Buddhism

Buddhism began in Northern India around the 5th Century BC. It made impressive progress east and south, but only made it as far as Afghanistan to the west. Consequently Western Europe had only minimal contact with it until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

One noticeable exception is the story of the Buddha. It was told along the trade routes that made there way west. By the time it reached Europe it had mutated into the story of Josaphat (from Boddhisatva, or the Buddha that is to come). The story became well enough known in Europe for Josaphat to be recognised as a saint.