The Black Knight At The Court of King Arthur

[@sheenawarecki92]

I cant help but think of vitaligo for him but yea probably the author needing some lessons 💀

[@Dushmann_]

Well, he wasn't black because he was North African, not Sub-Saharan African. He also wasn't real. The author had very likely never even met anyone from Africa, but just created some characters that were supposedly from Africa to make them more interesting or something. And the idea of calling white people "white" and black people "black" wasn't invented at that time, so I don't know. Maybe he literally was black and white like a magpie. This is the same book with Wizards, so it's not that far fetched.

[@GeeBarone]

​@dushman2092 Black as a term is quite nebulous - it's not as simple as a Subsaharan or not. Secondly, black people and most other ethnicities were common enough in France and Britain by the later eras of Arhurian literature that Authors would certainly have been familiar with what black and mixed race people looked like - even if they weren't that numerous.

[@misskate3815]

Maybe the author had seen someone with vitiligo and figured that was what mixed race people looked like😂.

[@wayIess]

​​@@GeeBaroneMaybe someone could explain it better than I could, but black people being common in Arthurian England/France (5th/6th centuries) doesn't quite sound right. For one, a lot of African animals were only known through bits of word of mouth (unicorns being rhinos and all). But transportation at the time between the locations had to have been horrendous. This was a time BEFORE the crusades and Europeans had not even figured out the spice trade existed as a route with a beginning & end. There were probably some scant explorers that traveled between the two, inspiring stories, but definitely not enough to make it common for average folk to know. A peasant definitely would have been surprised by an African on the street.

[@Dushmann_]

@@GeeBarone they were not "common enough" at all Britain was 99% English up until the 1950s - English, not white, specifically ethnically English. If you include all white people, England was about 99.7% white up until the 1950s. Do you know how many black people lived in London during the early 19th century? About 30. Not 30,000. 30. Thirty. England was literally 99.99999% white during the Arthurian era. Remember that prior to the industrial revolution, most people would never travel more than about 30 miles away from where they were born. So somebody travelling from Sub-Saharan Africa to North Western Europe would be borderline unheard of, in fact, borderline impossible. "not that numerous" is one way to put it lmao. it would have been en extraordinarily rare event to see a black person in Europe prior to the 20th century, nevermind a mixed race person.

[@DanielThomasHutton]

The guy could have had vitiligo.... I mean probably not but still.

[@louisejohnson6057]

I didn't see your comment and I commented the same.

[@DanielThomasHutton]

@@louisejohnson6057 happens to me all the time.

[@louisejohnson6057]

@@DanielThomasHutton You're not my first either. ✌️from 🍁🇨🇦🍁

[@rossjohnson1872]

There are several forms of piebaldism in humans.

[@DanielThomasHutton]

@@louisejohnson6057 You have a fine day buddy, I'm sure I will accidentally repeat someone else's comment by days end.

[@tiredoftrolls2629]

Several are described as Saracen (Arab) or Moorish (North African)

[@imacarguy4065]

Exactly. Perhaps OP doesn't realize that "black" used in those days or even today in certain areas, refer to people who are now regarded as racially "brown."

[@unlimon6382]

​@@imacarguy4065 the legend doesn't stop at one guy. Even Spanish authors have made contributions to the legend. Like we see in these pictures, not everyone has interpreted him I history to be brown either. As long as it is unclear it pretty much can be anything

[@thenablade858]

@@imacarguy4065Not exactly. They knew what black people looked like, because many conflicts with North Africa and The Middle East included black soldiers (Ottoman Empire had black soldiers and black eunuchs, who usually guarded the Harem). Saint Maurice is clearly portrayed as black. Almost all the ‘heroic’ moors and saracens convert to Christianity.

[@allthenewsordeath5772]

@@thenablade858 Right, religion was the common factor within Christendom sense nationalism and race were not really ideas yet, in conclusion Jesus FTW.

[@tiredoftrolls2629]

@@thenablade858 very true. And even terms we use for race and ethnicity today are not monolithic. It still describes a wide range of features.

[@zetazimmer4769]

Id love a modern adaptation with an actor with vitiligo

[@mojavefry2617]

That’d be cool. Unfortunately the entertainment industry is very superficial, and if you have something like vitiligo you probably won’t make it very far. That being said, a series rather than a movie focusing on the lesser-known knights of the Round Table would probably be rather entertaining.

[@novatheredwitch1573]

​​@@mojavefry2617 ***take notes***

[@yorgunsamuray]

@@mojavefry2617 They can portray him having vitiligo by make-up too.

