Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

Strickland, Debra Higgs

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Description: Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

BOOKSaracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

Debra Higgs Strickland

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19747

During the crusades, Ethiopians, Jews, Muslims, and Mongols were branded enemies of Christian majority. This book reveals the pejorative ways these rejected social groups were represented—often as monsters, demons, or freaks of nature. It traces the origins of negative pictorial code used to portray monsters, demons, and non-Christian peoples.

"Strickland had made an excellent contribution not only to the history of persecution in the middle ages, but to the history of medieval art and cosmology as well."—Eric Johnson, UCLA

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Print publication date January 2003 (out of print)

Print ISBN 9780691057194

EISBN 9780300252927

Illustrations 133

Print Status out of print

Publisher (out of print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Zodiac Man
Melancholy, detail
Health Man, detail
Mappa mundi
Monstrous Races, detail
Ethiopia, detail
Men Who Speak Through Gestures; A Man Who Drinks From a Straw; A Man Without a Nose
De Natura Avium; De Pastoribus et Ovibus; Bestiarium; Mirabilia Mundi; Philosophia Mundi; On the Soul
Marginal Anthropophagi and animals, detached leaf from a treatise on vices, detail
Epiphagus, detail of transept rose
Body politic, detail
Christ's Mission to the Apostles, tympanum
Cynocephali, detail of tympanum
Panotii, detail of tympanum
Pygmy riding a partridge, capital
Spies returning from Canaan, misericord
Ethiopian shooting a Sciopod, detail
Saints Guthlac and Bartholomew versus demons
Devils pouring molten lead down the throats of the damned, detail
Temptation in the Wilderness
Twelve devils
Moses cursing the deformed; Christ cursing personifications of sin, detail
Demons and angels weighing souls, detail of tympanum
Fall of the rebel angels
Devil stuffling the dragon into hell, detail
First temptation of Christ, detail
Three temptations of Christ
Head of the Roll of the Exchequer
Healing of the Gadarene demoniacs, detail
Ethiopian and hellmouth
Flagellation of Christ (detail)
Ethiopians (detail)
Saracen, foreigner, and Ethiopian
Marginal Ethiopian and crane
Decorated initial
Pricket Candlestick with a Naked Youth Fighting a Dragon
Tree of Jesse Window: The Reclining Jesse, King David, and Scenes from the Life of Jesus, detail
Heavenly Jerusalem, detail
Jews barred from heaven, detail
The Cloisters Cross, detail
Fetternear Banner, detail
Israelites dancing around the Golden Calf
Christ before Caiaphas, detail
Crucifixion with sponge-bearer
Mocking of Christ; flagellation
Betrayal and arrest of Christ; Christ before Pilate
Desecration of the Host, detail
Israelite: Sacrifice in Temple of Zerubbabel
Israelites roasting a lamb, detail
Jews and the lamb; lion resuscitating cubs
Theophilus makes a pact with the Devil
The Virgin and child in heaven; Jew in hell
