John Blanke, a black trumpeter to the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII, is considered to be the first person of African descent in Britain for whom we have both an image and a written record. His image appears twice in the 1511 Westminster Tournament Roll currently in the College of Arms collection. He is noted in the court’s accounts of the day as having being paid wages, other records have him successfully petitioning Henry VIII for a wage increase and receiving a gift from the king.

This event explores and commemorates the life of John Blanke and showcases how the archival records have influenced the work of the project’s artists, poets, and historians.The John Blanke Project is a work in progress which celebrates the life of John Blanke through a variety of media and art forms – writing, drawing, poetry, and music.