Skip to content ↓

Year 5

Black History Month

This week in Year 5, we have been focusing on John Blanke, a black Tudor. We explored the life of John Blanke, a black trumpeter who served the reign of King Henry VII and Henry VIII. We learnt that he arrived to England as an entourage of Katherine of Aragon-Henry VIII's first wife. Blank served the royal family from 1501-1511.  He demonstrated his amazing skills by performing the trumpet during many royal ceremonies such as Henry VII's funeral and Henry VIII's coronation. His career progressed during his time, working with the royals as he went through various uniform changes. He was a very brave and courageous man, as he persisted and gained a promotion, as his pay went from 8d (pence) to 16d.

In our learning, we created amazing fact files on John Blanke, to celebrate his life and achievement as a black, Tudor.