Introduction -- Islam during the Anglo-Saxon period -- Anglo-Saxon contacts with Islam -- Arabs and Arabia in Latin -- Ismaelites and Saracens in Latin -- Arabs, Ismaelites and Saracens in early Anglo-Latin -- Pseudo-Methodius and the sons of Ismael -- Arabs, Ismaelites and Saracens in Old English -- Persisting theories about Saracens in post-Conquest England
Summary
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
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 244-272) and index