[@clown-cat]

@@yorgunsamuray….nah

[@Growmetheus]

**Uncle Ruckus has entered the chat**

[@Lhene9]

For the people who don't know, Arthurian legends are largely fictional works that were written by multiple authors over hundreds of years. (The earliest versions are in Welsh mythology.) These aren't historical figures, but they can provide clues to Medieval views on ethnicity and how Medieval people were less restricted by what we call "race" than modern people are. (Class and religion were much more important to them.)

[@jw8223]

There is a clan in Scotland, the MacArthur clan, that claims to be descended from THE King Arthur. There’s also a hypothesis that the round table was at Stirling Castle. There’s some evidence that this man and his knights actually did exist. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@Lhene9]

@@jw8223 Arthur probably existed the same way Jesus probably existed: A man who had significant impact in his place and time, whose story has been heavily fancied up by later writers. As for Stirling Castle, the earliest reliable records place it being built in the early Medieval period, long after stories of Arthur began. There are hundreds of places in the British Isles that claim connection to Arthur and not a single connection can be verified.

[@asherroodcreel640]

Yes thank you mythology is fake

[@asherroodcreel640]

​@@Lhene9i dunno man roman records good

[@josephkrengel]

@@asherroodcreel640 Is there any Roman record of a man named Jesus rising from the dead?

[@embroideredragdoll]

I love that we all agree that Feirefiz has vitiligo even if that was not the author’s intention.

[@lauraketteridge324]

I think we are saying it sounds like the most logical interpretation to us. We know England was not homogeneously white. Sailors and traders come in all colours of the human spectrum. It was most likely to meet a person with a darker skin tone in the ports, harbours, and major trading sites. When the Romans 'visited', they brought soldiers from all over their empire.

[@zGunTroll]

@@lauraketteridge324 the author is from Bavaria not england

[@lauraketteridge324]

@@zGunTroll As far as I'm aware, there is no one author of the Arthurian legends. There have been English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, French and German workings/retellings of the stories.

[@zGunTroll]

@@lauraketteridge324 @lauraketteridge324 @lauraketteridge324 The author of parzival is known, although we know little about him. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feirefiz Im sorry if i come across as hostile but it frustrates me how easily a lot people jump to the conclusion that firefizz had vitiligo. Hes a figure in a madeup story involving faerys magical goblets and knights.

[@Pingwn]

​@@lauraketteridge324 I think they are talking about the first legend where this knight was mentioned.

[@lexiepalmer3565]

We out here for the vitiligo knight!

[@richardarriaga6271]

Watch some monster have a prophecy that it can only be slain by a man black and white all over

[@loriburnip]

I'd love to see a longer video on this. To go through all the Arthurian knights & include a bit of info about them. From the well known knights to the completely unknown to the public.

[@demonic_myst4503]

And each source as most the knoghts were added later in a fanfiction sort of way ghat eventurly due to how mich history passed the stories got muddled unless u read the indebidual soueces like pancelot was fanfiction by a french poet and many of thede were later fanfiction added ontop which is why they so unknown

[@demonic_myst4503]

In this case fierfiz was added 200 years later than king arthurs legend in the poem percival which was written by a german knight poet

[@aazhie]

Same! I would love to hear a deeper dive

[@Blackjack1317]

Also, isnt there at least one kinda gay Arthurian knight? So the dude, Galehaut, who conquered a ton of Arthur's land, and actually posed a threat to Arthur's king-hood (is that a word?). Anyway, he stops his conquering as he sees Lancelot and is absolutely smitte by him. He tells Arthur that he's ganna stop his conquest if Arthur allows him to become friends Lancelot. I mean, thats a win-win situation if I've ever seen one :D

[@BunnyOnASnuman]

He died of grief when he thought Lancelot was dead What a good friend

[@sudanemamimikiki1527]

Considering many of these stories were written by Christian monks. It's more likely that this was an early example of a romantic friendship

[@juliandacosta6841]

That explains that bit in monty python

[@Dloin]

Yeah... after you read text of people in the past talking about each other you realize how often Race changed. I bet it would be really hard to explain to a Roman Senator that he is supposed to be in the same Group as the germanic Barbarian rather the Carthagenian Ambassador.

[@digitaljanus]

And that's assuming we're not in the later Empire where you had Gauls and Syrians in the Senate.

[@wile123456]

Just wish we could finally move on from the legacy of scientific racism and completely abandon the catagory of "white" it's so unscientific and dumb way of viewing the world. But alas, white people still have wealth and privlege over the people their ancestors enslaved or oppressed just 1 or 2 generations ago, so as long as the unequal positions persists, so too does the catagories.

[@jameshagan2832]

Or explaining to a protestant English nobleman that he is the same race as an irish catholic peasant

[@thenablade858]

@@digitaljanusAnd Emperors from different cultural/racial backgrounds. Philip the Arab was, well, Arabic and Septimus Severus was of Phoenician/Punic descent etc.

