The perception of blacks in Muslim Spain by their Arab allies is not a topic that has received much attention. Rather there is more interest on how Arabs in other parts of the Muslim world regarded blacks. Historian Bernard Lewis has probably done the most specific work in this area. He remarks that color prejudice against blacks began to increase in the 7th Century AD.

His reasoning for this included Arab ethnocentrism and the increasing role of blacks as slaves. Lewis points to poetic satire aimed at the black son of one of the Prophet Mohammad's close companions, who was appointed governor of Sistan in 671 and again in 697. Writing of him, an Arab poet calls him a "stinking Nubian black - God put no light in their complexions!"

Bernard makes the argument that this negative view of blacks had begun to extend throughout the Muslim world.

Brunson and Rashidi note that in Spain, the Arabs have disdain for their Berber allies. This bias is especially reserved for the darker Berbers whom Brunson and Rashidi believe were black. They cite a reference of bias by a high-ranking Arab who refuses to work next to an equally high ranking Almohad, "because the dark-skinned Berber seemed to him far below his own intellectual standards".

Such bias towards Berbers is the most frequently discussed by historians. But as most of these writers do not consider the possibility of black Berbers, this bias is blamed upon Arab ethnocentrism as opposed to racial animosity. Brunson and Rashidi contend that the Arab view of their superiority over the nomadic Berber groups resulted in many forms of bias directed against the Berbers. They point out that Berbers were given poor land allotments and levied heavier taxes. Fletcher cites this unequal treatment as the cause for a large Berber revolt in the Maghreb in 739. Brunson and Rashidi assert that a partial reason for this bias may have been the heterogeneous (mixed) nature of some Berber populations.

Brunson and Rashidi cite such bias as a cause for a reactionary 9th century work "The Superiority of the Black Races Over the Whites" by a black Muslim scholar, Uthman' Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz. They point out that al-Jahiz included the Berbers and Moors among these blacks.

The perception and impact of Blacks upon the European psyche is a much more studied topic. Most writers agree that the image of blacks in early medieval Spain and Western Europe is generally negative. Brunson and Rashidi refer to the European perception of blacks as written in the medieval Frankish Epic, The Song of Roland. They note that it is harshly negative. They quote directly from the epic which states, "At their head rides the Saracen Abisme [Abyssinian?]: no worse criminal rides in that company, stained with the marks of his crimes and great treasons, lacking the faith in God, Saint Mary's son. And he is black, as black as melted pitch"

The epic further states, "Ethiope, a cursed land indeed; the blackamoors from there are in his keep, Broad in the nose they are and flat in ear, Fifty thousand and more in his company When Roland sees that unbelieving race, those hordes and hordes blacker than the blackest ink - no shred of white on them except their teeth".

Rashidi and Brunson note that while these blacks are depicted as vile and repulsive, they are also depicted as "beautifully arrayed in battle". Miriam DeCosta's work investigates the portrayal of blacks in the thirteenth-century "Cantigas" of Spain. In the "Cantigas" DeCosta highlights the manner in which "Spanish poets and illuminators of the period used the color black in a pejorative way, associating it with the devil or evil". He further points out that though other racial figures are depicted as Moors as well, the black figures seem to hold a central theme of negativity.

Brunson and Rashidi also point to such negative attitudes of blacks in medieval literature. They state of this, "In medieval literature demonic figures were commonly depicted with black faces. Among Satan's titles in medieval folklore were: "Black Knight" "Black Man", "Black Ethiopian", and "Big Negro". In the Cantiga 185 of King Alfonso the Wise of Spain (1254-86), three Moors attacking the Castle of Chincoya are described as "black as Satan". In Cantiga 329, an extremely black man who has stolen objects from a Christian church is identified as a Moor, In the Poema de Fernan Gonzalez, devils and Moors are equally described as "carbonientos" - literally the "coal-faced ones".

