Tentative Global Timeline of Contacts between the World of Islam and Western Europe: 7th -20th Cent.

The following timeline presents a survey of Muslim presence in Europe from the 7th century CE until the 20th century. It lists the various and different contacts that shaped the relations of Muslims with Western Europe.

By Omar Mubaidin*

The following timeline [1] presents a survey of Muslim presence in Europe from the 7th century CE until the 20th century. It lists the various and different contacts that shaped the relations of Muslims with Western Europe and gave rise to perceptions and labels of Muslims in the West during several centuries. These relations were various, religious, military, diplomatic, through trade and commerce, by intellectual exchanges in different domains. It is by thinking about these events of the past that we can understand the actual state of complexity of the relationships between these two major components of our world.

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Conquest of Spain and campaigns into France
3. Andalusian caliphate
4. Post Caliphal Spain through the Reconquista
5. The last Muslim power in Spain
6. Muslims in the Iberian peninsula after Granada’s fall
7. Early Excursions into Sicily and Other Mediterranean Islands
8. Muslim Sicily
9. Muslims in non-Muslim Sicily
10. Mediterranean Islands after Sicilian conquest
11. Muslims in Italy
12. Nordic-Muslim relations
13. Muslims in Britain
14. Franco-Muslim relations
15. Muslims in Alpine nations
16. Benelux-Muslim contacts
17. German-Muslim contacts
18. Converts, corsairs, renegades and rebels (14th-20th centuries)
19. Monks, historians, scholars
20. Literary and artistic presence
21. Glossary
22. References

Figure 1: Remains of Fabriano (Italy) paper mill where handmade paper is still produced. This paper mill was one of the first to produce paper in Europe since 1276, after it was introduced by direct contact with the Muslim world (source).

The image that results from such a survey builds a rich and somewhat colorful scheme of a forgotten shared history, that of 14 centuries of exchanges and mutual enrichment between two major civilisations of the ancient and modern world.

Since the majority of the timeline revolves around Middle Eastern Muslims in Western Europe, the timeline uses the term ‘Muslims’ instead of ‘Islam’ to emphasize the persons and cultural contacts. Also, the word ‘presence’ was preferred as a good portion of the timeline does not necessarily include Muslims as people but Muslim presence as a cultural entity (i.e. scholarship, scientific contributions).

1. Introduction

Figure 2: Part of the permanent exhibition Al-Andalus y la Ciencia on the Andalusian scientific heritage at the Fundación El legado Andalusí and el Parque de las Ciencias de Granada in Spain (source).

Both the designations Muslim and Western Europe frequently prove to be very loose definitions that serve to divide and create exclusivist tensions that are historically exaggerated. Often the exchange between Muslims and Western Europe will be redefined as Islam vs. Christendom, Islam vs. the West, East vs. West, etc.; all being both useful and useless in their own way. In this work, the terms are employed as conventional means of expressing historical connection between worlds that, due to varying (vastly political) reasons, are unfairly separated. Muslims from one era obviously will not have everything in common with Muslims of another era, including certain religious values, especially regarding political goals. To say that the Barbary corsair raids against European and American shipping are ancestors to the contemporary War on Terror would be a misconception and an overemphasis on an aspect of identity. Similarly, countries designated as Western Europe are often not homogenous in many realms (political, economic, etc.), especially not over the course of a millennium. Many regions of Western Europe share more in common with Eastern Europe (especially true historically) than with each other.

Figure 3: Map showing the extent of the Almoravid Empire.

The term Muslim used in this work is utilized as a dynamic aspect of identity and not to necessarily imply political unity or inherited cultural values. Although the subject of this timeline revolves around some kind of Muslim identity within the history of Western Europe, the intention is to exhibit a continuity of history between the Muslim world and Western Civilization when often their histories are seen as mutually exclusive. This work does not claim to be a sum total of all the significant events regarding Muslims in Western Europe; it is limited in its exclusive use of English sources. Its intended use is a somewhat comprehensive starting point and leisure reference regarding the subject. The time period dealt with is the 600s CE to 1900s. Just a listing of books printed within this period in Western Europe regarding Islam and its followers would take up numerous more pages. The timeline is not the total history, but hopes to be a sufficient vindicationalist history from which further inquiry may stem.

The subdivisions of the timeline are loose guidelines by which to follow an inconsistent history more easily. The majority of the subdivisions include national or regional specifications (such as Muslim Sicily, Spain’s Caliphate, etc.) In these groupings, the interaction between/presence of Muslims has primarily been restricted to diplomatic, commercial, military, and political spheres. Due to the existence of an extensive recognized Muslim political unit within the lands, Spain and Sicily each have a number of subdivisions split up based on shifts in power. Muslims in Britain, in Italy, Franco-Muslim, and German-Muslim contacts are self-explanatory and based on a specific national experience. The Nordic region refers to the Scandinavian nations of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland. Benelux is the term used for Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Although including more countries, the term Alpine Nations, for the purposes of this work, refers primarily to Austria and Switzerland. Certain events in Eastern European history have been included where they bear relevance to Western European history in matters of Muslim presence. Islam in Eastern Europe could be a large project all in itself. Due to Greece’s role in Western European tradition, as well as many other Mediterranean islands not considered part of Western Europe, it has been included in the timeline.

Figure 4: Front cover of Rethinking World History: Essays on Europe, Islam and World History by Marshall G. S. Hodgson (Cambridge University Press, 1993, Paperback).

The section titled “Converts, Corsairs, Renegades, and Rebels” simply showcases a few key individuals from only 14th-20th centuries that were on the forefront of the Islamic-Western European exchange. A section on “Monks, Historians and Scholars” intends to present the dynamics of discourse regarding such an exchange through a short description of the role of various academics on both sides of the experience. The section on “Literary and Artistic Presence” seeks to identify key masterpieces and popular works of cultural value that both facilitated a more harmonious social environment or perpetuated discriminatory myths.

