White Saracens, black Muslims, and brown Hafsids: imaginations of the "Saracen Prince" in Les Grandes Chroniques de France (Royal MS 16 G VI)

This project seeks to examine the various depictions of so called "Saracens" in London, British Library MS Royal 16 G VI (1332-1350), made for the future French king, Jean II "le Bon." The political moment, including the Hundred Years War, which surrounded the production of this Grandes Chroniques de France, only highlights the text's purpose as a symbol of royal legitimacy. Following the death of Louis IX during the eighth crusade and the lukewarm success of the ninth, the crusades came to a lull. Nonetheless, crusade remained an important part of French cultural history, quickly turning into legend, as evinced by the manuscript itself. The manuscript repeatedly depicts "crusade narratives" presenting "Saracens" in various, dynamic, and conflicting ways; they exhibit a plethora of skin colors, hair, costume, weaponry, and even behaviors. The soldiers of Al-Mansur appear white and in Christian armor but defile Santiago de Compostela via defecation, the Tunisian Saracens alone appear shoeless, Agolant the Moor appears black while Marsile and Baligant, representatives of Baghdad present as white. How can contemporary scholars account for the degrees of difference between these depictions within one text? This thesis will explore possible explanations through visual, textual, ethnographic, and socio-political analysis. To this extent, the thesis will give special attention to "Saracen" kings, lords, and knights as the representatives of their people juxtaposed against the Princes of Christendom.