By Melissa DeFabritiis (Fall 2022)
The fourteenth-century poem The King of Tars by an unknown author tells the tale of religious and racial tensions between the white Christians of Tars and the Black Muslims of Damascus, and details the white Tarsians expressing feelings of superiority over their Black Damascan counterparts. Much of this tension is based in senseless misperceptions and assumptions of each other’s race and religion, thus resulting in recurring bitter remarks by the Tarsians. As racism continues to be prevalent in modern society nearly seven hundred years after the publication of The King of Tars, this topic continues to be one that must be discussed. It is vital to the creation of a more equitable society that we call out all instances of racism whenever they occur and learn from past examples of prejudice, such as those exemplified in the text, in order to combat racist ideas and overcome senseless bigotry. The intolerant language in The King of Tars functions as a metaphor used by the author to suggest that people of color are sub-human, animalistic, and unworthy of compassion, and these stereotypes must be debunked.
The poem begins with the Sultan of Damascus waging war against Tars in the hope of winning the Princess of Tars’ hand in marriage. Despite not wanting to marry the Sultan, the Princess eventually accepts his proposal against her true desires in order to save the people of Tars from the continuation of gruesome violence that they had already suffered. She is then forced to live in Damascus and convert from Christianity to Islam because of the Sultan’s refusal to marry a woman of a faith different from his own. The two are married shortly after the Princess’s alleged conversion, but despite telling the Sultan that she has rejected her old religion, the Princess continues to practice Christianity in secret. She later becomes pregnant with the Sultan’s child, but upon the Princess going into labor, a lifeless lump of flesh is born. Both the Princess of Tars and the Sultan of Damascus blame the other’s “false belief” for their deformed child, claiming that they have been punished with a stillborn baby because of the other’s heinous religion (The King of Tars, line 594). The Princess and Sultan then agree to each pray to their respective god for the health and life of their child, and concur that whoever’s god is able to bring their baby to life is the true god. Upon praying to statues of his gods, the Sultan’s prayers fail to help the child. The Princess then has the baby baptized and upon touching holy water, the child is brought to life. The Sultan then recognizes Christianity as the true religion and converts from Islam to Christianity when he himself chooses to get baptized.
Although the author of this poem remains unknown, it is evident that they were a practicing Christian. The text serves as a form of propaganda for the Christian Church by claiming Christianity as the true religion, and also caters heavily to an Islamophobic fourteenth-century Christian audience. The King of Tars was written around the time of the Crusades, religious wars that sought to spread Christianity and limit the practice of Islam, thus suggesting that the general public was enthusiastic about promoting Christianity and wanted to read more about the phenomenon. The poem was also “copied by several professional scribes, presumably by collaboration in a secular bookshop,” further illustrating the author’s success in appealing to a Christian audience (Global Medieval Sourcebook). Additionally, the chivalric romance genre of this poem was created during the Crusades, and the author’s choice of writing in a style that was popularized during this time period further suggests his stance as a Christian, as well as his desire to appeal to a Christian audience (Global Medieval Sourcebook).
The chivalric romance genre is classified as a style of writing in which heroes, adventure, and romance intersect. A notable difference between The King of Tars and other chivalric romance writings of this time, though, is that the character who ventures to an unknown land is female. This is significant to the plot and themes of the text for multiple reasons. Firstly, a female character traveling abroad and being mistreated by people of color is intended to portray Black people as wild and barbaric. In knowing that society typically frowns upon those who abuse women, the author aims to show that no human could treat a woman—and especially a princess—as horribly as the Princess of Tars was treated, therefore implying that the Black people have not only failed to make her feel welcome in her new home, but that they also must not be truly human. Secondly, the resolution to the racial and religious conflict of the poem occurs because of the concept of motherhood. Had the Princess of Tars failed to conceive, her formless child would have never been born. Moreover, the argument between the Princess of Tars and the Sultan of Damascus over whose religion is to blame for their formless child would have never occurred, and the Sultan would not have converted to Christianity to end the conflict of the text.
What is striking about the Sultan’s conversion to Christianity, though, is his physical transformation. Multiple times throughout the poem, the Sultan of Damascus is described as having “skin, which was black and ugly,” yet upon his baptism and induction into the Christian Church, his skin turns white, beautiful, and pure, similarly to that of the white people of Tars (The King of Tars, line 928). Blackness in the poem is therefore synonymous with ugliness and beastliness, traits opposite those of white Christians. The association of blackness with Islam portrays how the Christians associate both being black and being Muslim with evilness, and upon becoming a Christian and renouncing Islam, the impurity and sin that the Sultan’s black skin represents is washed away (Whitaker, 2019). The beauty and holiness of his new white skin are highlighted upon his transformation, thus illustrating that white skin is synonymous with goodness, and furthering the racist suggestion that white people are superior to Black people.
