The four generations of Hohenzollern rulers who transformed the electorate of Brandenburg into the kingdom of Prussia — a regional player into a great power — all employed Black men at their courts and in their armies. Through court performance, including processions and tournaments, as well as through artistic commissions, the Brandenburgian rulers adapted existing traditions of representing and displaying human difference and hierarchy for their own ends. As the only member of the Holy Roman Empire to join the Atlantic slave trade, Brandenburg had a particular commitment to staging its global aspirations, both during its slave-trading venture and after it failed. Brandenburg-Prussia’s belated rise exhibits with particular clarity the importance to early modern statecraft not just of foreign enterprise but of its courtly representations. Through the display and representation of Black people in performance and art, the rulers of Brandenburg participated in forms of ‘race-making’ that altered the perception not only of sub-Saharan Africans but of the princely lineage as well.

中文翻译：

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普鲁士勃兰登堡的赛马庆祝活动，1652 年–1750 年


霍亨索伦四代统治者将勃兰登堡选帝侯转变为普鲁士王国——一个地区参与者变成了一个强国——他们的宫廷和军队都雇用了黑人。通过宫廷表演，包括游行和锦标赛，以及通过艺术委托，勃兰登堡统治者为了自己的目的，采用了表现和展示人类差异和等级制度的现有传统。作为神圣罗马帝国唯一加入大西洋奴隶贸易的成员，勃兰登堡在奴隶贸易冒险期间和失败后都特别致力于实现其全球抱负。勃兰登堡-普鲁士迟来的崛起特别清楚地表明了早期现代治国术的重要性，不仅是外国企业，而且是其宫廷代表。通过在表演和艺术中展示和再现黑人，勃兰登堡的统治者参与了“种族竞赛”的形式，这不仅改变了撒哈拉以南非洲人的看法，也改变了对王室血统的看法。