Quote Originally Posted by Ozman1944 View Post
Don't forget there is a lot of Lion imagery in the Bible. Sampson & the lion, "Lion of Judah" etc.
North Africa was once a big Christian center, Crusaders, knights & pilgrims to the Holy land could've seen lions on their travels.
I think that is probably the biggest factor in them knowing of lions. The bible these days carries less weight then it did back then. Back in those days, Kings where kings because it was gods will. The bible was also probably the most common book around and imagery from it would have been hugely polular.