The Black Knight At The Court of King Arthur

[DanielThomasHutton]

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

[sheenawarecki]

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

[tiredoftrolls]

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

[Lhene]

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.)

[zetazimmer]

Id love a modern adaptation with an actor with vitiligo

[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.

[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.

[embroideredragdoll]

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

[Blackjack]

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

[jgcoverkknot]

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

[ruffysvideo]

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

[attackpatterndelta]

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).

[jameshowlettii]

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).

[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.

[stevenn]

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

[bpora]

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

[paullough]

Vitiligo would explain the two-toned knight...

[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!

[kathyhorstman]

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.

[Armageddon]

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