Interior of Hereford cathedral, John Blanke Tudor art - 5 College Cloisters, Cathedral Close, HR1 2NG

John Blanke was a royal trumpeter in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII, and remains the only black Tudor for whom we have an identifiable image. While serving two kings, he bore witness to some of the great moments in England's history and contributed to some of the greatest spectacles of the Tudor age. We know nothing of the early life of John Blanke. In fact, John Blanke may not have been his name at birth. Blanke may have been a play on the words blanc (French) or blanco (Spanish), meaning white. We know from manuscript evidence that John Blanke was described as black, and the two surviving images of him, painted around 1511, show that he had dark skin. The earliest named reference to John Blanke was a payment made by Henry VII in December 1507, when he was one of eight royal trumpeters under the leadership of Peter de Casa Nova. This entry shows he was paid 20 shillings, at 8d. (old pence) each day, for his service in November. John Blanke may have arrived in England in the entourage of Katherine of Aragon in 1501, who was to marry Prince Arthur, eldest son and heir of Henry VII. Katherine's entourage included a group of trumpeters and Henry VII rewarded the '9 trumpets of Spain' shortly after her arrival. It is likely that Catalina of Motril, a Muslim Moor and one of Katherine's servants of the bedchamber, was also part of that contingent.