Who is John Blanke?

The pioneering art-history project on the first recorded Black man in British history

'Brilliantly illuminatesthe overlooked chapters of Black Tudor England' –Professor Corinne Fowler, The University of Leicester

'Encourages a deeper empatheticengagement with our shared past' – Professor David Olusoga, University of Manchester

On a sixty‑foot vellum scroll known as the Great Tournament Roll of Westminster, a single Black trumpeter rides among Henry VIII’s musicians, his instrument draped with royal arms. That figure – the black Tudor trumpeter John Blanke – is the first known person of African descent in Britain for whom we have both an identifiable image and written records.

Who Is John Blanke? Historians and Artists Reimagine the Black Tudor Trumpeter is a richly produced work of art and history, edited by art and cultural historian Michael I. Ohajuru, founder of the acclaimed John Blanke Project. Bringing together historians, visual artists, poets, photographers, rappers and playwrights, it transforms a handful of archival references into a vivid, many‑voiced portrait of Black presence in Tudor England and Renaissance Europe.

From court payment books that record Blanke’s wages and successful petition for a pay rise, to royal gifts of a violet wedding gown and bonnet, the book carefully reconstructs what we can know of John Blanke's life as one of the African musicians in Henry VIII’s court. These documents sit alongside a full discussion of the Great Tournament Roll of Westminster, where John Blanke appears twice among a troop of six trumpeters leading royal processions. Together, they anchor the book’s exploration of Africans in early modern Britain and the wider Black presence in Renaissance Europe.

Around this historical core, 114 contributors respond to the prompt “I imagined John Blanke as…”. Their answers range from lyrical essays and sharp historical insights to striking black‑and‑white drawings, photographs, rap verses and poems. We see John Blanke as virtuoso jazz ancestor, as working court professional, as migrant, husband, wage‑earner and “agent of change”; as symbol, inspiration and fellow member of the African diaspora. This unique conversation between archive and imagination makes the volume stand out among Black history books about England.

A specially written introduction traces the origins of...