History of Free African Diaspora

"1614... "Edward Blakemore of , silkweaver" was married in Stepney."

"’s possessions... each tell us something of her life. But the fact that she had them... tells us..l. Africans in England were not owned, but themselves possessed property."

"The role of people of African descent in the colonization of Latin America... is a pivotal one. Starting from the earliest Spanish activity in the New World, Africans were present both as involuntary settlers and as voluntary conquistadors. The acquisition of status and privilege by African officers... reflected the active role of leadership played by these men..."

"[U]nlike who most probably travelled to Portugal on his own, was enslaved... acquired... by the Portuguese... and... sent... to Mexico. In Mexico City, he was purchased by ... a cousin of Hernan Cortes. ...[H]e was baptized and given the name "Juan Valiente" and accompanied Alonso Valiente as a servant back to Spain."

"[H]e signed a contract that allowed him to work for others as a conquistador... after four years, he was to return... and pay... Alonso... to gain his freedom. It was a time where a large number of Africans were sweeping through Latin America, the Caribbean and South America under different captains and commanders."

"While Juan Valiente is the most famous of African Conquistadors in Chile, he wasn't the only African Conquistador... but... one among many... sixteenth-century armed African-born or Spanish-born free Africans and servants who actively participated in the... expeditions and conquests... Juan Garrido... participated in the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. Other African conquistadors... include Sebastián Toral in Mexico, Juan Beltrán in Chile, Estevanico in Florida, Pedro Fulupo in Costa Rica, and Juan Bardales in Honduras and Panama. For participating in these expeditions, most enslaved men gained their freedom while others who joined in as free men were awarded minor posts in their new homelands."

"Many sources promote the idea that Africans who went to the New World were only mass slaves who were forcefully sent... to work... on plantations. The conquistadors’ names formerly mentioned and the accounts of how they were compensated... including money, land and slaves... demolishes this idea and shows instead that Africans... were... a great asset and played a vital role throughout the... Spanish expansion."

"There were black/African people in pre-modern Europe during the Medieval and Tudor times! ...Some were affluent members of the society, iconic fictional characters, revered Saints, and... Knights."

"[P]re-modern Europe was more diverse than most of us have been led to assume."

"[P]eople of African descent were a part of the Tudor society... accepted and given the same rights as anyone else."

"While is... the most well-known Black Tudor... Others include (a salvage diver), Diego (a circumnavigator), (a servant), Dederi Jaquoah, (a prince and a merchant), Anne Cobbie (prostitute), Edward Swarthye (porter), (silk weaver), and of (an independent single woman)."

"In 1632, an Ethiopian traveler named Ṣägga Krǝstos arrived in Cairo and introduced himself to Franciscan missionaries as the legitimate heir to the Ethiopian throne. Following conversion to Catholicism, he embarked on an epic journey throughout the Italian peninsula and France, where he was hosted and supported by the Congregation of Propaganda Fide, multiple northern Italian rulers, and the French monarchy. Ṣägga Krǝstos was an impostor, but... thanks to... skilled self-fashioning, he was extensively supported by his... hosts."

"March 10, 1632, an African youth knocked at the door of Cairo’s Venetian consulate, asking to be treated by its resident physician... [H]e introduced himself as Ṣägga Krǝstos... son of the slain Ethiopian Emperor Yaʿǝqob... and told of his escape... after... Catholic Emperor Susǝnyos... killed his father. The story intrigued Paolo da Lodi... prefect of the Franciscan mission in Egypt since 1630... aware of the religious and political turmoil... Father Paolo saw the young Ethiopian as a valuable asset... Ṣägga Krǝstos visited Jerusalem, converted to Catholicism, then traveled to Rome, where Propaganda Fide vetted him in anticipation of his return to Ethiopia at the helm of a Franciscan mission. Instead, he would spend the rest of his life in Europe, as a guest of multiple courts, until his death in 1638 at Cardinal Richelieu’s mansion in Ruel."

"The first municipal reference to a free black man dates from 1539, when the municipal council acknowledged "Juan de Ordáz, negro" as a ', a title... with... civic rights. Acquiring ', the status and privileges of formally acknowledged residency, carried great significance... [V]ecinos could petition the council for plots... to erect... residences or cultivate orchards.... what Juan de Ordáz did. He... twice in the historical record... selling the urban plots... he had been granted... In 1546, Francisco Díaz, a black freedman, was also included on the city’s list of registered residents. Two other black men, Juan de Montalvo and Diego Monte, had their vecindad[s]... in 1550 and 1571, respectively."

"What... allowed these men... vecino status? ...freedom and a wife. Ordáz received a 200-peso dowry from his wife, Catalina Díaz. Montalvo... Puebla’s towncrier... [b]y 1555... had... enough money to send... Pedro de Padilla... to Guatemala... to bring his wife back... Montalvo’s standing as a free black vecino with connections to elite Poblanos distinguished him in a city where the overwhelming majority of people of African descent were enslaved."

"Other notable black men undoubtedly spent time in Puebla... but Pedro López de Villaseñor’s listing suggests... few were able to claim vecindad.[T]he black was... [b]orn on the African mainland around 1505... purchased by Hernan Cortés's cousin and... conquistador, ... [who] took Juan Valiente to Puebla... in 1532. ...In an emerging settlement defined for its anti-conquistador stance, it is not... clear that he benefited from his owner's social standing. ...Valiente asked his owner to grant him four years "to seek opportunity" as a conquistador in 's expedition to Guatemala. ...By 1534 ...[he] had made his way to Guatemala and Northern Peru. He would fight for in Chile the following year. Over the next two decades, Juan Valiente received an estate near de Chile, married Juana de Valdivia, and... received an for his military feats."

"In her 2017 book Black Tudors: The Untold Story has written a seminal work..."

"Africans were already known to have been living in Roman Britain as soldiers, slaves or even free men and women. Kaufmann shows that, by Tudor times, some were... present at the royal courts... and ...in households of courtiers ..."

"William Shakespeare... wrote several black parts... two of his greatest characters are black... [T]hat he put them into mainstream entertainment reflects... that they were a significant element in the population of London."

"[T]hey were employed... as domestic servants, professional businessmen, musicians, dancers and entertainers. ...[T]hey were not slaves."

"[I]n Elizabeth's reign, the black people of London... were free; some... married native English people."

"n... Dederi Jaquoah... circumnavigated half the globe with Sir Francis Drake."

"[I]n the reign of Queen Mary... 'there was a Negro made fine spanish needles in but would never teach his Art to any'. ...'Spanish needles' ...fine sewing needles ...of steel, were new to England ...the black man in Cheapside ...first brought the art of steel needle-making to England."

"Black Tudors were socially no worse off than white ones. ...[T]hey were acknowledged as citizens ..."