Ludovicus Episcopius

Lodewijk de Bisschop, Latinised as Ludovicus Episcopius[1] (c. 1520 in Mechelen – 29 April 1595 in Straubing) was a Flemish Roman Catholic priest and composer of the late Renaissance and one of the first to compose secular songs in the Dutch language.

[2] Around 1582, he moved from the Low Countries to Munich where in 1584 he became a singer in the choir that was led by Orlando di Lasso.

These include the Missa super 'si mon service a merite' , four motets, a Salve regina and 12 Dutch language songs.

The Dutch language songs are mainly contained in two anthologies published in the 16th century: Dat ierste boeck vanden nieuwe Duijtsche liedekens, published in 1554 in Maastricht by Jacob Bathen and Een Duytsch musyck boeck, jointly published in 1572 by Petrus Phalesius the Elder in Leuven and Johannes Bellerus in Antwerp.

Of the 8 songs from Bathen's edition, of which no complete copy has survived, some were reedited by Phalesius and Bellerus in their anthology (of which a complete copy survives), which contains, among works by other composers, 7 songs by Episcopius, the highest number of his works in any publication.