This negative view of blacks is thought to be associated to their role as non-Christians. Brunson and Rashidi also note that this view of blacks takes a remarkable turn in later years. They point to medieval literature and art outside of Europe that discuss Sir Morien who is described as black in the medieval Dutch version of Lancelot. They quote from the prose that Morien was "black as pitch; that was the fashion of his land - Moors are black as burnt brands". Brunson and Rashidi point out that the text states of Morien, "in all that men would praise in a knight was he fair - though he were black, what was he the worse?" Brunson and Rashidi also point to the popular Christian Knight St. Maurice as a positive black image in medieval European thought.

Mario Valdes Y Cocom also illustrates how many blacks came to symbolize ideas of holiness and were heavily associated with ideas of Christendom: From the mythical Prester John to the Greek Sir Pallamedes, also a knight (perhaps one in the same with Morien) of the round table. Of interest is the story of a Moorish orphan in the Netherlands by the name of Zwarte Piet. This mythical black boy was sometimes associated as a helper to the equally mythical Sinterklaas (Santa Claus).

The legacy of blacks in Europe lasted well beyond the Islamic period. They appear frequently in literature, iconography and historical writings. Following the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, many can be found throughout Europe. The term eventually became interlinked with African slaves, newly arriving to Europe in large numbers. In fact one of the first slave raids on the Guinea Coast by Portuguese soldiers is described as a foray against "Moors". By 1500s there were numerous of these described "black-a-moors", either from the newly emerging slave trade or the broken Islamic power bases, throughout Europe.

In 1507 at the court of King James IV of Scotland there is mention of a "Helenor in the Court Accounts, possibly Ellen More, who reached Edinburgh by way of the port of Leith and acted a principal role in 'the tournament of the black knight and the black lady,' in which the king of Scotland played the part of the black knight". Ellen More incidentally may also be one in the same with "Black Elen".

There were at least two other described black Moorish women of the royal court who held positions of some status as they are said to have held maidservants and expensive gowns. There is also mention of a "Nageir the More". In 1501 one of the King's Minstrels was Peter the Moryen or Moor who is described as Black. Frederick II (1197-1250), of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, maintained a close relationship with the remaining Moors in Sicily.

He retained a black Moorish chamberlain who was constantly at his side. Though breaking the Muslim power base in the region, he also solicited their aid in his struggle with the papacy. After resettling conquered Muslims on the Italian mainland at Lucera, the monarch was said to have recruited an elite guard of 16,000 Moorish troops, many of them no doubt black Africans. Within Sicily there was even a structure named, "The Gate of the Blacks".

For More Information See:

Sertima, Ivan Van. ed. Golden Age of the Moors

Bovill, E.W. Golden Trade of the Moors

Brett, Micheal. The Moors

Brunson, James and Runoko Rashidi. The Moors in Antiquity. In Golden Age of the Moor, ed. Ivan Van Sertima

Chanlder, Wayne. The Moor: Light of Europe's Dark Age. In Golden Ageof the Moor, ed. Ivan Van Sertima

Davidson, Basil. Africa in History

DeCosta, Miriam. The Portrayal of Blacks in a Spanish Medieval Manuscript.

Devisse, Jean. "From the Demonic Threat to the Incarnation of Sainthood" In The Image of the Black in Western Art. Vol. 2. From the Early Christian Era to the Age of Discovery, Pt. 1, trans. W.G. Ryan

"The Appeal of the Ethiopian", In The Image of the Black in Western Art, Vol. 2, Pt. 2, trans. W.G. Ryan

Edwards, Paul and james Walvin. "Africans in Britian, 1500-1800." In African Diaspora, eds. Martin L. Kilson and Robert I. Rotberg

Fletcher, Richard. Moorish Spain

Gabriel, D.J. Blacks in Muslim Spain: Their Origins, Roles and Depictions- an Historiographical Appraisal.

Kennedy, Hugh. Muslim Spain and Portugal

Lewis, Bernard. Race and Slavery in the Middle Ages.

"The African Diaspora and the Civilization of Islam." In African Diaspora, eds. Martin L. Kilson and Robert I. Rotberg

Norris, H.T. The Berbers in Arabic Literature

Valdes y Cocom, Mario. "On the image of the Blackamoor in European Heraldry (a preliminary proposal for an iconographical study)"