ABSTRACT
All of the men and women in this collection were defined in some sense by in-betweeness. Whether through their cultural heritage, their mobility, the language they spoke or the religion they practiced, all skirted around established parameters of belonging. How they managed this liminality differed, and this section offers a more focused engagement with the negotiations involved as these individuals crossed borders and boundaries of all kinds. The subjects of these essays all came from different places for different reasons, and from different walks of life. Corey the Saldanian, who was abducted by East India Company (EIC) merchants from Saldanha Bay and forcibly brought to London, stands out amongst the others in this section for his involuntary presence in England. Roderigo Lopez, on the other hand, a Portuguese converso (Jewish convert to Christianity), travelled to England to benefit from an extended community of continental knowledge-gatherers, and soon after embarked on an illustrious career as a physician in the employ of both royalty and nobility. At the same time, however, the lives explored in this section highlight how movement within existing legal, social, and cultural hierarchies was problematised by hidden complexities of birth, heritage, class, and social connections. Despite attending to the Queen, Lopez’s reputation would prove an inadequate buffer against spurious accusations of treason, and he was executed following a widely publicised trial in which the prosecution’s case relied heavily on anti-Semitic tropes. Corey, on the other hand, is recorded as using the English he acquired in London to serve as a successful mediator between sailors and the local community once he had returned to southern Africa.
