The oldest known source mentioning "Saracens" in association with Muslims is the Greek-language Christian tractDoctrina Jacobi, which was compiled in theByzantine Empire amidst theMuslim conquest of the Levant.[5] The word became particularly widespread in European societies during theCrusades, when it was used by theRoman Catholic Church and by several European Christian political and military figures.
By the 12th century, "Saracen" had developed various overlapping definitions that generally conflated peoples and cultures in theAbbasid Caliphate, comprising all those in theNear East and beyond. Such an expansion in its meaning had begun centuries earlier, as evidenced in a number of 8th-century Byzantine documents in which Muslims are called Saracens.[1][6][7] Before the 16th century, "Muslim" and "Islam" were generally not used in European discourse, with a few isolated exceptions;[8] "Saracen" was gradually rendered obsolete amidst theAge of Discovery, whereafter "Mohammedan" became commonplace, though it also fell out of use by the 20th century and is now considered a misnomer or impertinent by many Muslims because it may suggest that theyworship Muhammad rather than God.
TheLatin termSaraceni is of unknown original meaning. There are claims of it being derived from the Semitictriliteral rootšrq "east" andšrkt "tribe, confederation".[9][10] Another possible Semitic root issrq "to steal, rob, thief", more specifically from the nounsāriq (Arabic:سارق), pl.sāriqīn (سارقين), which means "thief, marauder".[11] In hisLevantine Diary, covering the years 1699–1740, the Damascene writer Hamad bin Kanan al-Salhi(ar) (Arabic:محمد بن كَنّان الصالحي) used the termsarkan to mean "travel on a military mission" from theNear East to parts of Southern Europe which were underOttoman Empire rule, particularlyCyprus andRhodes.[12]
BothHippolytus of Rome and Uranius mention three distinct peoples in Arabia during the first half of the third century: theTaeni, theSaraceni, and theArabes.[2][3] TheTaeni, later identified with theArab people calledTayy, were located aroundKhaybar (an oasis north of Medina) and also in an area stretching up to theEuphrates. TheSaraceni were placed north of them.[2][3] These Saracens, located in the northernHejaz, were described as people with a certain military ability who were opponents of theRoman Empire and who were classified by the Romans asbarbarians.[2][3]
The Saracens are described as forming theequites fromPhoenicia andThamud.[14][15][16] In one document, the defeated enemies ofDiocletian's campaign in theSyrian Desert are described as Saracens. Other 4th-century military reports make no mention of Arabs, but refer toSaracen groups ranging as far east asMesopotamia who were involved in battles on both theSasanian and Roman sides.[14][15][16][17] The Saracens were named in the Roman administrative documentNotitia Dignitatum, dating from the time ofTheodosius I in the 4th century, as comprising distinctive units in theRoman army. They were distinguished in the document from Arabs.[18]
Use ofsaracene in Catholic narrative: Ceiling of church painting with the name "Attacco delle navi saracene", byJulius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1822–27.
No later than the early fifth century, Jewish and Christian writers began to equate Saracens with Arabs. Saracens were associated withIshmaelites (descendants ofAbraham's firstbornIshmael) in some strands of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic genealogical thinking. The writings ofJerome (d. 420) are the earliest known version of the claim that Ishmaelites chose to be called Saracens in order to identify with Abraham's "free" wifeSarah, rather than as Hagarenes, which would have highlighted their association with Abraham's "slave woman"Hagar.[19] This claim was popular during the Middle Ages, but derives more from Paul's allegory in the New Testament letter to the Galatians than from historical data. The nameSaracen was not indigenous among the populations so described but was applied to them by Greco-Roman historians based on Greek place names.[2][3]
As the Middle Ages progressed, usage of the term in the Latin West changed, but its connotation remained associated with opponents of Christianity, and its exact definition is unclear.[20] In an 8th-century polemical work, the Arab monkJohn of Damascus criticized the Saracens as followers of a "false" prophet and "forerunner[s] to the Antichrist," and further connected their name to Ishmael and his expulsion.[21][22]
By the 12th century, Medieval Europeans used the termSaracen as both an ethnic and religious marker.[1][23] In some Medieval literature, Saracens were equated with Muslims in general and described as dark-skinned, while Christians lighter-skinned. An example is inThe King of Tars, a medieval romance.[24][25][26]The Song of Roland, anOld French 11th-century heroic poem, refers to the black skin of Saracens as their only exotic feature.[27]
The termSaracen remained in use in the West as a synonym for "Muslim" until the 18th century. When theAge of Discovery commenced, it gradually lost popularity to the newer termMohammedan, which came into usage from at least the 16th century. After this point,Saracen enjoyed only sporadic usage (for example, in the phrase "Indo-Saracenic architecture") before being outmoded entirely.
