User:Stinglehammer/draft4

This is where I draft content first.

To add to ‘Culture’ section on ‘James IV’ page:

James IV's court hosted a number of Africans in temporary and long-term roles. In 1504, two African women, who were later christened as Margaret and Helen or Ellen More, are mentioned in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Niebrzydowski 188, Cowan 159, Fryer 3-4). The women were visible in court life and Helen More became the presumed subject of the poem 'Of Ane Blak Moir' by William Dunbar due to her being offered as a prize in jousting tournaments [Niebrzydowski 201, Cowan 160]. The poem is critical of her appearance and status as a Black woman in a predominantly white court and country (Niebrzydowski 201-202, Fryer 3).

An African drummer referred to as the 'More taubronar' is also mentioned in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (Cowan 159, Fryer 2) as well as a man known as Peter the Moor (Cowan 159).

The status of the Africans in James IVs court is contested, with some historians taking the view that the two women were “enjoying in the royal service a benevolent form of the black slavery” (Kinsley 106). However, other historians emphasise that these individuals were treated as ‘court curiosities’ (Niebrzydowski 201) rather than being in control of their own lives, and were most likely enslaved to some extent (Cowan 160).#