The poet also compares Black people to animals on multiple occasions to further the idea that they are inferior to white people. Upon the Princess of Tars rejecting his marriage proposal, the Sultan of Damascus “acted like a wild boar. He tore apart his robes, and he pulled the hair from his head and beard…and he looked like a lion” (The King of Tars, lines 97-100, 105). Although this may seem like a harmless metaphor—simply one of strong imagery to assist readers in picturing the Sultan’s behavior—it suggests that Black people are less than human and that they must be treated as such. By associating the Black Sultan with an animal, it identifies him as biologically different and inferior, and emphasizes the belief that white Christians are drastically different from Black Muslims. While personifying animals or objects brings a sense of humanity to something that is not human, comparing a human to a wild animal in terms of both their actions and appearance strips a character of their humanity. It casts them aside as less than human, and this reverse personification adds to the racist themes of the poem. The stereotypes and ideas that form as a result of this type of verbatim are used by the people of Tars, as well as white Christian readers of the poem, to continue upholding the belief that they are more civilized than Black people and are therefore allowed to verbalize their feelings of superiority.
In accordance with the poem’s suggestion that people of color are sub-human, the Princess of Tars experiences a dream which furthers the narrative that Black people are wild beings. On the night of her arrival in Damascus, the Princess has a dream that she is surrounded by one hundred black hounds and encounters three devils. The black hounds are described as being “hideously formed,” and this discourse is similar to how the people of Tars continuously described the Muslim population of Damascus as being black, ugly, and beastly (“The King of Tars,” line 33). Later in the Princess’s dream, a white knight arrives to comfort her and speaks the word of God, assuring her that she will be protected. Even in the Princess’s subconscious mind, she is unable to escape the deep hatred she feels for people of color, and the different characters in her dream are representative of different demographics in real life. The black hounds are clearly a metaphor for Black people while the white knight is a metaphor for white Christians. The knight saving the Princess from the wild black hounds is representative of Christianity having the ability to save one from the evils of other religions, especially within the context of the Princess’s recent travel to a predominantly Muslim country. Similarly to the comparison of the Sultan of Damascus to wild animals after his marriage proposal was rejected, the Princess’s subconscious mind comparing Black people to vicious hounds strips them of their humanity and categorizes them as less than human.
The repetitive racism in the poem is strikingly comparable to that of modern-day and these remarks must not be ignored. Doing this would risk normalizing racism, thus why it is important never to excuse or ignore bigotry. Although some—but clearly not all—of the racist remarks in The King of Tars may seem subtle, ‘minor’ instances of racism do not indicate a lack of it. The ‘casual racism’ of the text is most comparable to what modern society has labeled as microaggressions, and a build-up of these subtle digs can result in lasting psychological pain. The manner in which many of the racist remarks in the poem are seamlessly integrated into the story is evidence of how common hatred can be, and additionally how many instances of it may go under the radar if we are not especially mindful of language.
While some may argue that the racist views expressed in The King of Tars are simply that of the era in which it was written, intolerant language cannot be justified in any period of time. Had there never been an active effort of both individuals and society at large to break down stereotypes and combat bigotry, racism and Islamophobia would likely be much more widespread in modern-day than they already continue to be. It is foolish to excuse these beliefs because of them being old-fashioned since it was entirely possible for people of the fourteenth century to work to combat their own racism if they cared enough to do so. Therefore it is important that while reading this text, we acknowledge and condemn the themes and language and recognize that the people who supported this way of thinking were entirely responsible for their way of viewing Black and Muslim people.
Although The King of Tars was written nearly seven hundred years ago, the themes of the poem are still significant and relevant in the modern day. Racism continues to be prevalent in nations all around the world, and there is no way to excuse or justify it. We can, however, look at the example that The King of Tars sets. The intolerant remarks in the poem may have been commonly held beliefs when they were written, but they have not passed the test of time. In analyzing the exact diction of the poem, it is not difficult to see the outright, blatant prejudice against Black and Muslim people. It is therefore important to understand the implications of this language and the harm it can have on society. By describing Black people in a way that suggests they are sub-human, animalistic, and unworthy of compassion, The King of Tars casts people of color aside as a group of people that do not belong in white society. For the sake of learning and growing from history, it is necessary that we continue to study texts such as this and have difficult conversations about prejudice in the past, present, and future.
Works Cited
Global Medieval Sourcebook. “The King of Tars Introduction.” Global Medieval Sourcebook. http://sourcebook.stanford.edu/text/king-tars. Retrieved on December 7, 2022.
Anonymous. “The King of Tars.” Global Medieval Sourcebook. https://sourcebook.stanford.edu/sites/all/modules/custom/vm/VersioningMachine/texts/King_Tars_0.html.
Whitaker, Cord. “Black Metaphors in the ‘King of Tars.’” Institute for Advanced Study, 11 Sept. 2020, https://www.ias.edu/ideas/black-metaphors-king-tars.
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