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A review by bookwitch_92
Black Tudors: The Untold Story by Miranda Kaufmann
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
“Anyone who assumes that all Africans in British History have been powerless, enslaved victims must be challenged.”
Kaufmann presents us with an entirely new, fascinating aspect of Tudor society, so far very little known of. She presents the lives of significant black Tudors, such as John Blanque, a trumpeter in the Tudor court who played at Henry VIII’s coronation, Jacques Francis who dived down to the wreck of the Mary Rose to attempt to salvage and Cattelena of Almonsbury, a single woman, living self-sufficiently by making and selling milk, butter and cheese. Contrary to the traditional belief, Tudor England was home to many black people who were accepted as free members of the society, able to earn a wage, choose their employment and testify in courts of law. This book details just a few of these people for whom records still exist and have been discovered so far.
This book challenges the idea that England’s first contact with African people was through the slave trade, presenting an alternative interpretation in a lively, highly readable and accessible way. Though the subject matter may be heavy, the writing style never is. Although in parts it can seem to drift into ‘stream of consciousness’ and stray from the point, it does all come back round to make a clear and valid argument.
Not only does the book cover the direct subject of black Tudor history, but it gives much wider scope into other matters such as the effects of times of plague, the rule of Sultan Ahmed Al-Mansur of Morocco and tensions between England, Spain and Portugal over trade and religion. I can only imagine the amount of time and research that must have gone into this.
Whilst some basic background knowledge would help when reading this - the order of Tudor monarchs, the relationship with the Catholic Church and the Dissolution of the monasteries, enclosure systems - I would suggest that this isn’t essential, although, without doubt, you would then be keen to find out more about this compelling period of history.
As a lover of Tudor history already, I thoroughly welcomed and enjoyed this opportunity to learn more about a lesser known and under appreciated aspect of that society.
Kaufmann presents us with an entirely new, fascinating aspect of Tudor society, so far very little known of. She presents the lives of significant black Tudors, such as John Blanque, a trumpeter in the Tudor court who played at Henry VIII’s coronation, Jacques Francis who dived down to the wreck of the Mary Rose to attempt to salvage and Cattelena of Almonsbury, a single woman, living self-sufficiently by making and selling milk, butter and cheese. Contrary to the traditional belief, Tudor England was home to many black people who were accepted as free members of the society, able to earn a wage, choose their employment and testify in courts of law. This book details just a few of these people for whom records still exist and have been discovered so far.
This book challenges the idea that England’s first contact with African people was through the slave trade, presenting an alternative interpretation in a lively, highly readable and accessible way. Though the subject matter may be heavy, the writing style never is. Although in parts it can seem to drift into ‘stream of consciousness’ and stray from the point, it does all come back round to make a clear and valid argument.
Not only does the book cover the direct subject of black Tudor history, but it gives much wider scope into other matters such as the effects of times of plague, the rule of Sultan Ahmed Al-Mansur of Morocco and tensions between England, Spain and Portugal over trade and religion. I can only imagine the amount of time and research that must have gone into this.
Whilst some basic background knowledge would help when reading this - the order of Tudor monarchs, the relationship with the Catholic Church and the Dissolution of the monasteries, enclosure systems - I would suggest that this isn’t essential, although, without doubt, you would then be keen to find out more about this compelling period of history.
As a lover of Tudor history already, I thoroughly welcomed and enjoyed this opportunity to learn more about a lesser known and under appreciated aspect of that society.