Out of Africa: Six Famous Black Figures from European and New World History

People with "dark skin” and “Europeans” are not separate and mutually exclusive groups.  There has never been a time when Europeans were exclusively white people. Europe was never a culturally or racially isolated place.  Europe has been connected through trade and politics with many different nations where the locals were black, and many countries within medieval and renaissance Europe had populations that were primarily darker skinned.  In fact, if we trace European history back far enough (beyond the dark ages, before Christianity, before Rome, and so on) you can find a Europe that existed before white people- but not a Europe that existed before black people.

There have been black fencing masters, black brigadier generals, black poets, black pirates, black composers and black musicians in renaissance Europe and during the colonization of the Americas.  With February being Black History Month, I would like to dedicate this blog post to the often untold stories of some of the most amazing black figures from the medieval and renaissance era in Europe and the New World.

Thomas- Alexander Dumas

Many people are familiar with the famous tale, the Count of Monte Cristo, written by Alexandre Dumas (who also penned the Three Musketeers) but not many people know that  the story was inspired by his father, the first person of colour to become a brigadier general, divisional general and the first general in chief of the French Army.  During the French Revolution, Thomas- Alexander Dumas led a group of mixed-race swordsmen called the "Free Legion of Americans," or better known as their nickname the "Black Legion." He started his military career when he enlisted as a private at the age of 24 in 1786 in the Queen's Dragoons.  In his sixteen years of service he quickly rose through the ranks and served in numerous military campaigns.

In 2012, author Tom Reiss released a biography on Thomas- Alexander Dumas called The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monet Cristo. 

Juan Latino

Granada was home to Renaissance Europe's  only black Latinist, scholar, and writer Juan Latino.  He had a gift for classical languages and music. He published three volumes of poems in the mid sixteenth century where he wrote and reflected on the condition of blacks and negated the validity of any religious justification for slavery of Africans.  Latino is known as one of the first writers to have used a form of word play known as signifying; and in one of his most famous poems, Austrias Carmen, he wrote of establishing the dignity of all black Africans, relating them to biblical Ethiopia and refusing the idea of natural slavery. Latino also had a reputation of romancing many of his female students and eventually he ended up marrying one of them!

Black Caesar

During the start of the 18th century the seas around the Florida Keys were terrorized by an African pirate known as Black Caesar.  He was an African tribal war chief who was known for his brute strength, momentous size and sharp intelligence.  He left Africa when he was tricked onto a slave ship headed to the New World, but he escaped his captivity with the aid of one of the sailors.  When the slave trader hit a hurricane along the Florida Reefs, the sailor freed Back Caesar and they used the panic and distraction during the storm to their advantage where they managed to corner the captain and crew at gunpoint and boarded a longboat equipped with food, weapons and other supplies from the ship.

For years they would use the longboat to trick passing ships into thinking they were in need of assistance, when the ships would come in close the two of them would draw their guns and demand supplies and more ammunition.  Caesar killed his companion in a duel over a woman and went on to form his own crew. He took over his own ships and terrorized the open seas for nearly a decade, eventually joining forces with the famous pirate Blackbeard acting as his chief lieutenants aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge.   His reign eventually came to an end in 1718 when he was convicted of piracy and hanged in Williamsburg, Virginia.  There is still an island located North of Key Largo called Caesar's Rock, which is named after him and was the site of his original headquarters (which apparently had included a harem and a prison camp).

William Brown

This particular pirate, was no ordinary man- in fact this pirate wasn't even a man, but an exceptionally smart and strong black woman.  After a particularly brutal quarrel with her husband in 1804, Brown decided to leave so she joined the Royal Navy under the guise of a man and set sail for a life at sea.  Technically this made Brown the first woman and the first person of colour to serve in the Royal Navy, which she did until 1815 when her true sex was discovered while serving in the crew of the Queen Charlotte.

Jean-Louis Michel

"A foil should be held as one holds a little bird; not so tightly as to crush it, but just enough to prevent it escaping from the hand."  These famous words came from the mouth of Jean-Louis Michel, one of the 19th centuries greatest fencing masters.  He was the son of a Haitian woman and a fencing coach in the French Army.  When Michel was still in his youth he took part in- and won- a duel to the death that lasted over an hour with a Spanish opponent who was almost a foot taller then himself.

Like his father, he too served in the French army under Napolean and made a name for himself for having won a series of regimental duels held outside of Madrid, Spain.  He is reported to have killed three Italian masters (including Florentine's own Giacomo Ferrari) and wounded ten others.  After his time in the army he retired and opened up his own fencing school in Montpellier.  His legacy lives on in modern fencing through the New Zealand fencing club, Salle Jean Louis which has a direct link to Jean Louis which can be traced back through it's founders and  various instructors and well-known students of the school since opening in 1955.

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George

Born in Guadeloupe Joseph Bologne was the son of George Bologne de Saint-Georges, a wealthy planter, and Nanon, who was his father's African slave.  An exceptionally bright boy, Saint-Georges excelled at music, academics and sports.  Henry Angelo, who ran a top notch fencing school in London spoke highly of Saint-Georges saying:  "Never did any man combine such suppleness with so much strength. He excelled in every physical exercise he took up, and was also an accomplished swimmer and skater...He could often be seen swimming across the Seine with only one arm, and in skating his skill exceeded everyone else's. As to the pistol, he rarely missed the target. In running he was reputed to be one of the leading exponents in the whole of Europe."

Saint-Georges  was a champion fencer, a violin virtuoso and conductor of the leading symphony orchestra in Paris, France and is known as the first black classical composer. During the French Revolution, he fought for the Republic and was the colonel of the 'Legion St.-Georges', the first all black regiment in Europe.  Even though he was a talented fencer- who few dared challenge- his fame brought about much jealousy throughout his career. His company and favour were fought over in high class Parisian society and he was often challenged to many duels, which he often tried to avoid by using his charm, impeccable manners and grace defusing the situation with words as he had great respect for human life.  However, in 1756 a master of arms from Rouen and former officer, named Picard, challenged Saint George to a duel with a racial insult calling him "La Boessiere's mulatto." Despite the insult Saint George initially refused the duel, but on his father's insistence he met Picard in Rouen and easily defeated the hot-tongues racist who was then forced to acknowledge Saint George's far superior skills with a saber.

This collection only begins to brush the surface of the history of black people in Europe and the New World.  King Henry VIII had a black trumpter under his employ and his first wife, Katherine of Aragorn's lady in waiting was an Iberian Moor named Catalina de Cardones.  Alfonso Álvares who was of mixed race was the Master of Works for the Portuguese king, Sebastian of Portugal.  Álvares designed many buildings and structures, one of the most famous being the Monastery of São Bento.

If you would like to do more research I highly recommend checking out the website Medieval People of Colour as a great start.  If you know of any other stories about black figures from the medieval and renaissance era in Europe and the New World, please feel free to share them with us!