Is there any way to have an Islamic western Europe and Bhudist eastern Europe, while having a few sprinkled christian strongholds?
Buddhist Magyars seems vaguely plausible. They were near the silk road which had a whole bunch of monasteries.I can't think of any way for Buddhism to become a dominant religion in Europe without a POD so early that it would butterfly Islam.
I can't think of any way for Buddhism to become a dominant religion in Europe without a POD so early that it would butterfly Islam.
You could have an Islamic Europe, but getting Buddism there seems impossible. It didn't even work in it's place of origin, India. Have the Crusades be a complete Christian loss, as well as a worse Black Plague, and have the Muslims take Iberia, Italy and southern France. Maybe traders or merchants bring Buddism from the far east and it gets accepted by the Ottomans for whatever reason. That would still leave northern France, Germany and the British Isles as Christian strongholds.
Maybe some group like the Avars or Magyars while in Central Asia convert to Buddhism and move into Europe, then have the Christians get locked into a major struggle with the Muslims (Byzantium collapses like the Persians maybe?), and the Christians are barely holding on when these Buddhist central asian nomads show up. The northern region crumbles and the Muslims attack again. Of course you have the issue of how to get rid of the Christians now under Buddhist government, which doesn't seem likely to happen if the Christian peasants aren't seen as a threat.