This dissertation investigates the introduction and development of a musical instrument,
the viola da gamba (viol), in sixteenth-century France by articulating the wider cultural
consequences of introducing new musical instruments from one culture to another. The
research examines cultural exchange with foreign courts, the effects of patronage, social
perceptions and changing attitudes during the introduction of the viol into France. Using
the viol as a focal point to explore Renaissance material culture, this thesis is an
interdisciplinary study into music, art, language and terminology, foreign connections
and cultural interaction.
Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the viol’s introduction, development and
establishment into sixteenth-century France. Rare archival sources, visual media and
printed books never before connected to the viol have been identified and analysed to
construct a detailed framework of the social, artistic and musical culture within which
the viol was used. The five chapters explore professional viol use in the royal court and
regional areas, artistic representations of the viol, triumphal entries and festivals, the
changing role of viol players from professional to amateur and the viol in sixteenth-century
instrument making. The appendices include a catalogue of images depicting the
viol in French visual media, identifying allegorical and religious associations, making
foreign connections, exploring methods of artistic creation and analysing physical
depictions