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SIGILLUM SECRETUM
(Secret Seal)
On the image of the Blackamoor in European Heraldry
(a preliminary proposal for an iconographical study)
by
Mario de Valdes y Cocom

Considering the deep roots of Christianity in the cultural experience of the African American community,
it is only natural that even in the most cursory of discussions on Black history, the hope always is raised
of discovering Christ as a man of colour. Moreover, in this global village of television and transatlantic
travel, the standard Euro-centric portrayal of Christ is both anomalous and anachronistic, particularly in
these racially sensitized times.

It might therefore prove a great source of spiritual strength and psychological affirmation for those of us
of African descent if a relatively unknown and forgotten medieval European tradition regarding the image
of the black was reconstructed for all to see and share.

What I am referring to are the coat of arms of the blackamoor which proliferated in both the private and
civic European escutcheons (coat of arms) throughout the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.

Due likely to the tradition attached to Sardinia's arms, these insignia have been all too
facilely explained as the grizzly prize of some crusader conquest. The four African heads each displayed in one of the
four quarters created by the cross on the shield are referred to by an early motto associated with this island's crest as
'trophea.' The traditional explanation is they represent the four Moorish emirs who were defeated by a king of Aragon
sometime in the 11th century. (The possibility of a more probable approach to these insignia will be raised further on.)
Such an interpretation would, of course, be more than welcome today, especially in the face of establishment attempts
to portray as white the Islamic power that was able to withstand three successive waves of European invasions.

And, a common corollary to this negative view was the African figure became a symbol of evil, universal or personal, that had to be
subjugated or vanquished. Given the economic/political positions of those with the right to bear arms, the hold that heraldry has had
on the imagination of the West has been a very powerful one and this particular perception of the blackamoor as a symbol of the
negative has undoubtedly played an enormous part in the propagation of racism.

The Imagery of St. Maurice

ARTICLES ABOUT MARIO DE
Modern specialists in the science of heraldry suspect, however, that this blazon (coat of VALDES Y COCOM'S
arms) of the blackamoor is instead the very opposite of a negative symbol. In the last RESEARCH AND WRITINGS ON
decade or two it has been pointed out that the moor's head quite possibly could have ST. MAURICE
referred to St. Maurice, the black patron saint of the Holy Roman Empire from the
beginning of the 10th century. The pope and a puzzling African
king
Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam
Because of his name and native land, St. Maurice had been portrayed as black ever since turned to Valdes for help decoding the
the 12th century. The insignia of the black head, in a great many instances, was probably "African king" depicted on new Pope
meant to represent this soldier saint since a majority of the arms awarded were knightly Benedict XVI's coat of arms. (Aug. 4,
or military. With 6,666 of his African compatriots, St. Maurice had chosen martyrdom 2005)

rather than deny his allegiance to his Lord and Saviour, thereby creating for the Christian
Catholic martryr's ancient sacrifice
world an image of the Church Militant that was as impressive numerically as it was seen as symbol for African-
colourwise. American community
"If an award-winning Boston television
Here, no doubt, is a major reason why St. Maurice producer has his way, the legend of St.
would become the champion of the old Roman church Moritz will be recaptured from the
dustbin of history to inspire a new
and an opposition symbol to the growing influence of generation to turn away from violence
Luther and Calvin. The fact that he was of the same and self-indulgence and live up to the
race as the Ethiopian baptized by St. Philip in Acts of principles of fidelity, humility and service
personified by the saint." (The Bay State
the Apostles was undoubtedly an important element to Banner, July 27, 2006)
his significance as well. Since this figure from the New
Testament was read as a personification of the Gentile world in its A fresh take on the life of a saint
entirety, the complexion of St. Maurice and his Theban Legion (the "As a boy growing up in Belize, Central
America, Mr. Valdes absorbed the stories
number of which signified an infinite contingent) was also understood as of King Arthur and the Knights of the
a representation of the Church's universality - a dogmatic ideal no longer Round Table. He said St. Moritz's
tolerated by the Reformation's nationalism. Furthermore, it cannot be coincidental that the exploits are the "black foundations" of
most powerful of the German princes to remain within the Catholic fold, the archbishop the King Arthur stories. ... But does the
message of a battle-ready black martyr
Albrecht von Brandenburg, not only dedicated practically all the major stand a chance of being heard in a youth
institutions under his jurisdiction to St. Maurice but in what is today one of the culture that embraces thugs and pimps
most important paintings of the Renaissance, had himself portrayed in Sacred as heroes and role models?" (The Ottawa
Citizen, Aug. 3, 2006)
Conversation with him. Even more blatant was the action taken by Emanual
Philibert, Duke of Savoy. In 1572 he organized the order of St. Maurice. The Plea to St. Moritz: Give them
papal promulgation published at its institution declared quite unequivocally strength
that the sole purpose for this knighthood was to combat of the Reformation. "If you Google St. Moritz these days,

