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Cleopatra Lived Closer to the Computer Age than to the Pyramids, and Other Atypical History Facts

Khalid Elhassan December 30, 2019 33 min

31. Middle Ages Europe Had Significant Non-Christian and Non-White Populations

A Moorish musician in medieval Europe. University of Connecticut Center for Judaic Studies

Most Europeans during the medieval era were Christian and white, but not all. Various parts of Middle Ages Europe had significant populations of Jews, Muslims, and even Pagans, with the numbers of the followers of each religion varying from region to region, depending on its history and culture.

Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Jews could be found in all parts of Europe. Muslims were common – at times even a majority – in the Iberian Peninsula, had a significant presence in Sicily, and could be found in many ports and trading centers. Up north, in Prussia, Scandinavia, and the Baltics, Pagans predominated.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.