In theWiltshire dialect, the meaning of "Sarsen" (Saracen) was eventually extended to refer to anything regarded as non-Christian, whether Muslim or pagan. From that derived the still current term "sarsen" (a shortening of "Saracen stone"), denoting the kind of stone used by the builders ofStonehenge,[28] long predating Islam.
Maugis fighting the Saracen Noiron in Aigremont, inRenaud de Montauban. David Aubert, Bruges, 1462–1470.
The rhyming stories of theOld FrenchCrusade cycle were popular with medieval audiences in Northern France, Occitania and Iberia. Beginning in the late 12th century, stories about the sieges ofAntioch andJerusalem gave accounts of battle scenes and suffering, and of Saracen plunder, their silks and gold, and masterfullyembroidered andwoven tents. From the story of the Frankish knights at the tent of Saracen leader Corbaran:[29]
The tent was very rich, draped with brilliant silk, and patterned green silk was thrown over the grass, with lengths of cut fabric worked with birds and beasts. The cords with which it was tied are of silk, and the quilt was sewn with a shining, delicatesamit.
^Déroche, Vincent; Dagron, Gilbert (1991).Doctrina Jacobi nuper Baptizati, 'Juifs et chrétiens dans l'Orient du VIIe siècle' (Edition of the Greek text with French translation ed.). pp. 17–248.;Kirby, Peter."External references to Islam".External References to Islam. Archived fromthe original on 29 April 2006. Retrieved10 September 2018.
^"الحوادث اليومية من تاريخ أحد عشر وألف ومية" [The Chronicles of Ash-Sham"].Yawmiat Shamiyya (Chronicles of Ash-Sham) (in Arabic). The Daily Events As of 1111 Hijri / 1699 CE. 15 October 2015. Retrieved30 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Damascene, John (28 April 2012)."The Fount of Knowledge"(PDF).Gotiska Ärkestiftet av de Sanna ortodoxt kristna. Translated by Warwick, G. N. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 26 September 2013. Retrieved30 April 2018.
^Chase, Frederic (1958).Writings (The Fathers of the Church, vol. 37). Catholic University of America Press. pp. 153–160.ISBN9780813200378.There is also the superstition of the Ishmaelites which to this day prevails and keeps people in error, being a forerunner of the Antichrist. They are descended from Ishmael, [who] was born to Abraham of Agar, and for this reason they are called both Agarenes and Ishmaelites. They are also called Saracens, which is derived from Sarras kenoi, or destitute of Sara, because of what Agar said to the angel: 'Sara hath sent me away destitute.'{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Heller, Sarah Grace (2002). "Fashion in French Crusade Literature Desiring Infidel Textiles". In Koslin, Desiree (ed.).Encountering Medieval Textiles. Palgrave Macmillian. p. 103.
Déroche, Vincent; Dagron, Gilbert (1991).Doctrina Jacobi nuper Baptizati, "Juifs et chrétiens dans l'Orient du VIIe siècle" (Greek text with French translation ed.). pp. 17–248.
Timani, Hussam,Saracens, in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol. II, pp. 538–542.ISBN1610691776
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