regno Provincie irruens,
circumquaque diffusa, vehementer invaluit, ac munitissima queque loca
Optinens et inhabitans cuncta vastavit, ecclesias ac monasteria plurima
destruxit. . e ." Cartulaire de Saint-Victor de Harseille (Collection
des Documents Inedits sur l'histbire de France?— Collection des Cartu-
laires, t. VIII) (Paris, 1857), I, 19.

 

 

123

»/ However Muslims were not the only opponents viewed with such

hostility. Pignot cites Odo of Cluny on the Norman burning of St.
Martin of Tours as saying:

. It was the sins of men that brought the lash of God ppon the
”' Holy Places; it was not that God had abandoned them.

 

And in the Life of St. Leo there was much harsher treatment of Normans:

He also said among other things: with that solicitude by which

I strive to watch over all churches, I have seen the undisciplined
and alien Norman peOple cruelly and with unheard of madness rise
up in pagan impiety against the church of God, make truces here
and there with Christians and afflict them with some new and more
horrible torments until the spirit is wearied, neither do they
show any respect or human feeling toward infants or the elderly
or fragile women, nor do they make any distinction between the
sacred and the profane, they spoil sacred basilicas and burn and
destroy all alike; very often I have confuted this perversity,

I have reminded, I have beseeched, I have preached, I have persistei
in season and out of seasoniél have announced the wrath of God

and the deliverance of man.

Otto III's ill-fated campaign in Calabria in 982 provoked much
comment. Mbst writers preferred to pass over the matter quickly, but
it was noted that Otto "for the defense of God's holy Church fought

against the Saracens in Apulia a battle to be remembered through all

 

15"Ce sont les pachés des hommes qui attirent les fléaux sur les
lieux saints; ce n'est point 1a vertu de Dieu qui les abandonne.‘
J.-Henri Pignot, Histoire de 1'0rdre de Cluny depuis 1a Fondation de
l'Abbaye us nth IEDMOrt dEfPierre-le:therable (909-ll575, (Paris—-
and Autun, l , I, 83.

16"A11: enim.inter alia: 'Illa sollicitudine, qua omnibus Ecclesiis
debeo invigilare, videns indisciplinatan.et alienam.gentem.Normannorum
crudeli et inaudita rabie et plusquam.pagana impietate adversus Eccle-
siam Dei insurgere, passim Christianos trucidare, et nonnullos novis
horribilibusque tormentis usque ad defectionem.animae affligere, nec
infanti aut seni seu femineae fragilitati aliquo humanitatis respectu
parcere, nec inter sanctum.et profanum.aliquam distantiam.habere,
sanctorum.basilicas spoliare, incendere et ad solum usque diruere,
saepissime perversitatem.ejus redargui; commonui, obsecravi, praedicavi;
opportune importuneque institi; terrorem divinae et vindictae denuntiavLJ"
Vita s. Leonis auctore Wiberto, 31;, BXLIII. L199.

 

 

 

12h

ages. . . ."17 Although that was probably what Otto wanted people to
believe, the St. Gall annalist was probably nearer the truth when he

said Otto went to Italy because he was ”not content with his father's
boundaries." A later view says: I

The aforementioned emperor Otto made war in Calabria between.him-
self and the Saracens, in which an innumerable multitude of Chris-
tians met death. . . . There was revealed to the blessed Odelric
a divine vision. It was granted to him.to see the just judgment of
God in the form.of Jesus Christ on his sublime throne overlooking
the whole heavenly order. An examination of the scales of justice
was prepared, and the question aired how victory should fall to a
people believing on Christ. The sins and iniquities of the Chris-
tians grow so great that they shall be judged by subjecting them
to the Saracen sword. Upon seeing the vision the holy priest told
it to the army. Therefore they devoted themselves unceasingly to
prayers and fasting, placing their hope of salvation in a pure
confession. Meanwhile a multitude of the people, famished by want
and hunger, left the army and entered into conflict with the Sara-
cens, preferring to die by the sword rather than by hunger. Di-
vine piety, regarding the salvation of souls, allowed those to be
removed from.the present age whom he foreordained to be given the'
glory of eternal rest. This dolorous event disquieted the people,
unknown to the royal forces. Again the holy Odelric was seized
by a vision and broke through to distinguish for the first time
our Redeemer and Judge upon his throne, with his glorious moflher
Mary and all the heavenly host falling down before him.begging
that he not allow himself to bear the offenses by the triumph of
the punishing Gentiles.18

 

1

7"pro defensione sanctae Dei Ecclesias contra Sarracenos in
Apuha praelium.totius saeculis memorandum.commisit. . . ." De
Fundations _s_. Arnulphi Metensis, g3, cxxxVIII, 193. ""

 

18"Prefato Ottone imperante, famosum.bellum factum est in Calabria

inter ipsum.et Sarracenos, in quo innumerabilis multitudo christianorum
obeundo visit. . . . Revelata est beato siquidem.de Baioaria Odelrico
presuli talis divinitus visio. Vicebatur sibi videre iustum.Dsum
iudicem in scemate Iesu Christi sublimi solio residere omnemque coeli
ordinem.circumstare.' Eraminatio staterae parata est, quasstio ventilate,
cui cederet victoria, ethnico an Christi professo. Iniquitas st peccat-
um.christianorum.excreverat eo usque, quod iudicarentur subici gladio
Sarracenorum. Sanctus evigilans sacerdos visionem.manifestat toto
exercitui. Orationibus igitur st ieiuniis si mul instant, spem suae
salutis in pura confessions ponentes. Interea multitudo vulgi fame

et inopia profligati, subtrahentes exercitui sese, cum Sarracenis

125

Since that view probably dates from the early twelfth century, it is
more indicative of crusade attitudes. There are, however, earlier
reports of divine interventions in battles.

Then he began to tremble and be terrified and to despair for his
own salvation since he supposed the Saracens to be upon him. But
God's favoring mercy directed against the enemy's home base two
precincts of senior angels, declaring to the face of that clement
one: "Do you not know that Constantine and Severinus are the
custodians of this island and through our battle are uprooting
the Saracen force? Now fear no more, for they shall not come
here." And he would direct his thoughts daily that he might hear
such a delectable sound again, but hearing a tumult of men he
thought it to be the Saracen army, but it was a group proceeding
from the church of the blessed Constantine and saying among them.
selves: "You Saracens get away from here." And no one doubts
that through the protection of St. Constantine the isle of Capri
is freed from various pestilences.

Rulers mention Muslims only infrequently in their correspondence,

and usually only in a matter-of-fact way. However when Otto III wrote

to Archbishop walapert of Mailand he noted that ”the bishopric of Albi

 

disponunt confligere, malentss gladio quam.fame perire. Pietas itaque
divina semper consulsns animarum saluti, permisit eos inpresentiarum
interimi, quibus previdit dari gloriam aeternae requiei. Has lacrila-
bili caede peracta vulgi, milicia ignorante rsgali, denuo beatus
presul Odelricus invvisum.rapitur, st rursum sicut primitus cernit in
throne Redemptorem.nostrum.et iudicem, cui gloriosa eius genitrix
Maria cum.cmni coslestium ordine supplicabat, ne confitentium.sibi
offensas pateretur plecti triumpho gentili." Gesta Episcopgrum
Mettensium, MGR, EB" x.~5112.

 

 

19"Tune tremebunda et territa coepit de propria salute desperare,
so quod Sarracenos sibi imminers estimaret. Sed Dei favsnte clementia
duos precinctos ssniores angelicos ad hostium.domus intendit, illi
clementivultu talia proferentes: 'Scias non esse Constantium st Sev-
erinum huius insulae custodes st per nostrum csrtamen hinc funditus
eiectum Sarracenorum.agmen. Et ne iam amplius timeas, quia huc vsnire
non possunt.'. . . Cumqus diutius intenderet, ut tam.delsctabilem
sonum audirst, st estimaret Sarracenorum.esse exercitum, audivit
tumultum hominum.ab ecclesia sancti Constantii procedentium st inter
se simul dicentium: 'Abierunt hinc Sarraceni.‘ Unde nemo dubitet,
quia per sancti Constantii protectionem sepe Caprea insula a variis
pestilentiis liberata est." Sermo de Transito Sancti Constantii, NEH,
g” m, 1021. '—

 

126

was depopulated, sadly enough, by Saracens, which was the deserved
punishment of the sins of the Christians."20 And in Adalbero's poem
of praise to Robert, King of France, we read that

The Saracen people , too often invading the Frankish kingdom
‘with hand andsword, were disciplined;2he occupied and gnawed
at whoever nourished himself on Gaul.

Eleganthncsntury notices show a still more strident tone. Ditmar
of berssburg, Speaking of the Muslim attack on Luni, said “. . . so
they vigorously attacked the very presumptuous enemies of Christ, and
killed them by God's help.‘22 Ademar sought to blame both Jews and
muslinm for the destruction of the Holy Sepulcher in 1009.

The Western Jews sent letters to the East accusing the Christians
of ordering a Western army to be sent against the Eastern Saracens.
Then Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom they call Alehu'min, quickly
stirring the Saracens into anger, brought a great affliction upon
the Christians, making a law that any Christians under his power
who were unwilling to become Muslims either should have their
goods confiscated or be killed. Thus it was done, so that in-
numerable Christians lost their means for no reason, but no one

, was deemed worthy of dying for Christ except the patriarch of

’ Jerusalem.who was killed by various punishments and two Gegman

(youths in Egypt were beheaded, and became illustrious by many
miraEIes. Now the church of the saints was subverted, and by
reason of our sins the basilica of the Holy Sepulcher was razed.
The monument stone which could not be broken into small pieces

{ they threw into a huge fire but as if it were adamant it remained

§ immobile and solid. The Bethlehem.church where Christ was born,

' which they trusted to destroy, appeared to them.in such a brilliant

'1

 

20
."o o o Albiensis ibidsm.spiscopatus mencio facta est, qui pro

dolor hristianorum peccatis promerentibus a Saracenis adeo est
depopulatus. . . ." MGH, DD., II, 2, 879.

21"Sara nimis gens cenorum.de more petulca
Regnum.Franconum.manibus ferroque subactum
Occupat, st rodit quidquid sibi Gallia nutrit."
Adalberonis Carmen Ed Rotbertum.Regem.Francorum, RHF, X, 67.
22". . . ut inimicos Christi, talia praesumentes, viriliter secum
irrumperent, st adjuvants Domino occiderent." Chronicon Ditmari
Episcopi Nersburgensis, REE, X, 13h. '——_-_‘-

 

127

light that the whole multitude fell dead and the church remained
~ intact. Also 10,000 armed Saracens went to destroy the monastery
1 of NE. Sinai, but from afar off they saw the whole mountain burn-
' ing and aflame up to the cells of iron, and here all together
gathered and remained. When they reported what had happened to
the kingwpngabylon, he himself, led to penitence for the pains
whichfthe Saracen people who had gone forth against the Christians
had suffered, and giving a command, he ordered the rebuilding of
the glorious basilica of the sepulcher. Still the rebuilt basil-
iica was not so ample as the earlier one, nor so beautiful nor so
rlargs as that which Helsn, the mother of the royal Constantine,
,built. Soon afterward all the land of the Saracens burned with
g famine for three years, and many died of hunger so that the streets
and deserts were filled with cadavers, and men had to eat wild
beasts and birds. The wasted land was attacked by the sword, for
the Arab people spread out upon the Lands, and those who remained
' from hunger died by the sword. The King of Babylon.was captured,
\L who had raised himself up against God, and his vitals were drawn
out of his living body and he was killed. His bally was filled
with stenes and sewn together, and ghs corpse, with lead tied to
its neck, was thrown into the sea.2

 

23"Nam.Iudei occidentales epistolas miserunt in Orientem, accusantas
christianos, mandantes exercitus Occidentalium.super Sarracenos orientakm
coxumotos esse. Tune Nabuchodonosor Babiloriae, quem.vocant Admiratum,
concitatus suasu Sarracenorum in iram, magnam afflictionem super chris-
tianos exercuit, data legs, ut quicumque christiani de sua potestate
nollent fieri Sarraceni, aut confiscarentur aut interficerentur. Undo
factum est, ut innumerabiles christianorum facultates suas pro nichilo
ducerent;sed morte nemo dignus pro Christo fuit nisi patriarcha Hiero-
solimorum, qui variis suppliciis occisus est, st duo adolescentss
germani in Egypto, qui decollati sunt, st multis clarescunt miraculis.
Nam ecclesias sanctorum.subversae sunt, et peccatis nostris promerent-
ibus, basilica sepulchri Domini usque ad solum diruta. Lapidem.monu-
menti cum nullatenus possent comminuere, ignem.copiosum.superadiciunt,
sed quase adamans immobilis mansit et solidus. Bethleemiticam.ecclesias;
ubi Christus natus est, cum niterentur destruere, apparuit eis lux
fulgurans subito, et omnis eorum multitudo corruens exspiravit, st
ecclesia intacta remansit. Ad monasterium.quoque montis Sinai decem
milia Sarracenorum armatorum.venisntes destruendum, longs quatuor
milibus conSpiciunt totum montsm ardere et flammas usque in cellum
ferri, et cuncta ibi posita cum hominibus manere illesa. Quod cum
renunciassent regi Babilonio, penitencia ductus tamipse quam.populus
Sarracenus valde doluerunt de his, quae contra christianos egissent, at
data praeceptione, iussit reaedificari basilicam sepulchri gloriosi.
Tamen redincepta basilica, non fuit amplius similis priori nec pulch-
ritudine nec magnitudine, quem Helena mater Constantini regali sumptu
perfecerat. Mex e vestigio super omnem terram.Sarracenorum.fames

128

Undoubtedly that outcome was, in Ademar's view, merely the just
judgment of God upon those who tampered with the Holy Places. Else-

where Ademar construes battles as being between Saracens and Christians;

wr"-

obviously he considered the two religious foes.
thrianus Scottus also recounted a tale of NUslim cruelty.

