ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the governance of the towns presented an equally diverse state of affairs. For those towns that did manage to avoid direct royal interference, the governing officials were members of the so-called 'Inner Councils'. An important function of the Inner Council lay in the appointing of civic posts, and this included the town musicians. The size and wealth of individual towns and cities governed the size of the municipal ensembles, and the numbers of regularly employed players were small. Away from the expertise of ensembles and players in the leading towns, however, it seems that such wide-ranging proficiency was rare. Even if town musicians had the ability to play many different instruments, it is unlikely that they managed all of them with equal skill.
