You are absolutely right—many of them were black. In Tudor and early modern England, the word "Moor" was used as a catch-all blanket term for almost *anyone* with darker skin than the English, and it heavily included Black people of Sub-Saharan African descent. They were and still are in England. Here is some experience with the evidence. Because the English lacked a precise geographical or racial vocabulary at the time, they grouped people together based on skin color rather than their specific country of origin. ## "Tawny" vs. "Black" Moors When the English felt the need to differentiate, they sometimes split the terminology: * **"Tawny Moors":** This was the term often applied to North Africans, Arabs, and Berbers (like the Moroccan ambassador pictured previously). * **"Blackamoors":** This explicitly referred to Black Africans, often from West or Sub-Saharan Africa. However, in everyday writing, legal documents, and literature, people constantly dropped the prefixes and just used "Moor." Therefore, when reading historical English records about "Moors," a significant portion of those individuals were Black. ## Black Men and Women in Tudor Society We know for a fact that a vibrant community of Black Africans lived and worked in Tudor England. Many arrived as a result of English privateers intercepting Spanish or Portuguese ships that were trafficking enslaved West Africans. Once brought to England—where slavery was not recognized under common law—many assimilated into the working class. Parish registries from the 1500s and 1600s record their lives not as enslaved people, but as paid workers, including: * **Mary Fillis:** A Black woman from Morocco who lived in London for over a decade, working as a seamstress. Click here.

 You are absolutely right—many of them were black.  In Tudor and early modern England, the word "Moor" was used as a catch-all blanket term for almost *anyone* with darker skin than the English, and it heavily included Black people of Sub-Saharan African descent. They were and still are in England. Here is some experience with the evidence. 

Because the English lacked a precise geographical or racial vocabulary at the time, they grouped people together based on skin color rather than their specific country of origin.

## "Tawny" vs. "Black" Moors

When the English felt the need to differentiate, they sometimes split the terminology:

 * **"Tawny Moors":** This was the term often applied to North Africans, Arabs, and Berbers (like the Moroccan ambassador pictured previously).

 * **"Blackamoors":** This explicitly referred to Black Africans, often from West or Sub-Saharan Africa.

However, in everyday writing, legal documents, and literature, people constantly dropped the prefixes and just used "Moor." Therefore, when reading historical English records about "Moors," a significant portion of those individuals were Black.

## Black Men and Women in Tudor Society

We know for a fact that a vibrant community of Black Africans lived and worked in Tudor England. Many arrived as a result of English privateers intercepting Spanish or Portuguese ships that were trafficking enslaved West Africans. Once brought to England—where slavery was not recognized under common law—many assimilated into the working class.

Parish registries from the 1500s and 1600s record their lives not as enslaved people, but as paid workers, including:

 * **Mary Fillis:** A Black woman from Morocco who lived in London for over a decade, working as a seamstress.

 * **Reasonable Blackman:** A highly successful silk weaver who lived in Southwark (near Shakespeare's Globe Theatre) and had his own independent business and family.

 * **Jacques Francis:** A Black diver from Guinea who was hired in 1546 to salvage cannons from the sunken *Mary Rose*, Henry VIII's flagship. He even testified in an English court.

> **The Royal Trumpeter:** One of the most famous Black figures of the era was **John Blanke** (depicted above). He was a highly skilled, well-paid royal trumpeter who served both Henry VII and Henry VIII. We even have court records showing that he successfully petitioned Henry VIII for a pay raise, which the King granted.

> 

## The Roman Era

This also applies to the earlier Roman period. The Roman province of Mauretania (where the Aurelian Moors at Hadrian's Wall came from) was a vast North African territory that served as a major crossroads. The Roman army recruited heavily from this region, drawing in indigenous Amazigh (Berber) people, whose skin tones varied widely, as well as Sub-Saharan Black Africans who had traveled or been brought north through established trans-Saharan trade routes.

The history of people of North African descent in England stretches back nearly 2,000 years. When exploring this history, it is important to understand that the term **"Moor"** (and later "Blackamoor") was a highly fluid European exonym. In English history, it was used interchangeably to describe Berbers, Arabs, and Black Africans, as well as Muslims in general, rather than pointing to a single ethnic group.

## Roman Britain: The First Recorded Community

The earliest definitive evidence of a North African community in Britain dates to the Roman occupation.

In the 3rd century AD, a military unit known as the **Numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum** (The Unit of Aurelian Moors) was stationed at the Aballava fort at Burgh-by-Sands, along Hadrian's Wall in modern-day Cumbria.

 * **Origins:** These soldiers were recruited from Mauretania (modern-day Algeria and Morocco) and were likely of Berber descent.

 * **Legacy:** They lived, served, and died on the northern frontier. Archaeologists excavating the wall have recovered North African-style casserole pots, as well as a 3rd-century tombstone of an ex-slave named Victor, who hailed from the same Northwest African region as the garrison.

## The Tudor Era: Diplomacy and Trade

The most heavily documented era of North Africans in England is the late 16th and early 17th centuries. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, England found itself politically isolated from Catholic Europe and locked in a bitter conflict with Spain.

To counter Spanish dominance, Elizabeth actively sought alliances with Islamic empires, including the Saadi dynasty of Morocco, ruled by Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur. This resulted in a thriving Anglo-Moroccan trade network.

| Exported from England | Imported from Morocco |

|---|---|

| Broadcloth and raw wool | Sugar and molasses |

| Timber and lead | **Saltpeter** (crucial for English gunpowder) |

| Munitions and firearms | Ostrich feathers and gold |

## The 1600 Embassy and Shakespeare

The visual above is the earliest surviving English portrait of a Muslim sitter. It depicts **Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun**, a Moroccan diplomat who arrived in London in August 1600 leading a 16-man embassy to the court of Elizabeth I.

His entourage stayed in London for six months, lodging near the Royal Exchange. They attended court festivities, observed English customs, and held direct audiences with the Queen to propose a joint military offensive against Spain.

> **Cultural Impact:** It is widely believed by literary historians that the striking presence of the Moroccan ambassador and his retinue inspired William Shakespeare to write *Othello* (circa 1603–1604). By centering a Moorish general as a tragic, complex hero, Shakespeare was subverting the era's theatrical stereotypes.

> 

## Social Reality vs. Royal Proclamations

While foreign ambassadors were treated with high royal protocol, everyday people of North and West African descent were also living and working in Tudor society. Parish records show they were integrated into English society as independent workers—silk weavers, divers, musicians, and domestic servants. Because English law at the time had no legal provision for slavery, those arriving on English soil were technically free.

However, their presence occasionally caused political friction.

 * The Barbary Company Founded

   1585

   English merchants formalize the Moroccan trade, bringing a steady influx of North African merchants, sailors, and translators to London ports.

 * The 1596 Draft Proclamations

   1596

   Facing a severe domestic economic crisis and famine, Elizabeth I issued a draft proclamation complaining of "divers blackamoores brought into this realme." The document ordered their deportation, though historians believe this was largely a political maneuver to force prisoner exchanges with Spain and Portugal rather than a genuine racial purge, as it was never made into law.

 * The 1600 Embassy

   1600

   Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud spends six months in London negotiating an Anglo-Moroccan alliance and engaging with the English elite.

 * Another Draft Proclamation

   1601

   Elizabeth issued another draft demanding the removal of "blackamoores," specifically commissioning a merchant named Casper van Senden to transport them. Like the first, this was largely ignored by English households, who refused to hand over their employees, and the population remained integrated.