Some Arabs, having gathered together to obtain money, fell upon

many westerners who, unable to resist them;1fled‘into an empty

castle, called by us Carvasala, which they defended with rocks
1 and clubs against the javelins of the Arabs, who sought both
their money and their life. Then one good soldier, whom nothing
could_prohibit from going to the Lord's sepulcher, went out stark
'naked. The Arabs, capturing him, stretched him.out like one on a
cross, and transfixing his hands and feet into the earth, cut the
skin on his stomach into two parts, withdrawing the viscera—all
the way to the throat, and throwing it upon his body examined it.
Then, dividing him limb from.limb, their leader threw the first
stone upon him.and others followed suit. Then to all of us look-
ing on from the castle they said: So we shall do to you if you
refuse to give all your money to us. When.morsovsr they promised
to give us all their money unless they conquered the Christians,
they sent an Arab duke with sixteen swordsmen. When he saw the
glorious bishOps with many soldiers and the dorsalia, the hanging
pallia, and the other vestments, he put a cord around the neck of
the bishop of Banberg (for such is the pagan custom of leading
things), whose body was almost as great and beautiful as that of
our lord, and said: you and yours are now all mine. To which
the bishOp replied through an interpreter: What can.you do to me?
And he said; I shall suck that fine blood from.your throat, and I
shall hang you like a dog before the castle. Then the bishop,
holding his head, struck the leader to the ground with a single
blow, and all the others were quickly tied. Upon hearing that,
those who were outside broke in upon the castle. But these tied
ones upon the walls were subjected by their own swords against
their javelins, they called sons and friends those who prohibited

‘7k

 

incanduit per tres annos, et innumerabilis eorum.mu1titudo fame mortua
est, ita ut plateae st deserts cadaveribus replerentur, st fierent
homines cibum st sepulture feris st avibus. Secuta est eos gladii
vastitas. Nam gentes Arabiae super Terram.eorum.diffusae sunt, et qui
remanserant fame, gladiis interierunt. Crptus est ab sis rex Babilonius,
qui ss contra Deum.erexerat in superbiam, st vivus, ventrs secto, vis-
ceribus extractis, mortuus est. Venter eius lapidibus oppletus, con-
sutus est, st cadaver, ligato plumbo ad collum, in mars demersum est."
Ademari Historiarum, MGH, §§:, IV, 137.

 

129

others. Then there was war among the robbers, with many of them
taking money, many fathers and their friends. Two days after
Easter, the duke of Ramula, seeking those Arabs who had fled from
him, came with many hands, and accepting five hundred gold bezants
and the captive duke of the Arabs, the longtime enemy of the 2h
Saracen king, he led the Christians to Jerusalem and to the ship.

It is clear from these last accounts that there was now, in the
mid-eleventh century and thereafter, an increasing hatred of the

Muslims as religious and not merely political Opponents.

 

"Arabitae vero fama pecuniae congregati, multos que predictorum
in parasceus occidentes, cum non sustinusrunt, in quoddam castellum
vacuum Carvasalim nomina nostri ngsrunt; quod claudsntes, lapidibus
st fustibus deffenderunt ss contra iacula Arabitarum querentium cuntam
peccuniam.eorum vel vitam pariter et peccuniam. Tune unus bonus miles
nullo modo prohibitus a sepulchro Domini, nudus foris exivit. Arabitae
vero sum statim.extendentes in modum.crucis sepinum, manibus ipsi st
pedibus transfixis in terram.c1avibus supertectum ventris intra duo
latere, st cooperta viscerum.ab imo ventris usque gutur super faciem
eius proiecientes, scrutaverunt, qualiter humana viscera habentur;
deinde cum.membratim dividentss, dux ipsorum primum.lapidem super sum
st unusquisque post illum proiecit. Tunc nostris omnibus de castello
intuentibus, dixerunt: VoS ita eritis, si totam.psccuniam nobis non
traderitis. Cum.autem nostri promissrunt dare totam suam.peccuniam
nisi victum.u8que ad christianos, ducem Arabitarum cum viris l6 totidem-
que gladiis intromiserunt. Qui cum vidisset episcopos gloriosos cum
multis militibus, st dorsalia, pallia pendentia et cetera, sicut con-
suetudinis est paganorum reos tenere, extendit corrigiam circa collum
Bambergsnsis episcopi, quasi domini nostrorum magnitudine et pulchri-
tudine corporis eius, st ait: Tu et ista tua omnia mea erunt. Epis-
copus vero per interpretem.ait: Quid mihi facies? Et ille dixit:
Istum.pulchrum sanguinsm gutturis tui sugam,et suspendam te sicut unum
canem ante castellum. Tunc episcopus, prehenso capite eius, uno
colapho percutisns ducem in tsrram; omnes alii ligati sunt. Qui vero
faras erant audientes ista, irruerunt supra castellum. Sed isti
ligati supra murum sub gladiis suis contra iacula suorum suppositi,
rogaverunt filios et amicos suos, qui ceteros prohibuerunt. Inds
bellum inter latrones actum.est, cum multi eorum.e1egsrunt peccuniam,
multi patres st amicos suos. Feria.vero 2. post pascha rOgantes sum
elii qui evaserunt, venit dux de Ramula cum.multa manu, st fugans
Arabitas, accepti quingentos bisantios aureos (Id est denarios magnos),
captivumque ducem.Arabitarum, inimicum multo tempore regis Sarracenorum;
st duxit christianos Hierusalem, st inde ad navem.’l mariani Scotti
Chronicon, MGH,'§§., V, 559.

 

I

130

Saints' lives offer little that is significant. The Vita S.

 

Theofredi calls the Muslims "barbarous and most ferocious Ismaelites."

The eleventh century Vita S. Willelmi states that:

. . . he fought battles with the overseas barbarians and Agarenes
in the neighborhood, and thus by his sword with divine aid he
saved the people of God. . . .2

And in a martyrology from St. call we find evidence of missionary

activity and knowledge of the Spanish martyrs' movement.

VII Id. Febr.

And afterward he, at the request of mauvia queen of the Saracens,
was made bishop of that people; he cared for the catholic faith
keeping it unspotted, and he converted the greater part of the
people to whom he was sent as bishop to the Christian faith, and
thus died virtuous in perfect peace.

V K3]. 0 Jul 0
That day in Spain in the city of Cordoba marks the birth of
Zoellus and nineteen other saints.

Thus by the eve of the crusades, it is clear that attitudes in

3the heartland were becoming more hostile, although not more knowl-

jedgeable, regarding the Muslims. And that increased hostility has a
decidedly religious tinge—-the stories emphasize the atrocious Muslim

treatment of holy places or holy men. Already we see some examples

 

25". . . barbaram.gentem Ismaelitarum et ferocissima Ismaelitarum.

RH?, III, 652.

26,,

. . . cum.barbaris transmarinis et Agarenis vicinis commiserit

praelia; quomodo in gladio suo cum auxilio divino populum Dei salvavit
. . . .' REF, v, h71.

27"Quique postea, petente Mauvia Saracenorum regina, episcopus

illius gentis factus, fidei catholicae custodivit intemerata consortia,
et gentem.cui datus fuerat episcopus ex grandi parte ad fidem Christi
convertit: sicque in pace perfectus in virtutibus quievit.“

"Eodem.die in Hispania, Corduba civitate, nativitas sanctorum

Zoelli et aliorum.novemdecim." B. Notkeri Balbuli s. Galli Menachi
kartyrologium, PL, cxxxx, 10th, 1110.

 

{—

131

of that anti-Muslim.pr0paganda that was to become so much more
extensive during the crusades.

Furthermore we see the idea that Euslim.victories were God's way
of punishing Christian sins spreading throughout the heartland after
900. But we also sense that pseudg:§§thodius' argument has permeated
the heartLand, and that the time for that reversal of Muslimfortunes
by the king of the Romans is rapidly appraoching. Both greater reli-
gious hostility toward Muslims and a sense that the "fullness of time"
had come were important elements in Urban 11's appeal of 1095.

The steady increase in anti-Muslim.sentiment that our evidence
shows must be weighed against a much larger amount of material which
conveys no overt hostility but is strictly reportorial narrative
which portrays the Mhslins solely as political enemies. But we note

that the increase roughly parallels the increasing influence of the

Cluniac reform, and we'know that the crusades were spearheaded by

\N‘w

Cluniac-influenced pOpes. Let us see if there was a connection.

F.

K

CHAPTER VII

THE PAPACY

The disintegration of the homan Empire and the subsequent collapse
of imperialtfinnnistration in the west thrust the papacy into a command-
ing position in the temporal as well as the spiritual sphere. Gregory
I, the Great (590-60u), raised the papacy to new heights of prestige
through his writings, his Sponsoring of missionary activity, and his
able administration. Upon those foundations papal authority was
established. Since the papacy even at this early date sought to be
an international institution, and since the popes spoke for the church
in many matters, it is necessary to investigate papal attitudes
regarding the Muslims. Other useful evidence regarding the official
attitudes of the church, such as the records of church councils,
will also be examined.

J Fbr the seventh century there are few notices. Martin I

(6h9-53) led an expedition against the Wuslims in Sipily. [He
sought to minimize his contacts with Muslims and nmxindse his
charity toward Christians under Muslim rule; apparently extensive
contact with the MusliWS‘was considered undesirable.

I neither sent letters to the Saracens nor said what book they
ought to believe, or sent any money except exactly that per-

taining to the servants of God for alms, and we offereg little
v/ to the Saracens in that moderate sending to those men.

 

lMansi, X, 788; Anastasius Bibliothecarius, Historia‘dg Vitis
Romanorum.Pontificum (hereafter cited as HVRP), El? CXXVIII, 741-42.

 

2"Ego aliquando ad Saracenos nec literas misi, nec quem dicunt
tomum qualiter credere debeant, aut pecunias unquam transmisi,
exceptis dumtaxat quibusdam illuc venientibts servis Iei causa
eleemosynae, quibus & modicum quid praebuimus minime ad Saracenos
transmissum." mansi, X, 8&2.

132

133

The Lateran Council of 6h9 proclaimed that it was "on account of the
a” rising up of our sins that we were entangled in the Saracen incursion."

And the Third Constantin0politan Council in 68l also took that position,

.-

saying that the Christians were

. . . greatly pressed down by the arrogance of the Saracens who,
on account of our sins, unexpectedly broke in and cruelly and
by a fierce spirit werebdestroying everything by their tmpious
and nefarious audacity.

During the pontificate of John V (685-86) Anastasius notes that fine
\//Emperor Justinian "by the help of God made peace with the unspeak-

5

able Saracens for ten years on land and sea." In discussing Gregory

II (7l5-31) he again terms them unspeakable and impious people, and

notes that the Emperor Anastasius "directed with God a fleet of

ships prepared in.the territories of Alexandria against the destruc-
‘» tive Agarenes." The popes themselves, however, said nothing

about the Muslims for nearly a century.

During the Carolingian period, notices became more frequent.

Boniface, the great missionary to the Germans, was concerned about

'—-—-a-

 

3

". . . emersam.ex nostris peccatis incursionem.Sarracenorum
praspedior." Mansi, X, 895.

. . . maxime autem Saracenorum.supercilium.deprimat, qui
prepter peccata nostra inopinato in nos insurrexerunt, crudelique
& agresti spiritu omnia depredantur, impiaque ac nefaria audacia."
Mansi, XI, 852.

"Domino auxiliante pacem.constituit cum.nec dicenda gents
Saracenorum.decennio terra marique." HVRP, PL, CXXVIII, 875-78.
Other chroniclers of the period repeat that Bbservation, but
without the epithet "unspeakable.“

6". . . classem navium.praeparatam in partibus Alsxandriae
direxit contra a Deo destructos Agarenos. . . .“ HVRP, El? CXXVIII,

975-80.

13b

the "rebellions and temptations and threats of the Saracens."7
And he utilized the Muslim conquest of Spain in his efforts to
convince King Ethelbald of Mercia of the need to embrace Christianity.

Thus he touched by other nations the peoples of Spain and
Provence and Burgundy, who thus departing from God were
fornicators, and so the omnipotent judge permitted the
doing of such great crimes and avenging punishments through
j?’ the ignorance of the law of God and through the Saracens.

But here, too, he conveyed the idea that the conquest was accom-

plished because of the sins of Christians.

L/’ Pope Zacharias (7&1-52) sought to prohibit the slave trade

between Venice and the Muslims, arguing that Christians should
not serve pagans and even ransoming some of the captives.

At this tire many Venetian negotiators had come into the city
\of Rome selling goods for nine days, and were seen to buy a
{multitude of slaves, men and women too, who were then sold to
the pagan people in Africa. Knowing that, the most holy
father prohibited them from doing it, judging it unjust that
Christians washed by baptism should serve pagan peoples.

 

7". . . rebelliones et temptationes et minae Sarracenorum. . . .n

MGH, 32,, III, 278.

8"Sicut aliis gentibus Hispaniae st Provinciae et Burgundonium
populis contigit; quae sic a Deo recedentes fornicatae sunt, donec
iudex omnipotens talium criminum ultricss poenae per ignorantiam
legis [bi st per Sarracenos vsnire st saevire permisit." MGH, Ep.,
III, 3h}. That letter passed by Benedictus Levita into the—Pastas-
Isidorean Decretals and became embodied in Gratian's Decretum; thus
the idea of Muslir conquest being just punishment for Christian
sins became further embedded in the west. Fred E. Engreen, "POpe
John the Eighth and the Arabs," Speculum, XX (19h5), 520.

