A Canon for Mary of Hungary - Royal Library of Belgium VI 18.613 C - Study

In 1548 Mary of Hungary (1505-58), who had been appointed by her brother Charles V as governess of the Netherlands, received an unusual gift from her chapel master Benedictus Appenzeller: an ingenious music canon printed on a linen table cloth. This study focuses on this unique work that, due to its exceptional format, quite literally can be considered as ‘table music’. Unraveling the history of this remarkable table cloth, currently archived in the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels, leads to the southern German city of Augsburg, where in 1547 an important Diet was held, at which Mary and both her brothers, Charles V and Ferdinand I, were present.

The present facsimile with commentary is the fourth volume of the Leuven Library of Music in Facsimile, under the general editorship of David J. Burn and Bart Demuyt. The series presents high-quality reproductions of primary music sources of outstanding aesthetic, historical, and cultural value. Each facsimile is in full colour, at original size, and accompanied by an extended commentary, written by a leading expert or experts.