Africans in Europe
Real lives in the record.
A trumpeter at Henry VIII's court, a duke of Florence, an Afro-Hispanic painter, and how Europeans used the word "Moor" about them. Some famous stories hold up better than others, and each card says which.
Africans in Europe
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Othello, “the Moor of Venice”
Shakespeare’s Othello is called “the Moor.” A Folger Shakespeare Library essay notes that the word’s vagueness raises questions about how race is shown on stage, starting with what Othello is supposed to look like.
Where sources differ: There’s no settled answer to Othello’s exact origin, since “Moor” could mean a North African, a Muslim, or a Black African in Shakespeare’s day (Britannica, “Moor”).
Source: Folger Shakespeare Library, “Color of Character: Racial Cues in the Visual Othello”
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about 1507 to 1512
John Blanke, a Black Tudor trumpeter
John Blanke was a Black trumpeter at the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Royal pay records call him “the blacke Trumpet,” he appears in the 1511 Westminster Tournament Roll, and Henry VIII approved his petition for a raise and promotion.
Source: The National Archives (UK), “The story of John Blanke”
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1596 to 1601
Elizabeth I’s “blackmoors” letters
In July 1596 Elizabeth I’s government issued letters saying there were already “too many” “blackmoors” in England, and licensed a merchant, Casper van Senden, to take Black people to Spain and Portugal in exchange for English prisoners he had freed.
Where sources differ: Often retold as an expulsion of Black people, but historian Miranda Kaufmann argues the scheme was a failed license to pay off a debt, that a 1601 “proclamation” likely never went beyond a draft, and that the government “never envisaged an expulsion of blacks” (Historical Research, 2008; mirandakaufmann.com/caspanvansenden.html).
Source: Internet Shakespeare Editions, University of Victoria
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died 1537
Alessandro de’ Medici, “the Black Prince of Florence”
Alessandro de’ Medici ruled Florence as its duke until he was murdered in 1537. Princeton University Art Museum describes him as the son of the future Pope Clement VII and an African servant.
Where sources differ: His parents aren’t settled. An H-Net review of Catherine Fletcher’s biography says most historians accept Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino, as his father; that his mother was a servant or enslaved woman named Simonetta; and that the rest, including whether she was Black African, remains speculative. The review adds that “Moor,” a usually insulting label for any dark-skinned outsider, was later reported to have been pinned on him by enemies. NEH’s Humanities magazine calls the African ancestry “widely believed.” Sources also differ on his birth year (1510 or 1511).
Source: Princeton University Art Museum, “Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe”
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about 1539
Giulia de’ Medici’s portrait
Pontormo’s portrait of Maria Salviati at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore includes a little girl identified as Alessandro’s daughter Giulia. The museum says it may be the first formal portrait of a girl of African ancestry in European art. She had been painted over and was rediscovered in 1937.
Where sources differ: Rests on the same parentage question as Alessandro (see europe-04).
Source: Walters Art Museum, Pontormo, Portrait of Maria Salviati de’ Medici and Giulia de’ Medici
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late 1400s to early 1600s
Black saints in European art
Renaissance European artists regularly painted Saint Maurice, a third-century saint, and Saint Benedict the Moor, a sixteenth-century saint, as Black Africans.
Source: National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities magazine, “Faces of the Renaissance”
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about 1608 to 1670
Juan de Pareja, Afro-Hispanic painter
Juan de Pareja, born in Antequera, Spain, was enslaved in Diego Velázquez’s studio for over 20 years before becoming a painter himself. Harlem Renaissance collector Arturo Schomburg was vital to recovering his work, a link The Met highlighted in its 2023 exhibition.