"Porro eodem.tempore contigit plures Veneticorum hanc Romanam
advenisse in urbem.negotiatores, et mercimonii nundinas propagantes,
multitudinem.mancipiorum, virilis scilicet et femini generis emere
visi sunt, quos et in African ad paganam gentem mitsbantur deducers.
Quo cognito isdem sanctissimus Pater fieri prohibuit, hoc judioam
quod justum.non esset ut Christi abluti baptismo paganis gentibus
deservirent." HVRP, P_L, cxxvnx, 1057-58.

135

Those prohibitions had little effect, for Adrian I (772-95)
found it necessary to protest vehemently against charges that he
was abetting slave trade with the Muslims.10 Adrian also comforted
Charlemagne in the face of a Muslim attack.

. . . contrary to God himself the Agarene people desired to

enter your territories to fight with you. we indeed, dearest

son and great king, ask our lord God for mercy incessantly

for you with all our priests and religious monks and every

cleric of our whole people so that he may subject this un—
speakable Agarene people to you and 11y them.under your feet

and prevent them from prevailing against you, because as flhe
people of Pharaoh were drowned in the Red Sea because they WOUld
"ncrt believe God so in this our Lord God through the inter- 11
session of the blessed apostle Peter gives them into your hand.

And he sought to prevent Muslim erosion of Christianity in Spain
after Egila, the papal legate for that kind, found

. . . that many so-called Catholics are carrying on a common
life with Jews and unbaptixed pagans, both in foods and drink
and in diverse errors nothing polluted diSquiets them, and that
which is prohibited, that no one Should be sold into a yoke with
unbelievers, they do with.their daughters and bless them, thus
the population becomes Gentile and priests are ordained without
‘examination.

 

1°33, XCVIII, 318; Egg, 31., III, 585.

11"Destinavit nobis per vestros apicss a Deo constituta regalis
potentia, quia, Deo sibi oontrario, Agarenorum.gens cupiunt ad debell—
andum.vestris introire finibus. . . . Nos vero, dulcissime fili st
magns rex, incessanter pro vobis cum omnibus nostris sacerdotibus
atque religiosis monachis et cunctum clerum vel universum.populum
nostrum domini Deo nostri deprecamus clementiam, ut ipsam necdicendam
Agarenorum.gentem.VObis subiciat et vestri sam.substernat pedibus st
minime prevalere adversus vos valeant; quia, sicut populus Pharonis
demersus est in Mari Rubro, so quod non crediderint Deo, ita et in
hac vice dominus Deus noster per intercessiones beati Pstri apostoli
in vestris eos tradat nmnibus." ‘EEE, 22., III, 588; BE, XCVIII, 308.

12”. . . quod multi dicentes Catholicos se, communem.vitam
gerentes cum Judaeis & non baptizatis paganis, tam in escis quamque
in potu, seu & diversis erroribus nihil pollui se inquiunt: & illud,
quod inhibitum.est, ut nulli liceat jugum.ducere cum infidelibus,
ipsi enim filias suas cum alio benedicant, & sic pOpulo Gentili
tradentur, & quod sine examinations praefati Presbyteri ut praesint
ordinantur." EE! V, 535.

136

Leo III (795-816) took an even.more forceful stand. A capitulary.
given at Worms in 803 stressed that the Muslim attacks were God's
punishment for the sins of Christians.

And as the Lord permitted such harsh punishments to come and to
remain upon the perpetrators of such crires through thelgaracens
and other peoples, their deeds are cleared by all kiws.

Leo's letter to Charles regarding the Muslim attack on Lampedusa
bristles with epithets and emphasizes the role of divine aid.

By God who gives wisdom it is not unknown to you that the abomi-
nable Agarene people counseled together to come to the territory
of Sicily during the present year. Now, however, so we hear,
they have joined together to go into the Greek islands. On
account of that, indeed, the Emperor Michael sent a patricius
and a spatharios with a stole so that they should fight with the
help of Christ against them. And when this patricius reached
Sicily he directed his missi through Benevento to Anthimus the
duke of Naples so that he and all his duchy might be willing and
eager to offer naval aid. But the duke disdained fine proffered
opportunity to go to the Greeks‘ aid, although Gaeta and Amalfi
did so. But later, so we hear, the abominable Meors invaded
with thirty ships the island of La edusa, which constitutes a
part of Sicily, and plundered it. nd when by the admonition of
the Greeks seven ships went searching so they could learn the
truth, the Moors, hated by God, captured and killed them; and
while the Greeks awaited those whom they had sent and they
failed to return, they went out in force and fell upon and by
God's pity killefi all those iniquitous Moors, so that none
survived. e e e

 

13"Et qualiter Dominus talium.criminum.patratoribus ultricss
poenas per Sarracenos & alios populos vsnire & servire permisit,
cunctis earum gesta legentibus liqust." Mansi, XVIIB, bl}.

1h" Vestrae siquidem a Deo datae sapientiae incognitum.non est
quod illa nefandissima Agarenorum gens partibus Siciliae anno prae-
sente vsnire consiliaverat. Nunc autem, sicut audivimus, in quibus
tam Graecorum insulis conjunxerunt. Pro quibus vero misit Michael
imperator patricium et spadarios cum stolo, ut contra eos Christo
adjuvante dimicare debuissent. Cumque ipse patricius in Sicilian
conjunxisset, direxit missos suos per Beneventum ad Anthimum Neapol-
itanum ducem, ut cum toto ipso Neapolitano ducatu qui illi Obedire
voluissent navale auxilium.ei praebere studuissent. Qui vero dux
occasiones proponens in adjutorio ejus ire contempsit. Cajetani

137

He also reported to Charles a pact made between.the Sicilians and
the Muslims, stressing the untrustworthiness of the latter.

} He said to the Saracen missi: why do you wish to make peace
5’ with us, when for eighty-five years you have had a pact with
‘ us which you have not observed? Yea, and Constantine the
patricius who preceded me made a pact with you for ten.years,
until the eighth indiction in.the future, but you did not keep
that pact firmly. New then why we should make a pact with you
is unclear to us. To these things those Saracen.missi responded
saying: Our caliph, who until now hasr'igned over us, is dead,
and his successor is a mere child, and he who was made a servant
is now free, and he who was free is made a lord, and all think
it of no importance to have a king, but lo, now, after all those
things which his father had subjected to him he wishes the firm
stability which this pact will provide. we cannot pledge the
_ Spanish with us because they are not under the power of our king,
§,[ but‘we wish to overcome them in due tire, so we would permit
“if? both you and us to fight against them.st sea, and if alone we
'\ are not so strong we will drive them.to the boundaries of
Christendoms-we on our side and you on yours.. After these things
they indeed came together and confirmed in writing among them-
selves a ten-year pact. . . .

 

tamen et Amalphitani aliquanta congregantes navigia in auxilio ejus
abierunt. Postmodum vero, ut audivimus, ingressi sunt ipsi nefandissimi
Mauri, tredecim scilicet navigia, in insulam quae dicitur Lampadusa,
partibus Siciliae constituta, st praedavere eam, Cumque de praedicto
Graecorum stolo septem.navigia itidem explorando perrexissent, ut sc.
veritatem cognoscere potuissent, comprehendentes eos Deo odibiles

Mauri, occiderunt illos ad explorandum, et minime eseent reversi,
abierunt generaliter super eos, et, Christo miserante, totos illos
iniquos Mauros occiderunt, ita ut nee unum ex eis vivum reliquerint. . .
El? XCVIII, 5h0-h2.

"Dicebat enim ad praedictos missos Saracenorum: Quale nobiscum
pactum.facere vultis, cum ecce jam anni sunt octuaginta quinque quod
paotum.nobiscum fecistis st firmum.non fuit? Imo st Constantinus
patricius, qui ante me praefuit, in decem annos vobiscum pactum fac-
iamus, nobis incognitum est. Ad haec respondebant ipsi Saracenorum
missi, dicentes: Pater istius Amiralmumin,‘qui nunc apud nos regnare
videtur, defunctus est, et iste relictus est parvulus, et qui fuit
servus factus est liber, et qui liber fuit effectus est dominus; et
nullum se regem habere putabant; sed eccs nunc postquam.omnia quae
pater suus habuit sibi subjecit, vult firma stabilitate hoc quod par-
amus pactum.servare: de Spanis vobiscum non spondemus, quia non sunt
sub ditione regni nostri: sed in quantum.va1emus eos superare, sicut
vos ita et nos contra illos in mare dimicare permittimus: st 81 8011
nos non valemus, nos a parts nostra et vos a vestra Christianorum fin-
ibus eos abjiciemus. Post haec vero convenit illis, et confirmavere
in scripto inter se pactum in annos decem. . . ." El? XCVIII, 5hh~h8.

158

His fears were well-founded; news of a Muslim attack followed almost
immediately. The distinction between African and Spanish Muslims is
clearly stated, however, as is the papal attitude toward both.

The Paris synod of 82h learned the relationship of iconoclasm
to Islam and the role of the caliph Yazid in that movement.

That tyrant of the Agarene people, whose name was Suhaiman,
by whose death 'Umar succeeded to the reign and to him succeeded
Yazid, a very weak and unstable man. At about this time there
was in Beria an evildoer and diviner named Serantapicus, a
preceptor of debrew iniquities and an enemy of the church ofLI od,
who so that he might discover the weaknews of Yazid became
Protosymbolus to him and began to divine and preach to him.
Having made himself acceptable, not long thereafter he began to
say; I wish to show forth goodness to you, so if you will heed
me you will gain thirty years of added life and continuance in
your rule, if you will heed my teachings. Indeed that weak
tyrant, obscured in mind and desiring long life said: whatever
you want me to do I am ready to complete, and if it comes to pass
that I receive that which is promised, I will reward you with
great honors. The diviner and evildoer then said to him: At
once command the writing of a general letter saying that all
images and pictures in all Christian churches be removed; either
J-on the walls or the holy vessels or the coverings of the altar,
and not only these things but those which adorn the city streets.
0n hearing that the perfidious tyrant instructed all prefectu‘es
in all places to abolish images of the church and other likenesses
in all places and so to undecorate the churches of God. From
this time therefore the corrupters of irages began to be found.
But that tyrant died in another year and images were restored
to their previous state with honor etc.l6

,/

 

16

"Tyrannus quidam.fuit Seleman nomine, Agarenus genere, quo
defuncto successit Huimarus in regno, cui iterum successit Ezidus vir
valde levis & insipiens. Hujus enim temporibus erat quidam.in Beriade
maleficus ac divinus Serantapicus nomine, praeceptor iniquorum Hebrae-
orum & inimicus Dei Ecclesiae, qui ut comperit levitantem.Ehidi Proto-
symboli accessit ad sum, coepitque illi quaedam divinare ac praedicere.
Illi autem.ex hoc acceptabilis factus, as non multo postea dicere coepim
Benignitati tuae exponere volo, unde me si audias, addatu‘ tibi longi-
tudo vitae & perseveres in hoc Principatu annos triginta, si quidem
impleveris sermones meos. Illo vero insipiens tyrannus obscuratus
ments desiderii longae vitae; Quicquid mihi, inquit, praeceperis,
paratus ad perficiendum existo. Et si consecutus fuero quod pollicitus
es, maximos tibi honoree retribuam. maleficus vero & divinus ait ad

139

Perhaps because of the manifest weakness of the Frankish rulers,

E the papacy increased its anti-Muslim writing in the last half of the

\.—---""‘ "

‘ ninth century . Anastasius reports how the pope was "intervening

“r a—wh-K

’..

with his holy prayers concerning those Saracens who still committed

" and termed them elsewhere "sons of Satan."

such nefarious crimes,
And again he mentions one who "accomplished so much and so great evil
by unlucky labor that no Saracen had ever imagined or chosen to turn

his hand to it."18 Moreover Anastasius' condensation of TheOphanes'

Chronographia and his translation of it into latin made that document

 

available for papal consultation. Since he differs in no essentials
from Theophanes' account, the reader is referred to the remarks on
Theophanes in chapter II. Leo IV (8h7-55) in a letter to the Frankish
army, promised that if one died in the defense of Christendom he would

1
gain salvation and the heavenly kingdom. 9 Nicholas I (858-67) advised

 

sum: Jube mox generalem scribere epistolam, quatsnus omnis imaginaria
pictura deleatur in omnibus Christianorum.ecclesiis; sive in parietibus
sive in vasis sacris & in vestibus altarium, & non solum haec, sed quae
in civitatum plateis sunt adornatae. Quod audiens perfidus ille
Tyrannus praecepit omni praefscturae incunctis locis Ecclesiarum imagines
& ceteras similitudines abolere & ita exornavit ecclesias Dei. Ab hinc
enim coeperunt corruptores imaginum.inveniri. Sed ipse Tyrannus anno
altero mortuus est, & imagines in pristinum statum restitutae cum
honors & c.” Mansi, XIV, L60. The story is basically accurate. See
also Rena'Aigrain (with Louis Bréhier), Grdgoire le Grand, les Stats
barbares gt lg'conquéte arabe 590-757, (Paris, I957),3hh6.

l

7". . . suiSque sanctis intervenientibus precibus de Saracenis
illis, qui tam nefarium scelus commiserunt. . . ." ". . . Satanae
£1111. . . ." HVRP, PL, CXXVIII, 1505-06, 1517-18.

18". . . tantaque ac talia infaustae operationis mala peregit
qualia nec Saracena in ea pefficere manus praesumpsit vel arbitrate
eSte" Ibid., 13147'148.

 

 

19133. CXV. 655-57.

\/

.he terms the Muslims "sons of Belial, enemies of Christ, and pagan men.

1h0

the Bulgars to burn books received from the 1\‘Zuslim,s.2O Adrian II
(867-72) asked visiting monks to pray for victory over the Muslims:
ffi_fi,wi

When he rose up from.sating he made his heart open to all 1
saying: I ask you and earnestly beseech you fathers, brothers,f
and children, that in your prayers to the Lord for flhe holy
catholic church you pray for our most Christian son Louis, the;
emperor and Augustus, that omnipotent God will make the2§aracen
nation subject to him.that we may have perpetual peace.

