What if the Moors conquered Rome, instead of Sicily?

[Lord of the Drunk Penguin]

I'm curios what would happen. The entire shift of Christianity towards the Levant might be canceled.
Would the Crusades even happen if Rome was muslim?

Thoughts?

[DarthShizNit]

I'm not exactly sure how they conquer and then go on to keep Rome, but if they did I'm not sure it would change all that much other than you would have had a lot of papal aggresion in urging christian lords to go take it back. If the Roman Catholic Church is hit hard enough to a point where as an administravite body it ceases to exists then we might get some very interesting scenarios involving the Roman Emperor and the Patriach of Constantinople keeping a Hegenomy of at least the Italian Catholics (the rest of Western Europe was removed enough from their immediate influence to either develope their own or simply ignore the Romans).

But in all reality it's 4:14 in the morning and I can't think of something epic to say.

[Turtler]

Depends on the definition of "Conquest."

But basically and most likely, the Moors indulge in another sack of Rome only to throw themselves off balance from their interests in the Iberian and Africa, and as a result will find themselves wiped out in short order by a united Crusader Army assembled to retake the Eternal City. Battle goes down as another Tours/Constantinople/Lepanto.

Really, the Crusader States in the Levant were amazingly resilient as it was, and the various lords of Europe were amazingly committed to them for all they represented, evne considering their other commitments. But unlike the Levant- at the limits of European reach and as something of a side show to their home regions- Italy is on their door step, of immense political, economic, and social importance, and tied to a bunch of nearby lords that will fight to retake it.

The occupation doesn't last.