2. The conquest of Spain and campaigns into France

The Arabs, under the Ummayad dynasty, continued their rapid westward expansion with the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula early in the 8th century. Following the Abbasid rise to power in the middle of the same century, the Ummayads saved their base in Spain establishing an emirate. France was able to withstand the coming of the Muslim power and establish its strongholds and dynasties, among the most famous the Carolingians.

3. Andalusian caliphate

Abd al-Rahman III revived the title of Caliph for the Umayyads and brought the Hispano-Muslim power to its height. Culture, arts, architecture, and superior naval power marked al-Andalus’s success. Minor Muslim campaigns went into France but nothing militarily significant. The city of Cordova becomes a seat of culture where men of many faiths, nationalities, and allegiances meet. At the end of the first millennium, the power of the Caliph weakened and became a subordinate to that of the chamberlain. Eventually, after the chamberlain’s power weakened also, the Caliph was overthrown in 1031. In the power vacuum that ensues, Christian powers to the north and Muslim powers from the south (based in North Africa) take advantage.

4. Post Caliphal Spain through the Reconquista

After the overthrow of the Umayyads, Muslim Spain was broken up into many petty states. The temporary interventions and unifications by the Almoravid and the Almohad dynasties from North Africa served only to delay the inevitable fall. The Christian states of the Iberian Peninsula took advantage of this and conquered each state one by one. Many Spanish national heroes flourished during this period with El Cid being among the most notable. Christian monarchs brought the Reconquista to full swing following the 1085 capture of the former Visigothic capital of Toledo.

5. The last Muslim power in Spain

The Nasrids held the only viable Muslim state on the peninsula in the south known as Granada. Early in this period the former Muslim seats of power such as Valencia, Seville, and Cordova all fell to the Castillians. More than ten leaders with the name Muhammad ascended to the throne in this dynasty, some more than once. Granada paid tribute to the Castillians until internal turmoil allowed the latter to take complete control of the last vestige of the Muslim political unit in Spain.

6. Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula after Granada’s fall

Following the expulsion of Muslim power from Spain, many Muslims were given the choice between expulsion and baptism. Those that only superficially converted eventually began to revolt until even all the Christianized Muslims sought refuge from the peninsula. The refugee Muslims, or their descendents, that sought safety in North Africa helped to start a new era in Mediterranean warfare which became known as the Barbary wars. Andalusian culture, as defined by its former Muslim residents, permeated into North Africa and some Ottoman domains.

7. Early excursions into Sicily and other Mediterranean islands

Muslims established their first navy seventeen years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (in June 632). As these early Muslims consolidated their Arabian holdings, eventual conflict came about against the Byzantine Empire who controlled parts of northern Arabia. War raged between the rising power of the Arabs and the, at the time, the decadent power of the Byzantines (they would come to see a revival around the 10th and 11th centuries). Since the Eastern Roman Empire held many Mediterranean islands, the Muslims thought it strategically important to take some of these bases. While the Umayyad dynasty remained in power, the Arab-Byzantine wars spanned three continents with the Mediterranean serving as a major front. Even after the Abbasids reduced Umayyad holdings to the Iberian Peninsula, the latter dynasty still made occasional campaigns in the Mediterranean. Often at times tension between the Berbers and the Arabs in North Africa hindered more successful campaigning in the region during this period.

8. Muslim Sicily

The betrayal of a rogue Byzantine officer gave Muslims, specifically the North African Aghlabid dynasty, an opportunity for the conquest of Sicily. The Muslims embarked on what was to be a 130-year conquest of the island. Like Spain, Sicily became an exemplary Euro-Islamic state marked by an appreciation for erudition of all peoples and the diversity within its own population. Muslim power passed from the Aghlabids to the Fatimids who gave control of the island to the Kalbites. In much the same way as the island came into the hands of the Muslims, it was so taken away. A disgruntled governor appealed to the Normans (Vikings) in Italy for aid against his own coreligionists.

9. Muslims in Non-Muslim Sicily

Despite ousting the Muslims from power, the Normans were very receptive to the former’s culture. The new dynasty employed Muslim scholars in its courts, soldiers in its army, and even women in its harems. With the switch from Norman to Swabian power, Muslim influence steadily declined. When Frederick II brought many of the rebelling Muslims to a colony called Lucera on the Italian mainland, much of the Muslim presence slowly became insignificant. During the height of the Ottoman power, raids on the Sicilian coasts became frequent until that Muslim power also declined.

10. The Mediterranean islands after the Sicilian conquest

Different Muslims and Christian European powers traded control of various Mediterranean islands after Sicily was consolidated. What was once considered a Muslim lake, the Mediterranean was then culturally and religiously divided. At the end of the Middle Ages, it became a theater of war between the Ottomans and rival Christian powers.

11. Muslims in Italy

Initially, attacks on Italy seemed to be extensions of the Sicily campaigns. Significant steps were made by the Muslims: establishing of ties with the merchant states, founding of a temporary Islamic state, and the invasion of Rome. After Sicily began to fall to the Normans, the Pope started to use his power to take advantage of the crusading spirit and call international crusades against the Muslims. The next noteworthy Muslim presence occurred during the 13th century when Frederick II established a Muslim colony at Lucera. After it was dismantled, the Muslim impact remained in the form of ambassadors, scholars, etc. Since Rome was the spiritual head of Europe at the time, it came into heavy contacts with the Ottomans. Sultan Muhammad II made use of Italians in all functions of his reign. He died in hopes of conquering the south European nations. Throughout these centuries Italian art from carpets to painting reflected contacts with the Muslim world.

