Gilbert Banester

Who is Gilbert Banester?

Gilbert Banester was an English composer. Possibly a native of London, he was Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal beginning in 1478. His works are found in a number of Tudor manuscript collections of church music, including the Pepys Manuscript; there is also an antiphon by his hand in the Eton Choirbook. Stylistically the work is similar to those of William Horwood in the same book, but is unusual in that it is written to a prose text. Two poems have been ascribed to Banester, the Miracle of St Thomas of 1467 and a translation of Boccaccio, dating to 1450, that is the first known in the English language.

Little else is known of Banester's life; he is recorded as the "king's servant" in 1471. In addition, it is known that Edward IV provided him with corrodies for two Abbeys, and he was made a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1475. In 1478 he became master of the choristers. He died in 1487.