And in his letters of praise to Louis the German.and Charles the Bald

n
as further mentions that Louis Coonverting some from their superstition,
continually taught the ways of Christian faith and true religion."22

In another letter to Charles the Pald he speaks of "fighting the lord's
wars, overcoming the Saracen multitude."25 Clearly the hostility was
increasing against the Muslims within the papal ranks.

The comments of all the preceding pOpes become insignificant

“'alongside the impassioned utterances of John VIII (872-82). He was

\no— —-_ ‘r

militantly anti-Khslim (to the extent of commanding successful military

and naval expeditions against them) but was frustrated by the activities

 

20
MGR, 33., v1, 599.

21"Dum.surrexisset ab epulis in faciem suam.coram.omnibus pro-
cidit, dicens: Rogo vos et suppliciter obsecro, patres, fratres, et
filii, ut fundatis Domino pro sancta catholica Ecclesia sua preces,
oretis pro Christianissimo filio nostro Ludovico imperatore Augusto,
ut ei Deus omnipotens ad nostram.perpetuam pacem Sarracenorum faciat
subditam.nationem.” HVRP, £2? CXXVIII, 1383-8h.

22". . . filios Belial, Christi inimicos, paganorum vires. . o o"
". . . nonnullos etiam.ab eorum superstitione convertens, Christi
fidei et verae religionis itinera sectari perdocuit.” PL, CXXII,

1265-65, 1291.

23
. . . bella Domini praeliando, Sarracenorum multitudinem
superanti. . . ." Ibid., 1298.

N

lhl

9“ of the south Italian trading cities who preferred peace and profit 5 Q
’ 211 . l
by trade with the Muslims to holy war against them. however he was

interested in breeding speedy Arab horses, whose battle advantages
the Muslims had shown, and thanked the king of Galicia for sending
some to him.25 Lapfitre terms him the most irperialistic of p0pes.26\f
John hoped to extend‘the temporal influence of the papacy by exploiting
the discord of the little Italian states and using the military force
he could obtain from the two emperors; but despite his ceaseless activ-
ity he failed to realize his goals.27 Engreen argues that the pope's
seeming imperialism was an attempt to create a united Italy, which in
John's view was the only way tiresist the Muslims effectively.

John's correspondence was extensive and his references to Muslims

numerous, thus only a sample of his comments will be given here.

He berated and excommunicated those who refused to yield to his will.

 

\

214"Confrontedwith the attitude of defending Christendom.or co- A
operating with the Saracens in return for trading rights, Naples,
Amalfi, Salerno, and Gaeta chose the latter course." Daniel C.

Dennett Jr., "Pirenne and Muhammad," Speculum, XXIII (l9b8), 173-75.

 

 

25Arthur lap6tre, L'Euro e 23 la Saint-Siége é_l'époque carolin-
gienne. le_Pape Jean VIII (Paris, 18§57:'p. 35. PL, CXXVI, 66h.

 

26
Ibid., PO 232.
27 . .
Amari, Storia, I, 577.
28Engreen, 525.
291t is ironic to note that one of the strongly anti-Muslim.pope's
bulls is written upon a papyrus which bears an invocation to Allah as
a type of watermark. Robert S. LOpez, "thammed and Charlemagne: A
Revision," Speculum, XVIII (l9h3), 27.

30Philip Jaffe, Regesta Pontificum.homanorum (Berlin, 1878),
Pa 377. no. 2959.

 

1&2

Frequemfly he terms Muslims "enemies of the Christian name, impious
' l
Saracens, and hateful Saracens."3 And he laments

How can I say or how can pen tell how greatly and how much we have
suffered through the impious Saracens when if all the trees of the
forests were turned into tongues they would not suffice to tell

'3 the tale? . . . But they are returning, so we hear, and though

( the pagans rejoice they have left us only unspeakable tribulation.

‘ And so, oh how sad}, the enemies of Christ's cross congratulate.
one another while a great meeting of the faithful is consumed by
sadness. The blood of Christians yet flows, those devoted to God
are massacred continually, and he who escapes fire or sword is a
prize, taken captive and remaining such forever. In cities, camps
and wasted towns the inhabitants perish and bishops are dispersed.’2

\J/ He appeals to the prince of Salerno to turn from.the Muslims.

meanwhile, however, stand fast in the faith doing all things
bravely, and comfort your heart not in the Sultan, who is cone
gruently called Satan, but hope in the Lord, so that you may
lead all from consorting with.pagans into peace and the concord
of unity in our Lord Jesus Christ. . . .

And he contrasts the Lord's sheep with the sons of fornication.

 

31"hostes Christiani nominis, nefandos Saracenos, et odibilibus
Saracenis." PL, CXXVI, 676, 68h, 711.

2"Quanta et qualia per impiam gentem patiamur Saracenorum, quid
dicam.quia scribere quilibet stylus non sufficit, cum omnia ligna
silvarum, si vertantur in linguas, enarrare non valeant? . . .
Reversi, quippe sunt, ut audivimus, et solis paganis gaudium, nobis
autem non nisi tribulationem inenarrabilem reliquerunt. Et ecce, proh
dolor) inimicis crucis Christi gratulantibus, solus fidelium.coetus
magna moestitudine consumitur. Christianorum sangusi effunditur,
devotus Deo populus continua strage vastatur. Nam qui evadit ignem.vel
gladium, praeda efficitur, captivas trahitur, et exsul perpetuus cone
stituitur. En civitates, castra, et villas destitutae habitatoribus
perierunt, et episcOpi had illacque dispersi." PL, CXXVI, 696.

33"Interim autem state in fide, viriliter omnes agite, et con-
fortetur cor vestrum (Peal. xxvi), non Insultamfln SultamJ, qui Satan
congruentius dicitur, sed sperantes in Domino: ita ut omnes a pagan-
orum consortio subducatis, et vos ad pacem in invicem et concordiam
unitatis in Christo Jesu Domino nostro. . . ." PL, CXXVI, 708-09.

L/

ILLS

So moreover some of the Lord's sheep are killed, others die from

hunger and others are led into captivity by the Agarenes, who arezh

sons of fornication and by those who are Lhrist1ans only in name.’
One cannot, however, properly speak of a crusade when discussing the
work of John VIII. There was no emphasis on difference of belief; the
Muslims and Christians "are, above all, political enemies, with whom
there is war, treaty, or peace according to the prevailing conditions."15
Engreen further notes that John almost always links Saracens with
wicked Christians, so that "one is tempted to assume that the pagans
are mentioned only in order to strengthen the case against the wicked
Christians, namely the pope's extremely dangerous political foes. . . ."36
To avoid damaging the image of the papacy in the eyes of the Byzanfines,
John worded his letters to them much more optiristically than he did

the ones to western leaders. John's efforts were unsuccessful, but he

established an attitude which continued.37

For nearly two centuries after John's assassination the papacy

was at its nadir; it became the plaything of powerful Roman families.

- The Muslim threat lessened, and so did papal concern about it. Stephen

I£V (885d9l) told Sigebert, bishop of Corsica: ”If you judge it obnoxious

 

5h“Ecce enim.Dominicarum ovium ab Agarenis, qui sunt filii forni-
cationis, necnon et ab his qui solo sunt nomine Christiani, aliae
gladio trucidantur, aliae fame pereunt, aliae vero in praedam et
captivitatem ducuntur." EL, CXXVI, 716.

35Engreen, 320-21; Carl Erdmann, Die Entstehung_des Kreuzzugs-
gedankens (Stuttgart, 1935), p. 23, n. 66:

36

37Ibid-. 32h. 327. 329-

 

Engreen, 319.

lhh

that men who are taken by the Saracens should be killed, you do well."

Benedict IV (900-03) in an encyclical regarding the Muslim capture of
the bishop of Jerusalem and others, makes an appeal for aid.

we wish to call to the attention of the saintly and religious
Christians that recently Malagenus, the venerable bishop of the
Church of Jerusalem, with some of the faithful people was taken
from his church by Saracens, and moreover his men.were killed
by the abominable Saracen people, because they wished the Chris-
tians to celebrate their faith less. Then the most reverend
bishop Nhlagenus, compared to God by some fearful Christians,
was taken by the Saracens, and thirty other Christians taken
with him were retained in custody by the Saracens. So we
command that for love of omnipotent God, according to the virtue
God may give you, you give aid to these unfortunates, and that
you quietly bid for those who by Oppression are made slaves,
that you may save them from city to city through your help and
aid, that no man may take them or dare to do any evil to them,
but for God's love and reverence for the blessed apostolic
princes Peter and Paul they who come to your boundaries you
will deal with kindly, and transmit these tidings from city to
city and prepare hospitality for them. 'Wb believe moreover

that all who will to do good in these matters will be rewarggd
by that God who created all, WhO‘Will show mercy unto them.

 

38"Qui ts quasi obnoxium judicas, eo quod a Saracenis captus
homines interfecisse videris, bene facis." PL, CXXIX, 806.

"Sanctitate seu omnium.Christianorum religiositatibus notum.
esse volumus, quia iste praesens Malagenus venerabilis episcopus
Hierosolymitanae Ecclesiae, una cum suis fidelibus a Saracenorum
gentibus a sua Ecclesia depraedatus est, et etiam quidam.de suis
hominibus ab ipsa nefandissima gente Saracenorum occisi sunt, pro
so quod fidem illorum minime celebrare voluerunt. Hic itaque Mala-
cenus reverentissimus episcoPus cum.ab ipsis Saracenis depraedatus
est, a quibusdam.Christianis Deum timentibus comparatus est, et
alii triginta Christiani, qui cum so depraedati sunt, ab eisdem
Saracenis in custodia retinentur. Unde mandamus ut pro Dei omni-
potentis amore, in quantum.virtutis Dominus vobis donaverit, ad-
jutorium.illis faciatis, et liceat illis quiete absque cujuscunqus
Oppresione slavos pergere, et de civitate in civitatem.per vestrum

auxilium.et adjutorium.salvi existent, ut nullus homo eos depraedars,

aut aliquod malum facere audeat: sed, pro amore Dei et reverentia
beatorum principum apostolorum Petri et Pauli, ad cujus limina isti
pervenerunt, benigne eos suscipiatis, et de civitate in civitatem
salvos eos transmittitc, et hosPitium eis praeparate. Credimus enim
quia omnis, quidquid in eis bonorum.feceritis, ab ipso creators
omnium Deo vobis retribuetur, st mercedem exinde habebitis." PL,
ch, Jill. ""

38

1115

"L10

Sergius III (90h-ll) also calls them "most impious Saracen peopke.
John X Galhe28) led the combined Western-Byzantine force whidh ousted
the Mbslims from.Garigliano in 916. That marked an important transi-
tion from.temporal to spiritual (papei) leadership of the war against
the Muslims; the emperors having failed to accomplish the task of
defending Christendom against the Muslims, leadership in that task

bl
was assumed by the papacy.

Sylvester II (999:1003) was desirous of news regarding the
Africans even before becoming pope. And in.999 he appealed for aid
for the Christians of Jerusalem.

But'while the Prophet said: His sepulchre will be glorious,

the Devil holds it inglorious to restore the holy places over-

thrown by ths pagans. Advance therefore, Christian soldier,

be a standard bearer and a fighter, and what you are unaBée to

do by force of arms, I shall further by counsel and aid.
Sylvester's appeal created such excitement, eSpecially in die East,
which began to fear a full—scale Christian assault, that Hakim was
led to destroy the Holy Sepulchre in 1010. Inat in turn is supposed
to have prompted Sergius IV (1009-12) to compose an encyclical

l
lproposing a crusade in the same year. Although it failed in its

intended purpose, the appeal suggests eleventh century thought.

we make known to all Christians what proceeded by messengers to
the Holy See from the Eastcrn lands: the Holy Sepulcher of our

 

LO". . . nefandissima Sarracenorum gente." PE? CXXXI, uh.

Augustin Fliche, La reforms gregorienne §t_12_reconqpéte
chre’cienne, 1057-1125 (Paris, 19116), p. 51.

 

b2"Sed cum Propheta dixerit: Erit sepulchrum.ejus gloriosum,
Paganis loca sancta subvertantibus, tentat Diabolus reddere inglorium.
Eniters ergo, miles Christi, esto signifer st compugnator, et quod
armis nequis, consilii et opum.auxilio subveni." .EEE! X, A26.

lhé

Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ‘was razed to its foundations by
the hands of impious pagans. Because of this destruction the
city of b~ome is in turmoil and placed in great lamentation.

And because of that all are lamenting and in a great circle the
pOpulace trembles sighing. I have banished sleep from.my eyes,
and I give my heart no rest, because never did we read either in
the Prophets or Psalmists or Doctors that the sepulcher of the
Redeemer would be destroyed, but rather that it would remain
until the end. But in the pr0phet it is manifest: "And his
glorious sepulcher will be eternal."

Knowing therefore the Christian intent, I, if it please God,
desire to go myself from the seacoast with all the Romans and
Italians and Tuscans and whatever other Christians will come so
that I may kill the Saracens, by God's aid, with all hostile
feeling, and I further wish to restore the Redeemer's Holy
Sepulcher. Now you, son, who fear the sea or the furor of battle,
hers is what is divinely promised. "Whoever will lose his present
life for Christ shall not perish but find eternal life.n And
moreover this fight is not for a poor kingdom but for the eternal
God. Certainly it is for us to begin this, but it is for God to
win. we are pilgrims through this world, so we fight against
the enemies of God so that we may rejoice with him in heaven.
Rightly it seems in any case we entreat your counsel and inspired
aid. And moreover, by divine clemency for us and all Italy alike,
even venetia and the city of Genoa with their merchants and the
aid of all the people are willing in this year to build a thousand
ships with which we are to go to the land of Syria so that we may
vindicate the Redeemer and his tomb. Already may the high and
stern judge . . . penetrate your mind and recall the day of
judgment where, if you do well, you will be with Christ in all
gladness. Come 0 Sons, defend your God and attain the eternal
kingdom. I hope, I believe, and confidently maintain that ghrough
the virtue of our Lord Jesus Christ, victory will be ours.

