The martyrdom of the Franciscans : Islam, the papacy, and an order in conflict /
MacEvitt, Christopher Hatch, 1972-
The martyrdom of the Franciscans : Islam, the papacy, and an order in conflict / Christopher MacEvitt. - Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2020] - viii, 289 pages ; 23 cm. - The Middle Ages series . - Middle Ages series. .
Includes bibliographical references and index.
While hagiographies tell of Christian martyrs who have died in an astonishing number of ways and places, slain by members of many different groups, martyrdom in a Franciscan context generally meant death at Muslim hands; indeed, in Franciscan discourse, "death by Saracen" came to rival or even surpass other definitions of what made a martyr. The centrality of Islam to Franciscan conceptions of martyrdom becomes even more apparent--and problematic--when we realize that many of the martyr narratives were largely invented. Franciscan authors were free to choose the antagonist they wanted, Christopher MacEvitt observes, and they almost always chose Muslims. However, martyrdom in Franciscan accounts rarely leads to conversion of the infidel, nor is it accompanied, as is so often the case in earlier hagiographical accounts, by any miraculous manifestation.
9780812251937
2019030172
Franciscans--History--To 1500.
Martyrdom--Christianity--History.
Christianity and other religions--Islam.
Christian martyrs--Islamic countries.
Church history--Middle Ages, 600-1500.
BX3606.3 / .M33 2020
272
The martyrdom of the Franciscans : Islam, the papacy, and an order in conflict / Christopher MacEvitt. - Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2020] - viii, 289 pages ; 23 cm. - The Middle Ages series . - Middle Ages series. .
Includes bibliographical references and index.
While hagiographies tell of Christian martyrs who have died in an astonishing number of ways and places, slain by members of many different groups, martyrdom in a Franciscan context generally meant death at Muslim hands; indeed, in Franciscan discourse, "death by Saracen" came to rival or even surpass other definitions of what made a martyr. The centrality of Islam to Franciscan conceptions of martyrdom becomes even more apparent--and problematic--when we realize that many of the martyr narratives were largely invented. Franciscan authors were free to choose the antagonist they wanted, Christopher MacEvitt observes, and they almost always chose Muslims. However, martyrdom in Franciscan accounts rarely leads to conversion of the infidel, nor is it accompanied, as is so often the case in earlier hagiographical accounts, by any miraculous manifestation.
9780812251937
2019030172
Franciscans--History--To 1500.
Martyrdom--Christianity--History.
Christianity and other religions--Islam.
Christian martyrs--Islamic countries.
Church history--Middle Ages, 600-1500.
BX3606.3 / .M33 2020
272