John Blanke

Who is John Blanke?

John Blanke was a black musician in London in the early 16th century.

He was probably brought to England as one of the African attendants of Catherine of Aragon in 1501. He is one of the earliest recorded black people in England after the Roman period. His name may be a reference to his skin colour, derived either from the word "black" or from the French word "blanc" meaning white.

Historian Onyeka has written about John Blanke's possible origins in his 2013 book Blackamoores: Africans in Tudor England, their Presence, Status and Origins John Blanke has also been mentioned by historian Onyeka in two articles. One entitled Tudor Africans: What’s in a Name? in October 2012 for History Today Magazine and also The Missing Tudors. Black People in 16th Century England for the BBC History Magazine which was published in July 2012.

Little is known of Blanke's life, but he was paid 8d per day by Henry VII, and a surviving document from the accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber records a payment of 20 shillings to "John Blanke, the blacke trumpeter" as wages for the month of November 1507.