saracen

It's a deragotary term for them because not unlike the viking word the Saracen in Arabic the word means barbarian or plunderer.

The irony is that the author of the article critisizing the word viking but used the word Saracen probably refering to the Arab or Muslim people of the Middle Age.

If I remember correctly, the first scene is a battle were Charlemagne's army is beaten by a Saracen army.

Mind you, a CSM pinched a Saracen or Saladin and tried to run down a bloke who was playing away with his wife.

For example machiolations were a response to sapping being used especially by Saracen armies (who seemed to favor sapping more than Europeans) against the Crusaders.

Looks like you could walk, in theory (but not legally): > During one Sunday in October 1993, Wally Michalski and Mike Turner, working as contractors on the British side, used a pair of the Saracen bicycles to cycle the 100-kilometre (62 mi) round-trip from Folkestone to Coquelles and back again.

The title is explained in the introduction, and relates to the etymology of the term "Saracen".

If the author simply did not address it at all, and left it as "Saracen influence/legacy", or "influence of Saracen wars/conquest/invasion/conflict/presence..", I would have been content (even with something as neutral as 'presence').

In fact, it's something that used to be a Christian ideal - to be able to maintain a courteous friendship with someone you are fundamentally at odds with (See: Song of Roland, Christian & "Saracen" Knights).

He saw it clearly over three centuries ago, when he wrote, after extensive study and research: "The Gothic style should more rightly be called the Saracen style." Wren, referring to the famous cathedrals of Europe, isn't necessarily paying the Saracens a compliment.