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Medieval Europe was a multiracial society. Majority of cities had Jewish quarters. Southern Europe had a significant Black presence, due to both Christianisation from Africa and the Umayyad invasion of Spain. Black, Middle-Eastern and Jewish individuals lived normal lives in medieval Europe, taking usual jobs. While some were non-Christian, others were inspiration for religious figures.
Probably the most widespread medieval representation of a person of colour is St Maurice, the leader of a Theban Legion in the 3rd century. As a Roman military commander, his Christianity was an obvious threat to the Roman Empire. He was martyred together with his Theban soldiers. This representation of a black body in military garb gave artists the opportunity to model local wealthy ethnic people.
St Maurice
Altarpiece (Austria, c1447) Wiener Neustadt abbey, Stefansdom
The diversity of ethnicities and races at all levels of the medieval society was not only encoded in religious paintings of a quasilegendary figure. Portraits of local nobility, craftsmen, and ordinary people reveal the peaceful coexistence of different races and religions in medieval cities. The sitter of this portrait is wearing luxury clothing (hinting at his high status) and a pilgrim’s badge from the shrine of St Mary.
Portrait of an African man Jan Jansz Mostaert (Netherland, c. 1525) RijksMuseum, Netherlands
While racialised bodies are most often used in medieval visuals as a shorthand to signal cultural and religious difference (e.g. cover image, where a black Muslim man converts to Christianity) people of colour also existed in Christian religious communities. This portrait is one of the 28 portraits in an Italian songbook, depicting inhabitants of the monastery.
Portrait of a black monk Psalter of St Sisto Monastery (Italy, ca. 1495) Boston Public Library, MS pf Med. 97
Women of colour are less present in medieval visual culture, but it doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. Queen of Sheba is an exceptional figure that gave the artists an opportunity to represent women of colour, but in this altarpiece several black women are casually depicted in attendance of St James (an African saint represented as black as well), as he himself attends a white virgin Mary and Christ-child.
Attendant maids The Calenberg Altar (Germany, 1515) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Acc.no. 2005.195.1-4
Bodies of colour did not need to take a central space to be represented at all. Just like other bodies, they appear both as subjects of main images and in the playful margins of manuscripts. This inclusion proves that they were not just subjects of spectacularised curiosity, but also just there, a normal part of the fabric of medieval society.
Marginalia Smithfield Decretals (England, 1340) British Library, Royal MS 10.e.iv, f.167v
There is also diversity in the race of the visually represented people of colour. While black bodies are easiest to spot in visual sources, other non-white races are equally represented. Jewish (arguably a race and a religion in medieval society), Middle-Eastern, Asian and African people are all represented as members of the society as well as outsiders.
Mamluk cavalry and Mongol archers Fleur des histoires de la terre d'Orient (France, 14C) Bibliotheque Nationale de France, NAF 886, f31v
Specific individuals of colour that were represented in visual culture also survive in written records which prove their mundane existence in the medieval society. John Blancke, a black musician, is not only depicted in this document, but is also mentioned as regular staff at Henry the 7th and 8th’s court, on an 8d a day retainer. Note his [Muslim-signifying] turban.
‘John Blanke, the blacke trumpeter’ Westminster Tournament Roll (England, 1511) London, College of Arms
The magi greeting Christ child was another opportunity for the medieval artists to represent bodies of colour. The three magi are sometimes taken to represent delegates from the three known continents (Africa, Asia and Europe). The African magus, Balthazar, is depicted here as a black man with a turban, as a token figure more than a full-fleshed character.
Epiphany Antiphoner of Saint-Gall Abbey (Germany, 1544) St. Gallen Stiftsbibl. Cod. Sang. 541, f.93r
If you want to learn more: Pocket Miscellanies #8: Racism Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe (2013 exhibition catalog, Walters museum) Simmons (2017) Uncovering the African Presence in Medieval Europe, Public Medievalist Heng (2011) The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages, Literature Compass COVER: Conversion of a Moor Cantigas de Santa Maria (Spain, c. 1280s) Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de El Escorial, Ms. T.I.1, Cant CXCII
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