Why did Christians fear the advent of Islam?

Answer 1

Islam, at the time, was the only major religion to be seen after Christianity had grown. During a time which would lead to The Crusades, this wide-spread 'other' religion was viewed as a direct threat by the whole of Christendom.

The Islamic Caliphates were also a direct threat to the Christian Empires (like Byzantium, New Carthage, etc.) and conquered large swathes of formerly "Christian lands" in the Middle East and North Africa.

Answer 2

Answer 1

Europeans never feel threatened by the spread of Islam. However, the politicians and religious leaders fear Islam spread for fearing to lose their political and religious power.

Answer 2

In the Middle Ages there was a visceral religious and political hatred of Islam. There was a real fear in Europe that the OMINOUS THEY (an undefined group of NOT US) were going to take over. Islam, therefore, became the boogeyman and regardless of what Islam actually represents (or represented at that time) it was painted with colors of that immeasurable fear. Islam was a major world power for much of the Middle Ages. Umayyad Spain fought against three proto-Spanish States at the same time. Abbassid coins have been found as far away as Sweden. Ottoman armies besieged Vienna, Austria and had already broken through the defenses at Constantinople and conquered the Hungarian Empire. It was not wholly inconceivable that the "European Way of Life" would come under direct threat. (This was similar to the perspective of the antebellum U.S. South.)

Fear of Islam lessened significantly by the 1700s when most Islamic States became weak. Islam was no longer threatening and much of the majority-Muslim areas of the world were subsequently colonized by European powers.

Since World War II, there has been a massive Immigration of Muslims into Europe, once again leading to many Europeans feeling like they are being invaded by a political force. This rekindled the Middle Age symbols but in an entirely new light. Europeans recently have felt like their cultural values are under siege such as the rights of women (as concerns the hijab, niqab, and female circumcision) and the rights of freedom of speech and the press (as concerns the infamous Mohammed Cartoons and the assassination of those who are critical of Islam like Theo van Gogh).