With cultural exchange taking place in various settings during the Middle Ages, European musical instruments were highly influenced by Islamic cultures. Apart from the impact of Islamic music in certain cultural intersections, like on the Iberian Peninsula or Sicily, the Europeans especially got to know the military music of the Islamic hosts during the Crusades. The Europeans’ reactions to the new and unknown instruments varied from astonishment to amazement and fear. The reactions to the unfamiliar sound and appearance of the Islamic instruments are described in many chronicles and crusaders’ reports, and these descriptions also found their way into medieval literature. On the basis of these historical and literary sources, this book intends to show how the Europeans’ impressions are depicted and to what extent musical instruments and playing techniques were adopted by European rulers.