 

l43"Cognitumomnibus christiani €Ifacimus quod anuntius processit
ad sedem.apostolicam ex Orientis partibus: sanctum redemptoris Domini
nostri Jesu-Christi sepulchrum destructum.est ab impiis paganorum manibus
da vertice uSque ad fundamentum. Pro cujus destructionem.universa
aecclesiam vel urbe Roma turbata est st in am mensa lamentatione posita
est. Unde a modo totus in lamentationibus existat eriS et in magnis
pOpulus contremescat suspiriis. Somnum ab oculis meis auferam, et cor
meum.merori socium ponam; quia numquam legimus neque per Propheta,
neque per Psalmista, neque per Doctorem sepulchrum Redemptoris destruc-
tum.fuisset, sed usque in finem permansisset. Sed per PrOpheta mani-
festatur: 'Et erit sepulchrum ejus gloriosum usque in sempiternum.’

Sciad igitur Christiana intentio quia ego, si Domino placuerit,

per memetipso cupio pergere ex marino liters st omnes Romanos seo Italie
cum Tuscie vel qualicumque Christianus nobiscum volunt pergere, ut agents
Agarene, Domino auxiliante, cum omnes ostiliter desidero interficere st

1117

Apparently the pope hOped to appeal to the masses by the promise of
forgiveness of sins, but it seems to be an unripe stage of the develop-
ment of crusade thought. Doubtless the Italian city states, which

were prominent in the agitation underlying the encyclical, envisaged

the capture of Nuslim_sea bases before making the journey to the holy
Land; the pope however seems to have had revenge and spiritual consider-

ations rather than tactical realities foremost in his thought. But

the project, if it was actually advanced, failed to materialize.)")‘'

 

sanctum.Redemptoris sepulchrum.volo restaurare incolomes. Non vos,
filii, marinus terread tumor aut bellicosus expavescat furor; nam di-
vinitus promissum est: 'Qui presentem pro Christo perdiderit vitam,
que jam.non deficiet inveniet futuram.‘ Est enim haec pugnam non de
paupere regno, sed Domino sempiterno. Nostrum quippe est inchoarem,
adhuc autem.Domini est vindicars. Istum etenim seculum.transituri
sumus. Ita pugnenus contra inimicos Dei, ut cum ipso gaudere valeamus
in coelum. Recte videtur utique fieri suscipiamus vestri consilii st
adjutorium inspirantem. Em enim, divina clementia, non omnes cunctique
Italis pariter seu venetie st cives Genuae cum vestra mercede et ad-
jutorio de omni populo, in isto anno, mills volumus instruere navibus,
cum.quibus eamus in Syrie partibus, ut vindicemus Redemptorem.et ejus
tumulum. Jamjamque judice strenui alta . . . penetrate vestrorum
oculi, recogitate diem judicii, ubi, cum Christo sEi be] ne agitis,
gaudia cuncta possidebitis. Venite, Filii, defendite Deum et re gnum
acquirite aeternum. Spero, credo st dertissime teneo qui, per vir-
tutem Domini nostri Jesu-Christi, nostra erit victoriam . . . ."

Jules Lair, "Encyclique de Sergius IV, relative a un projet de
croisade," Bibliotheque de l'figole des Chartes, IV ser., t. III,
(1857), 2h6-53; text reprbduced from 250-51.

 

 

bhErdmann, pp. 102-03. See also his "Die Aufrufe Gerberts und
Sergius IV ffir das Heilige Land,“ Quellen und Forschungen aus italien-
ischen Archiven und Bibliotheken, XXIIII(193l-32), 1-21. The authen-
ticity of the documentghas been thoroughly examined and seriously
questioned by Alexander Gieysztor, "The Genesis of the Crusades: The
Encyclical of Sergius IV (1009-1012),” Nbdievalia et Humanistica, V
(19h8), 3-23, VI (1950), 3-3h. as argues—that itfliE—a later forgery,

from.a time shortly before the crusades,and proves his position beyond
reasonable doubt.

 

 

f

l
.

lh8

Benedict VIII (1012-2h), although his writings do not present anti-
Muslim attitudes, was a warlike pope, and in the wake of the Mhslim
attack on Luni called together the leaders and defenders of the church
to defend against and destroy the raiders.)"15 hNicholas II (1058-61)
termed them "enemies of God, Agarene adversaries, and warriors. . . ."LL6
Alexander II (1061-73) reminded Spanish bishOps

The cause of the Jews and Saracens is quite different. Against

those moreover, who persecute Christians and drive them fro
} the cities and their own sees, it is proper to fight. . . .

u
I
I
I
9
I

The accession of Gregony VII (1073-85) to the papacy ushers in
the crusading era, properly Speaking, and marks the termination of
the period with which we are concerned. Since Erdmann discusses
Gregory's contributions to the crusading idea at great length, we need
only mention some of the more salient points in the pope's approach.
1is kamented of the true Christian faith that "its ancient colors are
changed, and it has become the laughingstock not only of the Devil,

"148

but of Jews, Saracens and pagans. ‘And he complained that

The law and the religion of Christ have almost everywhere so
completely gone to ruin that Saracens or whatever pagans you
please are holding more firmdy to theirbgsages than those who
have received the Christian name. . . .

 

LSErdmann, pp. 101-102.

"inimicorum Dei Agarenorum adversarium.et debellatorem. . . ."
31;, CXLII I, 1557

h7"Dispar nimirum est Judaeorum et Sarracenorum causa. In illos
enim, qui Christianos persequuntur et ex urbibus et prOpriis sedibus
pellunt juste pugnatur. . . ." PL, CXLVI, 1386-87.

I48PL, CXLVIII, 709, tr. Ephraim Emsrton, The CorreSpondence of
Pope Gregory VII: Selected Letters from the Registrum (New York,I932),

 

 

 

po 1911-

D9
P_L, CXLVIII, 569, tr. Emerton, p. 145.

1119

He had reasons for his dismay; for example some distressed persons in

Carthage brought their archbishOp to trial before the Muslims, where

1. #— *—_‘
r.”

0
he was convicted and sentenced to whipping.5 But Gregory could be
very charming, as in suggesting coexistence to the King oprauretania. \

Your Highness sent to us within.a year a request that we would
ordain the priest Servandus as bishop according to the Christian
order. This we have taken pains to do, as your request seemed
prOper and of good promise. You also sent gifts to us, released
some Christian captives out of regard for St. Peter, chief of
the Apostles, and affection for us, and promised to release
others. Tbs good action was inspired in your heart by God, the
creator of all things, without whom.we can neither do nor think
any good thing. He who lighteth every man that cometh into the
world enlightened your mind in this purpose. For Almighty God,
who desires that all men shall be saved and that none shall
perish, approves nothing more highly in us than this: that a
man love his fellow man next to his God and do nothing to him
which he would not that others should do to himself.

This affection we and you owe to each other in a more peculiar
way than to people of other races because we worship and confess
the same God though in diverse forms and daily praise and adore
him as the creator and ruler of this world. For in the words of
the Apostle, "He is our peace who hath made both one."

This grace granted to you by God is admired and praised by

\ many of the Roman.nobility who have learned from us of your
benevolence and high qualities. Two of these, Alberic and Cencius,
intimate friends of ours brought up with us from.sarly youth at
the Roman court, earnestly desiring to enjoy your friendship and
to serve your interests here, are sending their messengers to
you to let you know how highly they regard your prudence and high
character and how greatly they desire and are able to be of service
to you.

In recommending these messengers to Your Highness, we beg you
to ShOW‘them, out of regard for us and in return for the loyalty
of the men aforesaid, the same reSpect which we desire always to
show toward you and all who belong to you. For God knows our
true regard for you to his glory and how truly we desire your
prosperity and honor, both in this life and in the life to come,
and how earnestly we pray both'with our lips and with our heart
that God himself, after the long journey of this life, may lead
you into the bosom of the most holy patriarch Abrahamés1

 

592E! CXLVIII: 306. tr. Emerton, p. 17,

1
5 PE? CXLVIII, h50, tr. Emerton, pp. 9h-95.

150

J, he also Sponsored.scme ndssionary work: a Cluniac monk named
Anastasius, who knew Arabic, argued that the Muslim use of cruelty
and proselytizing showed it inferior to Christianity and proposed to
some muslin teachers a trial by fire which the latter declined, fear-
ing they might lose and be forced to receive baptism. Finally Anastasia;
lost courage and returned to Cluny.
But Cregory was especially interested in promoting a crusade.
3,8e praised the Normans for their reconquest of Sicily:
The church of Palermo which you recognize by the authority of
God to be foremost, while noble and famous fell into the power
and treachery of the Saracens on account of sins, and now is
returned to the Christian faithBEy the present labor of our
glorious son Duke Robert. . . .
And he wrote to the Count of Burgundy in 107h that:
we are hoping also that another advantage may come from.this,
namely, that when the Normans are pacified we may cross over to
Uonstantinople in aid of the Christians who, oppressed by
frequent attacks of the Saracens, are uflging us eagerly to

reach out our hands to them.in succor.5

He painted the plight of Constantin0p1e in bold colors:

. . . the pagan people have bravely gathered strength against the
Christians and by miserable cruelty have wasted everything up to
the city walls of Constantinople, and occupied fine land by tyranp
nical violence, killing many thousands of Christians like cattle.

55

 

523;. CX-LIX: LL23: £0: esp. 14290

53"Panormitanam.Ecclesiam cui tu, Domino auctors, praeesse dignos-
ceris, quae quondam nobilis et famosa, postmodum peccatis exigentibus
in Sarracenorum potestatem perfidiamque redacta, nunc revera ad Chris-
tianam fidem labors vel instantia filii nostri gloriosi ducis Roberti.
. . ." a? CILVIII, 705.

EEEL, CXLVIII, 326, tr. Emerton, p. 23.

55". . . gentem paganorum contra Christianum.fortiter invaluisss
imperium, et miseranda crudelitats jam fers usque ad muros Constan-
tinopolitanas civitatis omnia devastasse et tyrannica violentia
occupasse, et multa millia Christianorum quasi pecudes occidisse."
PL, CXLVI II, 329.

151

Moreover he urged Christians on to the fray:

So on behalf of St. Peter we direct the giving of aid to our
brothers who live across the sea in the empire of ConstantinOple,
whom the devil himself attempted to turn away from.the catholic
faith and through his agents unceasingly to kill them cruelly
like cattle. But because he hates good desires, he attempts, if
he can to impede us that they may not be freed by the largess of
divine grace that we may not be crownedlas martyrglby giving our
souls for our brothers. Then on the behalf of the blessed Peter
we ask, we admonish and invite that in this way their carrier
may say they come to us at the appointed time whoever wills to
defend the Christian faith, and to fight for the heavenly king,
that with them.we may prepare the way (God willing) which the
heavenly nobility are willing to cross overseas to defend, and
that the sons of God are not afraid to show themselves. Then
dear brothers, fight most bravely for that praise and glory
which you should desire above all, who were once willing to
fight bravely for those things which cannot but pass away nor be
possessed without sorrow. For this slight mgmentary labor will
enable you to acquire eternal reward. . . .5

But the crusade idea failed, so far as Gregory was concerned. However
it did succeed in Spain, and Gregory sought to encourage the reconquest
there. Thus he noted that Spain

. . . separated from.the Roman ritual, through the invasion

first of the Goths and then of the Saracens, not only was X
religion brought low, but also her secular power was ruined.57

 

56"Ad vos jam.pervenisse credimus quae sit nostra voluntas, et
quid ex parte Sancti Petri diserimus (direximus) de adjutorio faciendo
fratribus nostris, qui ultra mare in ConstantinOpolitano imperio
habitant, quos diabolus per se ipsum a fide catholica conatur avertere,
et per membra sua non cessat quotidie pecudes enecare crudeliter. Sed
quia invidet bonis desideriis, tentat, si potest, nos impedire ne illi
gratia divine largiente liberentur, et nos dando animas nostras pro
fratribus nostris coronemur. Proinde ex parte beate Petri rogamus,
monemus et invitamus ut eo modo, quem portitor horum.dixerit, ad nos
quidam vestrum.veniant, qui Christianum fidem.vultis defenders, et
coelesti regi militare, ut cum eis viam (favente Deo) praeparemus
omnibus qui coelestem nobilitatem defendendo per nos ultra mare volunt
transire et quod Dei sunt filii, non timent ostendere. Itaque, fratres
charissimi, estote ad pugnandum fortissimi pro laude illa et gloria,
quae omne desiderium superant, qui hactenus fortes fuistis pugnare pro
rebus quas non potestis detinere, nec sine dolore possidere. Nam per
momentaneum (II Cor., IV) laborem aeternam potestis acquirere mercedem.
. . ." 33, CXLVIII, 390.

5732, CXLVIII, BAD, tr. Emerton, p. 29.

152

And he emphasized, on the basis of the Donation of Constantine and
other documents, the papal authority over 911 Spain. So he remarks:

After that kingdom had been invaded by pagan Saracens and the

tribute formerly paid to St. Peter had so long been withheld

from us on account of their lack of faith and their tyranny,
the very memo of the facts and of our preprietorship be an
to slip away.g§
Thanks to the work of Cluniac monks and French knights, ties with
the Spanish Christians were established and Christian cooperation
under papal leadership achieved success in the reconquest and
eventually in the crusade.

