{{Short description|English politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Sir Thomas Blanke''' (died 1588) was an English politician who served as Lord Mayor of London.
He was the son of a London haberdasher, also named Thomas Blanke, and the brother-in-law of James Altham, one of the Sheriffs of London in 1557.<ref>Burke, Bernard, and Burke, Ashworth Peter [https://books.google.com/books?id=93M-AQAAIAAJ&dq=%22thomas+blanke%22+mayor+london&pg=PA24] "A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I" pg. 248</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=g6wKAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22sir+thomas+blank%22&pg=PA538] "The Visitations of Essex" pg. 538</ref> Like his father, Thomas Blanke followed the trade of a haberdasher. He became an alderman in 1572 and served as one of the Sheriffs of London in 1574.<ref>City of London Corporation [https://books.google.com/books?id=V7YKAAAAYAAJ&q=blanke&pg=PA599] "Analytical Index to the Series of Records Known as the Remembrancia" pg. 153</ref>
He was elected Lord Mayor of London in 1582. He had the misfortune to be elected during a severe outbreak of the plague;<ref>Radcliffe, John Netten [https://books.google.com/books?id=vONZAAAAcAAJ&dq=%22thomas+blanke%22+plague&pg=PA37] "The Pestilence in England: An Historical Sketch" pg. 37</ref> due to the pestilence, there was no pageant celebrating his election, and he was not presented to the queen until the next May.<ref>Withington, Robert [https://archive.org/stream/englishpagentry02withrich/englishpagentry02withrich_djvu.txt] "English Pageantry: An Historical Outline, Vol. II" pg. 22</ref>
Much of his mayoralty was spent dealing with the effects of the plague, and his efforts earned him the appellation of "The Good Knight".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1DUoAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22thomas+blanke%22+pestilence&pg=PA12] "The European Magazine and London Review, Vol. 52" pg. 12</ref> He died in 1588, at the age of 74, and was buried at St Mary-at-Hill;<ref>Thornbury, George Walter, and Valford, Edward [https://books.google.com/books?id=eOkHAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22sir+thomas+blanke%22+epitaph&pg=PA41] "Old and New London" pg. 41</ref> his wife lived until 1596, being buried in the same tomb.<ref>Targoff, Ramie [https://books.google.com/books?id=xIZFAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22sir+thomas+blanke%22+epitaph&pg=PA25] "Posthumous Love: Eros and the Afterlife in Renaissance England" pp. 25 - 26</ref> As he had died without issue, his estate at Abbott's Inn passed into the Altham family, who retained it until it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ApwhAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22sir+thomas+blancke%22&pg=PA409] "Archaeologia: Or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity" pp. 408 - 410</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-civ}} {{s-bef|before=James Harvey}} {{s-ttl|title=Lord Mayor of London |years=1582}} {{s-aft|after=Edward Osborne}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanke, Thomas}} Category:1588 deaths Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Haberdashers Category:16th-century lord mayors of London