12. Nordic-Muslim Relations

Muslim activity seemed to be sparse in Northern Europe although a presence, especially economically did exist. Vikings made raids on Muslims lands in Spain and down from Russia to the Abbasid holdings in the east, so the Nordic peoples were not entirely ignorant of what the Islamic world had to offer. Even though not too many Muslims are known to have settled the Viking regions, many northerners did come to stay in Muslim lands, especially during the time of age of corsairs in the 16th and 17th centuries.

13. Muslims in Britain

Muslim presence in the British Isles is better known at the end of the Middle Ages when the British and the Ottomans began cultivating relations. Problems between the two worlds arose during the Crusades and the exploits of corsairs of the Mediterranean. As Britain’s involvement with India increased, many Indian Muslims came to the islands. With the height of British colonialism during the Victorian Era, Muslims of all nations came to the isles. By the beginning of the 20th century, quite an established Muslim community formed.

14. Franco-Muslim relations

Outside association with Muslims power in Spain, Franco-Muslim relations flourished during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who established ties with Francois I. By the end of the 17th century, the once dominant Turkish power looked to France for its technological and cultural superiority: a role reversal of the previous centuries. During the 17th and 18th century, the French prized the Turkish/North African galley slaves for their physical vigor and prowess; for various reasons, the number of these “elite” slaves decreased during this time. As French dominion expanded into Muslim nations, many Muslims came to France in the 19th and 20th centuries.

15. Muslims in Alpine nations

With the success of campaigns in Spain and France, Muslims made headway into Switzerland, but nothing that lasted beyond the Middle Ages. Austria came to the forefront of Muslim-Christian theaters of war during the height of the Ottoman power. Soon after the latter’s fall, a reverse of roles occurred as the Austrians came in control of a large Muslim population in Bosnia.

16. Benelux-Muslim contacts

Like the rest of this region in Europe, contacts were sporadic until the era of the Ottomans and the whole of Europe was forced to recognize Muslim power. The Dutch were heavily active in trade with some states professing Islam overseas. In the 20th century, a more structured Muslim community started to develop and socially mobilize in this area.

17. German-Muslim contacts

Germany made contacts with numerous Muslim rulers from Spain to Asia. Sparse and temporary Muslim appearances litter German history with Muslim slaves from Africa, Persian emissaries, and Turkish ambassadors. Following World War I and the Turko-German alliance, many Turkish Muslims settled in the European nation. Many German scholars were known for great contributions to scholarship regarding various aspects of the culture and practices of lands of Islam.

18. Converts, Corsairs, Renegades and Rebels (14th-20th Centuries)

Large numbers of native people converted to Islam in Euro-Islamic states of Spain and Sicily. Large numbers of converts from non-Muslim controlled areas of Europe also occurred during the end of the Middle Ages. A height came during the age of corsairs in the 16th and 17th centuries where many men (and some women) embraced Islam upon escaping unfavorable conditions in Europe. Various diplomats, scholars, and monks also found peace with Islam throughout history.

19. Monks, Historians, and Scholars

The contacts between Western Europe and the world of Islam took also the form of scholarly work aiming at studying Islamic civilisation and trying to understand it. From the 12th century, monks and scholars took up the cause translating Muslim works and writing numerous works on what the Islamic creed really means and what were the contributions of the Islamic civilisation. By the 19th century, and even in the 18th, more and more European scholars took a more objective look at Islam as a religion, culture and a way of life, praising its good qualities. This section surveys some prominent works of this kind and includes also references to many of the famous Muslim scholars who inspired European scholarship.

20. Literary and Artistic Presence

During the Golden Age of Islamic civilisation, Muslims held a standard for literary and musical developments. Muslim Spain and to a lesser extent Muslim Sicily offered Europe many of its notions on poetry, chivalry, and instrumentals. By the end of the European Middle Ages Islam and its followers became the subjects of literature and music. During Elizabethan England, some Muslim representative (usually chosen via political motivation) revolved around the themes of literary works. Authors and playwrites consistently used “Turning Turk” (converting to Islam) as a means of conveying their own ideas as well as reflecting the fears of the time. During the Romantic Era (which was brought on by Goethe, a sympathizer of the Muslim world, or at least its ideals), the forbidden Orient and fantasies of Arabians Nights became the subjects of poems, paintings, operas, and plays. The 18th century saw a Turkish theme to much of the European tastes that encompassed clothes, candy, and tobacco. Themes from Muslim nations continued to be subjects of much artistic endeavour in the next two centuries. Like other sections, the entries in this list could be innumerable if every work mentioning Islam or some component of it was included; by no means does exclusion from the list signify inferior contribution to the discourse of Islamic studies or the perception of the Islamic world. Included in this section are some Muslims who contributed to the development of some aspects of culture in Western Europe.

21. Glossary

Abu: Arabic for “father of”.

Al-: The (used to give prominence to a noun).

Bint: Arabic for “daughter of”.

Caliph: Title of the head of state in some Muslim countries. It means successor (to the Prophet).

Corsair: Privateer enlisted by a country to perform naval duties and attack shipping and commerce of enemy nations. Although they may use tactics of piracy, they are not pirates (some formerly were); pirates work independently.

Emir: Prince or commander.

Goum: Name for certain Moroccan battalions fighting for the French military during the French occupation of that country. Goumier is the name for the individual soldier. The British soldiers popularize the phrase “gouming it” for any audacious attack due to the stealth and ability of the Goumiers.

Hâjj: denotes a Muslim who has performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj.

Ibn or (ben): Arabic for “son of”.

Imam: Leader of the prayer, and also leader of the community.

Imamate: Realm or domain of the imam. In some parts of the Muslim world, particularly in the Shiite doctrine, the Imam is a politico-spiritual title.

