Tuesday, March 26, 2019

TheNewEuropean.co.uk: John Blanke, a trumpeter of Henry VIII’s, is depicted on...Roll

John Blanke (1511)
Westminster Tournament Roll


25 March 2019

John Blanke, a trumpeter of Henry VIII’s, is depicted on the famous Westminster Tournament Roll, a 60ft-long painted roll depicting the pageant held to celebrate the 1511 birth of the king’s first son.

In pride of place on this artefact is the black male trumpeter. He is full-on and up front. Historians believe he was an example to the world of the cosmopolitan outlook of the young Henry VIII. After all, the monarch had married a Spanish princess, eventually the aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor.

There was no way that Henry was going to make England look out of the loop. It could have been considered fashionable to have an African trumpeter at court. After all, the Crusaders had seen them in the Muslim courts of north Africa, resplendent examples of wealth and privilege.

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