Jacques Francis
Jacques Francis, also known as Jaques Frauncys, was an African salvage diver who led the expedition to salvage King Henry VIII's guns from the Mary Rose. He was the first African to give evidence in 1548 before a court. He was accused of being a "slave" and an "infidel" in an attempt to discredit his evidence, but he was paid wages so he was not a slave and furthermore, "slaves were not allowed to give evidence in court".
Origins
Jacques Francis was born around 1527 or 1528. He stated during the trial at which he testified that he was 20 years old in 1548. His family origins are unknown. He claimed to be from the "Island of Guinea." This term could refer to most islands off the coast of West Africa, from the Cape Verde islands to Fernando Pó. However, it most likely refers to the island of Arguin, where the Portuguese had established one of their first trading posts, an area referred to as "Guinea" by the English. The waters around Arguin, notoriously dangerous for navigation, were the site of frequent shipwrecks. He may also have been a pearl diver. What is certain is that such skills are acquired only after years of training to master breath-holding and depth.Various accounts describe the aquatic prowess of swimmers and divers from this West African region. In Europe, African swimmers were regularly mentioned. For instance, Cardinal Bandinello Sauli is said to have employed an African swimming master and diver in Genoa. Ferdinando I de' Medici was reportedly saved from drowning in the Arno in 1588 by a Black man in his service.
Jacques Francis's swimming and diving skills were all the more important and essential because of the highly ambivalent attitude towards swimming in Britain at the time. The English, like other humans, struggled to resist the temptation to bathe, but the question of learning to swim remained a subject of debate. On one hand, learning to swim could prevent drowning; on the other, it was thought to increase the risk of drowning according to the adage that a person who knows how to swim is more tempted to take risks. In 1571, the vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, John Whitgift, even issued a regulation prohibiting members of the university from bathing, swimming, or entering any body of water, under penalty of flogging for a first offense and expulsion for a repeat offense.
During the 1548 trial, Jacques Francis stated that he entered the service of Piero Paolo Corsi two years earlier, around 1546. It is likely that when Corsi obtained the contract to salvage the Mary Rose that year, he sought to recruit a qualified diver—Jacques Francis, in this case. His journey between leaving Arguin and arriving in Britain and Southampton is difficult to trace. Various hypotheses can be put forward. His employer, Piero Paolo Corsi, may have directly recruited him in Africa or used a Portuguese intermediary. He might also have recruited him in Venice itself or elsewhere in the Italian peninsula, where the population of African origin was significant. Most Africans working in Italy had been imported by Portuguese merchants active since the 1440s, often with Italian financing. However, not all were slaves, especially those with significant qualifications. Gustav Ungerer, in his 2005 article, suggests instead that Corsi may have purchased Francis from an Italian merchant in Southampton itself.
The ''Mary Rose''
The Venetian Piero Paolo Corsi was part of a significant community of Italian merchants long established in English ports. Corsi had arrived in Southampton around 1539. The port was then in decline compared to London, and most Italian merchants had even left for the English capital. Relations among those still based in Southampton were marked by fierce competition. It appears that upon his arrival in the port, Corsi contacted the city's Italian merchants to offer the services of his wreck divers.In July 1545, during the Battle of the Solent, the Mary Rose, the flagship of Admiral George Carew, took on water through its open gunports and sank in about ten meters of water, for reasons not entirely determined. While the ship itself was of great value, that of its cannons was enormous, to the point that recovering them could justify the expenses incurred.
In August 1545, a first recovery attempt, involving around thirty Venetians and sixty English sailors, led by Piero de Andreasi and Simone de Marini, had failed. In 1546 the Admiralty contracted Corsi, hired Piero Paolo Corsi to recover the most important items from the wreck. Corsi, being less ambitious, employed a total of only eight men, including Jacques Francis. He described him as originating from "Guinea" and, above all, as his best diver. Jacques Francis led his own team of four divers, at least two of whom, John Ito and George Blake, were also of African origin.
However, the operations proved more complicated than expected. In 1547, the Admiralty, with the agreement of the Privy Council, paid Corsi, according to sources, £37, 11 shillings, and 5 pence for an initial recovery of anchors and various other objects, or an initial payment of £20 followed by £57, 11 shillings, and 5 pence. In total, according to Miranda Kaufmann, Corsi would have received around a hundred pounds from the Admiralty, via royal treasurer Wymond Carew, between 1547 and 1549. For Gustav Ungerer, in addition to the £77 in 1547, Corsi would have received a further £70 in 1549. By then, the divers had also recovered cannons.
