I understand the introduction of the vihuela into Spanish Neapolitan provinces helped the spread of the Italian viola da mano, but where does Francesco da Milano come in? Did he have a connection with the south? Or did the instrument spread to the north as well? How popular was the viola da mano? Any other publications for it?
And can anyone flesh out the story of one of the d'Este family ordering a 'Spanish viola da mano' but having to settle for an Italian one instead? I can't remember the facts. I might copy this to the vihuela group as there are some people there who are not subscribers here. Rob MacKillop -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
