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They Had Boats
Dec. 9th, 2013 12:01 amThis is a version of a rant I often find myself making on Tumblr. It's usually in response to someone claiming that PoC couldn't be in X location in Medieval Europe. (I want to shake people sometimes and yell, "They had Boats!" This one was in response to a conversation about whether or not the black people in the Doctor Who episode with Vampires in Venice where historically accurate or an attempt to "win race points." The original responder had pictorial proof of black people in Florence. I added this expansion:
I often respond to these questions by pointing out that people had boats and there was healthy trade all over the Mediterranean. I think people forget that trade routes go in more than one direction and that as a result, people of colour got around just like white people got around. You have trade empires and people of a variety of skin tones owning or sailing ships. Large coastal cities pretty much anywhere during the high middle ages had populations of people of a variety of national origins. It is in the nature of sailors to fraternize with the locals. Some people will take a liking to another city in another country and end up staying. Some large trading concerns will find it convenient to send agents to do business in their name in cities where they do a lot of business. Those agents may bring families or marry locals.
Even the English, who were comparatively xenophobic and had laws about where foreigners were allowed to live had populations of native born descendants of people originally from over seas and had a small, but thriving population of native Londoners of African decent by the late middle Ages.
Venice had a massive trading Empire that included routes to parts of Africa and Asia. of course there were PoC living in Venice, as there where in major port cities all over Italy.
I often respond to these questions by pointing out that people had boats and there was healthy trade all over the Mediterranean. I think people forget that trade routes go in more than one direction and that as a result, people of colour got around just like white people got around. You have trade empires and people of a variety of skin tones owning or sailing ships. Large coastal cities pretty much anywhere during the high middle ages had populations of people of a variety of national origins. It is in the nature of sailors to fraternize with the locals. Some people will take a liking to another city in another country and end up staying. Some large trading concerns will find it convenient to send agents to do business in their name in cities where they do a lot of business. Those agents may bring families or marry locals.
Even the English, who were comparatively xenophobic and had laws about where foreigners were allowed to live had populations of native born descendants of people originally from over seas and had a small, but thriving population of native Londoners of African decent by the late middle Ages.
Venice had a massive trading Empire that included routes to parts of Africa and Asia. of course there were PoC living in Venice, as there where in major port cities all over Italy.