[@alanlight7740]

Under today's classifications all three belong to the same major race (Caucasian).

[@jgcoverkknot5701]

Feirefiz is one of my favourite fictional characters, I like to imagine he's biracial with vitiligo

[@jimmytesta1454]

What are you on about fictional de loca

[@AnkhAnanku]

@@jimmytesta1454 iirc most of Arthur’s knights were essentially writers adding their OCs to the canon. Lancelot was a late addition by a French author and Galahad is a total Mary Sue. But who would have written in these guys? Perhaps there were some real colored person whose character and deeds inspired a knightly addition, or perhaps some xenophile writer heard tale of moorish knights in Spain and wanted to make a British addition. I think the least likely scenario would be that a scribe with vitiligo self-inserted representation because anyone would look at the character and look at the writer and think it was just a little too obvious 😂

[@KarlKarsnark]

...and super gay. ....and super tans.....and super spotty.....too, amirite? Show me a single, verified case of "Virgilio" in Romano-Britain when the "real" Arthur would've lived.

[@AnkhAnanku]

@@KarlKarsnark bro, you can’t even spell. Why would you think you know anything?

[@ChefTrollbert]

Vitiligo could make that physical description accurate.

[@attackpatterndelta8949]

In the 90s animated series Prince Valiant, there is a knight of the round table who is black. I think his name was Sir Bryant, who was voiced by the excellent James Avery (who played Uncle Phil in The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air).

[@NiKiMa023]

‘First things first, rest in peace Uncle Phil’

[@doro626]

James Avery was a BOSS of the Voice over world! You may call me THE SHREDDER!

[@jameshowlettii761]

The statue at the end was of *_Saint Maurice._* Saint Maurice was a Black Egyptian military leader who headed the Theban Legion of Rome in the 3rd century. He became a soldier in the Roman army and rose through the ranks until he became the commander of the Theban legion. That statue of him currently resides in Germany (I forget where).

[@h.m.v.]

Magdeburg Cathedral (Dom St. Mauritius) I believe.

[@ruffysvideo]

Maybe Feirefiz had vitiligo. A skin disorder that creates patches of white skin. Michael Jackson had this disorder.

[@fredrikkirderf2907]

I was thinking that. if thy made a film about him they should definately find an actor like that.

[@hhh1234h]

In the story his skin is supposed to reveal/prove that he is mixed. So no it was not meant to be vitiligo dude just straight up never saw or heard what a mixed race person looks like and guessed they must have diff colors

[@mormacil]

@@hhh1234h Mixed race people existed in that period, Roman empire stationed many non-white soldiers in Britain from both Asia and Africa. Not that it's really relevant because just because the author interpret vitiligo as a result of being biracial doesn't mean his inspiration didn't have vitiligo. It just means the author didn't understand an autoimmune condition.

[@tobiasweber6784]

​​@@mormacilWhy did you bring up the roman empire. The story was written a few hundred years after the classical period.

[@bootmii98]

​@@tobiasweber6784But it's set in the "Groans of the Britons" period

[@tim.a.k.mertens]

I think it's awesome how it doesn't even seem to occur to the authors that they would be any less than the other knights. I'm so used to old European literature being racist that it's oddly comforting to go back far enough that the stories are older than white supremacy. It's like when I was a kid and I didn't know when white or black meant anything other than the literal colours, and I didn't think anything of my friends having dark skin, I knew their families came from Africa originally and I knew it was hot and sunny in Africa so I figured they were just naturally very tan.

[@Armageddon2077]

I always assumed the description black and white like a magpie meant that he had vitiligo

[@paullough4946]

Vitiligo would explain the two-toned knight...

[@stevenn1940]

Thought on feirefiz, he could actually be describing the very real condition piebaldism (that's what its called in animals, but with humans we have a different name for it, but I forget what it is. Piebaldism is a lesser form of leucism (where pigments are not deposited into skin or hair at all. Notably different from albinism by them producing the pigment, but unable to use it in some areas), where splotches of white or pale areas overlay areas of their normal pigment level. This is most starkly noticeable on people (and animals) which have darker pigmentation.... for example, the son of a white knight and an african queen, especially if he trended towards the darker side But you're probably right and he was just ignorant. My thought is kind of fun though

[@s14011]

Vitiligo

[@ChrissieBear]

It's called vitiligo in humans.

[@stevenn1940]

@@ChrissieBear I still think it's silly to have a different name for it, specifically. Albinism? Same name. Leucism? Same name. Cancer? Same name. Heterochromia? Same name. But piebaldism? Nope, has to have its own name

[@Lucy-fn9rj]

@@stevenn1940i looked it up and apparently they’re two different things! people with piebaldism have the same spot(s) their whole life, while people with vitiligo are born without spots and develop them over time.

