What is it about?
A description of the bodies of black Africans seen by a Swiss traveller in Lisbon by the mid of 16th century, together with a report on the sale of slaves on the main business street of Lisbon, as well as a speculation on the possible reasons for their blackness
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Why is it important?
No other text of 16th century or earlier is known where the surface anatomy of black Africans is described in such detail and extent. It shows the reactions of a northern European to his first encounter with black people.
Perspectives
This publication raises many questions, which deserve to be further investigated, such as the following: What led the author of the text to write such a description? Who were the readers he meant to address? What did he want to achieve by writing it? To what extent did he reproduce common stereotypes and prejudices of that period?
Bernardo Herold
Universidade de Lisboa
Read the Original
This page is a summary of:
The Diary of the Swiss Leonhard Thurneysser and Black Africans in Renaissance Lisbon
, Renaissance Studies, September 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/rest.12332.
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