Thus we see that from.a very early date the papacy was concerned
with the Muslim menace, and sought to make clear the spiritual impli-
cations of the Muslim.conquest for Western Christians. With the
breakdown of the empire under the Carolingians the pOpes moved into the
vacant position of leadership in the Nest, and, capitalizing upon
the ideas of the Cluniac reform, agitated for military action

against the foe. By the end of the eleventh century, as we know,

that military action was a successful reality.

 

582E? CXLVIII, h86, tr. Emerton, p. 12h.
I
59Erdmann, p. 60 ff}; Pignot, II, 110; Emile Amann in Auguste
Dumas, L'Eglise‘gg_pouvoir des laiques, 887—1057 (Paris, 19h8), p.
h27; Boissonade, passim.

 

CHAPTER VIII

CONCLUSIONS

From.the foregoing evidence, it is clear that there was not a
western.attitude toward Islam in the early Middle Ages. Rather there
were several attitudes, which.we may categorize and characterize thus:

1. indifference a lack of any concern, probably the attitude
of the masses, who were uninformed.

2. coexistence a concern for maintaining peaceful relations
in order to gain temporal benefits, practiced
by merchants and ambitious individuals.

5. political opposition to the Muslins as one hostile foe
hostility among many, the attitude of royal annals.

h. military opposition to the Muslims as ravagers of the
hostility writer's area.

5. academic opposition to the Kuslims based upon authorities,
hostility including biblical and pre-Islamic ones.

6. religious Opposition to Muslims as persons known to be
hostility different from Christians in religion.

Obviously these are not exclusive positions; they shade into one
another and one individual may express several of them. Equally
obviously, they preclude any facile generalizations about £23.
attitude of Western EurOpean Christians toward the Muslims. Further-
more they changed, developed, modified, and shifted in the four and
one-half centuries between the hij£a_and the pontificate of Gregory
VII. Although at first indifference (ignorance?) dominated (622-710),
it gave way to political hostility (710-1000) which in turn'was
superseded by religious hostility (1000-1216) as the dominant attitude
of the particular period. Of course it may be that a head count
would show indifference-ignorance to be dominant at all times, but

numbers alone do not guarantee dominance.

153

15h

There is, however, a significant omission from the list of
attitudes, one which becomes more striking when considered in con-
junction with other developments in pre-crusade Europe. It is common
knowledge that missionary activity was a primary concern of the
medieval church: the exploits of Augustine in England, Boniface and
Uillibald and Irish monks in Western Europe, and Cyril and Methodius
among the Slavs are well known. But we find little evidence in the
East, and even less in the west, for the existence of Christian
missionary activity among the Kuslims. Admittedly Christian missionary
efforts among Muslims have never been very successful; nevertheless
such a lack at the very tire when.the Christian missionary emphasis
was so strong is hard to understand. One may hypothesize, of course,
that rulers like Charlemagne established monasteries in the deserted
areas of the Spanish marches to serve as bases for missionary activity
among muslims as similar establishments had served for such activity
among the Germanic peoples, but evidence is kicking to support that
view.1 If there was a widespread emphasis upon missions to Muslims
during the period, it definitely occupied a subordinate position, as
it did during the crusade era.2 What attempts there were-the stilted
discussions of the Pyzantines, the rash passion of the Spanish martyrs,
the flounderings of the missionary Anastasius-seem.painfully inept

and thoroughly unsuccessful.

 

1
On Carolingian missionary practices see Richard E. Sullivan, "The
Carolingian Mism.onary and the Pagan," Speculum, XXVII (1953), 705-h0.

2
Daniel, p. 125.

i\/

155

Also striking is the almost total lack of information regarding
“uslims and the equally total kick of any systematic treatises dealing
with them. ‘we must concur with Daniel that "at the beginning of the
twelfth century Islam began to be treated seriously in works written
in the West."3 Several extensive tracts on Jews date from the pre-
crusade period, but except for the isolated writings of the Spanish
martyrs' movement, there is nothing of the sort regarding Muslims.

It is therefore not surprising that even the name of Mhhammad is rarely
mentioned in.the literature, and that nothing is known about Muslim
beliefs and practices, except for the few comments in Anastasius'

Historia Ecclesiae E§_The0phanes, which apparently did not circulate

 

 

widely. The Pseudo-Methodius, although predicting the end of Muslim
world sway, told little about Huslims.

That silence has prompted and permitted all sorts of observations.

xPirenne argued that a fierce religious hostility was engendered in

'Western EurOpe where "the antagonism.of two faiths face to face kept

them in a state of war with each other."LIL Davis affirmed that
. . . every age has some sentiments which lie so deep that they
are rarely put into words. hatred for the Saracens, compassion
for the Christian subjects of the fallen Visigoths were among
the sentiments of this kind which influenced the age of Charles.
. . . But common usage demanded that the Saracens. . . should
\/- not be mentioned without an epithet of abhorrence.

Dennett poses the rhetorical question "would Charlemagne have permitted

 

amide , Po 7.

hHenri Pirenne, Economic and Social IdistopypiMedieval Europe
(New York, 1937), p. T

 

 

H.W. Carless Davis, Charlemagne (Charles the Great): The Hero
2f Two Nations (New York and London, 1899), p. 109 n.

 

 

156

a mosque in marseilles?" Reinaud sees religious hostility in the
accounts re arding the destruction of churches and monasteries:

But we must also remember that what little gleaning we get of
the events of this period of the history of France is the work
of monks and clergymen, so that it is not surprising that
churches and convents are made to play such a large part in
the narratives which have come down to us.

iiis translator, however, commenting on the stories of the destruction
of monasteries, avers that

The similarity, even in detail of such episodes leads one to
the obvious conclusion that they were a11,nanufactured to
discredit the kuslims.

Amann argues that Charlemagne sought to conduct a crusade in Spain
0 I O 9 I- O I I
for religious motives, but was unable to do so. nodgkin maintains

The question of the rival faiths, though of course it must

have been present to Charles's mind, does not seem to have been
the determining motive to this Spanish expedition as it was to
the Saxon war. There is no foundation for the suggestion of
some later chroniclers that he was moved to this enterprise by
pity for the groans of the Spanish Christians under Saracen
oppression.

{a Prutz argues that there was no hostility at the outset, and that

If one seeks to explain this with the argument of the national
enthusiasm of the Spanish and the passionate hate against Islam
i\ which filled Christianity since the crusades, one errs by paint-
‘ ing the relationships of the two religions and their adherents
during the century btfore the crusades in the same dark colors.
Before the crusades international relations between Muslims
p and Christians had a different character than they did later.

 

Daniel C. Dennett Jr., "Pirenne and huhammad," Speculum, XXIII

(19148) , 168.
7 .
Reinaud, p. hl.
Sherwani in Reinaud, p. 85.

9

Amann, L'époque carolingienne, p. 18h.

 

0 T- .
1 Thomas Hodgkin, Charles the Great (London, 1921), pp. 1hh-h5.

 

157

3 There existed between Christian and Kuslim rulers and states a
\/ very friendly trade such as could deve10p only on a basis of
reciprocally acknowledged equality.

All these contacts did not permit a hostile opposition
between Huslims and Christians to arise before the crusades.
Until then the adherents of botn religions lived alongside one
another in friendly trade for centuries through manifold
relations which they developed in thespheres of trade and
maritime transport.

So there existed from the beginning of the eleventh century
completely friendly relationships between the southern French
and the Spanish Arabs. Thus it is especially characteristic

V’ that the technical superiority of the Arabs over the higher
strata of southern French society was quite apparent.

As the spiritual life and the collected literature during
the first half of the Middle Ages was dependent on the church and

, almost exclusively carried through religious men, so knowledge of
\J‘ Islam.and its history could only be mediated through church
authorities. From such, of course, an unbiased appreciation of
Muhammad's teaching was naturally not to be expected.

 

ll
"th man das auch zu entschuldigen versuchen mit dem hinweis

auf die nationals Begeisterung der Spanier und den leidenschaftlichen
hass gegen den Islam, der siet den Kreuzzfigen die abendlgndische
Christenheit erffillte: man thut doch Unrecht, das Verhgltniss der
beiden Religionen und ihrer Bekenner wfihrend der Jahrhunderte vor den
Kreuzzflgen in denselben dunkelen Farben zu malen.

Vor den Kreuzzfigen haben auch die internationalen Reziehungen
zwischen Kohammedanern und Christen einen anderen Charakter gehabt
als Spaterhin. Es bestand zwischen christlichen und mohammedanischen
Herrschern und Staaten ein mannigfacher freundschaftlicher Verkehr,
wie er sich nur auf Grund gegenseitig anerkannter Gleichberechtigung
entwickeln konnte.

Alle diese Berfihrungen haben einen feindlichen Gegensatz zwischen
Mbhammedanern und Christen vor den Kreuzzfigen nicht aufkommen lassen.
Zudem wurden die Bekenner der beiden Religionen Jahrhunderte lang
einander genfihert und zu friedlichem Verkehr gethnt durch die viel-
fachen Beziehungen, die sich im Gebiete des Handels und der Seefahrt
zwischen ihnen entwickelten.

Zudem bestanden ja seit dem.knfange des elften Jahrhunderts
zwischen den Sfldfranzosen und den Arabern Spaniens ganz freundschaft-
liche Beziehungen. Dabei tritt als ein besonders charakteristischer
Zug hervor, dass die technische Ueberlegenheit der Araber von den
oberen Gesellschaftsklassen Sfldfrankreichs unverhohlen anerkannt wurde.

'33. das geistige Lebon und die gesammte Litteratur wghrend der
ersten HHlfte des lfittelalters abhgngig waren von der Kirche and fast
ausschliesslich durch Geistliche getragen.wurden, so konnte auch die
Kenntniss des Islam und seiner Geschichte damals nur durch kirchliche
Autoritgten vermittelt werden. Von diesen aber war sine unbefangene
Wflrdigung der Lehre Mohammeds natflrlich nicht zu erwarten." Prutz, pp.
379 M44459 ’47: 730

\j:

158

Latouche claims that ". . . Charlemagne maintained an attitude of
V/flf,,_
cautious reserve towards the Hoslem world and . . . his example was

followed throughout the whole of the ninth century," and that there

existed between the Franks and Muslims an "iron curtain" which

'-'- -
.- 1- \u r'"_“"

replaced the one formerly existing between the Greco-Roman world

and the barbarians, thus “the laws of war alone governed their

relations with each other."12

G.E. von Grunebaum avers:

Nevertheless, the relative self-containedness and self-sufficiency
of the three major units remain the outstanding characteristics

of medieval histonfi . . . There is always something utopian about
the Western projects to win back the territories occupied by Islam.
Lack of information and the technical inadequacy of the age
strengthened the natural isolation of the blocs. The spiritual
leaders of each bloc were very sure of the vitality and value of
their civilization. They‘were mildly interested in, perhaps even
appreciative or envious of, the neighbor's achievement; but there
was no wish to change with him, to imitate him, or to remodel
essentials an the basis of his superior performance.

And R.W. Southern holds:

The existence of Islam was the most far-reaching problem in
medieval Christendom. It was a problem at every level of expe-
rience. As a practical prdblem it called for action and for
discrimination between the competing possibilities of Crusade,
conversion, coexistence, and commercial interchange. As a
theological problem it called persistently for some answer to
the mystery of its existence: what was its providential role in
historya-was it a symptom of the world's last days or a stage in
the Christian development; a heresy, a schism, or a new religion;
a work of man or devil; an obscene parody of Christianity, or a
system.of thought that deserved to be treated with respect? It
was difficult to decide among these possibilities. But before
deciding it was necessary to know the facts, and these were not
easy to know. So there arose an historical problem that could
not be solved, could scarcely be approached, without linguistic
and literary knowledge difficult to acquire, and made more

12Robert Latouche, The Birth of western Economy (New York, 1961),
pp- 169. 305-06.

 

von Grunebaum, pp, cit., pp. 6-7.

159
t/ difficult by secrecy, prejudicelband the strong desire not to
know for fear of contanination.

Many other variant views could be listed, but the preceding are
sufficiently representative. It is clear from our evidence, however,
that coexistence was widely practiced, especially in the contact areas
between Christians and Muslims; Engreen suggests calling the relation— v”
ship "border Christianity”15 Although coexistence was displeasing in
theory to popes and emperors, it flourished and both popes and emper- t/
ors occasionally practiced it. The reasons for that coexistence
policy are several. The maintenance of peace was probably seen as a
good in itself, and certainly as a boon to business. It may manifest
a medieval desire for the unity of all mankind.16 frospective imme-
diate advantages may have outweighed longer-term considerations.

But there is perhaps another factor which can be isolated.
Although it is well known that the quality of the papacy between
Gregory I and Gregory VII was generally low (although there are a few
exceptions) and that much time and energy was spent in church reform;
it is readily assumed that Christians knew their faith and Opposed it
to Islam. The facts, however, are that in the lands the Muslims con-
quered, conversion to Islam occurred easily and Christianity all but
disappeared, despite the fact that discrimination against Christians

7

was slight, if present. Furthermore the Roman Empire had been con-

quered by Germanic tribes who only slowly came to accept Christianity,

 

lL‘Southern, pp: cit., p. 5.

1
5Engreen, 321-22.

16
Daniel, p. 192.

160

and then.had to be again converted from firianism to orthodoxy. It

seems, then, highly probable that the western European Christian knew

his faith poorly, if at all, and that such was the case even among

highly placed churchmenp-as the Felician controversy demonstrated.
Consequently few medieval Christians had a well-developed understanding L
of Christianity, a Christian "frame of reference" from which to view
Islam. Moreover the sane thing can be argued about the Muslims with;_yj»
whom.the Christians came in contact; the Barbers in particular evi-
denced Christian and animdstic as well as Islamic practices. Hence

the ignorant Christian encountering a quasi-thlim.opponent would bel?
very likely to see little if any religious difference. The develop- :
ment of muslim.theology in Damascus, where it had close contact with
Eastern Christianity in its more and less orthodox forms, and the
reliance of the west upon Byzantine thinking and polemic for informa-

[tion, suggest that the western Chrisitans and the Muslims were equally

[ignorant regarding their own faiths, and heavily dependent on the
e N. H a

EEastern Christians, although in different ways. Little wonder, then,f
that the opponents heaped insults upon one another; they were capable
of little else.