[@stevenn1940]

@@Lucy-fn9rj oh, well, TIL. Still, confirms that some are piabald lol

[@silverjohn6037]

The Catholic patron saint of the Infantry, Saint Maurice, was also black. He was part of a Roman unit recruited in Thebes (in modern day Egypt but, at the time, ethnically Ethiopian). The story is debated as it was an oral rather than written tradition but supposedly the unit refused to take part in a persecution of fellow Christians and were executed as a result.

[@spades9681]

Thebes was not Ethiopian/Nubian at the time.

[@silverjohn6037]

@@spades9681 Could you point me to the source for that? First time I've seen someone say that. Or are you getting confused by the whole Cleopatra is black but she wasn't black she was from the Greek dynasty so the whole population of Egypt must have been Greek as well? Because the Ptolomeic dynasty just moved in and took over the entire levels of the aristocracy but the general population wasn't changed. It was also during the Roman period so there would have been a healthy diffusion of other races and nationalities as well in the form of traders, victims of the Roman slave trade from all across Europe and soldiers taking their retirement land grants in the area they served which was often far from their land of birth. But, history nerd ramble aside, Saint Maurice was described as being ethnically black.

[@spades9681]

@@silverjohn6037 There has been little to no genetic drift between ancient Egyptians and their modern counterparts (Schuenemann et al. [2017]), Thebes and the rest of Upper Egypt being no exception (Scheunemann & Urban et al. [2021]). Modern Thebans (er, that is, Luxorians), while doubtlessly more mixed than their northern countrymen, are not black. Ergo-St. Maurice very likely was not black. Now it’s your turn to tell me where he was described as such.

[@silverjohn6037]

@@spades9681 I'm sorry but you're just saying you're right not what your source is. As for my source we can start with the 13th Century statue of him from the Magdeburg Cathedral in Germany (image from Wikipedia commons linked below). I know later sources have depicted him as white (especially among certain schools of thought that began in 19th century Germany and in some Coptic groups in Egypt) but the earliest accounts from the area of his martyrdom were quite clear on him being black. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Maurice#/media/File:Saint_Maurice_Magdeburg.jpg

[@spades9681]

@@silverjohn6037 ? You’re kidding, right? A statue made 1000 years after his death is not a source. Moreover, the majority of depictions of him prior to about the 13th century depicted him as white, when it was fashionable to depict all “Saracens”, “Moors”, and other non-Europeans as dark-skinned just for exoticism. And anyway, I *did* provide sources. I provided two genetic studies to back up my claims.

[@bpora01]

I have to find her guided tour next time I'm in London

[@Randoman590]

More examples of these old legends having multiple different versions floating around in common memory and literature. The version of the story I heard had Percival and Feirefiz as half-brothers, not father and son. They apparently meet in battle, duel, break their weapons and refuse to fight an unarmed opponent, then start chatting and discover their relation through the conversation.

[@josephlongbone4255]

I can't help but think that they'd be more likely to be brown North Africans from Morocco or Tunisia, as opposed to black sub-saharan Africans; simply because of how much of a barrier the Sahara was. I could be wrong, Sudanese and Ethiopian people occasionally made it to the Roman empire, so they could be from there, but it would be a hell of a way to travel to get to Britain.

[@Matt..S]

Saint Maurice, one of the most "popular" saints in Europe, especially among the working class, was black as well

[@daiseysthebaby6071]

I’ve learned so much in just the few short days that I’ve begun watching these videos! Thx for making these!!

[@kashigata]

Are you going to do a longer piece on them? Or perhaps this is a teaser for one? I’d love to hear you expand on this piece of history!

[@gammamaster1894]

It’s not history, only stories

[@5amiann]

Just because it wasn't written down, doesn't mean it's not history.

[@canbrit4621]

Arthurian stories are just that... Stories not historical. Fanciful stories written hundreds of years after the time period they were set in. So no not history. The Iliad was written but surely you don't believe cyclops and what not were really running around ancient Greece...hopefully you don't.

[@asherroodcreel640]

​@@canbrit4621art is a product of the artist, just because what was written down didn't happen doesn't mean the person wrighting it down didn't exist

[@MadHatter42]

@@gammamaster1894the history of King Arthur as a fictional character is still a fascinating one; from his original conception in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History if the Kings of Britain, to the building of his myth cycle over the following centuries, to his reinvention by Victorian romantics, to modern tellings like Monty Python and Merlin. Arthur may not have been a real person, but as cultural icon of Britain, the different ways people have portrayed him can tell us a lot about the different ways British people have understood themselves.

