112 Black Sea
numerous in the palaces of Muslim rulers. The number of
black slaves greatly increased in ARAGONand on the
island of MAJORCAduring the 14th and 15th centuries.
They did tough agricultural work, especially for sugar
production. Some earned their freedom. By the 15th
century there were confraternities of freed Africans in
BARCELONAand VALENCIA.
PORTUGAL AND RELIGIONThe export and number of slaves from the western coast
of Africa grew with the establishment of Portuguese trad-
ing posts along the West Africa coast. Initially, the Por-
tuguese seized Muslim slave ships off the Moroccan
coast and kept the slaves. In 1444 a slave-trading com-
pany was founded and soon the entire coast of West
Africa became a huge slave-hunting ground. There were
clear statements in canon law that forbade the enslave-
ment of Christians; despite this prohibition, a bull of
Pope Nicholas V (r. 1447–55), in 1454 to King Alfonso
V of Portugal (r. 1438–81) observed that enslavement of
pagan Africans was leading to their conversion, so per-
haps it was permissible to enslave then convert to save
souls. Conversion did not necessarily lead to freedom.
The number of black slaves grew during the 15th cen-
tury in PROVENCE,CATALONIA,GENOA, and VENICEas
local merchants traded with Muslims. In the BYZANTINE
Empire and northern, central, and eastern Europe, there
were few black African slaves during the Middle Ages.
Slavery in those regions depended on other sources of
supply, but did exist, especially before 1100.
Further reading:R. Brunschvigh, “Abd,” Encyclope-
dia of Islam,1.24–34; Catherine Theresa Johnson, “Rep-
resentation of Blacks in Medieval German Literature and
Art” (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1994); Paul
Henry Daniel Kaplan, “Ruler, Saint and Servant: Blacks
in European Art to 1520” (Ph.D. diss., Boston University,
1983); Bernard Lewis, Race and Slavery in the Middle
East: An Historical Enquiry(Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1990).
Black Sea The Black Sea is a large body of water north
of CONSTANTINOPLEand connected to the Mediterranean.
Its strategic importance was the result of its close proxim-
ity to Constantinople, whose people greatly benefited
from the grain, salted fish, slaves, and raw material
shipped to them on this inland sea just to the north. It
also had a political and diplomatic importance. The
BYZANTINEcolony at Cherson, in the CRIMEA, was the
place where Byzantium endeavored to monitor northern
peoples such as the KHAZARS, Petchenegs, and RUS.
Further reading:Anthony Bryer, Peoples and Settle-
ment in Anatolia and the Caucasus, 800–1900(London:
Variorum, 1988); Nikolai Ovcharov, Ships and Shipping in
the Black Sea: XIV–XIX Centuries,trans. Elena Vatashka
(Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 1993).
Blanche of Castile (Blanca da Castilla)(1188–1252)
wife of King Louis VIII of France, twice regent of the king-
dom of France
Blanche was born in 1188, the daughter of Alfonso VIII
(1158–1214) of Castile and Eleanor of England. She mar-
ried at age 12 the future King Louis VIII (r. 1223–26) in- They had 11 or 12 children, whom they raised
strictly and in whom they created a strong devotion to
France and the church. She became queen after the death
of PHILIPII Augustus in 1223 and was widowed in 1226
when Louis VIII died during the Albigensian Crusades.
She served as guardian and regent for the young King
LOUISIX. She defended ardently and successfully the
interests of Louis, especially in the south of France. Even
after he attained his majority in 1236, she remained
among his closest advisers and confidants. Louis IX made
her regent of the kingdom and guardian of his children
when he went on a crusade between 1248 and 1252, even
though she had strongly opposed his departure. She died
on November 22, 1252, and was buried at the monastery
of Maubuisson.
See alsoJOINVILLE,JEAN DE.
Further reading:Joinville, “The Life of Saint Louis,”
in Joinville and Villehardouin, Chronicles of the Crusades,
trans. Margaret R. B. Shaw (Baltimore: Penguin Books,
1977 [1963]), 163–353; Régine Pernoud, Blanche of
Castile,trans. Henry Noel (London: Collins, 1975).
blasphemy In Greek, blasphemiameant a “wounding
word.” In the Judeo-Christian Bible, the word had this
sense for designated words or phrases that offended GOD.
The Old Testament demanded death for any blasphemy.
According to the New Testament, Jesus himself was in
part condemned for blasphemy. For Muslims blasphemy,
or sabb,meant any insult to God, the Prophet, or any
important aspect of Islam and was severely punished. In
medieval Judaism, the death penalty or later excommuni-
cation for giddufor herufwas limited to flagrant profan-
ing of God’s sacred and ineffable name. Use of other
words merited only flogging. There had to be two wit-
nesses and repentance was possible.
For Christians the punishment was always harsh,
sometimes in the extreme. In the sixth century, the JUS-
TINIANcode tortured blasphemers and legislated death of
repeat offenders. Carolingian capitularies stated that capi-
tal punishment was reserved for cases of blasphemy pro-
nounced inside a church, for blasphemy outside a church
public penance and imprisonment were sufficient. In the
12th century, the fundamental ethical works of IVOof
Chartres and GRATIANsuggested excommunication. In
1236, the Decretalsof Pope GREGORYIX declared that
blasphemers must stand for seven weeks at the door of a
church during High Mass, wearing neither cloak nor
shoes and with a cord around the neck. Saint LOUISIX
tortured a goldsmith at Caesarea and burned the nose