Spread of Anti-Islamic Sentiment in Middle Age Europe

Abstract

Europeanists have studied the First Crusade quite thoroughly for centuries.  Pope Urban II’s call for the Crusade in November of 1095 inspired a pan-European reaction and eventually a deadly assault on Jerusalem in 1099. This paper evaluates the anti-Muslim narratives embedded in the pope’s call for a crusade and how that rhetoric permeated European culture and escalated. By portraying Muslims as enemies of Christianity, Pope Urban II’s speech and accounts from crusaders reinforced a sense of Christian identity that inspired a pattern of violence against non-Christians for the centuries to come.