Ismailite (or Ismaili): A branch of Shiites.The sixth Imam of the Shiites was Jafar al-Sadiq. His eldest son Ismail, who was to have succeeded him, died within Jafar’s lifetime. Some Shittes declared that Musa, brother of Ismail, to be the seventh Imam; however, there were those who argued that the Imamate should have passed to Muhammad, the son of Ismail. The Shiites who believed that the lineage of leadership should have been passed through Ismail’s line were known as Ismailites.The Qarmatians, the Assassins, and the Fatimids were all Ismailites. On the other hand, Ismailite is the name given in parts of Medieval Europe to describe Muslims due to the dogmatic concept of a lineage from Ismail instead of Isaac.

Janissaries: Young Christian boys from the Balkan conscripted into Ottoman service. They received a martial education allowing many to rise to high positions in Turkish society.

Lascar: Indian sailors who crewed British ships.

Mamluk: “Owned” individual; the term came to refer to soldier slave unit in various Muslim armies including in Egypt, Spain, and India.

Moor: Term traceable to 46 BC used by the Romans who encountered black Africans whom they called Maures; later used in Europe to refer to the Muslim invaders of Spain and then as a blanket term (at times pejoratively) for any Muslim.

Morisco: Muslims who converted to Christianity during the Reconquista or the Inquistion. Many remained crypto-Muslim.

Mudejar: Signifies a Muslim remaining under non-Muslim rule in Spain after the Reconquista. The term is dating back to at least the 15th century Castilians.

Mujaddid: Reviver or reformer.

Muslim: “One who submits to Allah”, follower of the Islam.

Qadi: Muslim judge.

Reconquista: Christian re-conquest of Spain from the Muslims.

Regulares: Moroccan regiments fighting within the Spanish Army during the 20th century, especially during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).

Reis (or rais): Captain or commander in the Ottoman navy.

Renegado: Renegade or apostate; designate mainly Christian Europeans who converted to Islam, especially during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Saracen: A term designating Muslims, typically as represented by Arab powers during the Middle Ages. It originates from the Arabic sharqiyun, meaning easterner.

Shiite, schism: A branch of Muslims who believe that leadership in the Islamic world should have passed from Prophet Muhammad to his cousin Ali and his descendents (known as Imams).

Taqiyya: Religious ruling allowing outward renunciation of faith while maintaining inward loyalty in times of extenuating circumstances (i.e. religious backlash from Reconquista in Spain or Russian conquest in Central Asia).

Umm: Arabic for “mother of”.

22. References

The following set of references correspond to the sections of the timeline in this temporal, geographical and disciplinary order:

• Muslims in Spain
• Muslims in Sicily and the Mediterranean Islands
• Muslims in Italy
• Nordic Muslim Relations
• Muslims in Britain
• Franco-Muslim Relations
• Muslims in Alpine Nations
• Muslims in Benelux Nations
• German-Muslim Contacts
• Converts, Corsairs, Renegades and Rebels (14th-20th Centuries)
• Monks, Historians, and Scholars
• Literary and Artistic Presence
• General References on Muslim history and Contacts with Western Europe

1. Muslims in Spain

Sections included: Conquest of Spain and Campaigns into France, Spain’s Caliphate, Post Caliphal Spain through the Reconquista, The Last Muslim Power in Spain, Muslims in Iberian Peninsula After Granada’s Fall

• Beevor, Anthony, The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. 1982. New York: Penguin Books, 2001. [Information regarding the role of the Moroccan regulares in Franco’s army may be found here].
• Burns, Robert I., “Immigrants from Islam: The Crusaders’ Use of Muslims As Settlers in Thirteenth-Century Spain.” The American Historical Review. 80.1 (February 1975): 21-42. [This article concerns the utilization of Muslim communities in Christian Spain during the Crusading periods of the 13th century].
• Eby, Cecil, Between the Bullet and the Lie: American Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1969. [This book also discusses Moroccan troops in Franco’s army, emphasis on conflicts with American troops].
• Estow, Clara. Pedro the Cruel of Castile 1350-1369. The Medieval Mediterranean 6. New York: E.J. Brill, 1995. [On Ibn Khaldun’s presence in the Spanish Monarch’s court].
• Fletcher, Richard A., The Barbarian Conversion From Paganism to Christianity. 1997. New York: Henry Holt, 1998.
• Fletcher, Richard A., The Quest for El Cid. 1989. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
• Fletcher, Richard A., The Cross and the Crescent. New York: Viking, 2004 [These works focus prominently on Muslim-Christian relations in Spain and their context in Medieval history].
• Garcés, María Antonia, Cervantes in Algiers: A Captive’s Tale. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2002. This book contextualizes the influence of Cervantes’ experience as a slave in his work as well as discusses the diversity of the North African states of the 16th century.
• Kamen, Henry, Empire: How Spain Became a World Power 1492-1763. 2002. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. [Kamen covers the plight of Spain’s Muslim minority as the nation rose to become a colonial power].
• Lea, Henry Charles, The Moriscos of Spain. 1901. New York: Burt Franklin, 1968. [This book deals with the Muslim minority in Spain after the mass conversions to Christianity through the 17th century].
• Martens, Frederick H. “The Musical Observations of a Moroccan Ambassador (1690-1691).” The Musical Quarterly. 15.4 (1929): 574-582. [Includes the account of the Moroccan embassy to Spain at the end of the 17th century.
• Meadows, Ian. “The Arabs in Occitania.” Aramco World. Mar-Apr 1993: 24-29. [This articles includes significant event to the Arabs early incursions into the Iberian peninsula and France].
• Newark, Tim. Warlords: Ancient, Celtic, Medieval. London: Arms and Armour, 1996. Newark mentions Muslim troops in the Hundred Years’ War.
• Pike, Ruth. “Sevillian Society in the Sixteenth Century: Slaves and Freedmen.” The Hispanic American Historical Review. 47.3. (1967): 344-359. [Explains the plight and position of Muslims after the fall of Granada].
• Scheen, Rolf. “Viking Raids on the Spanish Peninsula.” Militaria: Magazine of Military Culture. Nº. 8, (1996): 67-88. [Discusses the causes and effects of the conflict in the Iberian Peninsula between the invading Vikings and the Muslim states].
• Powell, James M., ed. Muslims Under Latin Rule, 1100-1300. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1990. [This book covers the Muslim populations under Latin (Catholic) rule in various states of the Mediterranean and the Levant including Spain and the Fertile Crescent].

