Not to be coy, diverse european christian nations allied themselves to the muslims at one time or another according to their interests at the time. British sappers assisted their moroccan allies to blow up the walls of spanish fortifications in 16th C. North Africa, and all british prisoners captured were invariably put to the sword. Even the French allied themselves with the Turks against the Hapsburgs.
One of the greatest worries of the Catholic Powers was that the Genoese and Venetians would actually prefer to join the Ottomans at Lepanto, and their tactics included the possibility of such happening, thus the overwhelming amount of veteran Tercios soldiers inside the Genoese and Venetian ships.
Heck, even within Spain and during the Reconquista Crusade, Christian lords would ally themselves with the local muslims againsta a common christian enemy and viceversa. Just read the Mio Cid ("My Lord")...
During the Spanish American War, while both sides were rattling their sabers and trying to blow each other to smithreens, Madrid and New York continued their trading and dealing as usual.
In Nam', often the SV officers sold their American-supplied weaponry to the VC, to be used against their own forces subsequently...
"Cosas veredes, Sancho" / "Such sights you will see, Sancho"
Don Quixote
Well, let's go back to issues germane...
: )
[chevalier]
...also a few popes issued edicts against the sale of timber to the aghlabids in sicily and north africa, as the muslims had exhausted their usable supply of timber in both north africa and sicily by the 10th century and where buying wood from europe to build their fleets. of course the pope's edicts where openly flaunted by the venetians, who got a continuous supply of timber from croatia and slovenia and continued to sell to the muslims.
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