Jacob asks to be buried in Canaan; Jews in hell, detail
Fourth Horseman, detail
Marginal demon and monstrous Jew
Third Horseman, detail
Giant, Sciopod, Pygmy, Bragmanni
Sciopod in an initial D, detail
Pygmy and goat, detail
Manticore, detail
Jew shooting an owl, detail
The Prayer Book of Bonne of Luxembourg, Duchess of Normandy, detail
Fool disputing with a Jew, detail
Fool disputing with an Augustinian, detail
God curses Cain and his offspring; Christ curses the Jews, detail
Judah rejects his wife; Christ rejects Synagoga, detail
Apostle, Paul: preaching
Israelite: smitten by Philistines and Ark of Covenant: taken by Philistines
Bears destroy the children who mocked Elisha; Titus and Vespasian destroy the Jews who mocked Christ, detail
Allegory of the hyena, detail
Clerics singing; cock crowing
Saint Lucy resisting idolatry, detail
Hyena, detail
Jews and Saracen, detail of tympanum
Guardians of the Holy Sepulcher, detail of tympanum
Elephant, detail
Jews worshipping an idol, Hereford Map, detail
Initial L with Crucifixion
Saracen kneeling before an image of the Virgin, detail
Saracens frightening the French knights' horses, detail
Theft of the Ark of the Covenant, detail
Call for action against Nabal; call for a crusade against the Albigensians, detail
Martyrdom of Saint Valerie, Chasse of Saint Valerie, principal face
Martyrdom of Saint Vincent
Christ carrying the Cross
Richard the Lionheart versus Saladin, detail
Battle of Roncevaux, detail
Battle of Roncevaux, detail
French versus Saracens, detail
Crusaders fighting Saracens, detail
Wild Men and Moors, detail
Saracen, bench-end
Marginal Saracen threatens praying Christians, detail
Alexander's army versus the Cyclopes, detail
Alexander's army versus the one-eyed Blemmyai, detail
Hemaphrodite; Himantopodes. Hereford Map, detail
Monstrous Muhammed
Muhammed, detail
Death of Muhammed, detail
Tartar cannibals, detail
Tartar warrior, detail
The Battle of Liegnitz; The Beheading of Heinrich and His Soul Carried by Angels to Heaven
Invasion of the Tartars, detail
Anthropophagi. Hereford Map, detail
The Great Khan's dinner party, detail
Tartars worshiping an idol, detail
Tartars burning a corpse; worshiping an idol, detail
Dogheads worshipping an idol, detail
Attack of the Dogheads; siege of a castle
Prester John in prayer, detail
Battle of Genghis Khan and Prince John, detail
Antichrist, misericord
The Beast marking the Jews, detail
Apocalypse 13
Jews, heretics, and other miscreants adore Antichrist, detail
Longbowman and multiheaded demon, detail
Jews, king, and Ecclesia, detail
The Beast and his image as Saladin and Muhammed, detail
The Beast of the Earth, his image, and henchmen, detail
Seven-headed dragon
Blemmyai and Ethiopians en route to Antichrist, detail
Ethiopian, Saracen, and Jew adore Antichrist, detail
Alexander in prayer; Gog and Magog enclosed, detail
Alexander's Gate. Hereford Map, detail
Gog and Magog, detail
Tomb of St. Thomas
Abraham kneeling before the Trinity
Saint Mark
Vision of the Lamb, detail
Wild Condition
Mary Magdalen: at Sepulcher
Prester John. Mappa mundi, detail
Initial Q: Christ: Betrayal and Arrest