Muslims in Sicily and the Mediterranean Islands

Sections included: Early Incursions into Sicily and Other Mediterranean Islands, Muslim Sicily, Muslims in Non-Muslim Sicily, Mediterranean Islands after Sicilian Conquest.

• Ahmad, Aziz, A History of Islamic Sicily. Islamic Surveys 10. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1975. [A comprehensive work that provides an extensive history of Sicily from the beginning raids of Arabs through Norman administration including Muslim presence in Italy].
• Houben, Hubert, Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West. Trans. Graham Loud and Diane Milburn. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. Houben extensively reviews and analyzes the place of Sicily as a meeting point between the Muslim and Western worlds.
• Metcalfe, Alex, Muslims and Christians in Norman Sicily: Arabic speakers and the end of Islam. New York, London: RoutlegeCurzon, 2003. This book similarly provides a scrutiny of the Muslim presence in Norman Sicily.
• Zidan, Ahmad, The Rightly Guided Caliphs. Egypt: Islamic Inc. Publishing and Distributing, 1998. [Zidan includes campaigns of the Arabs into the Mediterranean during wars with the Byzantines under the first four Caliphs].

Muslims in Italy

• “Arrezo.” Alloggio in Toscana. 1996. https://www.giostradelsaracino.arezzo.it. (last accessed 3 January 2008). [Explains the origins of the annual Saracen Tournament held in Arrezo, Italy].
• Brotton, Jerry, The Renaissance Bazaar: From the Silk Road to Michelangelo. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. [This book analyzes trade and cultural exchange between Italy and the Muslim world].
• Davis, Natalie Zemon, Trickster Travels: A Sixteenth Century Muslim Between Worlds. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. [This book serves as a biography of the legacy of Leo Africanus and his impact in Europe, particularly the court of the Pope].
• Freely, John, Jem Sultan: The Adventures of a Captive Turkish Prince in Renaissance Europe. London: HarperCollines, 2004. [Dedicated to the life of the exiled prince in three continents].
• Mack, Rosamond E., Bazaar to Piazza. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. [Evaluates the significance of Italian trade and relations with the Muslim world during the onset of the Renaissance in terms of politics and culture].
• Origo, Iris, “The Domestic Enemy: The Eastern Slaves in Tuscany in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries”. Speculum. 30.3 (1955): 321-366. [This article provides a listing and description of the diversity of slaves of Muslim origin in Renaissance Italy].
• Rendina, Claudio. The Popes: Histories and Secrets. Trans. Paul D. McCusker. Santa Ana, California: Seven Locks, 2002. [This compilation of papal biographies includes significant events that Muslims took part in such as the sack of Rome].
• Strange, G. Le., ed. and trans., Don Juan of Persia: A Shi’ah Catholic 1560-1604. The Broadway Travellers. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1926. [This is the story of the Persian envoy that left his motherland and religion to stay in Europe].
• Taylor, Julie, Muslims in Medieval Italy: the Colony at Lucera. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books, 2003. [Dedicated to the little known Muslim colony on mainland Italy in the 13th century].

Nordic Muslim Relations

• Anwar, Muhammed, et al. State Policies Toward Muslim Minorities: Sweden, Great Britain, and Germany. Berlin: Edition Parabolis, 2004. < https://www.emz-berlin.de/projekte/pdf/MusPol_Buch.pdf > (last accessed 25 July 2007). [This article provides a history of Muslims in each nation and current status; included is Sweden’s christening of Muslims in the 17th century].
• Haywood, John, The Encyclopedia of the Viking Age. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2000. [This book covers Viking contacts with the Muslim world both in Europe and Asia through diplomatic, commercial, and oppositional relations].
• Konstam, Angus, Historical Atlas of the Viking World. New York: Checkmark, 2002. [This book similarly devotes sections to the Viking relations with the realms of Islam].

Muslims in Britain

• Austin, Allan D., African Muslims in Antebellum America: Transaltantic Stories and Spiritual Struggles. New York: Routledge, 1997. [Austin provides a biographical sketch of Nicholas Said and his travels throughout the world as well as for Ayyub Bin Suleiman].
• Beattie, John M., The English Court in the Reign of George I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967. [This work discusses the slaves of Muslim descent in the court of King George].
• Blanch, Lesley, The Sabres of Paradise. New York: Viking Press, 1960. [This book mentions the role of English contacts with Imam Shamil and his struggle against Russia].
• Fisher, Michael H., The First Indian Author in English: Dean Mahomed (1759-1851) in India, Ireland and England. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996. [Fisher writes of the life and signifance of Dean Mahomed].
• Hale, Willaim, Four Centuries of Turco-British Relations. North Humberside: The Eothen Press, 1984. [The work presents the impact on history of the relationship of the Ottoman Empire and England from the 1500s onwards].
• Hatton, Ragnhild, George I: Elector and King. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1978. [King George’s two former Muslim slaves are discussed in this work].
• Koplow, David, Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. [This book mentions the Ottoman contribution to the development of inoculation and vaccination].
• Matar, Nabil, Islam in Britain, 1558-1685. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. [Matar analyzes both the political and cultural impact of Elizabethan England’s contacts with the Muslim world primarily in North Africa and the Ottoman domains].
• Millar, Gilbert John, Tudor Mercenaries and Auxiliaries 1485-1547. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1980. [Mentions the diversity of Mercenaries in Tudor armies including those from the Muslim world].
• Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain 400 Years of History. London: Pluto, 2002. [Deals almost exclusively with the South Asian presence in Britain].
• Wansbrough, John, “A Mamluk Ambassador to Venice in 913/1507”. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 26.3 (1963): 503-530. [Evaluates the exchange between Egypt and the Italian merchant states in the 16th century].

