Black Trumpeter

As a footnote to BBC1's Hidden Paintings last Sunday (London TV only, CLICK) in which Hardeep Singh Kohli waxed lyrical on immigration, here's a painting of John Blanke, a Black trumpeter who was a regular musician at the courts of both Henry VII and Henry VIII. He earned 8d a day. His picture is a detail from a larger painting of a great tournament held at Westminster in 1509 by Henry VIII to celebrate the birth of a son to his then Queen, Catherine of Aragon (title link). So immigration began a lot earlier than the programme suggested. Ironically, it was Henry's daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, who financed one of the first slaving expeditions to Africa! She made a handsome profit and thereby began a cruel trade.