Filling in the Blankes: The Life of a Black Tudor

John Blanke was a royal trumpeter in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII, and the first person of African descent in British history for whom written records and an identifiable portrait survive.
Sean Cunningham (Head of Medieval, Early Modern, Legal and Map Records) and Michael Ohajuru (Director of The John Blanke Project) take a closer look at records held by The National Archives to discuss John's life as a musician in the Tudor Court
Find out more about The John Blanke Project: www.johnblanke...
#tudor #henryviii #tudorhistory

[@jessicar3291]

What an interesting and well-made video! I learned a lot. Thank you for publishing.

[@TheNationalArchivesUK]

Thanks for the feedback 😊 We had great fun making this video, so it means a lot to receive comments like this.

[@patrickdaniels8370]

John Black, fine. I knew of him ❤ thanks. Now how about 1) Cecil Rhodes, William Stead & Lord Esher. And 2) Queen Victoria & Lord Rothschild.

[@craig5066]

The Blanke surname relates to the French word blanc meaning white which is interesting but his surname is also written as Blak which is confusing.

[@historichits844]

Fabulous and fascinating video. Just one thing, everywhere else I have seen the first reference to paying John Blanke was in December 1507, but on the video when the document is shown it is said to be December 1508. Later Michael Ohajuru speaks of John Blanke Trumpeter from 1507, so wonder which is right?

[@Chelsea-vt3ib]

I doubt it but believe what you want I can’t make people have logic and don’t care to lmfao

[@Chelsea-vt3ib]

It’s hilarious