Black People in Ancient England

People have argued that there would be Africans in Britain who came over with the Romans. It's worth noting though that these would have been North Africans who I'm reasonably sure are more ethnically similar to Middle-easterners than Sub-Saharan Africans. While Gwen and her father may be believable as North Africans, Elyan's more of stretch. I also think the percentages are at least a bit elevated.

But oh well, at the end of the day all you can do is roll your eyes, laugh at the irony of Gwen's name, suspend disbelief and move on.

There's also the fact that the language of the old religion is Old English even though Old English would have been very new English and very new to Britain at the time. Historical accuracy doesn't seem to have been something this show strove too hard for.

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Blessed are the legend-makers with their rhyme
of things not found within recorded time.

I don't think the producers were trying to be historically accurate or follow a "recent fad" with the number of black actors they cast in this series. It was most likely a case of whom ever had the best reading for each part in the auditions.

There are examples of African's in Medieval English art and also in the fossil record. There were also African's in ancient Rome.

There was travel between Europe and Africa. It's a fact.

Historically, there were certainly black Africans amongst Roman and post-Roman cultures, perhaps extending to the areas of modern day England. Most were either Moorish or Saracen (North Africans). What positions they held are less certain.

In Arthurian legend there were knights, usually described as Saracens, that were either black or North African/Arabic. Sir Morien and Sir Palomides are two, off the top of my head. They were usually portrayed as having started out 'savages and heathens', but over the course of the story they convert to Christianity and become knights of the Round Table.



'Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children'

Morien was black

Dragons in ancient England.

There were those of African descent, in this case, black people in this time period. However, there were wizards, magic, mystical, creatures and dragons in Ancient England.

...well there were also dragons, wyverns, witches, magic, giant murdering rats, etc... If you take that into regard then it's not that much of a stretch....I don't think they were going for historical accuracy. I for one didn't mind, but then again (in my opinion) the tv programs in the U.K aren't as harsh on black actors playing non black roles. In comparison, look at all of the horribly xenophobic comments the were posted about The Force Awakens (months before it even came out) because they released a photo of Finn in a stormtrooper's armor. Frankly, I was surprised they made Gwen black, but I ended up really liking how she played her character. Oh and one thing but spoilers







Didn't the only black knight (Sir Elyan) die? (most black characters usually do eat it eventually)