Miranda KaufmannBlack Tudors: The Untold Story

I am a 72 year old AfricanAmerican, so much I learned from reading this kindle book that wasn't taught in school; what a revelation!

if one watches historical pics, the tudors, elizabeth 1 it is easy to get the impression blacks born in europe or africa were only slaves. this discusses the lives of those many who were free workers as musicians, sailors, officials, businesswomen etc. i wasn't aware that in the time of england's henry 8 is was high fashion to have african looking musicians in your court orchestra. some were from africa, others moslems from morocco etc. the man she discusses appears in a portrait and his petition asking for a raise and promotion is shown. slaves in the new world are q uoted as wishing they could get to england where there is no slavery and 1 made it and sailed with sir francis drake. a master who wanted his slave to work was told by a court he can't be forced to stay and serve. a woman dies and leaves an estate including the cow. it is history not taught in school and was written so well that i couldn't stop reading it. it also includes color repros of art showing africans including the musician. would make an excellent gift and there is a bibliography for those who want to read more.

This is the first time I have real actual information pertaining to Blacks in England during the Tudor dynasty. I think anyone would benefit from this book, I just purchased it in Kindle form and I will now pick it up as a hardcover as well. I highly encourge reenactors to pick up this book as she explains what colors and fabrics that were around.

Excellent book, very readable and well documented. Kaufmann gives a good overview of Tudor period history as well as specific examples of the integration of black immigrants into English life (and life in other countries). She shows how our current concept of race shapes our perception of historic relationships.

Quite an eye opener and thought provoking book.

Informative, interesting history of an under reported segment of the population of Tudor England.

This text is a perfect a starting point for research this topic. So very interesting and detailed in its conveyance of black life in Tudor England.

This is a book that my brother wanted and seems very pleased

The book was extremely disappointing on historical detail about black Tudors though the book purports to be about that very topic. It is largely padded out with historical detail about other people and events - largely the sort of stuff we get on those 'light' historical programmes on TV. I learned very little from it and was surprised that the reviews printed on the cover and inside the book - praised the detailed research of the writer. There was far too much surmise and imagining of events that 'might have' taken place.

This is an excellent book. It recovers the lost history of Africans in England during the reigns of Henry VIII through Elizabeth I and James I (who was a Stuart not a Tudor). These Africans had the same freedoms and constraints as everyone else in the kingdom, dependant not on their colour but on their skills, position in society and wealth. Some may have been servants, but they were never slaves. It was only later when the English became seriously involved in the African transatlantic slave trade that the perception of Africans changed, but English law never recognised slavery in England.The author, Miranda Kaufmann, has split the book in ten chapters. Each chapter concentrates on an historical figure and gives the known facts about them and the environment in which they lived. Sometimes the known facts are few; sometimes much more is known. Thus, the discussions are often as much about the Tudor world as about the black Tudors themselves.The book’s genesis is in the author’s research for a doctorate, but it never feels academic. However, it does have an extensive bibliography and notes on the text. There are several colour plates.The first character is John Blanke, who was a trumpet player in the court of Henry VIII. He is found in the royal accounts for the various payments to him. His image can also be seen in the Westminster Tournament Roll where he is painted with his fellow trumpeters, the only one with a dark skin and wearing a turban. This image is reproduced in the book. Next is Jacques Francis of Southampton, but with Venetian connections. He was a salvage diver employed to recover valuables from the wreck of the recently sunk Mary Rose. The third chapter concerns Diego, a slave of the Spanish in Panama, who escaped and sailed with Sir Francis Drake. On future voyages, Drake brought more Africans to England, including Edward Swarthye, who later became a porter in Gloucestershire and is the subject of chapter 4. Then there was Reasonable Blackman, a silk weaver in London, followed by Mary Fillis from Morocco, who was a seamstress in London. Chapter 7 concerns Dederi Jaquoah, the son of an African king, who lived in London for two years as a guest of a merchant trading with West Africa. John Anthony was a former pirate living in Dover. Anne Cobbie was a prostitute in London. The final chapter discusses Cattelena of Almondsbury who owned a cow, which provided her livelihood.

"Black Tudors: The Untold Story" by Miranda Kaufmann does an excellent job of highlighting the African presence in Britain during Tudor times. With a few exceptions, we know little about their lives since just their names and ethnicity is all that has been recorded about them. But the fact that they were present in numbers large enough to be noticed, means that British history needs to be viewed in a different light.I was lucky enough to attend a presentation by Onyekaa at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2015 on the Black Tudor presence. And having read his book (Blackamoores: Africans in Tudor England, Their Presence, Status, and Origins) on which his presentation was partly based, this book complements it nicely.Based on the content, the author has obviously done a significant amount research and I would certainly recommend reading it.

As Miranda Kaufman’s meticulously researched book makes clear, black people had a presence in Britain long before the 18th century. It is a history that has been largely overlooked. She found over 360 individuals of African origin living in England and Scotland in the years between 1500 and 1640 and uses the stories of some of them to expand on the world they lived in, using themes of navigation and piracy, colonisation, the slave trade, social hierarchy to paint a picture of Tudor life.Piecing together the lives of ten Tudors of African origin she brings us some truly untold lives: including the diver Jacques Francis, who was employed to salvage cargo on the Mary Rose; John Blanke, a trumpeter at Henry VIII’s coronation; the wonderfully named Reasonable Blackman, a silk weaver; Mary Fillis, possibly a basket-weaver; and Anne Cobbie, a prostitute in London; Dederi Jaquoah, the son of an African king, who was a guest of a London merchant for two years; John Anthony, a former pirate living in Dover. Most lived in the city, but a few are found in the countryside: Cattelena lived in Almondsbury in Gloucestershire where she sold milk from her cow, Edward Swarthye was a porter to a nobleman.The book's genesis was as an academic dissertation but it never reads like one. The style is interesting and accessible. Great colour plates. Recommended.

This book is an eye-opener! Kaufmann shows that there were Africans living in English towns and villages from early Tudor times who were treated without prejudice or any more suspicion than many white people who had the misfortune to favour the wrong Christian church or be suspected of the wrong sexual orientation. Nor were they enslaved, as happened in many other European countries. The English slave trade did not get underway until the second half of the sixteenth century. Merchant voyages to Africa were undertaken with a view to trading in goods like spices and (unfortunately) ivory, but not people. The characters chosen as examples of African immigration to England vary from a male underwater swimmer to a female seamstress and they were all paid for their work or able to go into business themselves. Read it and be surprised!