[@kamalalsb7292]

What a lot of people don't seem to get is, what we understand now as the concept of racism is a concept that was invented during the height of the Transatlantic slave trade - Racism simply didn't exist until that point. What you had instead was Xenophobia - the idea of "Race" didn't really exist but distrust or hatred based on nationality was still a thing, but would primarily be a result of wars between two countries or bad feelings over some national conflict. As a result you'd see a LOT more hostility directed between say, the English and the French than you would White people and Black people. There'd still be distrust if they were a foreigner but again, the idea of "race" wasn't... really a thing. If you were a black person in Medieval england you'd have to overcome the stigma of being very visibly a foreigner but the fact that would only superficially be about skin color, but there were quite a few POC who did quite well primarily white countries at that time. But when the Transatlantic slave trade was at it's height, working class white people started to realise "We're losing all our livelihood because of slavery and I think this might be bad", so the upper classes invented the concept of Race as a way to effectively placate the poor people. "You as a white person, even if you're the lowest white person, are higher than the highest black person because of your inherent nature" - and people fuckin' bought it, basically. The entire concept of racism branches off from there and then was massively expanded by later generations. The Victorians were particularly fucking bad about this - they defaced artefacts and rewrote history to hide any mention of 'Civilised' Brown people, they defaced statues to make the subjects appear white, and rewrote a LOT of history to make it seem like Racism was "just the way things always were", primarily by erasing references to significant black people in Medieval history and the like. The distressing part is - this revisionist shit is what most people have been taught even still, and you aren't likely to learn about it unless you study history in higher education.

[@Wanamaker1946]

You are simply delightful to come across several times a day. Your research, and your time that it must are to make your videos so thoroughly well. You are a riveting Teacher.

[@magniwalterbutnotwaltermag1479]

To everyone sinply saying vitilgo or any other condition. Keep in mind feirefiz came from a fictional kingdom either in Africa or the middle-east, if the absence of French or English sounding name isn't already clear enough. The author definetly had the intention of mixed-race being the focus of the reveal, he was fighting a knight of the round table for shits n gigs, and they found out they were cousins after he took off his helmet.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

“None shall pass…” Oh, not that Black Knight?

[@attackpatterndelta8949]

"Alright, we'll call it a draw."

[@roseyblack18]

"tis but a flesh wound"

[@82Vampi]

"Oh I see, running away eh?"

[@samurijder9550]

"I've had worse.."

[@ZephLodwick]

That's what I thought at first two

[@h.m.v.]

That last picture is of a statue of St. Maurice that stands in Magdeburg I believe.

[@mojavefry2617]

A bit of clarity for the sake of accuracy: most if not all of these figures may have been North African rather than sub-Saharan “black” Africans, as to the average European of the time anyone with darker skin than them and deriving from Africa were all lumped together under the terms “Moor” and “Saracen.” Since the fiction of Arthurian romance was constantly shifting though all throughout the Middle Ages, I see no real harm in reimagining some of them as being “black” Africans. Arthur himself went from being a petty British warlord who in origin was probably based on a Welsh prince or chieftain, to being the idealized Western European King. Mordred also went from being an ally of Arthur (who may or may not have been a relative or son) to being his traitorous bastard son, the result of being essentially raped by his evil half-sister Morgan le Fay, who herself went through many changes, as in earlier stories she’s more of an ally of Arthur, overtime becoming his half-sister who sought his downfall. Since Arthurian legend is in itself a collaborative work that many contributed to over centuries, it would be keeping with tradition to reimagine a few things.

[@sean668]

“African” in Late Medieval/Early Modern literature more often meant “African” (from the continent), rather than “Black” specifically. The last three knights could have been imagined with dark skin, but the average period audience probably imagined them as generally “foreign” however “foreign” appeared to them.

[@demonic_myst4503]

Probably not much care was put into it he is a reference from the poem percival written 200 years after king arthur s story and by a german poet its apart the later romanticiced knight fiction that was not meant to be apart the actual arthurian muth but fictional fan fiction characters

[@thenablade858]

Due to the prevalence of conflict with ‘moors’ (who could be non-Black and were usually Muslim North Africans), black people were portrayed a lot in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Saint Maurice, patron saint of many Holy Roman Emperors, is portrayed as black.

[@thenablade858]

@@demonic_myst4503Most of Arthurian mythology is fanfiction. Lancelot, the Holy Grail, most likely Merlin and Arthur himself. The first person to write about the Arthurian legends was a Welsh historian. King Arthur might be a real King, but everything about him is likely fake.

[@demonic_myst4503]

@@thenablade858 lancelot yes but saying mirlin and arthur dude you cant nave fandiction of nothing i didnt say it just fictional fan fiction means based on other fictional work not the original author the history of britons is the original wodk that brings king arthur then 200 years later this guy was added by a difernt author in a fan fiction manor while the original book claims to be history book its acuracy comes inro daubt the poems such as lancelot and percival never claim to be true stories but artistic renditions

[@thenablade858]

@@demonic_myst4503 I say ‘fanfiction’ because most of the stories about them are possibly false: Merlin being magical for one, Arthur having a child with his own sister who tricked him through an illusion, the Excalibur story etc.

