"The presence of Africans (usually referred to as 'Moors', whatever their actual lands of origin) in Renaissance Europe is a subject rarely studied in its own right, although well-attested in art and visual culture. This book makes an excellent and very readable start at reconstructing their lives and treatment in Tudor England, shining new light on several fascinating stories. Shakespeare, after all, did not write 'Othello' in a vacuum."
Publisher Oneworld Publications
Publication Date 2018-11-13
Section European History / All Staff Suggestions / Nonfiction Suggestions / Alan H.
Format Paperback
ISBN 9781786073969
A Book of the Year for the Evening Standard and the Observer A black porter publicly whips a white Englishman in the hall of a Gloucestershire manor house. A Moroccan woman is baptised in a London church. Henry VIII dispatches a Mauritanian diver to salvage lost treasures from the Mary Rose. From long-forgotten records emerge the remarkable stories of Africans who lived free in Tudor England… They were present at some of the defining moments of the age. They were christened, married and buried by the Church. They were paid wages like any other Tudors. The untold stories of the Black Tudors, dazzlingly brought to life by Kaufmann, will transform how we see this most intriguing period of history.
