Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Moors at the Scottish Court

An historian has found references to "morys"--or moors--in the records of who received loaves of bread from the royal kitchens at Stirling Castle in Scotland, seat of Mary de Guise (mother of Mary Queen of Scots), in 1549. The historian, John Harrison, believes the "morys" were either Africans or Arabs from north Africa. The "morys" were part of the court hierarchy, since they received bread at royal expense, but it is uncertain what their court function was. With the French queen Mary de Guise at its head, the Scottish court appears to have been a rather cosmopolitan place.

Full article here from the BBC.

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