10. Christian Hatred of the Other: Theological Rhetoric vs. Political Reality

Any depiction of medieval antisemitism confronts the question of where to draw the line between verbal theological polemic and incitement to physical violence against the adversary. Irrational hatred could and did lead to the violence that fostered the portrayal of Western Christianity as a ‘persecuting society’.1 This also raises the question of the extent to which theological animosity was linked to real Others – contemporary Jews and Muslims. It can be difficult to precisely identify the distinction between theological adversary and religious-political enemy when examining the Crusades, Christian society’s military or violent action against unbelievers within and without Western Europe.2 This paper considers this distinction and the metaphorical portrayal of the enemy in three contexts. It first undertakes a comparative consideration of Peter the Venerable’s anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim thought, viewing him as a touchstone of medieval Christian thought and rhetoric regarding the Other. Then, using medieval Scandinavia and the Baltic as a test case, it considers the question of whether anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence required the presence of the Other. It concludes with a comparison of the attitude toward the Other in the Latin East, where the adversary was an actual presence, and in Europe, where the adversary often assumed virtual form.