I remember reading at some point of a minor footnote in the history of the 4th Crusade where the crusaders encountered a noble or royal from somewhere in Africa who was on their pilgrimage. This is fairly vague but if anybody has the source this is from (or can verify that this is indeed something I am remembering correctly) that would be wonderful as I am drawing a blank as to where I've read this.
You remember correctly - he was introduced to the crusaders as the "King of Nubia" and he was on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Constantinople, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela (although it seems he only made it as far as Constantinople). I wrote about him last year in the Histories of Peoples of Colour Floating Feature