Note 119 — Chapter IV · THE SPREAD OF ISLAM AMONG THE CHRISTIAN NATIONS OF AFRICA.
Reading edition
This is the last we hear of the native Christian Church in North Africa. The very fact of its so long survival would militate against any supposition of forced conversion, even if we had not abundant evidence of the tolerant spirit of the Arab rulers of the various North African kingdoms, who employed Christian soldiers,119 granted by frequent treaties the free exercise of their religion to Christian merchants and settlers,120 and to whom Popes121 recommended the care of the native Christian population, while exhorting the latter to serve their Muhammadan rulers faithfully.122