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Ellen More
Ellen or Elen More (fl. c. 1500–1535) was an African servant at the Scottish royal court. She probably arrived in Scotland in the company of a Portuguese man with imported animals. There are records of clothing and gifts given to her, although her roles and status are unclear. Some recent scholarship suggests she was enslaved, and her arrival in Scotland can be linked indirectly with the slave trade. She is associated with a racist poem by William Dunbar, and may have performed in Edinburgh as the "Black Lady" at royal tournaments in 1507 and 1508.
Ellen More was employed in Edinburgh Castle in the household of Lady Margaret, the daughter of James IV of Scotland and his mistress Margaret Drummond. Ellen More and Margaret More were later attendants of Margaret Tudor at Linlithgow Palace.
She was first mentioned by name, "Elen More", in the royal accounts in December 1511. Possibly remaining in the household of the young James V, she was last mentioned in the accounts in August 1527, as "Helenor the blak moir". The name "More" recorded in the Scottish accounts seems to be from the word "moor", meaning, in the Scots Language, an African person. A number of individuals are identified as "moors" in the records of the Scottish royal court, and other people of African origin living in Scottish communities are not conspicuous in the records.
Servants of African origin were employed at other courts in Europe at this time. After her marriage to Francesco II Gonzaga in 1490, Isabella d'Este specified a young black girl be obtained or bought to serve her in Mantua, and wrote of another older African girl in her household who was being trained to be a "buffoon" or entertainer. As in Scotland, African and exotic themes featured in pageantry of these courts. Wedding festivities in 1502 at the marriage of Lucrezia Borgia to Alfonso, son of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, included a morisco dance "of Moors with flaming tapers in their mouths and a dance of sauvages". In Spain and in Spanish realms, the names "le More" or "le Négre" could function more as a descriptor than a surname for servants of African origin.
In the same years in England, African servants were recorded in the household of the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon, the wife of Prince Arthur and Henry VIII, including the trumpeters John Blanke and Alonso de Valdenebro, and a groom Francis Negro. The lawyer Thomas More was surprised by the appearance of Africans in Catherine of Aragon's entourage in procession during her formal Entry to London in November 1501. He wrote about them in racist terms to John Holt. Catherine of Aragon also had a bed chamber servant of Muslim origin, Catalina of Motril who may have joined her retinue as a slave. In 1501 Juan Davalos of Granada had been paid for a slave for the Princess of Wales, as Catherine was then known. The English and Scottish courts in the 16th century included black people in spectacle and drama.
Four African people, described as "More lasses" in Scotland in 1504, were accompanied by a Portuguese man and imported animals including a cat and a horse. The reign of James IV (1488 to 1513) coincided with the era of Portuguese exploration which established firm contact between Europe and Africa. At this time the Portuguese royal court became known for collecting exotic and rare animals from distant lands. Portuguese monarchs sent diplomatic gifts of rare animals to other courts. Henry VII of England received parrots and wild mountain cats at Richmond Palace in 1505 from a Portuguese traveller.
A pet monkey at the Scottish court was recorded as the "Marmoset of Calicut", reflecting Portuguese activity both on the Malabar Coast and on the coast of Brazil.
A letter from a Southampton customs official describes a merchant's plan to present 2 musk cats, 3 little monkeys, a marmoset, and other exotic goods to Henry VIII. A portrait of Margaret Tudor includes a Brazilian marmoset, and may be a copy of a picture once in the collection of Henry VIII, described in his inventory as a "woman having a monkey on her hand". A monkey in a portrait of Catherine of Aragon, painted around 1531, appears to be a pet Marcgrave's capuchin, a type brought from Brazil by Portuguese traders. Catharine's portrait may follow an allegory of Christian faith. Gifts of monkeys or marmosets were made at the English court in 1534 and 1535, but it was said that Anne Boleyn did not care for "such beasts".
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Ellen More
Ellen or Elen More (fl. c. 1500–1535) was an African servant at the Scottish royal court. She probably arrived in Scotland in the company of a Portuguese man with imported animals. There are records of clothing and gifts given to her, although her roles and status are unclear. Some recent scholarship suggests she was enslaved, and her arrival in Scotland can be linked indirectly with the slave trade. She is associated with a racist poem by William Dunbar, and may have performed in Edinburgh as the "Black Lady" at royal tournaments in 1507 and 1508.
Ellen More was employed in Edinburgh Castle in the household of Lady Margaret, the daughter of James IV of Scotland and his mistress Margaret Drummond. Ellen More and Margaret More were later attendants of Margaret Tudor at Linlithgow Palace.
She was first mentioned by name, "Elen More", in the royal accounts in December 1511. Possibly remaining in the household of the young James V, she was last mentioned in the accounts in August 1527, as "Helenor the blak moir". The name "More" recorded in the Scottish accounts seems to be from the word "moor", meaning, in the Scots Language, an African person. A number of individuals are identified as "moors" in the records of the Scottish royal court, and other people of African origin living in Scottish communities are not conspicuous in the records.
Servants of African origin were employed at other courts in Europe at this time. After her marriage to Francesco II Gonzaga in 1490, Isabella d'Este specified a young black girl be obtained or bought to serve her in Mantua, and wrote of another older African girl in her household who was being trained to be a "buffoon" or entertainer. As in Scotland, African and exotic themes featured in pageantry of these courts. Wedding festivities in 1502 at the marriage of Lucrezia Borgia to Alfonso, son of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, included a morisco dance "of Moors with flaming tapers in their mouths and a dance of sauvages". In Spain and in Spanish realms, the names "le More" or "le Négre" could function more as a descriptor than a surname for servants of African origin.
In the same years in England, African servants were recorded in the household of the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon, the wife of Prince Arthur and Henry VIII, including the trumpeters John Blanke and Alonso de Valdenebro, and a groom Francis Negro. The lawyer Thomas More was surprised by the appearance of Africans in Catherine of Aragon's entourage in procession during her formal Entry to London in November 1501. He wrote about them in racist terms to John Holt. Catherine of Aragon also had a bed chamber servant of Muslim origin, Catalina of Motril who may have joined her retinue as a slave. In 1501 Juan Davalos of Granada had been paid for a slave for the Princess of Wales, as Catherine was then known. The English and Scottish courts in the 16th century included black people in spectacle and drama.
Four African people, described as "More lasses" in Scotland in 1504, were accompanied by a Portuguese man and imported animals including a cat and a horse. The reign of James IV (1488 to 1513) coincided with the era of Portuguese exploration which established firm contact between Europe and Africa. At this time the Portuguese royal court became known for collecting exotic and rare animals from distant lands. Portuguese monarchs sent diplomatic gifts of rare animals to other courts. Henry VII of England received parrots and wild mountain cats at Richmond Palace in 1505 from a Portuguese traveller.
A pet monkey at the Scottish court was recorded as the "Marmoset of Calicut", reflecting Portuguese activity both on the Malabar Coast and on the coast of Brazil.
A letter from a Southampton customs official describes a merchant's plan to present 2 musk cats, 3 little monkeys, a marmoset, and other exotic goods to Henry VIII. A portrait of Margaret Tudor includes a Brazilian marmoset, and may be a copy of a picture once in the collection of Henry VIII, described in his inventory as a "woman having a monkey on her hand". A monkey in a portrait of Catherine of Aragon, painted around 1531, appears to be a pet Marcgrave's capuchin, a type brought from Brazil by Portuguese traders. Catharine's portrait may follow an allegory of Christian faith. Gifts of monkeys or marmosets were made at the English court in 1534 and 1535, but it was said that Anne Boleyn did not care for "such beasts".