De Statu Sarracenorum: A Curious Medieval Christian Depiction of Islam and Arab History

Of the various surviving medieval Christian Latin texts that discuss Islam and Arab history, the tract De Statu Sarracenorum (‘Concerning the Status of the Saracens’), attributed to one William of Tripoli (Latin: Guilelmus Tripolitanus), stands out as one of the most interesting examples, both for the grander narrative view of Arab history adopted in th…