Watch "THE BLACK KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR" on YouTube

 

THE BLACK KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR

An Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima Film

Yes, African and Afro-descended knights and elite warriors absolutely existed in 12th-century Europe.

By the 1100s, European formal knighthood was reaching its peak, and geopolitical events like the Crusades, the Reconquista in Spain, and Norman expansions in southern Italy brought Europeans and Africans into intense, constant military contact. 

The Norman Kingdom of Sicily
In the 12th century, Sicily was a prosperous cultural crossroads. Norman rulers like King Roger II and William I employed elite personal bodyguards, heavy cavalry, and palace officials who were Black Africans (referred to historically as "Moorish" or "Saracen" knights). These men were integrated into the royal court, wore European-style chainmail armor, and held significant military authority.

 
The Crusades and the Holy Land
During the 12th century, European knights traveling to the Middle East fought alongside and against diverse African military units.

 
The Christian Side: 

The Kingdom of Jerusalem and various Crusader orders frequently formed alliances with regional powers. Nubian Christian soldiers from East Africa, famed for their martial prowess, fought as allies alongside European crusaders.

The Muslim Side: 

European knights faced elite Fatimid and Ayyubid heavy cavalry composed of Sub-Saharan and North African soldiers. Western records from the period heavily note the skill, nobility, and imposing presence of these rival horsemen, whom they viewed as the cultural and functional equivalents of their own knights.

Religious and Literary Icons
The 12th century is exactly when the concept of the Black knight became firmly embedded in European art and folklore:

Saint Maurice: 

Although he lived in the 3rd century, the 12th century marked a massive surge in his veneration across Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. He was universally depicted in European cathedrals and statues as a Black African dressed in cutting-edge, contemporary 12th-century knight’s armor—serving as the ultimate spiritual patron saint of Western knighthood.

The "Black Knight" Literary Trope: 

The 12th century saw the birth of Arthurian romances and epic poetry like The Song of Roland. In these stories, the "Black Knight" or "Moorish Knight" was a highly respected stock character—portrayed either as a formidable, noble rival or a legendary ally who was treated as an equal at the Round Table.

A Note on Terminology
In medieval texts, the term "Black Knight" also had a literal, non-racial meaning: a European knight who hid his identity by painting his armor black and removing his family heraldry. However, the actual presence of African-descended elite horsemen fighting in 12th-century European theaters is a well-documented historical reality. 

#blacknight

#blacks

#africa

#europe

#crusaders
 

A Film Adaptation of "Ameno" is Overdue

I have viewed this epic music video of "Ameno" of ERA by Eric Levi and I thought it was the trailer of the movie. The song produced in 1996 by the Baby Boomers generation is currently having worldwide resurgence by both millennials and Gen Z on TikTok.

The film adaptation is long over due and I found the historical background of the theme of the song on 
http://www.euronet.nl/users/ernstoud/era.html.

The following is enough treatment for the screenplay. And I will like to produce it.

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WhatWhat Can I Say?

In August 1998 I visited a late 19th century fortress 'Fort Vuren' which was once part of the defense system New Dutch Waterlinie, meant to defend the Northern part of Holland, in particular the city Gorinchem. This fortress was never used in battle and is now sometimes used to house art exhibitions. During such an exhibition they played music that overwhelmed me. The cold and very damp fortress (with feet-thick concrete walls below ground level) with its church-like acoustics together with the music melted into an almost eerie experience.

I thought I heard an album by Enigma. But it turned out to be an album called 'ERA' by the French composer and guitarist Eric Levi.

The music is a weird mix of Gregorian chant (performed by the English Chamber Choir), rock and disco. Musicians are Lee Sklar, Chester Thompson, Philippe Manca, Neal Wilkinson, Patrice Tison and Eric Levi.

I only recognize Chester Thompson who always played drums with Phil Collins when Genesis was on tour.

Parts of the album remind me of the Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, other parts seem inspired by early works of Mike Oldfield.

On first sight it is hard to tell what this concept album is about. The CD sleeve contains little information apart from a two couplet verse:

When the children of Montsegur came down from the pog

The sun had not yet returned day to the world

On their pale faces could be seen their grief and sadness

Without faith they went

Time had passed, the children have grown with great hope

And sometimes, when they look up to the mountains

They can hear those strong and beautiful voices

Beating on the sound of a rhythm, the Cathar rhythm.

Based on this verse and the enormous encyclopedia the Internet has turned into, it is fairly easy to do research.

At the start of the 13th century Catholicism reigned supreme but a number of Christian diversions where popular. The acts of Pope Innocentius III made large amounts of people hostile towards Catholicism because it seemed that Church did present Rome instead of faith. A fertile environment for heresies, one of these was Catharism, of which the largest group formed in the South of France, in the Languedoc area near Toulouse.

Catharism preached that the body is evil but that one's soul is devine and therefor must be set free. During the 13th century the Inquisition and Crusades controlled from Rome eradicated the Cathars. Montsegur (Mont Segur = Safe Mountain) was one of the last Cathar bastions to fall when (after a siege of 10 months) the Cathars on Montsegur were given 14 days to surrender. They had the option to deny their faith or be killed. Almost all choose to keep faith so 205 men and women were burned at the stake on March 15th 1244.

There is a lot of mystery about the Cathars and Montsegur. On July 21st the sunrays enter and leave the ruins through four openings. Did the Cathars have some solarian rites?

Also it is believed that just before the surrender of the Cathars at Montsegur, a party was secretly sent down to rescue the Cathar's treasure and hide it in secrecy, never to be found again ...

Source

http://www.euronet.nl/users/ernstoud/era.html