Franco-Muslim Relations

• Ali, Sheikh Jameil, Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and The West. New Delhi: Adam Publishers and Distributors, 2002. [As title states, the book concerns the reformer’s role and significance in the West].
• Bamford, Paul Walden, “The Procurement of Oarsmen for French Galleys, 1660-1748”. The American Historical Review. 65.1 (1959): 31-48. [Features the Turkish and North African prisoners in the French Galleys].
• Bimberg, Edward. The Moroccan Goums: Tribal Warriors in Modern War. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999.
• “Augustin-Leon Guillaume’s Goums in a Modern War.” Military History Quarterly. Winter 2007. https://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/20_21_century/
  4644596.html?featured=y&c=y (last accessed 8 January 2008). [Dedicated to the battalion of Moroccan’s serving the French army].
• Celik, Zeynep, Displaying the Orient. Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies 12. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992. [This work focuses on the significance and various themes of cultures of the Muslim world and European perception at the World’s Fairs].
• Cooke, James J., Review of: Yousouf, Esclave, Mamelouk, et Général de L’Armée d’Afriqe, by Edmond Jouhaud, The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 16.2. (1983), pp. 369-370. [Book review of the story of the Mamluk who joined the French cause in the 19th century].
• Dempsey, Guy C., Napoleon’s Mercenaries: Foreign Units in the French Army Under the Consulate and Empire, 1799-1814. London: Greenhill Books, 2002. [Napoleon’s various Muslim troops, including the Mamluks and the Lithuanian Tatars, have sections regarding their battles and organization].
• Göçek, Fatma Müge. East Encounters West: France and the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century. New York: Oxford UP, 1987. This book reviews the cultural diffusion experienced between the two nations in the 18th century with emphasis on the Ottoman embassies to France in 1720.
• Herold, J. Christopher, Bonaparte in Egypt. New York: Harper And Row, 1962. [Bonaparte’s expedition is the main focus of this work with ample space given to his controversial general Jacque “Abdullah” Menou].
• Hill, Richard Leslie and Peter Hogg, A Black Corps D’élite: An Egyptian Sudanese Conscript Battalion With the French Army in Mexico, 1863-1867, and Its Survivors in Subsequent African History. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State UP, 1995. [The little known story of the Sudanese troops loaned to the French for their battles in Mexico].
• Lunde, Paul, “A Turk at Versailles.” Aramco World. Nov-Dec 1993: 30-39. [About the famous Ottoman ambassador to 18th century France].
• Merle, Robert, Ahmed Ben Bella, translated by Camilla Sykes. New York: Walker, 1967. [This book describes the role of the Algerian revolutionary and the significance of his life in Europe].
• Miller, Susan Gilson, Disorienting Encounters: Travels of a Moroccan Scholar in France in 1845-1846. Ed. and trans. Miller. Berkeley: California University Press, 1992. [This book provides the Moroccan envoy’s account of travels in France].
• Pawly, Ronald, Napoleon’s Mameluks. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Co., 2006. [This work covers the role of the Mamluk formation in Napoleon’s forces].
• Rogers, J. A., World’s Great Men of Color. Vol. 1. 1946. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996. [Included in this history are many famous African Muslims who made an impact on Europe such as Ziryab and Mouley Ismail].
• Watson, William E., Tricolor and Crescent: France and the Islamic World. Westport, Connecticut/London: Praeger, 2003. [This book deals with Franco-Muslim relations from the 8th century to the 20th including the implications of the Balfour declaration and other episodes of the modern political scene].

Muslims in Alpine Nations

• Davison, Michael Worth, ed., When Where Why and How It Happened. London: Reader’s Digest, 1993. [The section regarding the 1683 siege of Vienna provides both the military and cultural relevance of the event].
• Wenner, Manfred W., “The Arab/Muslim Presence in Medieval Central Europe.” International Journal of Middle East Studies. 12.1 (1980): 59-79. [This article provides sources and evidence of Muslim infiltration in Central Europe following the conquest of Spain].

Muslims in Benelux Nations

• “Excerpts from the Annual Register of 1769 on Smallpox Inoculation (80-86).” Moonstone Research & Publications. https://www.moonstonerp.com/Smallpox.htm (last accessed 9 January 2008). [This site provides sources for the influence of Middle East on the development of smallpox inoculation in Europe via letters of exchange by diplomats].
• Rath, Jan. et al., Western Europe and its Islam. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2001. [This book looks at the establishment of Muslim institutions all over Western Europe and the assimilation to the communities into mainstream].

