The Royal Choirbook

A complete illuminated manuscript in 34 full page color plates



The Royal Choirbook is a collection of six motets produced in 1516 for Henry VIII, King of England, and his wife, Catherine of Aragon. The manuscript is believed to have been commissioned and designed by Petrus de Opitiis, an Italian merchant, and his son Benedictus, the King's new privy chamber organist. The motets, composed by Benedictus and one Magister Sampson, believed to be a composer from the Netherlands, are preceded by an elegiac poem and richly illustrated frontispiece honoring Henry VIII and the union of York and Lancaster. The manuscript is presently held by the British Library, London.