Philip van Wilder

Philip van Wilder (Weldre, Welder, Wylder, Wyllender, de Vuildre, Wild, Wildroe; c. 1500 – February 24, 1554) was a Franco-Flemish lutenist and composer, active in England.

Like Peter van Wilder, who also worked in the Tudor court and was presumably related to him, Philip was probably born in Millam, near Wormhout, or in the nearby village of Wylder ("Wilder" in Dutch). A note in Italian in the Jacobean scorebook anthology GB-Lbl Egerton 3665 describes him as "Master Philip of Flanders, musician to King Henry VIII, who lived in England around the year 1520". He was certainly in London by 1522, living in the parish of St Olave's Hart Street (close to the Tower of London) and having £60 "in goodes" and £48 "in fees". The court account books for the year 1525-26 describe him as "mynstrell"; he was later designated "lewter". Van Wilder steadily advanced his position at the Tudor court. By 1529 he was a member of the Privy chamber, the select group of musicians who played to the king in private. He was also active as a merchant, being given a licence to import Toulouse woad and Gascon wine, and in purchasing instruments for the court. He taught the lute to Princess (later Queen) Mary, who rewarded him with a gift on the occasion of his marriage to a woman named Frances in 1537. Later he also taught Prince Edward (later Edward VI), who wrote a letter to his father in 1546 thanking him for "sending me your servant Philip, as excellent in music as he is noble ... that I might become more excellent in striking the lute".

In 1539 Van Wilder became a denizen, which allowed him to own land. This enabled him to profit from the dissolution of the monasteries and engage in a number of lucrative property deals with the Crown. At various times he was granted leaseholds on former monastic properties in London, as well as in Middlemarsh (in the parish of Minterne Magna) and Littlebredy in Dorset, previously owned by Cerne Abbey. By 1540 he was a Gentleman of the Privy chamber, a prestigious position that enabled him to accept financial inducements to raise legal issues and private grievances with the King. At the time of Henry VIII's death in 1547 Van Wilder was Keeper of the Instruments and effectively head of the Court instrumental musical establishment, a post later known as Master of the King's Music.

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