Men on both sides, therefore, were capable of being led. And
on both sides there arose leaders-Charlemagne and Otto the Great in
hbstern Europe, 'Abd ar-Rahmzn and Harfin ar-Rashid in the Muslim
world. But the great leaders were few, and by failing to develop an
ideology to sustain their emphases, their leadership died with them.
lnasmuch as the Pseudo-Turpin and later medieval thought saw Charlemagne

as the deliverer promised by Pseudo-Hethodius, one is tempted to say

161

that Charles himself sought to utilize the Pseudo-“ethodius in
establishing such an ideology to sustain his leadership. His emphasis:
upon Augustine's Eity_2£ 222 may also have been an attempt to create
an ideology. But he failed. The tuslims with the dismemberment of
the caliphate and internecine struggles destroyed their ideology.
11ence the field was open for a consistent, ideologically strong
leadership. Into that breach the papacy, supported by the Cluniac;
reform, stepped.

In temporal affairs it was the papacy that succeeded, where two
centuries of secular rulers had failed, in ousting the Nuslims from
south Italy. The feverish and frustrated efforts of John VIII were
turned into success by John X at Garigliano. And it was certainly
no accident that the capture of the abbot of Cluny was the event
which led to the expulsion of the Fraxinet Muslims who had survived
for some eighty years. Benedict VIII at Luni, Nicholas II's alliance
with Robert Guiscard for Sicilian reconquest, the role of Alexander
II and Gregory VII in Spanish affairs are other examples. In all
those places secular rulers had tried to oust the Muslims but had v/.
failed; Nhslim expulsion awaited the guiding hand of Cluny and the v"

1?
papacy.

In the realm of ideology the story is the same. Although the
idea of an opponent being a divine punishment for sin is certainly

not a papal invention, the explanation of Muslim success by that

idea-is certainly found frequently. And it was not by accident that

 

17Prosper Boissonade, "Les premiers croisades francaises en
Espagne," Bulletin Hispanique, XXXVI (193A), 28, makes that point.

 

162

that explanation entered the Pseudo-Isidorean Decretals and later
Gratian's Decretum, whence later popes could draw it. The widespread
use of it we have noted may have resulted from a papal position, or
the popes may have chosen to make such a satisfactory explanation
their own. In either case, the concept certainly furthered papal
leadership. It also gave the pOpe a powerful weapon to use upon
practitioners of coexistence, as John VIII demonstrated. One who
opposed the pops in any way, eSpecially one who treated with or was
friendly to the Muslims, could be considered (often with.justification:
e.g. Eudo, Siconulf, EuPhemius, Visigoths) as the sinner whose activity
provoked divine retribution through the agency of the Muslims. And
popular opinion would support the pope. The punishment-for-sin
explanation proved so satisfactory that it was used to account for

18
the failures of the crusades. And it provided that desideratum

 

of every ideological movement-the opponent against whom every energy
must be directed.1

Loren C. Mackinney argues that the eleventh century peace move-
ment was utilized by the papacy as a precursor to the crusades. He
points out that the church, as the greatest, and unarmed, medieval

property owner had to foster a peace policy to defend its holdings. \,

 

18Palmer A. Throop, "Criticism of Papal Crusade Policy in Old
French and Provenpal," Speculum, XIII (1958), 379.

l9Vera Hicheles Dean, The Nature of the Non-Western'World
(New York, 1953), passim. -—-

 

 

163

Thus, security for Church and populace became a righteous
cause, backed by public opinion. From both spiritual and
material standpoints, it was imperative that the clergy take
the lead in the Peace of God, or any other popular movement
that tended to make an unpoliced world of rampant feudalism
safer for the property and persons of non--combatants.2O
That emphasis helped to develop a unanimity of spirit, and also rep-
resented an effort at internationalism, which may have been the
result of Cluniac influence. The peace movement was especially
strong in southern France, whence knights rallied to the papal call
for the crusade in Spain. And Mackinney observes
The plan of directing the warlike forces of Christendom
against the Infidel instead of vainly trying to inhibit
them, was in itself a masterpiece of strategy. . . .21
Thus the unanimity of spirit which the peace movement engendered
was directed by the pOpes into warfare against the Muslims. Fita
has observed that there was a sirilar peace movement in Spain
prior to the great successes of the reconquest; and we have already
noted the papacy's interest in Spanish affairs in the eleventh
century.22 Peace among Christians, and war against the infidel
were two more points in the papal ideolcgy.
it should be clear that the papacy did not create that ideology

from.nothing. Punishment-for-sin, Pseudo-Ekthodius, Jerome and

succeeding commentaries were all related to the Scriptures, and such

 

20Loren C. thkinney, "The People and Public Opinion in the
Eleventh Century Peace Mbvement," Speculum, V (1930), 182.

21Ibid., lab-205, esp. 201; Erdmann, pp. 57-58.
22Fidel Fita, "Cortes Usajes de Barcelona en 106h: Textos
Inefditos," Boletfn de la R 91 Academia 93 a Historia, XVII (1890),

589. 392, LBS. '_""

 

.,~ . a

-and conflict.

16h

a source for the promise of the triumph of good (Christianity) over
evil (Islam) was emphasized. Thanks to Anastasius and the various
church councils, as well as the contacts between pope and patriarch,
Byzantine thinking was available, whether it was that of John of
Damascus, Theophanes, or others. Furthermore the popes could utilize
the work of that dominant western Father, Augustine pf Hippo.

Augustine's work, however, presented some difficulties. Although
he recognized the principle of a war against the heathen, it was only
permissible as a prelude to their conversion, and war for the purpose
of conversion never had much appeal, as preaching and war were incom-
patible. Consequently many churchmen could not support the choice
of "baptism or death;" they favored peace except when the heathen
were aggressors.23 The Germans, however, thought war was honorable,
and they proved to be a decisive influence on future thinking.

warfare against the Muslims, however, was hampered by the
struggles among Christians; not only in the west but between Rest
and East. The Muslim conquests had forced both East and west to look
to Europe for further expansion, and there they came into contact
2h That was still the case in the eleventh century;
we continue to regard 105b as the date the division between Eastern f

and Western Christendom.was finalized, and it seems clear that the

 

23Erdmann, pp. hrl7. Much of the subsequent discussion is
based upon, or at least influenced by, Erdmann.

ZbJules Gay, "thes sur la Crise du Monde du ande Chrétien
aprES les conquetes Arabes," ”Elanges d'Archeologielgt d‘Histoire
dg_l'ficole francaise d2_Rome, XLV (1928), 1-7.

 

 

 

165

papacy allied with the l‘ormans in south Italy to oust the Byzantines
from that territory, and only later urged them against the kuslims.
Moreover, again along the lines suggested in the City 3£_§2d,
it had seemed to many that the emperor, rather than the pepe, was
responsible for the defense of Christendom against its foes. Thus
Charlemagne fought in Spain and elsewhere, Otto I and II sought to
oust Muslims from.various parts of EurOpe, and John VIII called on
the emperor for aid. But imperial failures caused the popes to step
into the roles of leadership, and John X, Benedict VIII, and espe-
cially Gregory VII did that.26 Their doing so helped to make the
crusade possible by alleviating the misgivings that had previously
been felt concerning war against the infidel: defense of the Holy

Land or aid to other Christians were causes which eradicated the

/“fears of waging an offensive war, and papal rather than secular

leadership gave the war a holy aura.
Yet another strain of thought which could be utilized by the

papacy was euhemerism. We have noted that the medieval Christians

s—P’

made little distinction among their various foes-all alike were

indiscriminately termed pagans-—and may wonder why the Muslims were

 

25Erdmann, pp. 99-100.

26Augustin Flighe, "Les origines de l'action de la Papautg'en vue
de la croisade,” Revue d'Histoire Ecclesiastique, XXXIV (1938),

765-750
27

 

Erdmann, p. 106.

28John Daniel Cooke, "Euhemerism: A Mediaeval Interpretation
of Classical Paganism," Speculum, II (1927), 39é-h10; Paul Alphandery,
"L'Evhemerisme et les debuts de l'histoire des religions au moyen
age,” Revue 92_1'histoire des religions, CIX (l93h), 5-27.

 

166

not recognized as members of a very definite and highly developed
religion. Euhemerism.provides a clue. Cooke notes that the people
of the Nfiddle Ages regarded the paran gods as being or having been
real beings with real power.

Probably the most generally accepted interpretation was to

regard them as only mortal men who had, through.the respect

of their descendants, become falsely worshipped as gods.29
' That is euhemerism, the idea that the gods were merely deified
mortals. It would also serve as a definition of the early Christian
understanding of Islam. The early Fathers, Cooke reports, attacked
the pagan deities on three main fronts: idolatry (the people set up
the likeness of an absent ruler and began to worship it), the sinful-
ness of the gods, and the non-deification of those gods (pagans
claimed the gods became real deities, the Fathers demurred). What
could have been easier than to utilize those same attacks in dealing
with what seemed to be another pagan faith-Islam? Cooke affirms
that thekephemeristic approach extends from Isidore of Seville to
the twelfth century, and further avers that Isidore influenced John
of Damascus. Although he does not specifically mention Islam
being viewed from a euhemeristic standpoint, it is certainly a
possibility. Andgélphandéry states: "The gods of the enemies of

“w

Israel were considered, like the gods of the Saracens, as semi-anthro-

30

pomorphic beings." Here was a plausible means of viewing Islam.

 

29

O
3 "Les dieux des ennemis d'IsraBl sont considérés comme des
dieux de Sarrazins,'h demi anthropomorphisés." Alphandéry, 9.

Cooke, 396.

167

Out of these diverse elements strong popes, particularly
Gregory VII, welded an ideology which undergirded their firm leader-
ship of the church and gave them.leadership of society. To be sure,
they were abetted by a military revival in the Italian cities, the “T,
Nbslim outrages against famous shrines (St. James of Compostela and
the Holy Sepulcher), and the gaining of greater wealth for western
Europe through successful attacks and piracy, but they rode the crest
of and contributed to a religious renewal which was the most important
» element in the stiffer attitude toward Islam which led to the crusade.‘
The results of that development of attitude are significant, and 1
are yet with us. The crusades and their distorted view of Islam
dominated Western European attitudes toward the Huslim world for
several centuries, as Daniel has ably shown. Missionary activity
was subordinated, not to become significant again until the sixteenth £/”
century. Perhaps most importantly, western Christendom.chose ideo-
logical Opposition rather than tolerant coexistence or peaceful
absorption as a means of dealing with the new, the strange, and the
challenging. Although coexistence-moderation'was tried, no strong
ideology was developed to sustain it and it was superseded by a
superiority-hostility approach, as were the various other competing
attitudes. Leadership of church reform and victory in the investiture
struggle have long been recognized as elements in the papacy's rise to
power; its ideological success in the matter of attitudes toward
Muslims should be similarly appreciated. Doing so will enable one
to evaluate not only the papacy, but also western society, more

accurately.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Since source materials have been analyzed in the text, it is
unnecessary to review them here. It is sirilarly superfluous to
discuss the many general works regarding the history of the pre-
crusade period; they are analyzed in such places as Louis J. Paetow,

Guide tg_the Study 2£_Ebdieval History (New York, 1931) or the

 

American historical Association, Guide to Historical Literature

 

(New York, 1961). The secondary works, both books and articles,
which were useful in preparing the study, are presented here in

connection with the chapter to which they relate.

Chapter I
General surveys of Islam are numerous; the best is Hamilton A.R.

Gibb, Mohammedanism, an Historical Survey, 2nd ed. (London, 1955).

 

 

For history of the Muslirs, the standard works are Philip K. Hitti,
History of the Arabs, 7th ed. (London, 1960); and the more widely

ranging Carl Brockelmann, History 2: the Islamic Peoples, tr. Joel

 

Carmichael and Noshe Perlmann (New York, l9hh). For Christianity

see Kenneth S. Latourette, History 2£_the Expansion 2f Christianity,

 

 

volume II, The Thousand Years gprncertainty (New York, 1938) for a

 

 

Protestant view; and from the Roman Catholic standpoint the following

splendid volumes: Louis Préhier et René'Aigrain, Gregoire le Grand,

les fitats barbares gt la conquéte Arabs, 590-757 (Paris, 19h7); Dmile

 

 

Amann, L'epoque_carolingienne (Paris, l9h7); Auguste Dumas, L'figlise

 

EB pouvoir des laigues, 887-1057 (Paris, 19h8); and Augustin Fliche,

 

168

169

£a_reforme gregorienne g£_la reconguSte chrétienne, 1057-1123 (Paris,

 

 

l9h6) (volumes V-VIII, respectively, in the series Histoire de l'Eglise,
eds. Augustin Fliche et Victor Martin).
On the Pirenne thesis, see first of all henri ?irenne, Mohammed

and Charlemagne, tr. Bernard Miall from the tenth French edition

 

(London, l95h) for the statement of the thesis. Alfred P. Havighurst,

ed., The Pirenne Thesis; Analysis, Criticism and Revision (Boston,

 

 

1958) is a guide to the divergent opinions regarding the Pirenne thesis
and contains a bibliography for further study. For variant responses

to the Pirenne thesis see : Erna Patzelt, Die frfinkische Kultur und

 

deg Islam mit besonderer Berncksichtigung der nordischen Entwicklung

 

(Baden, 1932); Daniel C. Dennett Jr., "Pirenne and Muhammad," Speculum,
XXIII (19h8), 165-90; Anne Riising, "The Fete of the Pirenne Thesis,"

Classica it Mediaevalia, XIII (1952), 87-130; Sture Bolin, "Mohamed,

 

Charlemagne and Ruric,” Scandinavian Economic History Review, I (1953),

 

5-39; and most thoroughly and recently William Carroll Bark, Origins

 

it; the Medieval World (New York, 1958).

