I argue in my
> > thesis that the spirit of the movement may have been resurrected at
> > the time of the first few crusades, particularly with Peter the
> > Venerable, who may have had access to the manuscripts.
>
> what is your evidence for this (interesting speculation...)?
>
> rlandes
A variety of things, actually, given that the lives of the martyrs
were known in certain monastic circles, and there was an attempt to
emulate their actions. Peter and Cluny had close contacts with Spain,
and Spanish Cluniac houses. I argue that one of Peter's reasons for
imploring Bernard to write a refutation of Islam was to strengthen
the faith of Arabic-speaking, Spanish Christians, a concern
also shared by Eulogius and Alvarus, who felt that Latin culture had
been eroded, and these "fringe" Christians were in danger of
conversion or persecution, fears which were also expressed during
both time periods.
There is a martial spirit to the martyrs of Cordova; indeed, many of
them were former soldiers, and saw their actions as a kind of fight
for God, exactly as the crusaders would do. I'm not saying that the
Martyrs' Movement influenced the crusades in any significant way, but
some of the parallels are striking: the military attitude, the
supposed danger to Christians living under "occupied" rule, the use
of apocalyptic imagery in describing Islam, the notion of martyrdom by
dying at the hands of Muslims, the fanatical devotion to the Movement
by some, the polemics and justifications written in its defense by
certain Churchmen.
Peter uses some similar language at times to that of Eulogius, though
that may be coincidental. Nevertheless, I think a case could be made
circumstantially that Peter and others may have had access to the
accounts of Cordova, if not in Cluny, then possibly in Toledo. We are
still not sure if Peter conceived of his project to study and refute
Islam before setting off for Spain, or while he was there (the latter
seems to me the more likely). Given the vast library of Arabic and
Latin manuscripts available to the translators there, it seems
probable that someone would have had knowledge of the Cordovan affair.
I'm still curious as to who celebrated this feast and where?
Tim Rayborn
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