Royal 11 E. xi

Royal 11 E. xi is a manuscript now housed in the British Library, produced in 1516 for Henry VIII and his household. The elaborate illuminations are in a heavily Flemish style and the music therein (including the English but continentally influenced Sampson, and Henry VIII's new Italian privy chamber organist, Benedictus de Opiciis) both reflect the fashions of the period.

The scribe of the manuscript is otherwise uncertain, but scholars have argued that Alamire is its creator. The evidence is scant (although the hand is very close to Alamire's when compared to his work in other manuscripts), although the first (otherwise blank) page contains the inscription "Me fieri ac componi fecit PO" (PO caused me to be created and put together), "PO" perhaps and abbreviation of the Flemish version of Alamire's name, combined with the upside-down "v" and cross above it ("t") that connect the two letters, perhaps signifying P[eter] v[an] t[en] [H]o[ve].

Contents

No.	Title	Composer	Parts	Notes
1.	Salve radix	AnonymousAnonymous	4	"The Rose Canon" - two canonic spirals at the upper fourth which contain two voices each
2.	Psallite felices	SampsonSampson	4
3.	Sub tuum praesidium	De Opiciis, BenedictusBenedictus de Opiciis	4
4.	Quam pulchra es	SampsonSampson	5
5.	Hec est praeclarum vas	SampsonSampson	4	Only attributed to Sampson, authorship otherwise uncertain
6.	Beati omnes qui timent Dominum	JacotinJacotin	3

External links

• View images of the manuscript at The Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music