Anglo-Saxon Perceptions of the Islamic World (Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England, Series Number 33)

"In this book, Katharine Scarfe Beckett is concerned with representations of the Islamic world prevalent in Anglo-Saxon England. Using a wide variety of literary, historical and archaeological evidence, she argues that the first perceptions of Arabs, Ismaelites and Saracens which derived from Christian exegesis preconditioned western expressions of hostility and superiority towards peoples of the Islamic world, and that these received ideas prevailed even as material contacts increased between England and Muslim territory. Medieval texts invariably represented Muslim Arabs as Saracens and Ismaelites (or Hagarenes), described by Jerome as biblical enemies of the Christian world three centuries before Muhammad's lifetime. Two early ideas in particular - that Saracens worshipped Venus and dissembled their own identity - continued into the early modern period. This finding has interesting implications for earlier theses by Edward Said and Norman Daniel concerning the history of English perceptions of Islam."--Jacket

Katherine Scarfe Beckett is concerned with representations of the Islamic world in Anglo-Saxon England. Using a variety of literary, historical and archaeological evidence, Beckett argues that the first perceptions of Arabs, Ismaelites and Saracens were derived from Christian exegesis. These perceptions preconditioned Western expressions of hostility and superiority towards peoples of the Islamic world, and these received ideas prevailed over actual experience.

Scarfe Beckett is concerned with western representations of the Islamic world in the Anglo-Saxon period. Using a wide variety of literary, historical and archaeological evidence, she argues that the perception of Arabs, Ismaelites and Saracens derived from Christian exegesis preconditioned a hostility towards Islamic peoples which prevailed over actual experience In AD 786, Bishop Georgius of Ostia, papal legate to England, wrote a letter to Pope Hadrian recording the decrees of two synods he had just attended in Mercia and Northumbria.

in This Book, Scarfe Beckett Is Concerned With Representations Of The Islamic World Prevalent In Anglo-saxon England.