Black Africans in Renaissance England: The Image and The Reality Black History Month 2013 Presentation

IMAGE?  Why was there an image of a Black African King in English churches even though no Black African Kings visited Europe during the Renaissance ?  

REALITY? Was John Blanke the only Black African in England at the time ? What else did or could Black Africans do beside play trumpet for English royalty? 

Black Magus, Devon RoodScreen, c1520 and John Blanke 1511

In order to answer these questions for Black History Month this year I've joined forces with Dr Miranda Kaufmann to produce a presentation on two complimentary aspects of the Black African presence in Renaissance England - Image and Reality. The talks are based on the presentations we did together at the British Library last year.

Miranda discusses the reality of the lives of Black Africans in Renaissance England  from her PhD work which uncovered evidence of over 360 Black Africans in Britain from 1500-1640. While I look at the image of the Black African, its origins and how it was interpreted at the time.

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