La figure du barbare turc dans le discours politique et civilisationnel français du moyen âge (XII^e–XV^e siècles)

As evidenced by medieval French narratives, barbarity is a key element in the Western representation of the Turks. The notion of “barbarian” is fundamentally linked and diametrically opposed to that of “civilized”: the barbarian is a stranger to the civilisation, a foreigner, an outsider. Thus, confrontations between “us” and the members of the opposing camp, “them,” arise, the latter being perceived as a threat to the well-being of “our” culture and identity. This article examines how medieval French authors proceed to inscribe the Turks in a long line of barbarian peoples hostile to the West. The main interest of this study is to illustrate that the usage of the label “barbarian,” applied to the Turks, fulfills political criteria and aims to conceal the expansionist plans of the Westerners themselves while making the Turkish conquests unacceptable and illegal.