AHC/WI: Black royalty in Europe before 19th century

Yeah, the Roman Empire seems like as good a place as any. Of course, "Black" was hardly a category in that period, but Mauretania took its name from the Greek "μαῦρος" which meant "black" or "dark." So...an emperor hailing from Mauretania would logically be black and on the throne well in time. Maybe butterfly one in during the Military Anarchy, it was kind of a crazy anything-goes period.

A Mauretanian emperor would likely be Berber, more than Black that were a bit further in the south.
 
I`ll go with the Ethiopians, but with the tranmission occuring during the Crusades.

Have an Ethiopian prince or high noble go on pilgramge/crusade while the KoJ is still intact, marry a local and then through some fluke of inheritance end up on a throne in Europe, or perhaps their child does. Not a major throne, but perhaps some minor principality or something.
 
The Almoravid dynasty originated from the Berber Lamtuna tribe which dominated territory south of the Western Sahara. Even if they were not Black per se, would they not have a large enough element in their tribal confederation of south Saharan origins, or links with Ghanian Muslim princes, that could be carried over into the upper-echelon of Al-Andalusian society?
 
Just for reasons of geography and the difficulty of traveling in the medieval period, I think your best bet is for a marriage into either the Byzantine imperial house or the Rurikids in Russia.

You could butterfly a strategic marriage with Ethiopia/Abyssinia for some scion or another -- the Rurikids I think would be the best bet, as they bred like rabbits and at any given time had a pack of marriageable sons. Also, the main branch was very willing to intermarry with foreign dynasts, unlike the snootier Byzantines who preferred to choose brides from within their own ranks.
 
The Almoravid dynasty originated from the Berber Lamtuna tribe which dominated territory south of the Western Sahara. Even if they were not Black per se, would they not have a large enough element in their tribal confederation of south Saharan origins, or links with Ghanian Muslim princes, that could be carried over into the upper-echelon of Al-Andalusian society?

Well, I think it's better to have surviving Taifas, as the local rulers would likely interbreed with Blacks people as they did with slavic and northern spaniards. Furthermore, it would multiply the numbers of possibles matrimonial alliances with the Christian places.
 
People tend to forget there were 2 crusades for Egypt, and if they had been successful then Christian ownership of access to the Red Sea would have seen trade with Ethiopia in Christian hands, and down the line the prospect of marriage into Ethiopian royalty at least for the Crusader kingdoms.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
People tend to forget there were 2 crusades for Egypt, and if they had been successful then Christian ownership of access to the Red Sea would have seen trade with Ethiopia in Christian hands, and down the line the prospect of marriage into Ethiopian royalty at least for the Crusader kingdoms.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

Just how "European" would any hypothetical crusader kingdoms be? Even a Christian Egypt it's going to be more akin to, say, Ethiopia, our even it's Muslim opponents, than to Western or even Central European states like France, England, Spain, the HRE, Poland, etc., culturally speaking.

Edit: I still maintain that it'd be far easier to simply have the Kongolese get a luckier break.
 
Just how "European" would any hypothetical crusader kingdoms be? Even a Christian Egypt it's going to be more akin to, say, Ethiopia, our even it's Muslim opponents, than to Western or even Central European states like France, England, Spain, the HRE, Poland, etc., culturally speaking.

Well they would presumably intermarry BACK to mainland Europe. The Lusignans etc did this.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Just how "European" would any hypothetical crusader kingdoms be? Even a Christian Egypt it's going to be more akin to, say, Ethiopia, our even it's Muslim opponents, than to Western or even Central European states like France, England, Spain, the HRE, Poland, etc., culturally speaking.

Well, we have the OTL exemple of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, so I wouldn't say we're talking of an "hypothetical" situation.

OTL they kept links to Christian Europe while adapting themselves to the Middle-East. Culturally they were kind of mixed, something like what was Roger's II Sicily.
 
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