Coats of arms and flags depicting scorpions, exotic turbans and caps, hooked noses, red hair, crimson, black or even blue faces, unnaturally twisted poses, obscene gestures and viciously aggressive grimaces. The art of the medieval West used many signs that marked and exposed non-believers (Jews, Muslims and pagans), heretics, other sinners and outcasts. All of them were associated with the "father of lies" - the devil, as well as with each other, as if they were part of a global conspiracy against Christian society. Pagan Romans were sometimes depicted in Jewish hats and with pseudo-Jewish inscriptions on their clothes, Jews - in Muslim turbans, and Muslims were accused of worshiping idols and calling on the ancient Roman gods. In his new book, medievalist Mikhail Maizuls shows how the image of the enemy was constructed from the 12th to the 16th centuries, how the mechanisms of stigmatization worked in the space of images and on city streets, and how techniques that emerged in the Middle Ages were transferred to pamphlets, posters, and caricatures of the New Age.

Awards and prizes
Entered the long list of the 15th season of the Dmitry Zimin "Enlightener" prize (included in the register of foreign agents).