This part of the website is an English translation of the
definitive hurdy-gurdy reference book Die Drehleier (The Hurdy-
gurdy), written by Marianne Bröcker. For general information
about this translation please see the Index Page. This material
is covered by copyright and may not be used without permission.
Please see the Index Page for more information about
distribution. |Table of contents||Previous chapter||Next
chapter||References||Figures| A. Its Position in the Medieval
Instrumentarium The numerous musical instruments of the Middle
Ages were mentioned in the literature of the time especially
when the authors wanted to describe the brilliance of a festive
event. For this they often used long lists of instruments in
which they named many different instruments. The authors avoided
repeating the name of an instrument and characterized different
forms of an instrument group with a special appendage. [fn] If
several instruments of the same type were played this was
indicated by the use of the plural or by th