Detail from Linnet Kamala's John Blanke Re-reading Onyeka’s seminal text (Onyeka (2013) Blackamoores: Africans in Tudor England Their Presence Status and Origins) , keeping in mind what Prof Kaplan and Dr Cunningham wrote that John Blanke’s name was a cognomen or nickname and there was another John Blank (sic) in the Tudor Court record, respectively. I came across the following….
Having looked at over 250,000 entries, I have found only four references to a 'Blanke' and they are contained in the subsidy rolls*. All these Blankes are found in London parishes so it is possible because the name is so rare that they are connected to John Blanke. But they are unlikely to describe the 'blacke trumpeter,' because even if his race was not mentioned his occupation probably would have been as with "Guylham the King's mynstrell' who lived in Westminster on 3 November 1540, or 'Anthony ... Hailes "The Sergeant of the Trumpeters,' who lived at Saint Peter the Poor's Ward, London on 10 January 1564. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that the entries with the name Blanke are from the areas of the Liberty of Tower Wharf, London, and date from November 1540, Saint Peter's Parishnear the Tower of London on 1 October 1543, and St Katherine's next to the Tower of London on 3 April 1549. The last 'John Blanke' may be the same person who is also referred to as being resident in St Katherine's Parish, Aldgate, London on 14 May 1559. Finally, a 'Johannes Blanke' appears in the subsidy rolls for Middlesex in the Ward of the Lane Beneath on 17 April 1550. * records of taxation in England made between the 12th and 17th centuries Onyeka (2013) Blackamoores: Africans in Tudor England Their Presence Status and Origins. Pg 211. ( See my review here)
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