John Blanke’s Hat in the Westminster Tournament Roll

John Blanke, the trumpet player of African descent who performed at the Tudor court as ‘king’s trumpet’ for both Henry VII and Henry VIII is referred to in the Chamber Book accounts as ‘the blacke Trumpet’.1 Blanke has also been identified as the black instrumentalist on horseback on the Westminster Tournament Roll.2 This has prompted scholarship on his appearance, as this might offer additional clues as to his background or even his life prior to his appearance in the Tudor account books. I argue in this note that evidence from the Burgundian court records of Archduke Philip ‘The Handsome’ (‘le Beau’) (1478–1506) may help scholarship reconsider interpretations that make assumptions about John Blanke’s origins or religious beliefs, and complicates these interpretations by suggesting that he may have worn a head-dress according to his current or previous employment rather than as an indicator of religious or ethnic identity.