CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM IN MEDIEVAL THOUGHT. AGREEMENTS AND DISAGREEMENTS

The relationships between Christians and Muslims were not equal. The confrontation was not the paradigm of said relationship, but nor can we assert that they were on good and peaceful terms. While these relationships existed, they were normalized. In fact, both Christians and Muslims used to either fight over land or share it. Besides, there actually were Christians who lived in Muslim territory and viceversa. The separation between the Islamic and Christian worlds did exist and showed on religion, everyday life and, obviously, on their way of thinking. The dispute was unequal and varied whether they were dealing with philosophy or theology. Some of these agreements and disagreements are looked into in this article. We start with the most famous: the Averroist condemnation at Paris University; and we go on with earlier discords which help us understand the nature of their dispute during Medieval times, such as the Bagdad controversy and the polemic literature written on Christian ground by Raimundo Marti in the XIII century. We will finish with a positive view of Saint Francis of Assisi's experience: a spiritual encounter from the standpoint of firm convictions and the highest respect of others which could be widely used to encourage interpersonal encounters and break cultural barriers.