German-Muslim Contacts

• Al-Murabit, Shaykh Abdalqadir. “Was Goethe a Muslim?” 1995. Islam the Modern Religion. https://www.themodernreligion.com/convert/
  convert_goethe.htm (last accessed 8 January 2008). [The article discusses Goethe’s fascination and interest in the Muslim world].
• Anwar, Muhammed, et al. State Policies Toward Muslim Minorities: Sweden, Great Britain, and Germany. Berlin: Edition Parabolis, 2004. < https://www.emz-berlin.de/projekte/pdf/MusPol_Buch.pdf> (last accessed 8 January 2008). [Provides a history of Muslims in Germany including the first cemetery, soldiers in the forces of Frederick, and World War I POWs. The article provides numerous sources and histories of early Islamic communities and institutions in the three nations].
• Avetaranian, Johannes and Richard Schafer. A Muslim Who Became a Christian: The Story of Johannes Avetaranian. Translated by John Bechard. Hertford, England: Authors Online Ltd., 2003. [This is the story of the Christian convert from Islam who became a missionary].
• Herrmann, Paul. Conquest by Man. Trans. Michael Bullock. New York: Harper, 1954. [This book mentions the travels of Ibrahim ibn Yaqub throughout Europe].
• Mitford, Nancy, Frederick the Great. New York: Harper and Row, 1970. [Mitford mentions the presence of Muslim soldiers in the forces of Frederick].
• Munoz, Antonio J., ed., The East Came West: Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces 1941-1945. Bayside, New York: Axis Europa, 2001. [This study presents the place in World War II of the Eastern troops in the German military].
• Sayyida Salme/Emily Ruete, An Arabian Princess between Two Worlds. Memoirs, Letters Home, Sequels to the Memoirs, Syrian Customs and Usages. E. VAN DONZEL and Ulrich Haarmann, eds., Leiden: E.J. Brill. 1993. [This includes the history and autobiography of the East African princess who converted to Christianity and went to Europe].

Converts, Corsairs, Renegades and Rebels (14th-20th Centuries)

• Badia, Lola, “Turmeda, Anselm.” Medieval Iberia An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 2003. This article is about the monk who converted to Islam and moved to the Middle East.
• Kobak, Annette, Isabelle: The Life of Isabelle Eberhardt. New York: Knopf, 1989. [This biography tells the story of the life of the unorthodox European woman who fell in love with Muslim world].
• Lunde, Paul. “Muslims and Muslim Technology in the New World.” Aramco World. May-June 1992: 38-41. [The story of Amir Cighala in the New World is featured here].
• Nielsen, Jorgen, Muslims in Western Europe. 2nd Edition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995. [This work anaylzes the Muslim presence in Western Europe including some notable European converts to Islam].
• Várdy, Steven Béla, Historical Dictionary of Hungary. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1997. [The biography of Jozef Bem is included here].
• Wilson, Peter Lamborn. Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs and European Renegadoes. Revised edition. Brooklyn, New York: Autonomedia, 2003. [This work includes the bulk of the information regarding European corsairs who went to North African and converted to Islam. Included in this book is a chapter on Anthony van Sale, son of corsair Jan Janz, who help found Brooklyn].

Monks, Historians, and Scholars

• Bennet, Clinton, In Search of Muhammad. London: Cassell, 1996. [Provides an extensive listing and information regarding various works scholarly and artistic in the west regarding the prophet Muhammad].
• Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Science and Civilization in Islam. 1968. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1992. [This work covers and analyzes the contributions of Muslim scholars to the world].
• Reeves, Minou. Muhammad in Europe. New York: New York University Press, 2000. [Reeves’ work recounts the history of perception of Islam’s prophet in Christian Europe including early writing of clergymen and famous literature].
• Thompson, James Westfall. “The Introduction of Arabic Science into Lorraine in the Tenth Century.” Isis 12.2 (1929): 184-193). [Discusses the means by which Arabic scholarship diffused into Europe during the medieval era].

Literary and Artistic Presence

• Bishop, Clifford. Sex and Spirit: An Illustrated Guide to Sacred Sexuality. 1996. Berkeley, CA: Ulysses, 2000. [A survey which includes a section regarding courtly love and the Muslim world].
• Burton, Jonathan. Traffic and Turning: Islam and English Drama, 1579-1624. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2005. [Provides insight and analysis into the Muslims themes of 16th and 17th century English theater].
• Ewen, David. Encyclopedia of the Opera. 2nd edition. New York: Hill and Wang, 1963. [Includes many of the operas that feature some theme regarding the Muslim world].
• Meyer, Eve R. “Turquerie and Eighteenth-Century Music”. Eighteenth-Century Studies. 7.4 (1974): 474-488. [This work revolves around the popular Ottoman themes in culture and music that became popular in 18th century Europe].
• Olschki, Leonardo. “Asiatic Exoticism in Italian Art of the Early Renaissance”. The Art Bulletin. 26.2 (1944): 95-106. [Evaluates some Muslim arts forms and themes in early Italian renaissance work].
• Noble, Graham, “The Life and Death of the Terrible Turk”. Journal of Manly Arts. May 2001. https://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2001/
  jmanlyart_noble_0501.htm (last accessed 8 January 2008).
• Noble, Graham, “The Lion of the Punjab. Parts 1-IV.” InYo: Journal of Alternative Perspectives. May-Aug 2002.
• https://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_noble_0502.htm (last accessed 8 January 2008). [This work focuses on the careers of famous Muslim professional wrestlers and their cultural implication at the turn of the 20th century].
• Palacios, Miguel Asin, Islam and the Divine Comedy. 1926. Trans. Harold Sutherland. London: Frank Cass and Co., Ltd., 1968. [Palacios evaluates the significance of Muslim sources on Dante’s classic work].
• Parkinson, C. Northcote, East and West. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1963. [Reviews the cultural cross-fertilization of Muslim and Western Worlds with a significant analysis of the contribution of the Arabs to romance poetry].
• Stevens, Mary Anne, ed., The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse. The Allure of North Africa and the Near East. Washington, DC : National Gallery of Art, 1984. [This work provides a brief background into the famous works that depicted and seared certain images of the Muslim world into the imagination of Europe].
• Sussman, Norman, “Sex and Sexuality in History.” The Sexual Experience. Eds. Benjamin Sadock, Harold Kaplan, Alfred Freedman. Baltimore:Williams and Wilkins, 1976. [Mentions courtly love in the Muslim and Western worlds].
• Vitkus, Daniel, Turning Turk: English Theater and the Multicultural Mediterranean,1570-1630. New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2003. [Analyzes the significance of the concept of “Turning Turk” in a politico-cultural respect].
• Williams, Henry Llewelleyn, Poems of Victor Hugo. President Publishing Company: NewYork, no date given. [This book includes the poems revolving around Muslims themes and settings by the famous poet].

