Comment on 'Miranda Kaufmann: John Blanke takes his rightful place in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography!'

John Blanke is featured at AfriClassical.com

(Oxford Dictionary of National Biography)

[October 2, 2014]

Amy Edmonds forwarded this post from the blog of 

Miranda Kaufmann, who was already a major source 

of the John Blanke page at AfriClassical.com, and 

whose latest information has been added to the 

website as well:

Miranda Kaufmann:

John Blanke takes his rightful place in the Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography!

I'm delighted to report that John Blanke, the African 
trumpeter at the Tudor court, has now taken his 
rightful place in the Oxford Dictionary of National 
Biography! He is one of 119 new entries this 
September. 

As ODNB editor Henry Summerson writes on the 
OUP blog, Blanke's "fanfares enlivened the early 
Tudor court and [his] portrait image is the only 
 identifiable likeness of a black person in sixteenth-
century British art." 

When I wrote letters to nine historical
figures for the Influential Black Londoners 
exhibition at Sutton House, Hackney for the
National Trust last year, Blanke was the only one
who didn't have an entry. Now that omission has
been rectified. I was delighted to be able to
write about this fascinating individual for a
reference work that I find so useful in my
research.

Comments by email:

1) You're welcome.  He is a fascinating figure, and 

when I've seen images of black performers in 

early iconography I always assume they're just 

anonymous representations of a type (as with 

the white performers).  As an early music 

specialist I'm delighted to know that some 

instrumentalists achieved prominence. -Amy  

[Amy Edmonds]  October 2, 2014

2) Hello Bill, The information regarding John 

Blanke has become one of my favorites among the 

material you have sent. Kudos to Miranda Kaufmann 

for her hard work.  I had no idea such detailed

information was available regarding musicians 

during that time period.  The material is fascinating.  

Wouldn't it be an experience to see the 60 foot 

long Westminster Tournament Roll of 1511!  Lyn

[Lyn Brown]  October 7, 2014