Jacobus Gallus/Jacob Handl (1550-1591) was a composer of Slovenian heritage, who used the Latin (Gallus) and German (Handl) diminutives for his birth name of Petelin. His contemporaries called him the "Bohemian Palestrina" because of his beautifully set counterpoint. He held short-lived positions in monasteries in Austria, Moray, Bohemia and Poland. He also served the bishop of Olomouc and Kaiser Maximilian II of Vienna.



He was a prolific composer and published three collections, containing 16 masses, 374 Latin motets and 100 secular pieces from 1580-1590. He attained the great respect of the king, who granted him one of the first forms of copyright for his third edition of motets "Opus musicum."