He petitioned Henry VIII for higher wages, and won.
John Blanke was an African trumpeter in the royal courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII, paid eight pence a day for his music.
He appears twice in the Westminster Tournament Roll of 1511, shown playing at Henry VIII’s jousting tournament, a rare surviving image of an African person in Tudor England rendered in the colour and detail of the court itself. He did more than play.
He petitioned Henry VIII directly for an increase to his wages, and the king granted it, doubling his daily pay, one of the earliest documented instances of a Black person in England asserting their rights and winning. His wedding was recorded in the Royal Household accounts in 1512.
He is among the very few people of African heritage in early Tudor England for whom we have both a name and a likeness, a musician at the centre of the court who left a mark on its records.
His record is in the Westminster Tournament Roll, 1511. His card is in the deck.
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Timeline
- 1501Documented in Royal Household accounts as a trumpeter in the court of Henry VII.
- 1509Continued service under Henry VIII.
- 1511Depicted twice in the Westminster Tournament Roll, and successfully petitioned Henry VIII for a doubling of his daily pay.
- 1512Married, with his wedding recorded in Royal Household accounts.
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I salute John Blanke, who played at the Tudor court and petitioned his king for fair pay, and won.
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