| The incursion of Islam, particularly by the Ottomans, was an long standing existential concern of European nations. Remember the Ottomans took Constantinople in the 16th century (Capita of the E. Roman Empire aka Byzantium) and converted the largest Cathedral in the World into a Mosque. The 'West' would have been referred to as 'Christendom' then, and the issue wasn't resolved until into the enlightenment, 1683, Battle of Vienna. 'Christendom v. Ottomans' is the original 'Cold War'. One might argue that there are echoes in the Battle of Vienna in Lord of the Rings. 'Political Islam', as we've seen since the 1980's has basically nothing to do with any of that. FYI a little known, crazy fact (which is likely but not infallibly accurate): you know your 'Croissant'? That delicacy was designed in Vienna by chefs in celebration of their victory in the battle, hence the crescent shape of the bread is literally the Islamic Crescent. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/23/a-short.... |