Josquin des Prez

Timeline

1. c. 1450–1483Aix-en-Provence · Aix-en-ProvenceHis early life was long distorted by confusion with same-named archival figures. The more reliable node is service in the choir of René of Ancona's court at Aix-en-Provence in the mid-to-late 1470s, after which he may have had contact with the court of Louis XI of France. The surname Lebloitte and byname des Prez indicate family ties to the Hainaut–Picardy region on today's French–Belgian border.
2. 1484–1495Rome · RomeIn 1484 he appeared in Milan as an attendant of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, holding a benefice at Bourges Cathedral. Around 1489 he moved to the papal choir, serving Innocent VIII and Alexander VI; his carved name still survives on the choir stalls of the Sistine Chapel. This period established his reputation in Italy, and works such as the motet Ave Maria ... Virgo serena began to circulate widely in manuscript.
3. 1503–1521Condé-sur-l'Escaut · Condé-sur-l'EscautIn 1503 he accepted Ercole I's invitation to become maestro di cappella at the Ferrara court, composing the Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae, based on the duke's title, and the motet Miserere. He left in 1504 because of plague, taking up the post of canon at the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame in Condé, where he completed late masterpieces such as Praeter rerum seriem and Pater noster, dying on August 27, 1521 and being buried before the high altar of the church.