Starting from that, they came to introduce a great number of European poems and literary works.
Literal
That [object-を] starting-point [as-として] Europe [possessive-の] poetry [and-や] literature [object-を] many introduce came-to-do.
皮切りとして is an idiom meaning 'starting with' — 皮切り literally means 'the first cut of skin,' originally a moxibustion term. ~ようになりました marks a gradual change of state: they 'came to' introduce European literature, implying a shift that developed over time. や lists poetry and literature as non-exhaustive examples.