Introduction

Abstract

The presence of Muslims in one or another part of continental Europe is probably almost as old as the history of Islam itself. Traders and diplomats have over the centuries been a continuous feature of many places in especially central and southern Europe. But it is also possible to identify three distinct phases of large scale Muslim communities. The first one of these has passed into history, namely the period of Islamic Spain and Muslim rule in Sicily. The Normans put an end to the latter in the eleventh century ad, and the Spanish reconquista finally put an end to the last Muslim foothold in Spain in 1492. All that remains today of that phase is the rich contribution it made to all aspects of European culture.