The ''Sancta Maria et Sanctus Edwardus''
The Mary Rose was not the only sunken ship on which Corsi and his divers worked. According to Gustav Ungerer on July 4, 1546, or to Miranda Kaufmann on November 11, 1546, a merchant ship, the Sancta Maria et Sanctus Edwardus, left Southampton for Livorno, laden mainly with cloth, bales of wool, and Cornish tin ingots. The ship caught fire shortly after setting sail and sank less than three kilometers from the coast. The ship was owned by the Venetian Francesco Bernardi and chartered by various Italian merchants: the Consul of the Venetians in London Domenico Erizzo; the Florentine Bartolomeo Fortini, one of the principal merchants in the English capital; and the Genoese-born Englishman Niccolo de Marini. They wished to recover at least part of their investment and hired Corsi and his divers, including Jacques Francis.The diving campaign could not begin immediately due to winter. It was therefore only in the summer of 1547 that salvage operations could take place. Corsi and his divers were paid 2 shillings and 4 pence per day, and their living expenses at Southampton's Dolphin Inn were also covered. At the end of October 1547, the Italian merchants terminated the contract with Corsi's diving team due to a complete lack of results.
On September 29, 1547, Piero Paolo Corsi was arrested and brought before Thomas Beckingham, the mayor of Southampton. He was accused by Domenico Erizzo and Bartolomeo Fortini of stealing part of the cargo of the Sancta Maria et Sanctus Edwardus that he was supposed to recover. His divers were alleged to have visited the wreck at night to retrieve two tin ingots, one belonging to Erizzo and the other to Fortini. Each ingot was valued at £20. According to Niccolo de Marini, another investor, Corsi had hidden one of the ingots under the bed of a man named Pope, a resident of Gosport, a port between Southampton and Portsmouth. De Marini then sent one of his servants to retrieve the ingot and deliver it to the port captain of Portsmouth, Edward Vaughan. The latter questioned Corsi about the origin of the ingot, and Corsi replied that it had been found on the seabed. Vaughan took Corsi at his word, but the two men were acquainted, as it was Vaughan who, on behalf of the Admiralty, paid Corsi for his work on the Mary Rose. Having recovered the ingot, Corsi approached another Florentine merchant, Angelo de Milanese, to inquire what reward Fortini would be willing to offer for its return. Corsi was disappointed with the mere 20 shillings offered; he demanded more. Fortini and Erizzo then had him arrested. Before Beckingham, Corsi did not deny possessing an ingot marked "DE" but explained that he and his men were not paid well enough and that he had kept the ingot as compensation. He believed his and his divers' efforts were worth at least three or four ingots.
Nevertheless, Corsi was not imprisoned. It was even Angelo de Milanese who secured his immediate release. It appears that the merchant community could scarcely do without Corsi's and his divers' services. Soon after, Corsi even obtained letters from the Lord High Admiral Thomas Seymour demanding that he not be troubled, as his work on the Mary Rose was essential to the state.
It appears that Corsi himself worked in the water: witnesses at the trial reported seeing him swim and even dive, using instruments to descend. It is difficult to determine whether his Venetian origins played a role and if he knew techniques for pressure equalization, enabling him to dive as deep as Jacques Francis and his employees. It is impossible to know what type of equipment they used to descend and retrieve objects. Rudimentary diving bells already existed, but it is unknown if Corsi and his divers employed them. It is certain, however, that tin ingots were brought to the surface after being attached with a rope.
Testimony before the High Court of Admiralty
Despite having recovered his tin, Domenico Erizzo still wanted Piero Paolo Corsi punished. He therefore brought the matter before the High Court of Admiralty in December 1547. Fortini apparently did not. On the other hand, it appears that Bartolomeo Fortini did not pursue legal action against Corsi. The trial lasted two years, with testimony from numerous merchants and sailors from various parts of England and Italy. Jacques Francis was also called to testify. The fact that he was the only one of Corsi's divers summoned as a witness might indicate a position of authority held by Jacques Francis over the others. This raised two questions: the color of his skin and his legal status.Jacques Francis appeared in court on February 8, 1548, dressed "in the English style." He responded not only to the accusations against his employer but also to the criticisms directed at himself. His travel expenses from Southampton, his accommodation costs in London, and his clothing were covered by Corsi, as Francis was, in any case, too poor. Moreover, the "English-style" attire appears to have been a requirement of decorum for appearing before the court of justice. However, an interpreter, John Tyrart, a wine merchant from Blackfriars, had to be used. He translated from either Portuguese or the "fala da Guiné," a Portuguese-derived language used in the region of Africa from which Francis originated for communication between local populations and Portuguese merchants. Thus, Jacques Francis became the first person of African origin whose "voice" was heard in an English courtroom. He spoke in a composed and confident manner.
In his testimony, Jacques Francis explained that Corsi was innocent. He stated that, with the other divers, he had discovered 200 tin ingots, a bell, and some lead at the bottom of the sea near the western tip of the Isle of Wight, close to the rocks called The Needles off western Isle of Wight. Given that this was the site of many shipwrecks, the discovery was plausible. To recover these items, whose value was probably exaggerated at around £700, Corsi would have purchased various instruments for £75, which could not be used during the prime diving season because Erizzo allegedly had Corsi imprisoned for the entire month of May 1547.