18-07-2003 20:34									#91
	Remove this text

quote: Originally posted by PLATO1003 I was under the impression that there was a significat Muslim presence in Eastern Europe since the 1500's. It does seem that the pace of migration has picked up in the last fifty years or so though.

Nope. Muslims existed in Europe only in Areas which Muslim empires brought under control, becuase conversion to Islam was strictly NOT allowed in any Christian kingdom. That meant Spain under the Arabs, Parts of the Crimea under the Tatars (decendents of the Mongols), and in the Balkans under the Turks. The Tatar and Moorish pops were gotten rid off relatively quickly after they came under Chrisitian rule. The ottomans finally lost all of their Balkan dominions only after 1876, so its been less than 150 years, and they only lost control of Bosnia, Macedonia, and Albania, were most of the Muslims were centered anyway, after 1908. (though Bosnia had been under Habsburg admin since the 1880's).