Scipio Africanus (slave)
Scipio Africanus (c. 1702 – 21 December 1720) was a slave born to unknown parents from West Africa. He was named after Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the 3rd century BC Roman general, famous for defeating the Carthaginian military leader Hannibal.
Life
Very little is known of Africanus' life. He was the slave of Charles William Howard, 7th Earl of Suffolk, who lived in the "Great House" in Henbury, Bristol. It is not clear whether his parents had been the slaves of the previous occupiers of the house or whether they were enslaved or purchased as slaves by Howard after his marriage in 1715.[1]
Historians believe that he may have been born into the household as the son of an enslaved West African woman, and named by Howard.[2] One biographer has suggested that Africanus' name implies that Howard intended to free him for loyal service because the Roman historian Polybius wrote about how the Roman general Africanus freed people he had enslaved who promised to work hard.[1]
Africanus died in the Great House aged eighteen.[1]
Grave
He is remembered because of the elaborate grave, consisting of painted headstone and footstone, in the churchyard of St Mary's in Henbury. The grave is grade II* listed.[3] Both stones feature black cherubs and the footstone bears the epitaph:
I who was Born a PAGAN and a SLAVE
Now Sweetly Sleep a CHRISTIAN in my Grave
What tho' my hue was dark my SAVIORS sight
Shall Change this darkness into radiant light
Such grace to me my Lord on earth has given
To recommend me to my Lord in heaven
Whose glorious second coming here I wait
With saints and Angels Him to celebrate
It is thought that 10,000 black slaves and servants were in Britain in the early 18th century, but this is one of the very few memorials to them. Despite the quality of the memorial, there is no record of his burial in the church registers.[4]
Sometime between 16 and 17 June 2020 the headstone was vandalised, apparently in retaliation to the damage caused to the statue of Edward Colston by Black Lives Matter protesters. The two incidents have caused local and national uproar.[2][5]
Legacy
The author Eugene Byrne featured Scipio Africanus in his 2001 alternative history novel Things Unborn. In this novel people who had suffered an untimely death were reincarnated in an England recovering from a nuclear war; Scipio Africanus was a famous war hero and a detective inspector in the Metropolitan Police.[6]
The Bristol-based reggae band Black Roots wrote a song about Scipio Africanus which they performed live at Trinity Hall, Bristol on Channel 4's 10-part series Rockers Roadshow, produced by Mike Wallington and hosted by Mikey Dread in the 1980s. They featured a short scene of the grave.[7]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Macquiban, Tim (23 September 2004). "Africanus, Scipio (c. 1702–1720), servant". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/56658. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Enslaved African man's headstone in Bristol vandalised". BBC News. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "Memorial to Scipio Africanus 10 metres north west of south porch of Church of St Mary (1205137)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- ^ "The 18th century: church records". Discovering Bristol. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ Cameron, Amanda (18 June 2020). "Headstone of an enslaved African vandalised with message 'look at what you made me do'". Bristol Live. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ Silver, Steven H. "Eugene Byrne: Things Unborn". SF Site. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- ^ "Black Roots". All Tomorrow's Parties. Retrieved 24 October 2015.