BLACK KNIGHT (SIR HENRY BART)

Real Name: Henry Bart (see comments) 

Identity/Class: Human magic weapon user;
    English citizen;
    16th century

Occupation: Soldier 

Group Membership: Possibly Royal Navy 

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Spanish sailing ships, Spanish Navy 

Known Relatives: Sir Percy of Scandia (Black Knight, ancestor, deceased), Lady Rosamund (ancestor, deceased), Edward (son of Percy and Rosamund, ancestor, presumed deceased), Geoffrey (son of Percy and Rosamund, presumed deceased), Sir Raston (common ancestry, predecessor, apparently deceased), Sir Eobar of Garrington (Black Knight, common ancestry, predecessor, deceased), Sir William (Black Knight, common ancestry, predecessor, presumed deceased), Nathan Garrett (Black Knight, common ancestry, successor, deceased), Dane Whitman (Black Knight, common ancestry, successor), Last Knight (possible common ancestry, successor) (see comments)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Atlantic Ocean (see comments) 

First Appearance: New Excalibur#10 (August 2006)

Powers/Abilities: Sir Henry wielded the Ebony Blade, a magical sword that could cut through virtually any substance, as well as disrupt most forms of energy, including magical. He also used a musket.

Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed

History:
(New Excalibur#10 (fb) - BTS) -  Sir Henry was a 16th century Privateer and the Black Knight of his era, attacking and seizing cargo from other country's ships on license from the English crown.

(New Excalibur#10) - In the modern day, the current Black Knight, Dane Whitman, decided to turn his ancestral home, Garret Castle, into a Black Knight museum. Among the displays were portraits of several past Black Knights, including Sir Henry.   

Comments: Created by Frank Tieri, Michael Ryan and Rick Ketchum.

    Seen only in a single panel, there would be little to say about Sir Henry...except that I have an early draft script for the issue he appears in which reveals a tiny bit more about him. It identifies him as being a Privateer, effectively a legalized pirate permitted by the English crown to raid foreign vessels for their cargo - the French, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, Scotland (still a separate nation at the beginning of the privateer age) and Ottomans did exactly the same. The script called for him to wear a piratical black tricorn hat, but I guess between that draft and publication the decision was made to drop that. The script also called him "Sir" Bart, which is why the United Kingdom entry in the Marvel Atlas mentions a 16th century Black Knight of that name. The normal way of reconciling name discrepancies would be to merge them into a combined name, so he's Sir Henry Bart; the quotes round the Sir in the original script probably mean that the speaker who mentioned him either didn't consider him a gentleman, and hence felt the Sir was undeserved, or because since he earned his title through piracy the English crown couldn't officially acknowledge he'd been knighted.

   I've listed most of the other Black Knights who came before and after as common ancestry rather than ancestors and descendants. The reason for this is simple - we know Nathan Garret is not Dane Whitman's ancestor. The Black Knight mantle and Ebony Blade are passed down within the family descending from Sir Percy of Scandia, but not necessarily from parent to child, so without explicit statements confirming that a given Black Knight is descended from another, we can't say for sure they are. None of the Black Knights we have been introduced to were confirmed to have children apart from Sir Percy, and holding the title /wielding the blade is dangerous, so for all we know every Black Knight since Arthurian times has been the end of their own particular line, and passed the role on to a sibling's descendants. However, since "common ancestry" doesn't provide any clues as to whether each individual might be an ancestor or descendant, I've also noted whether they preceded or succeeded Sir William as the Black Knight.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Sir Henry, the Black Knight has no known connections to:

• Black Knight, Merlin's artificial version --Strange Tales I#108/2
• Black Knight robot in the Tower of Time --Skull the Slayer#4
• Black Knight imposter, attended auction for Venom symbiote --MK Spider-Man#6
• Black Knight, Augustine du Lac, Vatican usurper of title and blade --Black Panther IV#3
• Black Knight doppelganger --Infinity War#3
• Black Knight, Morgan Le Fay's agent --[Avengers III#77], 81
• Black Knight, Young Masters --Vengeance#1
• Black Knight of Earth X, Ahura --Earth X Sketchbook
• Black Knights of Earth-998 --X-Man#68
• Black Knights of the Universal Church of Truth --Strange Tales I#179
• any other "Sir" or "William" characters
• nor most other "Black Knight" characters...
  though he is connected to by way of sharing the same legacy, but should be distinguished from
• Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia --Black Knight I#1
• Sir Percy's eight predecessors (including Sir Reginald) who were driven mad wielding the Ebony Blade, and who may or may not have used the name Black Knight --New Excalibur#12
• Black Knight, Sir Raston -- Fantastic Four Annual#25
• Black Knight of the Crusades, Eobar Garrington --Defenders I#11
• Black Knight, Sir William --New Excalibur#10
• Black Knight, Nathan Garret --Tales to Astonish I#52
• Black Knight, Dane Whitman --Avengers I#47
• Black Knight, Last Knight --Solo Avengers#4

images: (without ads)
New Excalibur#10, p6, pan3 (main image)

Appearances:
New Excalibur#10 (August 2006) - Frank Tieri (writer), Michael Ryan (pencils), Rick Ketchum (inks), Mike Marts (editor)

First Posted: 02/17/2019
Last updated: 02/17/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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