Saracen is an historical term for a certain group of people but the meaning changed during its history. In the early centuries AD in Greek and Latin it referred to a people who lived in desert areas in and near the Roman province of Arabia, and who were specifically distinguished from Arabs.^[1][2] In Europe during the Early Middle Ages, the term began to be used to describe Arab tribes.^[3] By the 12th century, "Saracen" had become synonymous with "Muslim" in Medieval Latin literature. This expansion of the meaning had begun centuries earlier among the Byzantine Greeks, as evidenced in Byzantine Greek documents from the era of the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate.^[4][1][5]

Early usage and origins[link]

Ptolemy's Geography from the second century CE describes Sarakene as a region in the northern Sinai peninsula.^[2] Ptolemy also mentions a people called the Sarakenoi living in north-western Arabia (near neighbor to the Sinai).^[2] Eusebius of Caesarea references Saracens in his Ecclesiastical history, in which he narrates an account wherein Dionysus, Bishop of Alexandria mentions Saracens in a letter while describing the Roman emperor Decius' persecution: "Many were, in the Arabian mountain, enslaved by the barbarous sarkenoi."^[2] The Historia Augusta also refers to an attack by Saraceni on Pescennius Niger's army in Egypt in 193 CE but provides little information on who they might have been.^[6]

Both Hippolytus and Uranius mention three distinct peoples in Arabia during the first half of the third century: the Saraceni, the Taeni and the Arabes.^[2] The Taeni, later identified with the Arabic speaking people called Tayy, were located around the Khaybar oasis north of Medina, and also in an area stretching up to the Euphrates river, while the Saraceni were placed north of them.^[2] These Saracens located in the northern Hejaz appear as people with a certain military ability who are opponents of the Roman Empire and who were characterized by the Romans as barbarians.^[2]

The Saracens are described as forming the equites (heavy cavalry) from Phoenicia and Thamud.^[7] In one document the defeated enemies of Diocletian's campaign in the Syrian desert are described as Saracens. Other 4th century military reports make no mention of Arabs but refer to as Saracens groups ranging as far east as Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) that were involved in battles on both the Persian and Roman sides.^[7][8] They are described in the Roman administrative document Notitia dignitatum—dating from the time of Theodosius I in the 4th century—as comprising distinctive units in the composition of the Roman army and they are distinguished in the document from Arabs and Iiluturaens.^[7]

Medieval usage[link]

An illumination depicting Romans punishing Cretan Saracens, taken from the Madrid Skylitzes, a 12th-century Byzantine manuscript.

An illumination from the Auchinleck manuscript, a 14th-century manuscript which included The King of Tars.

Usage of the term in the Latin West changed as the Middle Ages progressed, but its connotation remained negative and its exact definition continued to be unclear.^[9] In an 8th century polemical work, John of Damascus criticized the Saracens as followers of a false prophet and "forerunner[s] to the Antichrist."^[10] Two centuries later, Europeans perceived Saracens as poor, uneducated idolaters belonging to a group wholly separate from the Arabs who brought Aristotle to the Latin West and the Moors and Berbers fighting Christians in Spain; someone who got all of his or her information on Islam from medieval sources would not conclude the three groups represented one continuous culture.^[9]

Medieval literature and race[link]

By the 12th century, Medieval Europeans had more specific conceptions of Islam and "Saracen" had become a racial and religious marker.^[1][11] In some Medieval literature Saracens—that is, Muslims—are black-skinned, while Christians are fair-skinned. An example is in The King of Tars, a medieval romance.^[12][13] The Song of Roland, an Old French 11th-century heroic poem, takes the association of black skin with Saracens a step further by making it their only exotic feature.^[14]

See Also[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Saracens.

• Byzantine-Arab Wars
• Medieval Christian view of Muhammad
• Mohammedan
• Moors
• Orientalism
• Serkland
• Tatars

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Daniel, Norman. 1979. The Arabs and Mediaeval Europe. Longman Group Limited. ISBN 0-582-78088-8
• Heng, Geraldine. 2004. Empire of Magic: Medieval Romance and the Politics of Cultural Fantasy. Columbia University Press ISBN 978-0-231-12527-7
• Kahf, Mohja. 1999. Western Representations of the Muslim Women: From Termagant to Odalisque. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-74337-3
• Retso, Jan. 2003. The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7007-1679-1
• Tolan, John Victor. 2002. Saracens: Islam in the Medieval European Imagination. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12333-4

Owen Andrew Farrell (born 24 September 1991) is an English rugby union player, currently playing for Aviva Premiership side Saracens. His father is Andy Farrell, who played both for England's rugby league and rugby union sides.

His primary position is fly-half, but he often plays at centre.

Early career[link]

Farrell was born on 24 September 1991 in Wigan, Greater Manchester. He began playing rugby league in his hometown at the age of eight for Wigan St Patricks.^[2] When his father Andy signed for Saracens in 2005, his family moved to Harpenden, where Owen was introduced to rugby union for the first time.^[3]

Saracens[link]

He held the record of youngest ever player to appear in English professional rugby union after playing for Saracens 11 days after his 17th birthday, in a 26–17 home defeat against Llanelli Scarlets in the EDF Energy Cup on 5 October 2008,^[4] until this record was broken in November 2009 by Leicester's George Ford, the son of another former Rugby League international (Mike Ford).

In the 2010–11 season, Farrell signed for Bedford Blues on loan. However, he returned to Saracens and was pivotal in the 2010-11 Aviva Premiership Final kicking five penalties and converting James Short's try for a personal haul of 17 points in the 22-18 victory over reigning champions Leicester Tigers.

England[link]

He was given his first call-up to the England Elite Player Squad when Stuart Lancaster selected him in his squad for the 2012 Six Nations Championship.^[5] He made his debut on 4 February 2012 against Scotland, starting at Inside Centre next to Saracens' team-mates Brad Barritt and Charlie Hodgson. He kicked two penalties and a conversion, but also missed two tough penalties from around 50 meters out for a cumulative total of 8 points.

His next match, against Italy, saw him put in a faultless kicking display, kicking four penalties and a conversion for a tally of 14 points.

In the next match against Wales, Farrell played Fly-Half for the first time in an England shirt after Charlie Hodgson failed a fitness test after sustaining a finger injury in the week leading up to the Wales game.[1] Once again his goal kicking was impressive missing just a single kick out of five but was replaced by Toby Flood later in the game after appearing to injure his leg after a clearance kick. He then played against France and Ireland. In the Ireland game Farrell put in a good kicking display, putting in 20 points and only missing 1 conversion. Farrell finished the competition with 63 points from 5 games.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Saracens profile
• ESPNscrum.com profile
• ercrugby.com profile