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Black Knights

The painting (by Matthias Grunewald, 1520 AD) to the right depicts St. Maurice in the armored attire that anyone would attribute to a knight. Such images are seen all over Europe and are clearly representative of the term, "Black knight."

As evidenced by medieval literature, the term, "Black knight" was not a metaphor as some modern historians would have you believe. Similar to Grunewald's representation of St. Maurice, as well as countless others, the earliest known depiction was made in 1240 in the form of a statue now housed in the Cathedral of Magdeburg, Germany (below).

According to legend (which varies), Maurice was a Christian from 3rd century Thebes, Egypt and served in a Roman legion under emperor Maximilian Hurculius. Maximilian called the Theban legion to Gaul (near present-day Geneva) in order to defeat a Christian rebellion. There he and his legion, were ordered to worship the Roman gods, but Maurice refused. As punishment, decimation or the killing of 1/10 of the army, was employed. After continuous refusal, the rest of the legion, including Maurice was beheaded. For his martyrdom, he was made a saint.

Several historians reject such claims because it was highly unlikely that any Roman legion would have been entirely Christian at this time. Furthermore, some historians point to the fact that at this time, decimation was no longer practiced. It's more likely that Maurice was made a saint because of his skill in battle, as was customary at the time--such as the knight turned Saint George. Whatever the case may be, the point is that St. Maurice was in fact a Black knight who was and continues to be celebrated in Europe.

If this Maurice was truly from Thebes, it's evident that his name was given to him by Europeans based on the color of his skin. In Latin, it's "Mauritius" (under the Holy Roman Empire), and in Germanic tongues, it's "Moriz," "Morien" or some similar form. The name appears in different forms throughout European history--from Switzerland to England--and is synonymous with MANY great Black knights of Europe. This is evident by the Europeans' own accounts.

Not too far away, in Germany, the legend of the Freising Moor is consistent with the theme of skill in battle. Freising, the hometown of Pope Benedict, has used a Moor's head since the 1300's (shown below) and the Pope adopted a similar version in his official coat of arms. As legend would have it, the Freising Moor defeated a bear in the forests of Bavaria.

We don't have to rely on oral legend alone. If we examine medieval literature, we see that there were other black knights present in Europe. Written in the 1300s, the medieval Dutch version of the Lancelot describes Morien, one of King Author's knights with the following language (English version, Morien):



He was all black, even as I tell ye: his head, his body, and his hands were all black, saving only his teeth. His shield and his armour were even those of a Moor, and black as a raven.

(fragments of the original text are found at the Royal Museum of Brussels in Belgium)



Read More:

1. Moorish Spain

2. Black Knights

3. Moor's Heads

4. Black Magi

5. The Renaissance