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The order still exist exists although it has now combined with the Order of St. Lazarus. you'll come up with scads of information
about the chic Swiss ski resort. But
The white trefoiled cross of the combined order belongs to the former.
Valdes ... hopes to reclaim the name as a
symbol of strength and will." Also, read
The particular symbol of St. Maurice's blackness that must have most antagonized the Valdes' follow-up letter, and view the
Protestant faction, however, was the one regarding the mystery of Papal authority. painting mentioned in the article. (The
Boston Globe, March 18, 2007)
Scholars have been able to show, for example, that in the theological debates of this
period, even the abstract adjectives, black and white, were defiantly acknowledged by
apologists of both stripes to represent the Church and the Reformers respectively.

Prester John

In addition to St. Maurice, there is also another figure connected to the blackamoor coat of arms. It is the
semi-mythical Negus (emperor) of Ethiopia, Prester John. To Otto von Freising an Imperial Hohenstauffen Prince
Bishop of the 12th century who was tired and torn by the endless struggle between Church and State, this black man
who was both priest and king and ruled a land of peace and plenty at the edge of the world became the
personification of the ideal state. To this day the arms of the see of Freising is the bust of a crowned blackamoor.

Because of their ethnic and geographic origins, it is likely that St. Maurice and his Theban Legion became associated with Prester
John as the ideal soldiers for the ideal state. It should be pointed out, furthermore, that, heraldically, since he was the only monarch
who could claim the 'Sang Real' or the 'Royal Blood' of Christ because of his descent from Solomon, Prester John was the only
individual deemed worthy of the right to bear as arms the image of the Crucifix. Even the earring traditionally worn by the
blackamoor is a reference to this sacred privilege.

The Golden Ring in the Blackamoor's Ear

To understand how these two objects are related to each other--the earring and the image of the Crucifix--we must refer back to the
Old Testament. In the Book of Leviticus can be found an ordinance describing the ritual ear piercing of any slave who chooses to
continue in his master's service after being granted his freedom. Since one of the most important of all Ethiopian royal titles was
"Slave of the Cross," the golden ring in the blackamoor's ear was probably meant to be interpreted as a deeply devotional
and--considering the belief in the Bible as the Word of God--a highly rhetorical symbol.

Ethiopia and the Holy Grail

Due also to the age-old belief that the Ark of the Covenant had been hidden in Ethiopia, the great epics of the Arthurian cycle
transformed the Ethiopian emperor into the founder of the Grail dynasty and the ancestor, nine generations later, of the only knight
of the Round Table who would achieve the Quest, Sir Galahad. It would appear that the long-standing confusion over whether the
Holy Grail was a cup or a stone was a deliberate one. Considering the opportunity afforded by these Ethiopian traditions, medieval
writers were able to theologically fuse together the symbols of both the Old and the New Testament: the Tablet of the Law and the
Chalice.

Part II Divine Darkness

discussions | blurred racial lines | audio stories | june's family tree | bi-racial portraits | how to search family trees | readings | reactions

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