In the 1490s AD, Catholic rulers had begun to rid the Iberian Peninsula of much of its large Islamic Moorish population (as well as other people who practiced non-Christian religions such as Judaism). After waging a long war on Granada, Spains Ferdinand V and Isabella I seized control of that region in 1492, promising to keep religious freedom. However, Cardinal Francisco Jimenez Cisneros began a large-scale Inquisition in 1499, including mass coversions to Christianity, persecutions, book burnings, and closings mosques and synagogues, and by 1502 Ferdinand and Isabella expelled all non-Christians, which included many Moors. Portugals King Manuel also expelled non-Christians, many of whom were Moors, by royal decree in 1496. The result was that some relocated to other parts of Europe where they became high ranking nobility as their knowledge and skill continued to be highly valued. Although most Moorish families of nobility (the origin of the term Black Nobility) intermarried with Europeans, their surnames continued to link to their heritage. Family names such as Moore, Morris, Morrison, Morse, Black, Schwarz (the German word for black), Morandi, Morese, Negri, etc. all bear linguistic reference to their African ancestry. For example, the oldest Schwarz family crests even depict the image of an African, or Schwarzkopf, (black head in German). Other families and municipalities adopted similar coats of arms which continue to exist in some form, demonstrating the important role Africans played in European history.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 17:59:48 +0000
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