Due to required Shakespearean reading in school, we may have heard this word used to describe blacks. African moors, who conquered Spain and ruled it for 700 years, were responsible for bringing Europe out of the dark ages. The teaching of St. Maurice spread in Switzerland, northern Italy, Burgundy, and along the Rhine, with a number of cities naming churches after him. In 1184 in Halle, Germany a monastery and school was founded and dedicated to St. Maurice. In 1240, a replica of St. Maurice was erected in the cathedral of Magdeburg – the first Gothic building in Germany.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 16, 2018 13:18 UTC