[@kathyhorstman7909]

Yes! I noticed this when I read Chretien de Troyes' Perceval. Also that older ladies, like King Arthur's mother, are described as being lovely and desirable.

[@MerkhVision]

So you’re saying they liked MILFs back then too!? Lol

[@RuthBhmand]

Always history in excellent context and Well illustrated. Thank you🎉

[@DrunkardTV]

Literally just a 30 second google search and you can debunk all the false history she spewed.

[@theshlauf]

That statue is oddly unsettling. By "non-white" I wasn't expecting that to mean blue.

[@canterlevi]

Maybe the paint faded over time. 🤷🏻‍♀️✌🏼

[@SamAronow]

Tobias Fünke would be proud.

[@starlinguk]

I mean, there are areas in Africa where people are so dark that they almost look blue. Although not this blue.

[@lessoriginal]

If I recall correctly some olde descriptions of black people used the word blue

[@duckpotat9818]

In India blue pigment was used to depict dark skin and 'blue like night sky' was used to mean dark so could be something similar

[@dragonetafireball]

The most generous interpretation of it would be the author heard of/saw someone with vitiligo

[@Mouser613]

Perhaps the author was describing vitiligo, a skin disease that occurs when pigment-producing cells die or stop functioning. That might cause a person to have “blotches of skin like a magpie…”

[@Lillith.]

The idea of the author thinking of the knight as striped or spotted is pretty funny to me.

[@richardhowells5804]

He could have that fascinating skin condition where people have patches of light and dark skin.

[@mormacil]

Vitiligo

[@maurikuvalentinus1657]

This was fascinating; thank you for this. You made my day with this, as a fellow enthusiast of historicity...

[@theguest4516]

Really enjoy your content!!! You make it so fun. Take care and have fun!!! 😎😄😎

[@cqtaylor]

Gosh, I love her narrations. ❤️

[@Ro99]

Did the first one have vitiligo?

[@APerson863]

That would make sense, but it was said to be because he had a black and a white parent. So its still a bit weird

[@swearimnotarobot3746]

I think the author just thought that’s what mixed race people looked like

[@ACAB.forcutie]

​@@swearimnotarobot3746it would be very interesting if he saw someone with vitiligo and assumed, not realizing many other brown people were actually mixed race

[@Simon-ho6ly]

Would be possible for sure... And if he did have vitiligo it would be even more interesting

[@JamEngulfer]

I’d like to think he was mixed race AND had vitiligo, and the writer got very confused and made a logical but very incorrect assumption.

[@mikefilimon1584]

Thank you for your inclusive approach to your content 🙂

[@Irisarc1]

It could be that Feirefiz was in fact a victim of vitiligo.

[@zigzag88888]

Apparently he's Percival's half-brother not his son... I can't express how I cherish your teachings ❤

[@erikagehm2805]

The one knight is a description of vitiligo.

[@Danheron2]

Funny thing in the Arthurian legends many of the knights go to find the holy grail, which pretty much means to the Middle East to go on crusade. And when the Europeans got to the the Middle East they found emissaries from the Nubian kingdoms in what is now known as Sudan who at the time were Coptic Christians informing the Europeans that there was a large Christian population in Africa, their was even brief plans to try to recruit the Nubians to launch a crusade into Africa but they couldn’t manage the logistics lol

[@NK73080]

Feirefez was the son of Gahmuret, Parcival’s father

[@Benjumanjo]

In the past, people didn’t care about race as much as they did about culture and values.

[@12jswilson]

They certainly weren't common, but black people of sub-saharan African descent have always been present in Europe parts of Asia. I know stories of them serving prominently in Russia, England, and even Japan. They stood out, so people wrote about them.

[@GRBoi1993]

Makes sense if the story has Romano-British origins and the story evolved to include people who/had parentage from auxiliary cavalrymen that stayed in Britain. Too my knowledge tho, I don’t know of any auxiliaries stationed there with African origins much less ones from subsaharan or Nubian Africa. In fact if there were auxiliary cavalrymen, they’d most like come from Gaul, Germania, or Numidia so I wonder how the medieval authors even knew what a black person would look like to include it in their recounting of the legend at all.

[@MRIWILLPLAY]

This character was added at a later date by Wolfram von Eschenbach. They think he was trying to say that Moors weren't bad, they just needed to be Christianised.

