Pieter Maessens

(b Ghent, c 1505; d Vienna, Oct 1563). Flemish composer. He was a choirboy in the Archduchess Margaret of Austria's chapel, then a soldier of fortune for Charles V and the King of Spain. In 1540 he was appointed Kapellmeister of Notre Dame, Courtrai, and from 1546 Kapellmeister in the Viennese court chapel. He wrote numerous sacred and secular choral pieces and several literary works.