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Contents

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

Contents

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183.001

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19748

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Preface

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

IN HIS 1290 VERSE TREATISE on “monstrous men,” Clerk of Enghien succinctly articulated what had been a fundamental object of Western fascination for a very long time: people in the East are utterly different from those in the West. The present book explores the transformation of this sentiment from fascination to rejection and hatred, from Others as marvels to Others as...

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.7-20

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183.002

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19749

Chapter subject tags:Church history--Middle Ages, 600-1500Christianity and antisemitismIllumination of books and manuscripts, MedievalArt, Medieval

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1. Making Men Known by Sight: Classical Theories, Monstrous Races, and Sin

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

ENEMIES OF THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH not only followed the wrong religion; they were also literally ugly as sin. This chapter will examine the conceptual origins of this ugliness and the process by which flawed physical form came to be identified with character defects and moral failings. The ideas that provided the complex infrastructure for the simple medieval dichotomy of...

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.29-59

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183.003

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19750

Chapter subject tags:Illumination of books and manuscripts, MedievalMonsters--Symbolic aspectsArt, MedievalCivilization, Medieval--Classical influencesAstrology, MedievalClimate and civilization, MedievalBlack people in art--MedievalStereotypes (Social psychology) in art--MedievalPhysiognomy in art--MedievalMinorities in art--MedievalChristian art and symbolism--EthiopiaMongols--History--To 1500Muslims--India--History

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2. Demons, Darkness, and Ethiopians

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

THROUGH THEIR COMBINATION of abnormal physical form and uncivilized activities, Monstrous Races expressed ideas about sin and barbarity. Demons, by contrast, transcend the realms of sin and barbarity to embody concepts more abstract and fundamental to Christian belief. That is, demons represent an attempt to...

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.61-93

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183.004

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19751

Chapter subject tags:Illumination of books and manuscripts, MedievalPhysiognomy in art--MedievalDemonology in art--MedievalArt, MedievalChristianity and other religions--MedievalJudaism--History--Medieval and early modern period, 425-1789Ethiopians in art--MedievalMinorities in art--MedievalBlack people in art--MedievalRace and religion--Medieval

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3. Christians Imagine Jews

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

WHEN I CLAIM TO INVESTIGATE images of medieval Christendom’s enemies both real and imaginary, I am making a modern and practical distinction that was all but irrelevant to medieval Christians. It is far more difficult to draw a line between the actual and the fantastic during the Middle Ages given that constructed views of living non-Christians were nearly entirely...

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.95-155

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183.005

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19752

Chapter subject tags:Illumination of books and manuscripts, MedievalChristianity and antisemitismPhysiognomy in art--MedievalApocalypse in art--MedievalJudaism--History--Medieval and early modern period, 425-1789Art, MedievalMinorities in art--MedievalEschatology--History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art--MedievalDemonology in art--Medieval

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4. Saracens, Tartars, and Other Crusader Fantasies

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

THIS LAST PITHY SENTIMENT is voiced twice in The Song of Roland, the renowned medieval epic tale of the triumph of Christian forces...

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.157-209

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183.006

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19753

Chapter subject tags:Illumination of books and manuscripts, MedievalMongols--History--To 1500Crusades in artArt, MedievalChristianity and other religions--MedievalIslamic Empire--HistoryJudaism--History--Medieval and early modern period, 425-1789Bestiaries--MedievalIdolatry in art--MedievalPaganism in art--MedievalChanson de RolandTatarsPrester John (Legendary character)

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5. Eschatological Conspiracies

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

ONE OF THE WAYS BY WHICH medievals constructed the Other in the shape of the known, as Michael Uebel has observed, was by...

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.211-239

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183.007

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19754

Chapter subject tags:Illumination of books and manuscripts, MedievalEschatology--History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500Alexander, the Great, 356 B.C.-323 B.C.Physiognomy in art--MedievalChristianity and other religions--MedievalApocalypse in art--MedievalJudaism--History--Medieval and early modern period, 425-1789Antichrist--MedievalArt, MedievalPersecution--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500Islamic Empire--HistoryBlack people in art--MedievalEthiopians in art--MedievalMonsters in art--Medieval

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6. Conclusions: What Is a Monster?

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

WE HAVE SEEN THAT a major preoccupation for Christian artists, writers, and theologians during the later Middle Ages was the portrayal of rejected religious and cultural groups. If not the terrifying monsters referred to in the passage quoted above from the Anglo-Saxon Book of Monsters,Liber...

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.241-255

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183.008

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19755

Chapter subject tags:Theology--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500Christianity and antisemitismChristianity and other religions--MedievalMonsters in art--MedievalIllumination of books and manuscripts, MedievalArt, MedievalBlack people in art--MedievalPrester John (Legendary character)Ethiopians in art--Medieval

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Acknowledgments

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

~THIS BOOK GREW FROM A COURSE I taught first in 1995 at the University of Oregon and subsequently at the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh. Although what I have written here departs considerably from material covered in the course, there is still significant overlap, so I must therefore thank my students at all three institutions. Their...

Author

Debra Higgs Strickland

PublisherPrinceton University Press

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00183.009

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-19756

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Bibliography

Debra Higgs Strickland

Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art

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