Black People in Medieval Europe: The History They Never Taught You

[00:00:00]Hello, welcome to another great episode of Royal Black and Elite. And today's the lecture is by popular demand. I've had several people to ask me to speak more about the Moors, to teach more about their presence uh throughout the world. And so today we're going to talk about their presence in Europe during the medieval period. Now you know, most of the time when people think of the medieval period, they think of Knights of the Round Table, they think of villages with little uh straw uh roofs on the top of them, and of course castles. Now the medieval period, also called the Middle Ages, was a time that lasted approximately a thousand years.

[00:00:42]And it was between 476 AD and the 1400s.

[00:00:48]And during this period, even though yes, there were knights and there were round tables and there were castles, there were also a big contingency of black people in the area at the time as well.

[00:01:01]And some of them were indeed Moors. And some of them were Christians because they had been brought over in the Crusade. Now this time period is prior to slavery. So people were free, black people were free, and they were able to travel all around the world without the threat of being taken into slavery.

[00:01:21]However, just because of the color of their skin. However, slavery was in existence all over the world at that time. That's just how people did business. It was, you know, how how they lived. So slavery was a thing. However, the transatlantic slave trade was not in effect. And so there was no shadow slavery targeting black people. So when you think about seeing blacks in the presence of them during the medieval time, most of the time we think of Game of Thrones or even maybe the show Tudors who did a great job at bringing black people alive. So if you ever want to kind of see what they look like and and how it was, those are some great shows to show you. But, if you have not, today's lecture is going to introduce you to some blacks who were there. We're going to talk about a little bit about the Middle Ages. How did blacks even end up in Europe during the time if not slavery was in effect and what they did while they were there. So, I want to welcome everybody. Thank you all for tuning in. Of course, I want to say hello Royalist. Thank you so much for your suggestions. I'm working on those videos and I hope that you enjoy today's. I want to thank you also. If this is your first time tuning in, hello and welcome. Thank you so much for being here. So, let's get into our lecture lecture. Now, let's begin by defining what a Moor is because for some people Moor is just black and that's it. But, Moors were more about a culture and an ideology versus a skin tone.

[00:02:53]And so, Moors were usually described as a Muslim population of North America and on the Iberian Peninsula. And they were normally um applied the name Moor by the Europeans and it was really as an insult. So, that's how they would would call black people when they they were there. They were called Moors or blackamoors.

[00:03:16]But, Moors are also Arabs and Berbers.

[00:03:20]So, and also Muslim Europeans. So, it has more to do with the Muslim faith versus the skin tone. But, for Europeans, it was about the skin tone.

[00:03:31]So, hopefully you understand that and kind of clear that up. And I've also have a wonderful video down below about the Moors also. Uh just a overall introduction of it. So, definitely click down below to learn more. But, they were called Moors or blackamoors.

[00:03:46]Now, black people have been present in Europe since coming during the invasion of the Roman Empire. And that happened around 43 AD. They also came as merchants because Africa was doing trading all over the world. And so during that time, they would come and do some trades and some would stay.

[00:04:06]Also the Christian Crusades. So at that time they were invading Muslim lands and sometimes the blacks would come back then. So that's how blacks began to live in Europe during that time. So before slavery, black people were living freely and even conquering during the Roman Empire. And they conquered also part of Spain. Again, look at that video down below.

[00:04:31]Now the Middle Ages sometimes called the Dark Ages, life was mostly it was rural and the economy was mostly agricultural.

[00:04:40]And so that's how the black people lived who were there at that time. Now mind you, I'm I mentioned it was a vast amount but it really wasn't. Let me clear that up. It was about 5% black people. And the country today is about 12%. So that kind of gives you an idea of how many black people were there. Not many. And the Middle Ages was kind of broken down into three different time periods as well. So they had ups and downs. Sometimes during the ups there were technological advances but they also went through the dark period and in the plague and the 100 Year War. So the black people who were there also went through those ups and downs. Now interestingly during of the same time period, the continent of Africa was living very differently. It was a time called the Golden Age and it was a period where great empires were being built like Mali and Ghana.

[00:05:39]And though these places were very wealthy, they were all Muslim. And so that's why some people still wanted to leave after the Christian Crusades.

[00:05:48]So, black people were populating the world. They were all over the place and an author, his name was Richard de Vie Fies, he described London as being populated by Moors.

[00:06:00]Now, examples of this are indicated in records like in 1272 during the 9th Crusade where four Africans arrived with a knight and his name was Thomas de Clare.

[00:06:12]There were also black nobles like Did the Re Jacque, who was reported to have arrived in England on a diplomatic trip on January 1st, 1611.

[00:06:24]Even the trumpeter John Blank, he reportedly played for King Henry the VII and the VIII.

[00:06:31]Now, he also appeared at royal pageants and he was also paid. And here's a a photo of him in the Westminster Tournament Roll. And so, they actually he was so important that they actually carved his picture. And then there was also a noble noble named Balthazar. So, there were nobles in the area at the time as well.

[00:06:54]What about even Saint Maurice? I leave a video down below uh so that you can see him, the first black saint and also a knight. So, these are the great stories of the people who came out of the area, Moors and black people during the medieval times. Now, the other people, so say they weren't royalty or nobles, they were also artisans, merchants, entertainers, and blacksmiths. So, they had regular jobs and they lived in cities like Plymouth, Bristol, and London. And after the Dark Ages between 1485 to about 1660, they lived in rural villages.

[00:07:38]So, how much of a percent were they?

[00:07:41]Like I said, it was around about 5% but record keeping was poor. So, we really don't know how many black people were there, but I can tell you what again what the knight said, Robert de Clara, and this is what how he describes the Nubian royalty that was there. He said, "And while he was there that he was a bit was visiting with a baron at his palace and a king whose skin was all black and he had a cross in the middle of his head came there and the king was living in a very rich abbey in the city.

[00:08:20]So, this will let you know that there were definitely blacks and even kings who were living in the European area at that time. So, the next time you see a medieval show, just know that black people were indeed there. I want to thank you for joining me to the for today's lecture. I hope you learned a little bit more about the Moors and about the black presence in Europe during the medieval era. Now, my sources today were the BBC, the public medievalist, and the National Institution of Health.

[00:08:54]As always, my lectures are for entertainment and educational purposes only and the fair act use is in effect.

[00:09:03]All right, y'all. I thank y'all for joining me. Don't forget, tell me what you think, like, share, and subscribe and leave me a comment down below. Can you believe we were there in royalty and also that so much of our history is hidden and I'm so glad to be able to bring it to light. So, click down below if you want to see another video. Keep learning about our wonderful black history and I'll see you on another great episode of Royal Black and Elite.

[00:09:31]Thank you for watching.