General References on Muslim history and Contacts with Western Europe

• Ahmad, K. J., Hundred Great Muslims. Chicago: Library of Islam, 1987. [This work profiles the lives of various Muslim individuals —scholars, statesmen, soldiers, and artists— who have made significant impacts in history].
• Ali, Ameer, A Short History of the Saracens. 1889. London: Macmillan, 1961. [The global legacy of the Arabs is featured in this exhaustive work of their history].
• Armstrong, Karen, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet. Harper: San Franscisco, 1992. [Perceptions of Islam’s prophet in both Western and Muslim eyes are presented here].
• Babinger, Franz, Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Ed. William C. Hickman. Tr. Ralph Manheim. Boolingen Series 96. 1978. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1992. [This biography includes extensive sections regarding the Ottoman’s sultans relations with Europe including German, Italian, and Eastern European contacts].
• Bosworth, Clifford Edmund, The Islamic Dynasties. Islamic Surveys 5. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1967. [This book lists the famous (and infamous) rulers of the various regimes and ruling family lines of the Muslim world].
• Cardini, Franco. Europe and Islam. Trans. Caroline Beamish. Oxford: Blacwell, 2001. [This book covers much of Muslim history in Europe from Arab waves through Ottoman expansion and beyond].
• Cleveland, William L., A History of the Modern Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colorado: Westview, 2004. [Cleveland provides a history of the Middle East and its contacts and involvement of the West in the last couple centuries].
• Crespi, Gabriele, The Arabs in Europe. Trans. 1979. New York: Rizzoli, 1986. [This work offers a history of the Arabs throughout Western Europe including France, Sicily, and Spain during the rise and peaks of power].
• Dupuy, R. Ernest and Trevor Dupuy, The Encyclopedia of Military History. Revised Ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1977. [This is an exhaustive work on the global history of warfare including both renowned and less-well known battles involving Muslims and Europe; this also includes analysis of significant battles in world history and their impact (i.e Tours in 733)].
• Esposito, John L., ed., The Oxford History of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. [A wide range of scholars contribute a wealth of information regarding the legacy and history of Muslims throughout the world].
• Goodwin, Jason, Lords of the Horizon: A History of the Ottoman Empire. 1998. London: Vintage, 1999. [This overview places the Ottomans in the context of world history describing both well known and little-known information regarding the Empire. The book frequently brings to light the dynamics of foreign relations with other nations (Europe and USA) and cultural diffusion experienced on both sides of the exchange].
• Goody, Jack, Islam in Europe. Cambridge: Polity, 2004. [This work describes and analyzes various instances in the historical experience of Muslims in Europe].
• Grunebaum, G.E. von, Classical Islam: A History 600-1258. 1970. New York: Barnes And Noble, 1996. [This book encompasses Muslim history in terms of administration in certain states of Western Europe (Spain and Sicily) as well as reviewing the impact of the legacy of the Arabs during the height of cultural power in the Middle Ages].
• Hasan, Masudul, History of Islam. 2 vol. Revised ed. Shandar Market, Chitli Qabar, Delhi: Adam, 2000. [Encyclopediac work that covers all of Muslim history in 2 volumes typically through the impact of significant regimes, movements, and individuals].
• Hitti, Philip, Islam and the West: A Historical Cultural Survey. Princeton: D. Van Nostrand,1962.
• Hitti, Philip, History of the Arabs. 8th ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 1963. [These two works evaluate and analyze the history of Muslims in contacts with the West in the first book and as a comprehensive legacy and past in the latter].
• Malik, Iftikhar H., Islam and Modernity. Critical Studies on Islam. London: Pluto, 2004. [This book covers a wide range of topics regarding Muslim experience in Europe from al-Andalus to the Rushdie affair].
• Mahmud, S. F., The Story of Islam. 1959. London: Oxford University Press, 1960. [A comprehensive work primarily focusing on Muslim history in the Middle East and India with numerous sections devoted to scholars and scientists who contributed to both the Muslim and Western worlds].
• Palmer, Alan, The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire. 1992. New York: BarnesAnd Noble Books, 1994. [Palmer analyzes the politico-cultural role of the Ottomans in the conscious of Europe].
• Reinaud, Joseph Toussaint, Muslim Colonies in France, Northern Italy and Switzerland. Trans. Haroon Khan Sherwani. 2nd ed. Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf, 1964. [This work encompasses Muslim activities in the Alpine Nations, Italy, and France including the conquest of Switzerland, bases in Italy, and extensions of Spanish campaigns].
• Sertima, Ivan Van, ed., African Presence in Early Europe. 1985. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1990.
• Sertima, Ivan Van, ed. Golden Age of the Moor. New Brunswick: Transaction Press, 1992. [These works in vindicationalist history bring to light the very significant contributions of Muslims (generally centered around Africa) to Europe in the Middle Ages into more modern times].
• Tomes, Jason Hunter. King Zog of Albania: Europe’s Self-Made Muslim Monarch. New York: New York UP, 2003. [This biography includes the exiled monarch’s travels throughout Europe]
• Vertovec, Steven and Ceri Peach Eds. Islam in Europe: The Politics of Religion and Community. New York: St. Martin’s, 1997.
• Zahoor, Akram, Muslim History 570-1950. Gaithersburg, Marlyand: AZP Akram Zahoor, 2000. [This work is a timeline that covers the entire span of Muslim history chronologically all over the world].

* Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

End Notes

[1] Note of the editor: The facts given in the timeline are under the responsibility of the author. If necessary, our readers are requested to check the sources listed in the references file below. These references are presented in the same order as the sections of the timeline.

Cem Nizamoglu