[@GRBoi1993]

@@MRIWILLPLAY thaaaaaat makes more sense haha

[@willzimmermann2511]

I ADORE YOUR CONTENT

[@MrDDiRusso]

WHICH ONE OF KING ARTHUR'S KNIGHTS BUILT THE ROUND TABLE? SIR CUMFERENCE

[@asherroodcreel640]

GOOD

[@pattheplanter]

I thought Sir Cular saw it to completion?

[@Retroteric]

I haven't seen anyone comment yet that Feirefiz is the son of Parsifal's father, so is Parsifal's half-brother, not his son.

[@LaurasBookBlog]

Feirefiz: well he's a little confused, but he got the spirit.

[@jesusmora9379]

I knew him from overly sarcastic productions

[@goshanefedov5592]

Netflix: " Nah lets make king Arthur black"

[@aolster3198]

Please note there is a condition called vitiligo defined as a condition in which the pigment is lost from areas of the skin, causing whitish patches, often with no clear cause.

[@lostyears5256]

Please do a longer video on these knights please please

[@cynthiamartini8982]

There is a “black knight” described in the legend Sir Elgar…who was white…and Irish - not black skinned.

[@rohanharridge5579]

Some people, (ie gammons), got really upset at Mary Beard for saying similar stuff in this department. I'll happy to defer to experts, but I thought it was common that the Roman empire covered a fair bit of Africa as well as most of Britain for centuries. Social norms & language regarding race were very different in the 1980's nevermind during classical antiquity. It probably shouldn't be amazing or controversial that being part of an empire that included African people some of them found their way to Britain. By the late Roman empire people with all sorts of backgrounds were able to achieve peak social status. One thing English racists, who are nearly always monarchists, seem to never be aware of is the fact that England hasn't had a native aristocracy in over 2000 years.

[@johnjones_1501]

My favorite Arthurian legend is when King Arthur fights and slays a vicious, venomous animal, that is very clearly a giraffe. As in either drawings of giraffes, or maybe even a stuffed one, had somehow made their way to ancient England, and influenced stories from people who had never seen a living one.

[@SilentLegion7]

Her voice sounds very Awesome for commentary and all I dig it.

[@JonathonSwinney2814]

Sir Palamedes!!!!! One of my favorites!!!

[@catherinecox573]

Dude the first guy's fit tho? He's so fancy

[@rfox3519]

Saving this for when people act like black people were invented in the 1800s

[@LorriBaker-nq8rs]

Magpies are black with white speckles and blazes... he was likely the shade of Wesley Snipes with vitiligo ffs...❤

[@Dartharus]

Poor Palamides, dude wrecks face only to get teabagged by a self insert character with meter thick plot armour

[@thenablade858]

Funniest Arthurian fact is that Lancelot was added later by French authors. Basically, the ‘British’ (Welsh?) King gets cucked by a French knight who is cooler than him.

[@RiverMersey]

Hi, great video again, thank you. Just an unlikely point, though, it could be possible that the knight was both black and white at the same time. A condition called "vitiligo" could give the effect of appearing as if a magpie.

[@cats333tube]

All the factoids I know about Arthur and this is something I didn’t know! I’ve learned something new!

[@Voltaic_Fire]

Sir Magpie would flummox enemy knights. 😂

[@stefanhuddleston6816]

Sweet. I wrote an MA thesis on Feirefiz and Morien, it's cool to see other people talk about them.

[@schwammi]

I would visit London just to go on one of your tours for sure

[@kaboomsihal1164]

I love the idea of that writer just sitting there and spending days trying to figure out what a person with one white and one black parent could look like... and landing on "half half I guess" lmfao

[@cullenjay3466]

Wood-waster, that's a cold nickname

[@juanitoice]

As a lot of people pointed out, that could be a description of vitiligo too. 🤔

[@SAOS451316]

The number of people who think that Europe had zero PoC in it before the 18th century is disturbing.

[@luciusdebeers6176]

Still wasn't that many tho

[@hadiisaboss5307]

rounded to a whole number it would be 0% of people in Britain there was that few

[@morbidsearch]

​@@hadiisaboss5307 Reduced to a whole number, 0% of the British population lives in Swansea. It's still the second largest city in Wales.

[@hadiisaboss5307]

@@morbidsearch good job you understand math you must be very proud. so proving my point because that's negligible. no one has ever heard of that city nor know anything about it making it not exist for the majority of the world

[@sakkikoyumikishi]

Well, it obviously wasn't zero, but it was very close, outside of fiction. Even now, the black population in Europe is only roughly 1%. ONE. Percent. That's with globalisation, free movement, global economic streams and people following the same having been in full swing for the better part of a century. As recently as 2020, more than half of all European countries had a black population of less than 0.1%. That means less than one person in every 1000 is black in the MAJORITY of European countries. The three European countries with the highest percentage of black citizens are France, Great Britain and Belgium, with 8.43%, 3.95% and 3.57% respectively. The total number of countries in Europe where more than 1% of the population is black is 11. ELEVEN. And almost all of those people live in big cities. Even nowadays, it is entirely feasible for someone living in a small village in Eastern Europe to never meet a single black person face to face. So yes, you can safely assume that, before globalisation, before the internet, media and other ways to interact with people far away, the vast majoroty of Europeans would go their entire lives without ever meeting a single black person, ever, and in fact even without ever seeing a non-fictional depiction of one.

