Monstrous Muslims? Depicting Muslims in French Illuminated Manuscripts from 1200-1420

This paper examines depictions of Muslims in illuminated manuscripts produced in France between 1200-1420 that feature images of Christian-Muslim interactions. The study specifically looks at three popular manuscripts from the time: the Histoire d\u27Outremer, the Grandes Chroniques de France, and the Roman d\u27Alexandre en Prose. By examining the depictions of Saracens in these three manuscripts I attempt to gain an understanding of the artists\u27 perceptions of Muslims. I argue that through analyzing the topoi employed by these artists we can understand how they and their audiences viewed Muslims. These images demonstrate that these artists understood Saracens to be very different from themselves but could also recognize admirable qualities and see similarities to them. This implies a nuanced understanding of Muslims that comes out in many of the depictions of Christian-Muslim interactions shown in these manuscripts