Interaction of Christianity and Islam Prior to the 20th Century

Remember that virtually nobody could read, and much of what they learned about their religion was given to them by the Church. In order to consolidate land holdings and to fullfill what they foresaw as their God ordained purpose, the Church rallied the people when Islam began to rise in promenance. The motives were anything but Christ-like. Quite simply, the dominant European political/religious powerbase did not want any competition from the emerging Islamic powerbase. IMHO< anyway.