Josquin des PrezJosquin des Prez was
born in what is now Belgium, but was part of
France in his day. His career was
international, because he also lived and worked in Italy, France and
Hungary. He wrote masses and motets for the church, and secular
madrigals for the nobility. His output was prolific, though it is now known that
a lot of the compositions formerly attributed to him were probably written by
others.
One example of his compositions to which you may listen, is
the motet Hail Mary (or Ave Maria in Latin).