[@olwethudladla5065]

Legit most of your history has nothing to do with me or my people or country. But damn i looove your videos! I feel 10% smarter everytime i hear your voice😂

[@brockmckelvey7327]

"...white and black skin like a magpie" That sounds like Vitiligo to me (the condition where pigment in parts of your skin will turn white; Michael Jackson famously had a severe instance of vitiligo all over)

[@katakesh8566]

I cant believe how woke the Arthurian Cycle is

[@TSmith-yy3cc]

Yeah!!! All this politics in my mythology!!!!111

[@MRIWILLPLAY]

He's not in the original Arthurian Cycle. Added at a later date by a German guy called Wolfram von Eschenbach

[@Mojo_3.14]

@@MRIWILLPLAY yeah, but that "later date" was still 8 centuries ago, hardly some modern rewrite.

[@MRIWILLPLAY]

@@Mojo_3.14 That's true, but it's basically a fan fiction story. Plus they weren't black, they were Arabs.

[@bitedusterlol5304]

​@@MRIWILLPLAYYes, they weren't black they were Arab, that's why they were described explicitly like a black person with Vitiligo

[@kingm3202]

At least the author tried writing Feirfiz 😂

[@MomirViggwilv]

I love the idea of a medieval writer with literally zero understanding of what other races even might look like putting in the effort to make a character from a racially diverse background.

[@anonemail8371]

This is so cool! Also I’m CRYING laughing, I want to live in the alternate universe where mixed-race people inherit traits all patchwork! I’m half-Asian and half-white, and I’m cracking myself up thinking about what a clueless author might come up with to describe me. One slanty eye, one wide one? Yellow and white patches of skin like corn? (I know there was no corn in Europe at that time, please indulge me!) Black and brown hair in streaks like an anime character? The possibilities are endless!!!

[@gawd4582]

Good to know. ❤

[@joebloe4734]

That's so cool and I had no idea!

[@titusjames4912]

Parsifal is the most badass of all the badasses.

[@jowolf2187]

Keep in mind all these knights are more recent additions that did not exist in the original Arthurian legend. Actually most of the stuff we associate with King Arthur today was added during the 15th century by Thomas Malory, or in the centuries that followed. Even Geoffrey of Monmouth's writings were written long after the original Arthurian legend was. Most historians agree that if he existed he was likely an ancient Briton Chieftain, hence the oldest records detailing Arthur are written in a proto-Celtic language.

[@lilymoon2829]

Ok but "white and black skin like a magpie" sounds like BADASS character design! Also, I can't help but wonder if maybe the author was trying to describe vitiligo?

[@ashleysbored6710]

That's kinda cool. Also reminds me of when my mom told me about mixed race people when I was four and I thought they would have spots like dalmations

[@aktuellyattee8265]

it is very important that we embrace all these facts and create a new national canon in order to welcome all the sea people

[@PeterCorless]

Feirefiz is Parzival's half-brother. Their father was Gahmuret.

[@trolltalwar]

which is why i was perplexed to see that they casted a dark skinned middle eastern looking actor to portray sir gawain in the recent green knight movie. there are indeed saracen knights of the round table that they could of made a movie about, however gawain isnt one of them.

[@alexandrajay2001]

my friend and i used to talk about an idea for a movie or tv series about the Arthurian Knights and we agreed Feirefiz could be played by a mixed race actor with vitiligo to be accurate to the myths while also incorporating our modern better understanding of mixed race people.

[@deanniematheson1062]

Considering people used to think that grain spontaneously created rats it's not a stretch that someone had seen someone with vitiligo and assumed that they were mixed race, and it just got incorporated into common perception and then the stories. In fact it might have been emphasized as sort of a proof of parentage.

[@ondank]

Who ever wrote that about Feirefiz knew exactly what they were doing.

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

Very interesting and astonishing. I had no idea.

[@anniel6479]

I've heard of Feirefiz, but not these other nights. That's really neat!

[@U2QuoZepplin]

Next time I see the Wagner Opera Parsifal I should pay more attention, because I had no idea that Parsifal was even the name of an Arthurian Knight. And I'm a mixed race person myself who loves most things about the Arthurian Legend.

[@mikeaskme3530]

I would love to know more about this topic, never heard of these men.