 

No work fully treats the Muslim.wars against Europe. Useful
general works which include comments on the Muslim attacks are:

Ferdinand Lot, Christian Pfister, Frangois L. Ganshof, Les destinees

 

de l'Empire en Occident de 395‘s 888 (Paris, 1932); Augustin Fliche,

L'Europe occidentale dg_888 a_ll25 (Paris, 1930), (volumes I and II,

 

reSpectively, of Gustave Glotz, Histoire Generals: Histoire 93 moyen

 

 

age); and Louis Halphen, Les Barbares, des grandee invasions aux

 

conquétes turques d2 XIe sibcle, 26 ed. (Peuples at civilisations,

 

 

 

histoire géhérale, t. V), (Paris, 1930). Georg Lokys, Die Kgmpfe

 

 

170

der Araber mit den Karolingern.bis zum Tode Ludwigs I; (Heidelberg,

 

1906) covers the period the title indicates, but does not discuss

attitudes. Joseph T. Reinaud, Invasions des Sarrazins 32 France 3:.

 

de France en Savoie, en Piemont et en Suisse (Paris, 1836) has serious

_w—” —*~*

flaws which are only slightly alleviated in the English translation by

Earoon Khan Sherwani, Muslim.Colonies in France, Northern Italy, and

 

 

 

Switzerland (Lahore, 1955) who tries to mitigate Reinaud's defamatory

 

image of the Muslims. Most satisfactory is Archibald R. lewis, Naval

Power and Trade in the Mediterranean A.D. 500-1100 (Princeton, 1951).

 

 

For attitudes Hans Prutz, Kulturgeschichte der Kreuzzfige (Berlin,

 

1883) is a superb example of nineteenth century German historical

scholarship. Carl Erdmann, Die Entstehung_des Kreuzzugsgedankens

 

(Stuttgart, 1935) includes much information regarding Western attitudes
while emphasizing the papacy's role in developing the crusading idea.

Norman Daniel, Islam and the West: the waking gf_an_lmage (Edinburgh,

 

 

1960) is brilliant, but deals with the pre-crusade era only briefly.

The same is true of R.’=.'. Southern, Western Views 2}: Islam in the

 

lfiddle Ages (Cambridge, Mass., 1962), a collection of lectures with

 

unfortunately no bibliography.

Chapter II
Byzantine history is ably traced in A.A. Vasiliev, History 2f the

Byzantine Empire, 2nd ed. (Madison, 1952). Regarding Byzantine atti-

 

tudes toward Islam, see Carl Guterboch, Der Islam.im.Lichte der byzanp

 

 

tinischen Polemik (Berlin, 1912), an insightful and well-annotated

 

study; Paul Khoury, "Jean Damascene et l'Islam," Proche-Orient chrétieq,

 

171

VII (1957), bh-63; VIII(1958), 313-39, a thorough examination;
Gerhard Klinge, "Die Beziehungen zwischen christlicher und islamischer

Theologie im Anfang des Mittelalters," Zeitschrift ffir Kirchengeschichte,

 

LVI (1937), h3-58, which also supplies early Islamic views of Chris-
tianity; and Henri Gre oire und Roger Goosens, "Byzantinisches Epos

und arabischer Ritterroman," Zeitschrift des deutschen Morgenlfind-

 

ischen Gesellschaft, LXXXVIII (l93h), 213-32, an argument for the

 

influence of Mhslim.hero stories upon Byzantine epic literature.

Chapter III

L.M. Hartmann, Geschichte Italiens Em Mittelalter, h vols. (Leipzig,

 

 

1930-15), although old, is an excellent account of early medieval Italy.
For the trouble spots of Sicily and South Italy the 01d classics by

Michele Amari, Storia dei Musulmeni di_Sicilia, 3 vols., 2nd ed.,

 

(Catania, 1933), and Jules Gay, L'Italie meridionale et 1'empire

 

byzantin depuis l'avéhement de Basile I_jusaufia 1a prise de Bari

 

 

 

par les Normands (867-1071), (Bibliotheque des Eboles Frangaises
d'Athenes et de Rome, fasc. XC), (Paris, 190h), are still unsur-

passed. Further information can be gleaned from Giuseppe Pochettino,

 

I Langobardi nell'Italia meridionale (Napoli, 1930), and Luigi

Abbatanuovo, "I Saraceni in Puglia," Japigia, II (1931), 318-39.

Chapter IV
Spain has prompted extensive historical research. For general

history Reinhart P.A. Dozy, Histoire des Nbsulmans d'Espagne, 3 vols.,

 

I ‘I .
3° ed. by E. Lev1-Proven3a1 (Paris, 193k), though overly favorable to

the Nhslims, is still valuable; the English translation of an earlier

172

edition by Francis G. Stokes, Spanish Islam (New York, 1913), must

 

be used with caution and omits references useful to the scholar.

Dozy's Histoire should be supplemented with his Recherches sur

 

l'Histoire et la Litterature de 1'E5pagne pendant 1e Mbyen Age,

 

 

 

2 vols., 36 ed., (leyde, 1881), which contains a wealth of detailed
information upon which conclusions in the Histoire are based. See

’ e 1" I we 0
also Evariste Levi-Proveneal, hist01re de 1'Espagne Mussulmane, 3

 

vols., (Cairo, l9bh), and the same writer's L'ESpagne Mussulmane EB.

 

Xe sibcle (Paris, 1932), for a more recent and more judicious view
incorporating research since Dozy's time. A valuable guide to the
documents of Spanish history is Rafael Pallester y Castell, Las

fuentes narativas d3_la historia de Espana durante la edad media (hl7-

 

 

 

1h7h)(Palma de mallorca, 1908). The standard work on Spanish church

history is Pius Bonifacius Gams, Die Kirchengeschichte von Spanien,

 

3 vols. (Regensburg, l87h); vol. II, pt. II, relates to the pre-crusade
period. Regarding the French in Spain consult PrOSper Boissonnade,
"Cluny, 1a papaute'et 1a premiere grande croisade internationals

contre les Sarrasins d'Espagne; Barbastro (106h-65)f Rgzug_d3§_

questions historiques, LX (3.ser. XXI) (1932), 257-301; the same

 

author's "les premiers croisades francaises en Espagne. Normands,
Gascons, Aquitaine et Bourguignons (1018-32)," Annales de_la FacultJ'

des Lettres dg_Bordeaux, Bulletin Hispanique, XXXVI (193h), 5-28;

 

 

 

and Marcelin Defourneaux, Les francais en Espagne au XIe et XIIe

 

siecles (Paris, 19b9). Spanish writers Speak for themselves in the
collection of writings by Claudio Sanchez-Albornoz, Ia ESpaga

Musulmana segun los autores islamitas y cristianos medievales, 2 vols.

 

 

173

2nd ed., (Buenos Aires, 1960). On Paul Albar see Allen Cabaniss,

"Paulus Albarus of Kuslim Cordova," Church History, XXII (1953),

 

99-112; and Carleton H. Sage, Paul Albar of Cordoba; Studies on

 

 

his Life and writings (flashington, 19b3).

 

Chapter V
Literature on Charlemagne and the Carolingian Era is extensive.

I
For source cr1t1c1sm see Gabriel Monod, Etudes critioues sur les

 

sources de 1'histoire carolingienne (Bibliotheque de 1'Ebole pratique

 

 

des hautes etudes. Section des sciences philologiques et historiques.

t. CXIX), @aris, 1898); and louis Halphen, Ekudes critigues sur

 

l'histoire de Charlemagne (Paris, 1921). Among the many lives of

 

 

Charlemagne the best are: Joseph Calmette, Charlemagne; sa vie et

 

son oeuvre (Paris, l9h5); A. Kleinclausz, Charlemagne (Paris, 193A);

 

 

and LLUiS Halphen, Charlemagne et l'Empire carolingien (Paris, 19h7).

 

 

For later medieval views of Charlemagne see Prosper Boissonade, Du

nouveau sur la chanson de Roland (Paris, 1925); and Josef Rfingeler,

 

Das Bild Karls des Grossen in der Zeitgenossischen Annalistik und in

 

 

der Gedichts-und Briefliteratur (Gutersloh i. Wéstf., 1937).

 

Chapter VI
Much information regarding the activities of Muslims is given

in Rene Poupardin, Le royaume de Provence sous les carolingiens (855-

 

953?) (Bibliotheque de l'ficole des Hautes Etudes, t. moon), (Paris,

1901); and his Le royaume de_22urgogne, 888-1038 (Bibliotthue de

 

l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes, t. CLXIII), (Paris, 1907). Also valuable

is Leonce Auzias, L'Aquitaine carolingienne (778-987), (Toulouse,

 

1 7).;

Paris, 1937). Nuslim.invasions have been examined by M. Rey, £23.22?
vasions sarrasines en Provence (Marseille, 1878); and Bruno Luppi,

E Saraceni in Provenza (Bordighera, 1952). The recovery of the coastal
areas is related in Imbart de la Tour, "Les colonies agricoles st
1'occupation des terres desertss a 1'epoque carolingienne," in

lfilanges Paul Febre (Paris, 1902), pp. lh6-71; and Frangois-Louis

 

Ganshof, "Note sur les Ports ds Provence du VIIIe au X° sibcles,"

Revue Historique, CLXXXIII (1938), 28-37; Andre Dupont, "Considerations

 

sur la Colonisation et la vie rurale dans le Roussillon et la Narche
d'Espagne au 1X6 siecle," Annalee du Midi, LXVII (1955), 223-h5, is

also useful. On the Muslims in the Alps, see E. Oehlmann, "Die

Aloenpflsse im Mittelalter," Jahrbuch ffir schweizerische Geschichte,

 

III (1878), 165-289; and L. Patrucco, "I Saraceni in Piemonte et

nelle Alpi Orientals," Biblioteca della Societa Storica Subalpini,

 

XXXII (1908), 273-85.
Chapter VII
For general history of the papacy in the pre—crusade era see

Francis X. Seppelt, Papstgeschichte von den Anfflngen bis zur Gegen»

 

wart, 5th ed., (Mflnchen, 19b9); and Louis Duchesne, Les premiers

 

temps de l'Etat pontifical (Paris, 1898), tr. Arnold H. Hbtthew, The

 

Temporal Sovereignty 23 the Popes, A.D. 75b-1073 (London, 1908).

 

 

The time of John VIII has been thoroughly examined by Arthur lathre,

e o ’ n o
L'Eurone et 1e Saint-Siege a l'epoque carolingienne: 1e pape Jean

 

 

VIII (Paris, 1895); see for another important figure of the period

the same author's De Anastasio bibliothecario sedis apostolicae

 

175

(Paris, 1885). Fred B. Engreen, "Pope John the Eighth and the Arabs,"
Speculum, XX (l9h5), 318-30, deals Specifically with the pope's atti-

tudes toward fine Arabs; the’book of which it was to be a chapter seems
never to have appeared. Papal involvement in the battle of Garigliano
is illumined by Otto vehse, "Das Efindnis gsgen die Sarazenen vom Jahre

915," Quellen und Fbrschungen aus italienischen firchiven und

 

Bibliotheken, XIX (1927), 181-201; and P. Fedele, "La Battaglia del
Garigliano dell'anno 915 ed i monumenti che la ricordano," Archivio

della 53 Societa Rosana di_Storia Patria, XXII (1899), 181-211. On

 

 

 

the significance of pilgrimages see R. Rohricht, Deutsche Pilgerreisen

 

nach dem Heiligen Lands, 2nd ed. (Innsbruck, 1900). J.-Henri Pignot,

 

Fistoire de l'ordre de Cluny depuis la Fondation de 1'Abbaye juSqu'a

— — w“

 

 

1a Mort de Pierre-1e-Venerab1e (909-1157), 3 vols. (Paris and Autun,

 

 

1868), traces Cluniac history through the lives of the successive

abbots- Ernst Sackur, Die Cluniacenser in ihrer kirchlichen und

 

 

allgemeingeschichtlichen.Wirksamkeit bis zur Lfitts des elften Jahr-

 

hunderte, 2 vols. (Halls, 1892-9h), is more analytical and more

 

valuable. On papal ties with Spain in the late eleventh century
see J. Ramackers, "Analekten zur Geschichte des Rsformpapsttums und

der Cluniazenser," Quellen.und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven

 

und Bibliotheken, XXIII (I931-32), 22-52. The role of the papacy in

 

preparing for file crusades is examined by Augustin Fliche, ”Les origines

de 1'action de la Papauta en vue de la Croisade," Réyue d'histoire

 

ecclesiastiqus, XXXIV (1938), 765-75.

 

176

Chapter VIII
John D niel Cooke, "Euhemerism: A Mediaeval Interpretation of
Classical Paganism," Speculum, II (1927), 396-h10, explores the
topic thoroughly; see also Paul Alphandgry, "L'Evhemerisme et les

‘1
" Revue de

et les debuts ds 1'histoire des religions au moyen age,

 

1'histoire dos religions, CIX (l93b), 5-27. On Kethodius see first

 

Ernst Sackur, Sibyllinische Texts und Forschunxen: Pseudomethodius,

 

 

Pdso und die Tiburtinische Sibylle (Halls a.S., 1898); then Charlotte

 

d'Evelyn, "The Ifevelations of 7"3ethodius," PIA, XXXII], 2 (new series
XXVI, 2) (1918), 135-203; and Karbury B. Ogle, "Petrus Comestor,
Lethodius and the Saracens," Speculum, XXI (l9h6), 318-2h. See also

several of the works listed under chapter I.

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