Syracuse University Press From Martyr to Murderer: Representations of the Assassins in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Europe

Ever since the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism, scholars have attempted to apply Western notions of the exotic Muslim "other" to medieval texts. In this book, Pagès examines the extremist Shi’ite Nizari Isma’ilis, a sect commonly known as the Assassins, to provide a fascinating case study of one such endeavor, one essential to our understanding of modern prejudices about Islam. Historical representations of this sect—known for its use of political assassination and its complicated relationship with Western Europe—closely paralleled commonly held views of Islam during the Middle Ages. Latin Christendom’s conceptions of the sect were actually more nuanced and complex, however, resulting in divergent readings that ranged from an emphasis on potential alliances in the earliest texts to exoticization in the works of the thirteenth century and later. By tracing how portrayals of the sect developed in medieval texts, From Martyr to Murderer shows that the Assassins did not originally inspire alienation in medieval Europe and that, on the contrary, they were even seen as potential converts to Christianity. Ultimately, Pagès’s adroit exploration of the Assassin legends leads readers to question preconceived notions about the image of Islam dating back to the Middle Ages.