The King's Musick
As early as the fourteenth century, minstrels known as the ‘King's Minstrels’ or the ‘King's Musick’ received royal patronage. They wore the livery of the King and exercised some control of other musicians. During the reign of Henry VI, a Royal Commission regulated encroachments from other musicians on their preserves, and in 1469 Edward VI granted them a Guild charter. The charter stated that "no Minstrel of our Kingdom ... shall henceforth in any way practise or publicly exercise the art or occupation within our Kingdom aforesaid, unless he belong to the said Brotherhood or Guild". This led to legal difficulties between the Westminster Minstrels and the City Company, chartered by London in 1604 to perform in the city and three miles outside it. The King's Minstrels requested and received a charter from the king in 1635 to "have the survey, scrutinie, correction and government of all and singular the musicians within the kingdome of England".
Read more about this topic: Master Of The Queen's Music
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