Music Regulations and Sacred Repertories in a Ducal Town Without a Duke: Francisco de los Cobos and the Sacra Capilla of El Salvador in 16th-Century Úbeda

Abstract

Although the city of Úbeda (Jaén, Spain) never had a duke or a count, it did have a figure of enormous political power and influence in Francisco de los Cobos y Molina (c.1477-1547). Born in Úbeda, in 1516 Cobos became secretary to the Emperor Charles V and took responsibility for the imperial finances, positions which made him into one of the most powerful people in Spain of that period despite his birth into the gentility in a small town far from court. This study aims to supplement the small amount of information around Cobos’ musical patronage in his home town through analysis of the musico-liturgical regulations and musical repertories related to the Sacra Capilla [Holy Chapel] of El Salvador, founded by Cobos as chapel-burial place.