Medieval Christendom’s tolerance of Muslims proved fluctuating and ultimately ended in expulsion.

Evidence

At the period with which we are concerned the position conceded to Muslims within Christendom approximated to this in general outline and in many details; but this proved at best a fluctuating tolerance which was always subject to propaganda, and which resulted in the expulsion or conversion, in time, of every Islamic enclave. Thus Muhammad’s violence was essential, in the Christian opinion, to his religion, although Christians and Muslims alike practised holy war, and only Islam effectively tolerated other religions within itself, admittedly granting only second-class citizenship. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1530

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader medieval tolerance/intolerance theme and to current debates about the ‘tolerance’ asymmetry between Islam and Christendom.
• QUESTION: The claim that ‘only Islam effectively tolerated other religions’ within the medieval period is a strong comparative claim — is this sustainable when weighed against some Byzantine or other Christian examples of toleration?